Teaching at Harvard Business School has offered a unique vantage point into how the next generation is thinking about finance, ethics, and the future of sustainable investing. Through courses such as Sustainable Investing and Development While Decarbonizing: India’s Path to Net Zero, I’ve had the opportunity to explore how emerging leaders approach one of the defining challenges of our time: aligning capital markets with long-term planetary and social well-being.
Over the years, several themes have stood out.
A drive for coherence between purpose and performance
Students today approach sustainability not as an add-on, but as a core component of financial decision-making. Their focus is on integration—how environmental and social metrics translate into risk, opportunity, and ultimately, value creation. This alignment of ideals and incentives reflects a more sophisticated understanding of how markets can drive positive change without compromising rigor.
A multidisciplinary mindset
One of the most inspiring aspects of teaching at Harvard Business School is the diversity of perspectives that students bring to the classroom. Whether from backgrounds in technology, consulting, development, or investment management, they bring analytical depth and creative problem-solving to real-world sustainability challenges. In my immersive field course focused on India’s energy transition, for instance, teams combine financial modeling with policy and systems thinking to design solutions that are both viable and scalable.
A pragmatic view of impact
Sustainable investing is often viewed as values-driven, but at HBS, students are equally focused on the mechanics: how to measure, price, and scale impact effectively. They understand that financial sustainability and social impact are interdependent. The most meaningful debates in class revolve around how to design structures that attract commercial capital while achieving measurable outcomes for people and the planet.
A renewed sense of accountability
In courses like Leadership & Corporate Accountability, I’ve seen a growing recognition that responsible leadership begins with self-awareness and extends to systemic influence. Students don’t view ethics as an abstract exercise; they view it as central to effective management and investment. They are deeply aware that finance has real-world consequences, and that stewardship of capital is also stewardship of trust.
At Harvard Business School, I am pleased to see a generation of investors who are not waiting for perfect frameworks; they are eager to apply judgment, innovation, and collaboration to shape the evolution of sustainable and impact investing. Their energy reinforces what I’ve always believed: that the true power of finance lies not only in generating returns, but in expanding the boundaries of what is possible for society.