Mukesh Ambani Talks Jio Gamble, DeepTech & 100-Year Goals | McKinsey Interview Highlights

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani says his oil to telecom conglomerate is going to "a deep-tech and advanced manufacturing company" as it ventures into the battery manufacturing and data centre business after building India's leading telecom business Jio and largest media venture merging Disney's India unit with his Viacom18 network.

Ambani, in an interview with global consulting giant McKinsey, also discussed how Jio became the biggest risk he has ever taken and lessons he learned from his father and founder of Reliance Industries, Dhirubhai Ambani.

"I am very loyal to my father’s vision," Reliance patriarch said, adding, "My father Dhirubhai Ambani was a son of a schoolteacher. He saved his first $100—about $1,000 today—working in Yemen as a gas station attendant. He came to Mumbai in 1960 and said, “I will build a business of my own, and make it one of India’s biggest and most consequential.” He started with one table, one chair, a telephone, and that $100 as capital."

Today, the company is a Rs 20.05 trillion in market value with interest in energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. According to Forbes, Mukesh Ambani has a net worth of over $111.9 billion dollars. Ambani has expanded Reliance into green energy. The company will be investing $80 billion over the next 10–15 years on renewable energy and building a new complex next to its refinery. Here are the 5 top highlights From Ambani's Interview:

Jio Biggest Risk

"The biggest risk we have taken so far was Jio. At the time, it was our own money that we were investing, and I was the majority shareholder. Our worst-case scenario was that it might not work out financially because some analysts thought India wasn’t ready for the most advanced digital technology," Mukesh Ambani said.

Adding that he told Reliance's board, “In the worst case, we will not earn much return. That’s okay because it’s our own money. But then, as Reliance, this will be the best philanthropy that we will have ever done in India because we will have digitized India, and thereby completely transformed India.”

Make Reliance Deep-Tech Company

Mukesh Ambani told McKinsey Asia Chairman Gautam Kumra that Reliance is going to be a deep-tech and advanced manufacturing company. Highlighting the company's telecom journey, he said Reliance built its 5G infrastructure in-house—covering core, hardware, and software—with only 20% assistance from Ericsson and Nokia.

Ambani said this gave Reliance technological capabilities and the confidence to launch its own services in the market.

Approach to New Business

Mukesh Ambani shared how Reliance is shaping its future around cutting-edge technology, green energy, and long-term nation-building.

Ambani also spoke of Reliance’s newest venture in clean energy, “We are building one of the world’s largest manufacturing ecosystems for green and clean energy… solar, batteries, hydrogen, bio-energy and much more.” He described it as Reliance’s contribution to saving the planet from the climate crisis.

On attracting AI talent, Ambani said, “When you make OpenAI or other [artificial] intelligence, the same 500 people work on it. They go where the purpose aligns.” He added that Reliance has defined its AI mission as solving complex societal problems and creating national wealth—“This has a compelling appeal on many bright minds. We are attracting the best people.”

Lessons from Dhirubhai Ambani

"My father used to say that if you want to start a business to be a billionaire, you are an idiot; you will never get there. If you want to start a business to impact a billion people, then you have a good chance of success, and, as a by-product, you can make a reasonable amount of money. That’s in the DNA of Reliance," Reliance Industries Chairman said. He credited his father’s bold bet on polyester in the 1960s as the foundation of Reliance’s industrial scale and innovation-driven model.

Reliance's 100 Year Goal

Looking ahead, Ambani said, “Reliance is a process. It’s an institution that should last.” As the company nears its 50th anniversary in 2027, he reaffirmed his commitment to making sure “Reliance will continue to serve India and humanity even after completing 100 years.”