
The Best Business Books of 2025
Ten essential reads on money, leadership, and navigating a changing world

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Operating Partner | Advent International
Shivakumar is Operating Partner at Advent International. Before this, he was President (Corporate Strategy and Business Development) at Aditya Birla Group. Earlier assignments include: Chairman & CEO at Pepsico India and prior to that, Managing Director at Nokia India. Before joining Nokia, he worked with consumer electronics maker Philips and top consumer goods firm Hindustan Unilever. He is an engineer from IIT Chennai and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.
Shivakumar has written three books: Reflections - a collection of Shivs articles; The Right Choice - Resolving Ten Career Dilemmas; and The Art of Management. The latter two are business bestsellers.

Ten essential reads on money, leadership, and navigating a changing world

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from the book ‘Say It Well’ by Terry Szuplat, Barack Obama’s speechwriter

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson’s new book, ‘Like’

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from General Stanley McChrystal’s new book ‘On Character: Choices That Define a Life’. The book is in Shivakumar’s list of best books of summer 2025

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

On what makes a leader, how to stop wasting energy on the wrong things, speaking well, the history of attention, understanding India’s economic planning, and more

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from The Economist’s report ‘The World Ahead 2025’

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

The best books of the year on how the past informs the future, tackling tough situations, and technology

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from economist John Kay’s new book ‘The Corporation in the 21st Century’

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from Yuval Noah Harari’s book ‘Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI’

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International

Insights from Herminia Ibarra’s book, ‘working Identity’

D Shivakumar
Operating Partner | Advent International