The Bengaluru chapter of HSBC presents ‘Future. Female. Forward.’ S3, co-presented by Cognizant India and hosted by CNBC-TV18, brought renewed focus on a quiet but persistent hurdle in women’s career growth—the ‘broken rung’. Held in front of a packed house of policymakers, business leaders, and inclusion champions, the evening spotlighted how this critical gap is impeding the rise of women to leadership roles despite years of discussion around diversity and representation.

Opening the session with a powerful message, CNBC-TV18 Managing Editor Shereen Bhan set the tone: “We created Future. Female. Forward. to build a space where women in full flow could speak, challenge, and lead. Today, women founders still receive only 2.3% of total capital, globally under 3%, and in India, just 6% in H1 2025. That’s not a pipeline problem; that’s a design flaw.”

From public infrastructure to corporate boardrooms, equity, Bhan emphasized, must be foundational, not a fix applied later. The event followed the national curtain raiser in Mumbai, carrying the momentum into India’s tech capital—known for innovation, but still grappling with gender imbalances in leadership.

Hitendra Dave, CEO of HSBC India, reflected on how organisations must embed equity at the structural level. “We’ve started a conversation—one that challenges us to rethink how we approach inclusion, not as a multi-decadal aspiration, but as deliberate, incremental actions,” he said. Dave highlighted HSBC’s continued support of equity-led dialogues, noting they are not just symbolic, but essential for lasting cultural change.

A standout moment was the fireside chat with Shobana Kamineni, Executive Chairperson of Apollo HealthCo. Titled Prescription for Disruption: The Kamineni Code, she tackled the capital challenge head-on. “Women aren’t short on ideas, intelligence, or ambition, but they’re funded like they are,” she stated, calling for real investment—not just token applause—for women-led ventures.

Pooja Sharma Goyal, Founding CEO of The Udaiti Foundation, contributed an action-oriented perspective through her session on building inclusive frameworks that deliver real-world results.

One of the most anticipated segments was the high-impact panel discussion Purpose, Parity & Performance, featuring top industry names: Bhawna Agarwal (HPE India), Rajesh Varrier (Cognizant India), Jaya Jagadish (AMD India), Meena Ganesh (Portea and Bahaar Foundation), and Sunita Naik (State Street Investment Management). The panel explored not just hiring equity but the structures needed to support women across their entire professional journey.

Rajesh Varrier shared how Cognizant India’s internal initiative Shakti has been instrumental in empowering women from academia to corporate leadership. “Progress is most powerful when supported by allies—those who advocate, amplify, and help open doors,” he added.

Sunita Naik offered a capital and investment perspective. “Inclusion must be hardwired, not performative. At State Street, our CEO is an Asian-American woman, our board is 50% women. This isn’t about eliminating men—it’s about proving that diversity drives results,” she asserted.

A hallmark of the evening was the “FFF ICONS” segment, honouring exceptional individuals from across fields—from Indian Navy officers Lt Commander Roopa Alagirisamy and Lt Commander Dilna K, to national-level athletes, scientists, and social change leaders. Lt Commander Dilna K spoke about solidarity with her fellow officer: “There’s no space to be enemies when you’re at sea facing life and death. That teamwork was the real success of our journey.”

As the event concluded, one message rang loud and clear: fixing the broken rung is not optional. From reshaping promotion pipelines to anchoring fairness in performance evaluations, systemic reform—not cosmetic adjustments—is needed. For institutions aiming to evolve, designing for equity from the ground up is not just good practice, it’s an imperative.