India has thousands of legacy institutions — schools, businesses, franchises — built decades ago on strong fundamentals. Many of them are struggling with a simple problem: the world has changed faster than they have.
I took over as CEO of Bal Vidya Kendra, a brand founded in 1971, at 24. One of the first things I noticed wasn’t a problem with the brand’s core values or educational quality — it was a gap between how the institution operated and how today’s parents actually search for, evaluate, and choose a school.
That gap is exactly where young leadership matters. Legacy institutions don’t need to abandon what built their trust. They need someone who understands both worlds — someone who respects the institutional knowledge already in place, while also knowing how to run a modern SEO audit, rebuild a digital presence, or rethink a curriculum against current national education policy.
I don’t think youth alone qualifies anyone to lead. But I do think the willingness to question old assumptions — while still respecting what’s proven to work — is something legacy brands are increasingly going to need from their next generation of leaders.