Riyadah: From National Vision to Global Impact with Rajit Nanda - 2026 Cosmic Conference LinkedIn Live Session

About the Session

This session explores what it means to lead at the intersection of national ambition 

and global impact. It unpacks how leaders build, integrate, and scale simultaneously 

in environments where systems, talent, and industries are still evolving.

At its core, it reframes leadership as the ability to navigate complexity, align diverse worlds, and act without precedent.

Rajit is the CEO of DataVolt, a tech scale-up pioneering the development and operations of next-generation data centers. He has over 28 years of experience driving transformative change across multiple organizations. Previously, as the CIO of ACWA Power and one of the founding employees, he played a pivotal role in taking it from a handful to more than 4,000 employees, and scaling the company’s global presence, overseeing its remarkable growth and innovation. 

Key Takeaways

1. The Difference Between Clarity and Uncertainty

Leaders operating in high-growth environments are often required to build and scale 

at the same time. A key distinction in these environments is that clarity does not always mean certainty. Clarity is about having a strong sense of direction grounded in values

and first principles, even when data is incomplete.

In Rajit’s experience, this means providing directional confidence to teams without waiting for perfect answers, while creating a culture where ambiguity is normalized

and ownership is distributed.

2. Crisis as a Catalyst: From Reaction to Opportunity

In moments of crisis, effective leadership is less about reacting quickly and more about responding structurally. The ability to break down complexity, mobilize teams, and explore multiple pathways becomes critical.

During COVID, Rajit and his team were managing large scale infrastructure projects amid severe global supply chain disruptions. Instead of reacting defensively, they created a dedicated crisis response structure, met regularly, and broke challenges into smaller, solvable components.

The lesson is clear: confidence in uncertainty does not come from having the answer, 

but from building the capability to find one.

3. Cherish:The Dimension Beyond Thriving

Beyond enduring, adapting, and thriving, Rajit offered a fourth dimension: cherish.

“As leaders, we often focus on what needs to be delivered next and forget to reflect on what has already been built,” Rajit explained that what truly matters over time is not just performance, it is the institutions, trust, and collective belief that are created along the way.

Leadership should be measured by what endures beyond a leader’s tenure.

Protecting culture and values is not a byproduct of success; it is part of the work itself.

Rajit defined cherishing as pausing to recognize what has been built, and ensuring that it continues to hold meaning and strength for those who come after.

4. Building from the Region to the World

Building globally today is about navigating fundamentally different systems, expectations, and ways of operating. The GCC offers a unique starting point for this, with its convergence of vision, capital, and execution speed. Increasingly, organizations from the region are not just participating in the global economy, but shaping it.

However, scaling globally from this context requires more than ambition. It demands

the ability to balance a global mindset with strong local roots and values. A defining characteristic of this model is a long-term orientation (often described as “patient capital”), which allows organizations to operate with consistency and conviction over time.

When scaling globally, leaders also navigate differences in worldviews. In the GCC region, business is relationship-led, whereas elsewhere it may be transactional or process-driven. These differences influence communication, leadership style, and decision-making.

The role of leaders, then, is not to eliminate these differences, but to integrate them - creating a shared direction where these tensions become a source of strength, not friction.

6. Designing Culture & Capability for Scalable Global Integration

Culture, Not Structure, Is the Binding Mechanism at Scale

As organizations expand across domains and geographies, the primary integration challenge shifts from technical coordination to cultural cohesion.

In DataVolt’s case, bringing together teams across energy, data centers, and computing required more than aligning expertise; it required creating conditions for mutual understanding, cross-domain learning, and effective collaboration. Integration, therefore, becomes a sustained leadership discipline, not a discrete initiative.

Talent Scarcity Forces a Shift from Hiring to Capability Building

Global expansion is increasingly constrained by access to specialized talent, particularly in emerging and highly technical fields.

In Rajit’s experience, expansion decisions were driven by a global shortage of specialized talent. Rather than relying solely on hiring, the focus shifted to building global capability centers in key markets. For example, in Mumbai, a high-performing team was established within a year, not just through recruitment, but through deliberate integration.

Integration Extends Beyond Onboarding into System Design

Traditional onboarding models are insufficient in distributed, fast-scaling organizations. Sustained integration requires continuous mechanisms such as structured interactions, off-sites, and deliberate cross-team engagement. This is coupled with a conscious effort to remove hierarchical distinctions (e.g., “back office”), reframing all roles as equal contributors to the organization’s objectives.

Culture Building Is an Active, Ongoing Leadership Act

In increasingly diverse and distributed environments, culture does not emerge organically. Leaders actively design and reinforce a shared identity, ensuring individuals feel valued, connected, and aligned to a common mission. The objective moves beyond coordination toward creating a cohesive system where collaboration is both enabled and expected.

7. Leadership Lessons from the Region

From Rajit’s experience in the region, several leadership principles stand out to him:

• Boldness in vision is essential. Execution follows vision.

• Speed is a strategic advantage and a key differentiator.

• Relationships matter deeply. They shape trust, reputation, and long-term success.

As Rajit reflects “counterparties remember the quality, dedication, and authenticity of how you show up. Over time, this becomes a powerful foundation for future opportunities.”

8. Lightning Round

What keeps you grounded?

Remembering the responsibility you have, for the vision and for the people.

What helps you be limitless?

 There are two things:

• From within, it is curiosity and the power of imagination that I bring to the table.

• From the outside, it is about surrounding yourself with people who challenge you, who bring diverse views, and who you recognize as smarter than you. That should not create insecurity; it should be something you learn to leverage as a leader.

What is one leadership quality from the Arab world that the rest of the world can learn from?

• Patience, combined with ambition

• Respect for relationships. Understanding the power of relationships is critical.

• I would also add hospitality. The importance of hospitality in this culture is something very unique, and it teaches you trust and respect in a very profound way.

Based on our conversation, what are the top three things you would advise leaders to do right now?

• First, recognize that uncertainty is part of the game. It is important to embrace it rather than be afraid of it.

• Second, invest in people and systems that outlast the cycle - that is your path to creating something enduring.

• Third, have a long-term vision and be very consistent in how you communicate it. Over time, you will find the right people who believe in it and will help you realize it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TlcAukcupE

About Cosmic Centaurs

Cosmic Centaurs is an organizational and leadership development consultancy helping leaders and leadership teams make better decisions and drive sustainable change.

The Cosmic Conference is our annual, open platform for learning, reflection, and connection, bringing together leaders, thinkers, and practitioners to explore the questions that matter most to leadership today.

You can listen to this session as a podcast here.