At sixteen, Avinash Kaul lost his home. At thirty-six, he became a CEO. At fifty-three, he stepped away from the boardroom to tell the story of everything in between. That story became The Next Mountain, a deeply personal memoir for anyone still climbing their own mountain.
He left Kashmir on the night of 19 January 1990. His father put him on a crowded bus out of the city, and he rode on the engine bonnet because there were no seats left, the metal burning through his clothes in the freezing night air. By dawn, he was a refugee. In Jammu, he slept in a neighbour’s garage, stood in a refugee registration line for his family’s ration of rice, and studied in a makeshift government school housed in tents.
From there, he completed his engineering degree, graduating at the top of his class, before earning an MBA from Sydenham Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai. Over the next three decades, he built a career across J. Walter Thompson (HTA), Discovery Communications, Star TV, NDTV, Times Television Network and Network18, serving as CEO for sixteen years in one of the world’s most demanding news media environments. He most recently served as CEO, Network18 (Broadcast & Publishing), and Managing Director, A+E Networks | TV18, where he led CNBC-TV18, CNN-News18, History TV18 and Forbes India. He was named News Television CEO of the Year at ENBA 2019, and sits on the Managing Committee of The Advertising Club, Bombay.
The Next Mountain: Notes on Resilience, Leadership and Purpose (HarperCollins), written with Priya Kumar, is the story of that climb. The ideas in the book were not borrowed from theories or learned in classrooms. They began on school climbing camps in the mountains of Kashmir, where preparation mattered, teamwork mattered and ego did not. Life tested those lessons over the decades that followed.
Today, Avinash speaks on news, media and leadership, moderates conversations with leaders, and writes.
SIGNATURE KEYNOTES
FOR INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCES
Exile, Ambition, and the Next Mountain
At sixteen, he fled Kashmir with almost nothing. He went on to run the Indian homes of CNN, CNBC, Forbes and History, then walked away at the top. A story of conflict, ambition and reinvention for anyone climbing their own mountain.
Resilience & Reinvention
What it takes to lose everything and start again. Avinash tells the story plainly: the slow, unglamorous work of rebuilding when your life no longer looks like the plan you made for it.
Leadership & the Long Climb
Leadership from the inside, told by someone who reached the top without a map or a mentor: the calls you make alone, the teams you build so the work outlasts you, and how quiet the top can get.
The Next Mountain: Purpose Beyond the Peak
Drawn from his book: what happens after the summit? Why we climb, when turning back is the wiser move, and why the way down deserves as much thought as the way up.
SPEAKING TOPICS
News: The Past, the Present and the Future
How news is made and paid for, why trust has become its scarcest asset, and where news goes next.
Media, Advertising and AI
What is really changing in TV and digital, how brands and media work together, and what AI will change.
Leading and Managing Businesses in a VUCA World
Growing, managing costs, making the hard calls and keeping people steady when nothing stays still.
After the Corner Office
Reinvention and purpose for leaders who have already won, and how to build what comes next.
MODERATOR
• Indomitable, Bombay Stock Exchange. Moderated the launch of Arundhati Bhattacharya’s book with Monika Halan and Navya Naveli Nanda; chief guest Mukesh Ambani.
• Book of Daily Brilliance, Soho House Mumbai. In conversation with Pamela Puja Kirpalani at her book launch.
THE BOOK
The Next Mountain, co-authored with Priya Kumar.
A #1 Amazon.in Best Seller in six categories: Biographies & Autobiographies, True Accounts, Cinema & Broadcast, Industries, Film & Television and Journalism Books. HarperCollins sent it back to print within ten days of launch.
Also on Audible. Available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
SELECTED STAGES, MENTORING & MEDIA
• The Marketing Academy, London. Fireside chat with CEO Sherilyn Shackell (Mumbai, 2026); mentor on the 2026 Global Fellowship Program.
• Stages. BMW Deutsche Motoren; e4m English Journalism Conference 2026; Asia Video Summit; Chief Guest, LIT School Bengaluru and Chandigarh University AI Fest; invited leader, India Leaders’ Retreat, Gulmarg.
• Podcasts and media. The PVT Show, TS POD, RJ Umar Nisar, BIG FM, Red FM, NDTV and exchange4media.
