PrintWeek India will host the inaugural edition of its ‘Leaders and Legends’ forum on 9 June at The Westin Mumbai Garden City. The invite-only industry event will bring together senior professionals from the print, packaging and publishing sectors alongside honourees from the publication’s Power 100, Forty Under 40 and Women to Watch initiatives.
Kevin Costello, chief executive of Haymarket Media Group, will attend the event as chief guest alongside industry leaders, emerging professionals and award recipients.
The full-day forum will include the unveiling of the latest Power 100 list by Kevin Costello, Ashish Bhushan and Noel D'Cunha. The annual list recognises influential leaders across India’s print and packaging sectors.
D'Cunha said, “These leaders successfully navigated the 2025–26 print bazaar's challenges, including the West Asia war, the soaring costs and skills gaps by prioritising strategic investment, green innovation, and resilient business systems.”
The event programme will also feature a panel discussion moderated by D'Cunha focusing on industry priorities, operational challenges and business direction for the year ahead.
As part of the Forty Under 40 segment, PrintWeek will host a ‘Show and Tell’ session where young professionals from the industry will present projects and case studies across print and packaging categories.
Rahul Kumar said, “Every year, thousands of print and packaging jobs are produced. Some are routine. Some are forgettable. And some make you stop and look again. The Show and Tell will celebrate those moments which make us go aha.”
The Women to Watch 2026 segment will include the felicitation of 18 winners from the initiative’s fourth edition. The programme will also feature a panel discussion moderated by Sai Deepthi Pavani with four Women to Watch 2026 winners.
Pavani said, “Taking off from the success of our first panel discussion at the PrintWeek Awards, we are hosting our second panel discussion with the Women to Watch Awards and this time the winners will also be felicitated at the event. The entries received definitely reflect the industry's belief in the awards.”
PrintWeek said the forum has received support from industry partners including GEW, Provin Technos, Print Expo and Media Expo, and Bindwel Technologies.
Discussing the broader industry context, Dibyajyoti Sarma said, “The Leaders and Legends is about celebrating the micro moments of success. The past few months have been very challenging, in all this, The Power 100 winners, the Forty Under 40 candidates, and the Women to Watch winners have aimed high. Be it smart packaging tags, or adding 1,000 education book titles, or a 3,000-tonne corrugated plant, these signal global ambitions.”
Kumar added, “It has been a tough year, and these leaders proved resilience means transformation and building a future with sustainable cartons, labels, and books, one steady step at a time.”
According to PrintWeek, the event has been curated specifically for senior professionals across print, publishing and packaging industries. Attendance confirmations will be shared with selected participants following a review process aimed at ensuring a relevant networking and discussion environment for attendees.
PrintWeek said the forum will focus on leadership, innovation, sustainability and industry transformation within India’s print and packaging ecosystem.
