All Things Talent February 2026 Edition

The 1% Premium Talent: How Talent Gurus Are Shaping the Future of High-Impact Hiring

What really defines premium talent today?

Is it rare skills? Business impact? The ability to learn faster than the market shifts? Or is it something more nuanced — a mindset that separates the top 1% from the rest?

The February 2026 edition of All Things Talent explores this emerging reality of the 1% premium talent — professionals who are not just employable, but indispensable. The ones organisations are redesigning hiring models for. The ones leaders are building succession pipelines around. The ones shaping innovation agendas.

Backed by insights from 2,000 jobseekers and 300 talent experts, this edition examines how talent leaders are thinking about premium hiring — what they prioritise, where perceptions diverge, and how the bar for “top talent” is being quietly but decisively raised.

Because premium hiring today isn’t about paying more.
It’s about identifying sharper. Developing smarter. And leading differently.

If the future belongs to the top 1%, this issue looks at the people building them.

Cover Story

The State of Premium Hiring in India

What makes talent “premium” in 2026? Is it rare skills, business impact, cultural agility, or all of the above?

Our flagship cover story unpacks exclusive survey insights from jobseekers and talent leaders across industries to reveal:

• How organisations are redefining premium talent

• The widening perception gap between recruiters and candidates

• Why skills and adaptability are overtaking brand names

• Compensation, flexibility and career acceleration trends

• What premium candidates expect beyond pay

If hiring is becoming more precise, this is the blueprint.

Key Highlights from This Edition

• Exclusive Survey Insights: 2,000 jobseekers & 300 talent experts share what premium hiring really looks like in India today

• Deep-Dive Interviews: Senior HR and talent leaders decode how they identify and nurture high-impact talent

• Opinion Pieces: Strategic perspectives on building elite pipelines in a skill-first economy

• Special Feature: The evolving psychology of high-performing candidates

• Thought-Leader Columns: Where AI, data and human judgement intersect in premium hiring

Leadership Perspectives: Vision & Strategy

Vijayant Rai
Managing Director – India, Snowflake
On Snowflake’s AI-Driven Talent Vision & India’s Strategic Role
A conversation on building India into a global AI talent hub and redefining premium talent strategies at scale.

Regina Thomas
Head – Talent Acquisition, India, Encora
The Tech Talent Challenge: Why Premium Talent Is Harder to Find
Insights on the rising competition for high-impact tech talent and practical approaches to attract and retain them.

Senior Talent Leadership: Experience & Trends

Suman Kumar Ghosh
CHRO, Bajaj Electricals Limited
Future-Forward — Premium Talent in 2030
A forward-looking view on the talent landscape, capabilities that will matter by 2030, and how organisations must prepare.

Industry-Specific Talent Conversations

Mugdha Mahambrey
General Manager – HR, Chalet Hotels Ltd.
The Future of Hospitality Talent: Reskilling for a Tech-Enhanced Guest Journey
Exploration of reskilling and talent readiness for a technology-enhanced guest experience in hospitality.

Special Feature

When Engineers Outgrow Engineering: Keeping Innovators Engaged and Growing

Navaneet Mishra
SVP & Head, Hexagon R&D India

Prashanth Nanjundappa
VP – Product Development, Progress Software

Sandeep Gupta
Executive Director, JPMorgan

Yadhu Kishore Nandikolla
Senior HR Director, Evernorth Health Services India

A multi-perspective feature examining how organisations can retain, engage and grow high-performing engineers whose aspirations extend beyond traditional technical roles.

Talent Challenges & Culture

Maria Rajesh
CHRO, Embassy Development Ltd.
Silent Skill Erosion: Why Senior Professionals Plateau Without Continuous Upskilling
An exploration of how skill decay impacts innovation and what talent teams are doing to counter it.

Recruitment Craft & High-Impact Hiring

Kalyan Vadrevu
Senior Director of Talent Acquisition, EPAM Systems India Pvt. Ltd.
Targets, Tech, and Transformation: The Evolving Craft of Recruiting
A tactical yet strategic conversation on how recruitment excellence adapts to evolving premium talent demands.

Nida Khanam
Head HR, Socomec, Greater India Region
The Human Side of High-Impact Hiring
Lessons on balancing human judgement with data in cultivating high-impact hires.