The Thought Arbitrage (TA) group was set up in 2011. TA is propelled by the belief that tomorrow’s arbitrage will have less to do with labour, cost and capital and more to do with knowledge, ideas and thought. Our fundamental objective is to be an intellectual link between business and society wherein business can be more responsive to the needs of society and can add greater value, while society can create an environment in which business can thrive.

Independence is the cornerstone of TA’s philosophy which permeates the research process, governance structure and operating workflows. Intentionally, the research produced by TA is funded by a wide spectrum of Indian and global companies, firms and organisations who share its vision and goal of building intellectual capital for the country.

TA was set up by Kaushik Dutta and Kshama Kaushik, both Chartered Accountants by qualification. Kaushik spent over 20 years at PriceWaterHouse Coopers, of which 18 years were spent as a senior partner at the firm. After spending 2 decades in the corporate world as a senior partner, Kaushik decided to do something different and “give back” to society in the form of intellectual labour. He therefore quit PwC and started TA with Kshama. Apart from being a co-founder of TA, Kaushik also sits on and chairs the board of some of India’s largest enterprises and start-ups such as Zomato, Ather Energy, PB Fintech Limited, BharatPe, Zinka Logistics Solutions Limited, Hero FinCorp, Shiprocket etc. Earlier, he served as a director on the boards of HCL Infosystems and NDTV. His illustrious experience of serving on numerous boards also led Kaushik to author ‘Handbook for Independent Directors (first and second edition)’ (Lexis Nexis).

Kshama started her career at Coopers and Lybrand and went on to work several years in corporate financial management. Thereafter, she devoted the next 13 years toward writing and research and co-authored two books during that span of time – Corporate Governance; Myth to Reality (LexisNexis) and India Means Business (Oxford University Press). When Kaushik quit PwC, Kshama shared his vision of creating an intellectual enterprise which aids in creating a holistic and sustainable economy. Kshama also serves as a director on the board of several companies such as HDFC Education, Baghpat Steel, Delhi Safe Deposit Company Ltd (NBFC) and serves as a trustee of Delhi Chinmaya Mission. Kshama has authored numerous books, the latest being CSR in India – Steering Business towards Social Change (LexisNexis).

Over the past 15 years, TA’s illustrious journey has been fuelled by the support of a fantastic team and numerous research and thought partners and collaborators. TA looks forward to continuing towards contributing towards independent thought leadership and corporate governance in the coming decades.