KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 Comes To A Grand End With We School Mumbai Team Shining Bright

KPMG in India is one of the leading providers of risk, financial and business advisory, tax and regulatory services, internal audit, and corporate governance having a domestic client base of over 2700 companies. Guided by their passion and purpose of assimilating innovative approaches and expertise to deliver remarkable outcomes, KPMG envisions to make a real difference across business ecosystems. And when it comes to protecting the Earth, KPMG aims to drive the younger generation to bring new ideas that could change the world for the better.

With its Ideation Challenge, KPMG provided a unique experience to students to stretch their limits and foray into the uncharted areas. Here is a peek into the Grand Finale of the KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022. Let's first take a quick review of the competition structure. 

Stages and structure of KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022

KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 invited disruptive solutions focussed towards ‘carbon neutrality’ from teams consisting of members from diverse disciplines i.e STEM and Business. All the students pursuing full-time undergraduate/bachelor’s degree/post-graduate programs with at least one year remaining of their studies were eligible to participate. 

At the outset, 14,041 students across disciplines registered for the event which tapered down to 461 teams that made their way into the first round (Virtual Prelims) after the screening stage that was the Team Introduction Video Submission Round. To assess the merit in the ideas of the students in a stepwise manner, the competition consisted of the following rounds:

Esteemed Jury Panel of the Grand Finale

After the two heart-thumping and thrilling rounds, it was time for the grandest of all -The Virtual National Finale. The event started with a welcome note and a quick overview of the competition by Yogja Singh, Campus Recruitment Lead, KPMG India who passed on the mike to the members of the esteemed jury for their introduction. The jury consisted of :

• Ramendra Verma, Partner, India Global
• Ritesh Tiwari, Partner, Forensic CCS
• Anuj Kumar, Director, Digital Lighthouse
• Aditya Rath, Partner, Transformation C&O
• Karan Marwah, Partner, CFO Adv-Finance Advisory
• Anish De, Partner, Global Sector Head, Power & Utilities at KPMG
• Biswajit Das, Director, Digital Lighthouse
• Ashish Ranjan, Associate Director, ESG

Get Set Go!

The seven teams that made it to the finale put up their best performances and presented their path-breaking ideas to the jury. Every idea opened up new ways to bring down the CO2 emissions and transit towards a healthier earth. The seven mind-blowing teams were:

The teams put forward their presentations which was followed by a comprehensive 10 minutes Q&A round. To make the grand finale session even more exciting, it was peppered with engagements such as Rapid Fire questions with jury members by the participants and an informative session on Personal Branding and Consulting Skills. 

And the final announcement……

After an engaging session, the final results were declared and Team ALJKAS from Prin. L.N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Mumbai (WeSchool) swooped to the top of the tally. They pitched an idea regarding 3D printed floor tiles made from carbon black recovered from discarded tyres that would reduce about 100 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Team Carbon 6 from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) (ISM), Dhanbad stood second. Their idea was about introducing a carbon-currency and establishing a carbon-credit economy in years to come. 

The top two teams received cash prizes worth INR 8 lakhs and guaranteed internship with KPMG in India. National champions also got a chance to attend a virtual celebratory and global networking event and will represent India at 2022 Global KPMG Ideation Challenge.

KPMG Ideation Challenge provided wings to ideas that solve pressing real-world issues

KPMG Ideation Challenge 2022 provided an interesting opportunity for future leaders to make a substantial difference in the world we live in. Sunit Sinha, Partner and Head – People, Performance and Culture, KPMG in India said,

“As part of our commitment to lifelong learning, the KPMG Ideation Challenge is also an opportunity for KPMG to provide future leaders with a unique and highly valuable learning experience and make them business-ready professionals and see first-hand how we cultivate a culture of creativity and collaboration. This Challenge is a unique platform that encourages the students to think out of the box and suggest innovative and result-oriented technology solutions that solve pressing, real-world issues facing business and society. We continue to be inspired by the excellent potential and talent each team brings to the KPMG Ideation Challenge.”

He conveyed his heartfelt congratulations to the winning team from WeSchool, Mumbai for their brilliant performance in this competition and wished them the very best for representing the country at the 2022 Global KIC event.