Witness the seismic shift in the work landscape, propelled by rapid technological progress embracing human-centric legacy and tech-focused advancement. Join us at SHRM Tech 24, where we delve into cutting-edge Work-Tech ideas to empower organizations. Illuminate your path to success through groundbreaking innovations and the latest tech trends. Together, let’s forge new frontiers, building not just better workplaces but a truly transformative world.
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Here’s what you’ll take back:
Managing Director
Bajaj Auto Ltd.
Rajiv Bajaj graduated first in class, with distinction, in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune in 1988, and then completed his masters in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Warwick in 1991.
He has since worked at Bajaj Auto in the areas of Manufacturing & Supply Chain (1990-95), R&D and Engineering (1995-2000), and Marketing and Sales (2000-2005). He has served on the board of Bajaj Auto Ltd since March 2002 and has been its Managing Director since April 2005.
His current focus is building a brand-centred strategy at Bajaj Auto with the objective of achieving its vision of being one of the world’s leading motorcycle & electric vehicle manufacturers.
Conference Chair, Operating Partner
Advent International Private Equity
D. Shivakumar, or Shiv as he is popularly known, is a Bangalore born leader and a management thinker.
He is currently Operating Partner at Advent International Private Equity. Previously, Shiv has been Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy at Aditya Birla Group, and Chairperson & Chief Executive Officer at PepsiCo Holdings Private Limited, India. Prior to that he was CEO for emerging markets at Nokia.
Shiv started his career as a management trainee in the Consumer Products Division at Hindustan Ciba Geigy before shifting to Hindustan Unilever Limited where he spent 19 years in sales, marketing and general management positions. He moved to Philips, India as Chief Executive Officer of the consumer electronics division in 2003.
Shiv joined Nokia in 2006 as the Managing Director, India. Under his management, Nokia built its entire services portfolio, including Nokia Life Tools. He was also instrumental in pushing low-cost mobile devices across rural India; making Nokia a dominant brand in India. He is credited for driving Nokia’s brand from No. 71 to No. 1 in the country. He was instrumental in making Nokia one of the top most trusted brands. Shiv moved as Sr. Vice President, Emerging Markets (India, Middle East, Africa) in 2011. This market accounts for 40% of Nokia’s global business and comprises of around 90 countries. His contribution during this time have become case studies at Harvard University, ISB and other Ivy League Institutes.
In 2013, Shivakumar was appointed as the Chairperson & CEO of PepsiCo Holdings Private Limited, India where he managed brand portfolios across beverages, snacks and nutrition. He has been the driving force in bringing PepsiCo’s nutrition portfolio to the forefront with new launches under the Quaker and Tropicana brands. He is known for being the key driver for portfolio transformation and deepen consumer engagement with flagship brands. Apart from overseeing India operations, he also managed PepsiCo’s franchise business across Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
As of January 2018, Shivakumar has joined Aditya Birla Group as the Group Executive President, Corporate Strategy. Aditya Birla Group is one of the largest Indian conglomerates with businesses spread across telecommunications, cement, chemicals, mining, textiles, financial services, retail and e-commerce, among others, in 36 countries.
SHRM-SCP
Chief Commercial Officer SHRM
Nick Schacht is a highly experienced executive with more than three decades of experience in professional services, education, and corporate learning and development. He has a history of driving product innovation, growth and profitability, and he has led organizations operating worldwide.
Schacht is Chief Global Development Officer for SHRM, the world’s largest HR professional society. Before joining SHRM, he was the founder and CEO of KnowCyber, a learning and development company focused on improving the cybersecurity-related skills of people in all types of organizations worldwide. Prior to KnowCyber, he was President and Chief Operating Officer for PetroSkills, a provider of training and development services to the worldwide petroleum industry. Prior to that, he was CEO and President of Learning Tree International, a publicly traded provider of IT and management learning and development. Schacht was also the President of Global Learning Systems, a start-up focused on e-Learning and digital content. He served in a variety of capacities at ESI International, culminating in his role as President when ESI was sold to the Institute for International Research (IIR) and then as Group President for the Americas for IIR. He has been a Research Fellow at the Logistics Management Institute, and began his career as a U.S. Navy Supply Officer, on the headquarters staff of the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program.
Schacht graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy, and holds Master’s degrees in Administration from the University of Maryland University College and Information Systems Technology from The George Washington University.
CEO
SHRM India, APAC & MENA
Achal Khanna is the CEO for SHRM India, APAC & MENA. SHRM India is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which is the world’s largest association devoted to human resource management with more than 3,00,000 HR and business executive members in 165 countries.
Achal is responsible for leading the India operations of SHRM, as well as Asia Pacific operations including Middle-East. She serves on the global SHRM Leadership Team and is responsible for building the brand, expanding its business and developing professional relationships with government agencies, and other HR and business associations in the region.
Achal has over 30 years of work experience. Prior to joining SHRM, she was Managing Director for Kelly India operations; Vice President for GE; and Country Manager for Polaroid India. She has also worked with Dupont, ITC and Cosmo Group in various capacities.
She is a recipient of the “Best Women Executive in India” award.
Achal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics; a Master’s Degree in English Literature and she is an MBA from Delhi.
Co-Founder
iSPIRT Foundation
Sharad's mantra is to lead big and small companies through orbit change. He has three decades of experience in the Internet, Enterprise Software, and Digital Infrastructure markets and is a prominent voice in India's technology ecosystem.
Sharad is a passionate evangelist of the software product ecosystem in India. He co-founded iSPIRT Foundation, a non-profit technology think tank devoted to making India a product nation. Earlier, he Chaired NASSCOM Product Forum in its formative years and was a member of the NASSCOM Executive Council from 2009-13.
Sharad co-founded Teltier Technologies Inc., a wireless infrastructure startup now part of CISCO, and is an active technology angel investor with over two dozen investments. He was also instrumental in the success of India's first IP focussed fund, India Innovation Fund.
Sharad has held several senior R&D executive positions with leading technology companies, including Yahoo, VERITAS Software, Symantec, Lucent Technologies, and AT&T. Zinnov gave him the R&D Visionary Award in 2008 for his work on creating a strong MNC R&D footprint in India.
Sharad is a member of National Startup Advisory Council and SEBI's Financial and Regulatory Technology Committee. He has also served on RBI's UK Sinha MSME Committee and National Digital Payments Committee.
Sharad got interested in kernel software development while doing his Electrical Engineering at Delhi College of Engineering. He started India's first Student Minicomputer Club in 1984 as served as the Chairperson of the IEEE Student Chapter.
Chief Commercial Officer
International Cricket Council
Anurag Dahiya serves as the Chief Commercial Officer for the International Cricket Council (ICC), responsible for leading the commercial strategy and all related components for global cricket. Operating from Dubai, his team delivers cricket events worldwide, handles media rights and commercial partnerships, and oversees broadcast production for all ICC events. Anurag's extensive background includes significant roles at Singtel and a 15-year stint at Fox International, showcasing his in-depth video content strategy and operations expertise. Anurag, an alumnus of PEC, Chandigarh with a BE in Computer Science & Engineering, also holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.
Managing Director
3M India
Ramesh is a 30+ year veteran with 3M, with a uniquely global business and cross-cultural leadership perspective. He has lived and worked in the US, the Philippines and China for close to fifteen years. During his assignment in China between 2014 and 2019, he had responsibility for 3M’s industrial business across all of Asia Pacific.
He currently serves as the Managing Director of 3M India. Prior to joining 3M, he worked at an offshore oil production platform, and at a leading automotive parts and two wheeler manufacturer in India.
He holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He currently serves on the India Advisory Council of US- India Business Council
(USIBC) and he is also a member of CII Southern Region State Council. He previously served as Chairman of the CII Karnataka State Council for 2021-22.
Managing Director
Tally Solutions
Tejas Goenka is the Managing Director at Tally Solutions, working on making connected business environment a reality for small and medium businesses via the next generation Tally product roadmap. Seeing the tremendous opportunity to positively impact the lives of millions of entrepreneurs across the globe he is expanding Tally’s footprint beyond India to the Middle East, Africa, South-East Asia, United States and Canada.
Tejas’ customer centric approach has driven Tally’s strong selling and servicing partner network, that comprises over 28,000 partners, to a more accountable, higher quality network resulting in aggressive business growth. Living the philosophy of simplifying the lives of MSMEs with technology and products made for them, Tejas led Tally’s transition into the GST era with the enhanced product capability and distribution network , taking Tally to a 2 million+ strong license base.
An alumnus of University of Pennsylvania, he joined Tally in 2011. Tejas enjoys reading, travelling and has an avid interest in Math.
CEO & MD
Luminous Power Technologies
As a visionary CEO in the energy and solar space at Luminous Power Technologies, Preeti Bajaj is actively promoting and implementing green initiatives, leading innovation, and advocating for sustainable policies to secure a cleaner future. She is driving the purpose of the organisation which is to build a sustainable planet and a trusted consumer brand along with taking the company to the next frontier of growth in international markets.
Preeti comes with nearly two decades of experience in both the Australian and global business environments. Throughout her career, she has successfully led enterprises of various scales, including multinationals, ASX listed corporates, and startups, helping them navigate the complexities of today's business landscape. Prior to her role at Luminous, she held the position of Australia & New Zealand CEO and MD for Modis Australia, a part of the Adecco Group. Additionally, she served as CEO of Clipsal Solar, a venture by Schneider Electric.
In 2011, Preeti won the AFR's Young Executive of the Year award. Never afraid to push a boundary, Preeti has also championed many firsts during her career as a young and successful professional. She was also awarded the Scholarship for the Authentic Leadership Program at Harvard by Chief Executive Women in 2017.
Preeti completed her MBA from Swinburne University and her Master’s in Applied Finance from Macquarie University, Australia. She stands as an exemplar of core values, with diversity, inclusion, and sustainability at the heart of her mission to foster a brighter and more equitable future for all. Recently, Preeti won the prestigious CEO of the Year 2023 Award by The Machinist.
Chairperson & Group CEO
Grey Group India
With over 21 years of marketing and advertising experience, and a trans-national career, across India and the Silicon Valley of America, Anusha is the co-founder and CEO of Autumn Worldwide, a hyper-specialized Digital Marketing firm. In Oct of 2018, Grey Group, a WPP company acquired majority stake in Autumn Worldwide. As of Jan 2020, Anusha has been promoted as Chairperson and Group CEO of Grey Group India, which includes both Grey and AutumnGrey.
In her current role, Anusha is responsible for Organizational Growth, Innovations, Planning and Operations. She is on the board of ASCI, AAAI and a council member with AIMA Aspire, a Women’s Business and Leadership Council. Anusha is on the prominent list of IMPACTs 50 most Influential WOMEN 2020 and 2022; the Economic Times Women Ahead award, Corporate Excellence Award for Women at Work and many more.
Prior to co-founding Autumn Worldwide in 2005, Anusha has held a number of progressive assignments in advertising & marketing and has served for brands like Intel, Titan, Unilever, Honeywell et-cetera and in globally reputed agencies, Lowe and Euro RSCG.
Group Head - Agri & IT Businesses
ITC Limited
Mr Sivakumar is a Member of the Corporate Management Committee of ITC Limited and oversees the Group’s Agri and IT Businesses. He also holds responsibility for ITC’s Sustainability and Social Investments Programmes.
A global exemplar in Sustainability, ITC is the only enterprise in the world of comparable dimensions to be carbon-positive, water-positive and solid waste recycling positive for nearly two decades now. ITC’s value chains support over 6 million sustainable livelihoods.
Sivakumar is well known as the architect of ITC e-Choupal, the pioneering farmer empowerment initiative that benefits over 4 million small farmers through customised agri-extension and market linkage services, while providing a unique source of competitive advantage to ITC's packaged foods business.
Currently in its Version 4.0, ITC e-Choupal integrates a range of partners such as government agencies, farm input companies and agritech startups on a farmer-centric phygital platform titled ITCMAARS.
Sivakumar is the Chairman of the National Agriculture Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He also serves on several committees of the Government of India.
Topper of the Class of 1983 from the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA), Sivakumar served a farmers' cooperative for six years before joining ITC in 1989. He can be reached at @S_Sivakumar on X (formerly Twitter)
CEO
VML India
With over 25 years of marketing and advertising expertise, Babita is the CEO for VML India, an agency responsible for some of the market’s most successful campaigns and connected brand experiences; awarded globally for work such as Maxx Flash ‘The Killer Pack’ and The Times of India ‘Unplastic India’.
With a principal office in Mumbai, the market brings together 1400+ brand experience, commerce and technology experts across Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Noida, Gurgaon
Previously, Babita led WPP's Ford International Market Group- across an array of international markets, including Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, India, the Middle East, and South Africa. She also served a dual role, as an Executive Director at VML Thailand (previously VMLY&R), as she was increasingly involved beyond Ford, in leveraging the agency’s strengths for growth.
Babita’s professional journey commenced as a Management Trainee at Wunderman Thompson in India, where she dedicated her efforts from 1996 to 2022. Babita’s portfolio in WT was a mix of global and local businesses- from Pepsico, Unilever, Nestle, Kellogg’s to Godrej, Kotak Mahindra, Reliance and Aditya Birla. In addition to her role, she has had the privilege of serving as a British Chevening Scholar, sharing insights as a speaker at institutions like Harvard Business School, the Women Economic Forum in Geneva, and is a mentor for young professionals as part of WPP Stella India.
Her unwavering passion lies in modern marketing and transformation-leveraging the nexus of consumer behavior, culture, and technology for innovative solutions that generate growth and equity.
In addition to her role, she has had the privilege of winning the British Chevening Scholarship in 2004, for a Women and Leadership Course in the U.K.
Babita is currently based in Mumbai.
Managing Director – Glass & Glass Solutions
Saint-Gobain India
Starting his career with Grindwell Group which later became a Saint-Gobain company, Unnikrishnan has been playing an important role in the growth and leadership journey of Saint-Gobain's Glass Business in India.
With rich experience of over 31 years in the Industry, Unnikrishnan now is the Managing Director of Saint-Gobain India Pvt Ltd (Glass & Glass Solutions Business).
Apart from his professional role at Saint-Gobain, he is a thought leader across various fora in the areas of Sustainability and Policy development. He is Vice Chairman of CII Tamil Nadu State Council, immediate Past Chairman of CII Chennai Zone, Chairman of CII Green Product Council, Vice-President of Madras Management Association, past Chairman CII TN CEO Forum, Member of lndo-French Chamber of Commerce Governing Council, CII - National Manufacturing Council, Research Council of CSIR-CGCRI and Indian Green Building Council Executive Board.
Co-Founder & Group CEO, PeopleStrong & Taggd, Managing Partner, Caret Capital Board Member, Karmayogi Bharat (India’s Prime Ministers Initiative)
Pankaj is an entrepreneur, who believes in the power of work capital i.e., deploying capital to give meaning and access to work.
He currently serves as the Co-Founder and Group CEO of PeopleStrong, overseeing two independent businesses: PeopleStrong and Taggd. Recently he completed the divestiture of the
Wheebox business, which was acquired by ETS, the world’s largest private nonprofit educational research and measurement organization, known for TOEFL, GRE, and TOEIC.
Managing Partner at Caret Capital, a Venture Capital Fund with a primary focus on startups - powering new value chain of India.
He also serves as the Founder Trustee of YouinYou, a charitable trust dedicated to delivering education to underprivileged children.
Pankaj is an active board member of the Prime Minister's KarmYogi Bharat initiative, actively collaborating with the Government of India to introduce capacity-building measures. He is also on the advisory board of Sunstone Eduversity.
Global Head - Business Operations
Wipro
Sanjeev leads the Global Business Operations team responsible for Talent Supply Chain, Talent Skilling, Global Mobility, Talent Acquisition, TopGear and Business Resilience functions.
Sanjeev is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in leading large, diverse teams, scaling up global Operations, deploying Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking for Operational Excellence and Business Transformation.
Prior to joining Wipro, Sanjeev has held leadership roles at Kyndryl Holdings (IBM spin-off), IBM, Cognizant, and GE. In his previous roles, Sanjeev enabled profitable growth by integrating end-to-end Talent Supply Chain, driving margin expansion, simplifying processes, and strengthening operating rhythm. Sanjeev has been instrumental in setting & scaling up of Global Capability Centers(GCC’s) for GE Capital across India, Philippines, Guatemala, and the turnaround of GE-State Bank of India Credit Card JV as a co-CEO.
Sanjeev is a distinguished alumni from NITIE (National Institute of Industrial Engineering), Mumbai and a certified Master Black Belt from GE.
Deeply committed to making a difference in the community, Sanjeev serves on the Boards of Literacy India and United Way of Bangalore, focusing on education, environment, and empowerment of women.
Founder, House Of Omkar
Founder, Walnut Tree (CMO-on-Demand)
Poonam is a passionate brand evangelist with over two decades of leadership experience of driving integrated communications to build brands, influence policy, shape perceptions.
A storyteller at heart and mind, Poonam has set up CMO-on-Demand consultancy working with organizations, early stage/ mid stage start-ups, across industries to help build the brand story and shape their marketing and communication practice. She enables and empowers them with Go-To-Market strategies as well building inhouse capabilities.
Poonam has also recently joined Digital India as Advisor Brand and Awareness to help them in their brand and communications outreach across the country.
In her last formal role as the Head Marketing at Apple India, she was responsible for building the Apple brand in India which included Product marketing, Marketing and Channel communication, Public Relations for all business lines - iPhone, Mac, iPad and Watch. She helped set up Apple in Education across K-12 and Higher Education as well as reframed their Channel presence across Mono brand, General Trade as well as Ecommerce. In addition, she helped build the Apple presence across developer, music and content ecosystem.
Previously, as Vice President Communications, Corporate Brand and CSR, Poonam was responsible for the image and reputation of all PepsiCo entities in India, across 22 brands spanning from Pepsi, Mt Dew, Lays and Doritos at one end and strong nutrition brands like Quaker, Tropicana at another end. She lead 360 degree consumer connect and engagement across brands through digital, influencer relations and ORM. She was also responsible for driving flagship initiatives focused on providing sustainable models for malnutrition amongst adolescent girls, enhancing PepsiCo’s reputation around positive water balance, 2nd crop program as well as building purpose for key millennial brands – QuakerFeedAChild, highly awarded #ReleaseThePressure for Mirinda.
Prior to her appointment at PepsiCo India, Poonam was the Director Communications and Corporate Marketing at Nokia and was responsible for India, Middle East and Africa, spanning 90 plus countries where she managed the business and brand perception for Nokia in a cross section of emerging, developing and developed markets. Led several smart devices campaigns with multiple, disruptive activities across the Region to rebuild Nokia’s perception in the high-end devices space as well as a lead player in the affordable, yet smart devices space. Pioneered Nokia’s digital presence to become the buzziest brand in the digital arena through extensive blogger engagement as well as cool, out of the box initiatives/ programs. She played a key role in managing the battery crisis for Nokia which later went onto make Nokia the #1 Most Trusted Brand in India. She was also responsible for sponsorships – KKR and IPL, Champions League, film integrations, millennial marketing and engagement as well as building Nokia mindshare in Apps space with “Your Wish Is My App”, world’s first ever App reality show . Poonam was with Nokia for eight years and was a Nokia India Board Member.
Poonam worked with Microsoft India for six and half years where she was heading advertising and public relations for all 6 business units of Microsoft in India. She created the first ever locally developed corporate campaign by Microsoft “Stay Ahead”, a leadership series in 2001 as well as first ever TV campaign for Microsoft India in 2001 on Office XP.
She managed the entire communication strategy (Public Relations, events, alliances and advertising) for senior executive visits such as Bill Gates visit in 2000 and 2002 and Steve Ballmer in 2004, setting benchmarks for the industry. Conceptualized and rolled out “Imagine Cup”, a student developer competition to build solutions for societal challenges which is today a flagship global platform for student developer engagement.
Following her creative pursuits around storytelling, Poonam is also a Film Producer and has set up House of Omkar, a production house that is focussed on creating platforms and telling content rich stories to drive grassroot change through cinema. She debuted as a film producer with her film The Last Color which was in the final eligibility list for the Oscars 2020 and had a theatrical release in Dec 2020 in India. Her second venture, Barefoot Empress, a short documentary is currently winning accolades across film festivals, globally. Currently, she is wrapping up Imaginary Rain with Shabana Azmi, a story of failure, resilience, perseverance, self-discovery and most importantly about hope.
During COVID, she set up EkDesh, a communication platform to help the country battle COVID through robust behaviour change initiatives focussed on mask awareness and compliance, vaccination. The platform is now focussed on girl child education initiatives. For the last few years, she has been working with multiple NGOs to create platforms and sustainable models for bringing girls back to school by providing nutrition and the right tools. She is also a lead Volunteer and Board Member/ Trustee with Project StepOne, a telemedicine start-up focussed on health emergencies.
Poonam is on the board of Bombay Hemp Company and a Mentor to various early to mid stage start ups.
Poonam is an MBA with specialization in Marketing. A dreamer and explorer at heart, she thrives on challenges and loves doing the impossible.
Editorial Consultant
The Hindu Businessline
Chitra Narayanan is an Editorial Consultant with The Hindu Businessline. In her three-decade long journalism career she has done stints with BW (Businessworld), Business Today, Economic Times, Business Standard and written for the Mint and The Telegraph. She has reported widely on marketing strategy, workplaces, entrepreneurship, management and travel & hospitality.
She has authored a book From Oberoi to Oyo, published by Penguin Random House which landscapes the hotel industry in India as well as a book called Fort Pupils, which chronicles the century old story of the Scindia School in Gwalior.
CEO & Co-Founder
Vantage Circle
Partha is the CEO and Co-founder of Vantage Circle. He has over two decades of expertise in product and executive management. Partha has a proven track record of scaling great businesses and was instrumental in developing and launching 99acres.com.
He gained remarkable expertise in various industrial verticals when he worked for Aricent, Hughes Software Systems, and Bharat Electronics. He has gained deep insights in unlocking employee productivity using employee recognition and engagement through his experience with several companies and HR departments. His strategic skills in a learning and entrepreneurial environment, where complexity can require a dive into the content and creativity, problem-solving skills and intelligence are maximally utilized.
Partha is a strong believer in being able to have an impact together with a team. He leads the company with innovative flair, a reason why Vantage Circle enjoys a sustained competitive position in the market. Under Partha's leadership, Vantage Circle has become a globally recognized HR Tech company, establishing itself as one of the leading Employee Rewards and Recognition SaaS-software in India, UAE and North America.
Economic Analyst, Advisor & Author - The Next New
PRANJAL SHARMA is an economic analyst, advisor and author based in New Delhi who focuses on technology, globalisation and emerging markets. He is an advisor to boards, industry associations and international institutions. His third book, ‘The Next New: Navigating The Fifth Industrial Revolution’ is about how sustainability, social impact and technology breakthroughs are collectively disrupting global business models. It was published by HarperCollins in June 2023. He read economics at University of Delhi and specialised in business media at University of Westminster, London. A former head of Bloomberg TV in India, he is a speaker at various fora in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Vice Chancellor
Nayanta University
Dr. Ranjan Banerjee is an alumnus of IIT Bombay and IIM Calcutta and has a doctoral degree from Carlson School of Management, USA. His doctoral thesis won a global award for the best dissertation in B2B Marketing from the ‘Institute for the Study of Business Markets’, Penn State University, USA.
He has worked with leading FMCG companies like Asian Paints, Vadilal and HUL. He was the Founder-CEO of Renaissance Strategic Consultants before becoming the Dean of SPJIMR between June 2015 – March 2021. The institute made rapid strides under his leadership and in 2020, made it to the 36th position globally in the Financial Times Masters in Management ranking, placing third in India.
He has been teaching courses on Marketing, Strategy, Behavioural Economics, Innovation & Design Thinking at leading Indian and international institutes including IIM Calcutta, SPJIMR, The Carlson School, University of Minnesota, Nyenrode, Holland. EBS , Germany, SMU, Singapore, Ashoka University and BITSoM. He has typically been rated as one of the top teachers in every institute he has taught in, receiving perfect median feedback scores (7/7 on all dimensions) for one of his marketing courses at The Carlson School and a perfect score (10/10 on all dimensions) for many of his corporate workshops.
He has co-authored a best-selling book with the noted business leader and author, R Gopalakrishnan on ‘The Made in India Manager’ which was published in November 2018. He has been a TEDx speaker and has been a keynote speaker at multiple national and international forums. The book ‘The Made in India Manager’ was recently awarded the Institute of Directors award for the best book in the Corporate Excellence category.
His research has been presented at Harvard Business School, University of Michigan, HEC Paris, Macquarie University etc. His work has been published in Harvard Business Review , Psychology and Marketing, Economic and Political Weekly, Handbook of Business to Business Marketing etc.
Dr. Banerjee has been awarded The IAC award for "Change Maestro and Institution Builder of the Year" which was selected by a distinguished jury of academics and corporate leaders.
He has been nominated on the global boards of GMAC (The Graduate Management Council) and UNPRME (The Principles for Responsible Management Education, which is a United Nations, supported initiative). He was the only nominee from Indian academia on both these boards.
Dr. Banerjee joined BITSoM in April 2021, a new world class business school under the aegis of BITS Pilani, in April as its founding Dean. BITS Pilani is a deemed university and has been recognized as an Institute of national eminence by the Government of India. BITSoM faculty are drawn from the best institutes across the world including NYU, Kellogg, Wharton, Cornell etc and has already made a mark in just two years, with outstanding response from industry. IN two and a half years under his leadership, BITSoM made rapid strides, achieved outstanding career outcomes in its first year, and was one of the rare Indian schools to be featured in the prestigious Poets and quants.
Ranjan has recently joined Nayanta University, a world class university out of India, as Vice Chancellor. Nayanta University is an ambitious education project backed by a stellar founding team. The founding members include Naushad Forbes , Kris Gopalakrishnan , Meher Pudumjee, Nadir Godrej , Ramesh Mangaleswaran , Satish Reddy , Bharat Puri , Raj Dugar , Pankaj Chandra , Ashok Misra . Many of the founders have held leadership positions at CII, and the venture is strongly supported by CII.
Group Head HR , Business Excellence & Office of Strategy Management
TATA AutoComp Systems
Sudipta is responsible for the complete gamut of Human Resource, Business Excellence - TQM, CSR and Management of Business Ethics and Office of Strategic Management for 22 business units and Joint Venture companies globally for his company. Sudipta is currently the Chairperson of CII Maharashtra HR & IR Panel.
He is responsible for HR complete gamut for 22 business units and JV companies of Tata Autocomp across India , China, Sweden, Poland, Mexico and USA- encompasses 55 manufacturing locations and a revenue of Rs 24000 crores and total headcount of 21000 plus employees globally.
Sudipta has led the company in the Journey of 650+ Coveted JRDQV Award in TBEM External assessment. Additionally, Sudipta has the experience of Strategy, Human Resource and Business Excellence, in companies like Tata Capital, Tata Technologies & Tata Motors. He is a TATA veteran and regarded as one the best performing CHROs in the Group.
Recently he has been the awarded as the CHRO of the Year award in National HR Excellence Awards and in 2023 awarded the “ Best Tata Group Team Leader “ by Group Chairman , Tata Group.
He has functional expertise in Human Resource, Corporate Strategy, M&A, Private Equity, Human Resource and Business Excellence and was a part of the start-up team of Tata Technologies and Tata Capital and have worked in multiple geographies including Michigan – USA, China, Singapore, Thailand to name a few to set up Tata business ventures.
He is an economist by education and have received his Advanced Management Program from INSEAD, France.
CHRO
Aragen Life Sciences
A seasoned HR Leader, who specializes in enhancing organizations’ values and valuation through his purpose and people driven interventions. With nearly 25 years of industry experience spanning IT product, IT services, and pharmaceutical services sectors, he garnered rich experience in driving interventions in both MNC and Indian Corporate Ecosystems.
His track record includes taking organisation to India’s top Great places to work, successfully engaging ~5000 employees across diverse geographies, managing growth through both organic and inorganic models and setting vision and values, advising Board members on Leadership development.
He has been recipient of India and global recognitions like:
Executive Vice President & Head - Corporate Human Resources (CHRO),
Larsen & Toubro Limited
Executive Vice President & Head – Corporate Human Resources (CHRO), Larsen & Toubro Limited, an Indian Multi-national Conglomerate with diversified interests in infrastructure, heavy engineering, manufacturing, IT, technology, and financial services with operations across 30+ countries worldwide.
A highly result-oriented, HR professional with over 35 years of experience in successfully planning, designing, implementing, and managing various strategic HR Initiatives. He has been the Head of HR for various businesses, independent companies, and JVs within L&T Group, including leadership roles in the Middle East & Africa Region. He has led various transformational initiatives within the organization including digital transformation. He has been an established thought leader and widely acclaimed speaker in various national and international conferences and forums.
On the academic front, he has 3 Master’s degree (Economics, Labor Studies & Human Resource Management). He has also earned a degree in Law (LLB) and a doctorate in leadership from the University of Madras. He is also an alumnus of London Business School where he has done his Sr. Executive Management Program.
Dr. C. Jayakumar has various national and international certifications and accreditations in the Psychometric and behavioral sciences domain. He is also certified in Organizational Development from the NTL Institute of Advanced Behavioral Sciences, USA.
Dr. C. Jayakumar has made an immense contribution in the Human Resources arena over the years. He presides on the boards of esteemed professional bodies and in the Board of Studies of various prestigious educational institutions such as:
He is a life member of NIPM, NHRDN & ISTD.
Director & Professor of Strategy
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
Prof. Rishikesha Krishnan is Director and Professor of Strategy at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB). He was earlier Director of IIM Indore. He is currently the Ram Charan Chair Professor in Innovation and Leadership, and earlier held the Jamuna Raghavan Chair in Entrepreneurship at IIMB from 2007 to 2010.
Prof. Krishnan was educated at IIT Kanpur, Stanford University and IIM Ahmedabad. His main areas of interest are strategy and innovation. He has been listed in the Thinkers50 India list of most influential management thinkers from India.
Apart from academic publications, Prof. Krishnan has written two books: 8 Steps to Innovation: Going from Jugaad to Excellence (co-authored with Vinay Dabholkar) which won the Best Book Award for 2013-14 from the Indian Society for Training & Development and From Jugaad to Systematic Innovation: The Challenge for India.
Prof. Krishnan has extensive corporate board and advisory experience. He is currently on the boards of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Wheels India Ltd., and the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA). He has served on several committees set up by the Government of India and prominent industry associations related to innovation in India. He is a member of the CII National Committee on Technology, Innovation & Research, and the CII National Higher Education Committee.
Prof. Krishnan was a member of the expert committee set up by the Government of India in 2017-18 under the chairmanship of Justice BN Srikrishna to propose a data protection framework for India.
Prof. Krishnan co-founded one start-up and was the CEO of another. He has been on the jury of the Economic Times start-up awards. He is currently on the advisory board of YourNest Investment Advisors.
Head of Geography APAC
Insights
Marco Favaloro - Head of Geography APAC. Marco is an outcome-focused Performance Improvement Professional with over 25 years experience across a broad range of industries including Financial Services & insurance, Utilities, FMCG, Retail, Airlines, Hospitality, and Travel. His passion lies in developing individuals, teams and leaders, ensuring they achieve outstanding personal and professional results.
Marco’s goal is to drive optimal professional performance and enable organisations and businesses to reach superior financial outcomes. He thrives on positively engaging and inspiring individuals, teams, and leaders to achieve their full potential across their sales and business development practices. With extensive experience implementing key initiatives across a variety of business streams, Marco has a track record of delivering results-oriented coaching that always leads to success.
Chief Human Resources Officer
Kotak Life Insurance Co.
Ruchira brings an interesting combination of strategic HR and cross-functional expertise.
Over 25 years of experience spanning across diverse industries (Manufacturing, Consulting, Hospitality, Retail, Banking & Insurance) and multiple functions have been instrumental in shaping her learning and the realization that agility has to be constant in her life. She had had the opportunity to play significant role in the transformation journeys in two companies in the BFSI sector.
Apart from Human Resources Ruchira had had the opportunity to contribute towards New Product Development, Business Excellence, Knowledge Management and Business Ethics initiatives in the organizations she has worked with.
She has worked with the Tata’s for 14 years. At Tata’s she had the privilege of having a multi-company stint which spanned between iconic organizations as Taj, Rallis to start-ups such as CROMA. In the BFSI industry, Ruchira has been with Axis Bank and Future Generali India Life.
Ruchira is currently the CHRO at Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance Co.
She is an Alumni of IRMA, and NMIMS. She is a Global Fellow, Talent Management from the Wharton School.
She is a visiting faculty at NMIMS and is zealous about mentoring working women professionals at her personal capacity.
Ruchira lives in Mumbai, India. She creates time to learn and hone new skills outside of workplace. She is an avid photographer and considers herself as a decent story-teller.
Global CHRO
Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL)
Tarun N P Varma, is presently Global Chief Human Resources Officer for Tata Consumer Products Ltd (TCPL). He serves on the Executive Committee of TCPL, and leads the Sustainability, CSR, Business Excellence and Ethics Office for the organization.
Tarun was previously associated with Shell Plc, where he last served as the HR Head for the Global Technology division. He also led the HR function for Shell Group of Companies in India, prior to which he has handled positions of increasing responsibility and complexity at leading MNCs such as Nestle, Coca-Cola and Vodafone, over the past 24 years.
Having been associated with a variety of advisory committees on Social Investments & Programs, Energy focused Startups, and promoting STEM education among Children, Tarun remains an ardent proponent of lifelong learning and the power of DE&I.
Tarun completed his Master’s degree in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, after graduating in Mechanical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Jamshedpur.
Chief Human Resource Officer
Aditya Birla Capital
Subhro a Leader at Aditya Birla Group - he manages multiple roles as Chief Human Resource Officer Aditya Birla Capital, oversees HR for Aditya Birla Global Trading – International Trading Business of ABG, and also oversees Aditya Birla Group HR Shared Services ( SEAMEX).
Subhro in his earlier role was HR Head at Kotak Mahindra Bank and was instrumental in scale up of Kotak Mahindra Bank from early stages of the bank.
Subhro has over 30 years of experience in the domains of HR and IR with focus on HR tech, Change Management, developing Human Capital best practices, building enterprises with scale and quality.
Subhro holds dual Master's degree in Human Resource management & Change from XISS & INSEAD.
Group Head - Human Resources
InterGlobe Enterprises
KS is the Group Head of Human Resources for InterGlobe Enterprises. He is an integral part of the leadership team and serves on the Executive Committee of InterGlobe Enterprises. He provides strategic and operational leadership to the Human Resources Function and is responsible for integrating HR practices throughout the organisation.
With an experience in Human Resources spanning over 30 years, KS brings rich & varied experience in Aviation, Hospitality, Telecom and Manufacturing sectors. KS is an experienced thought leader & believes in developing the business leaders by Coaching & Mentoring. He has driven business results through innovative people strategies and building strong learning culture in the organisation. He has successfully led various projects in Leadership Development, Culture Building, and Talent Management practices.
KS has previously held senior roles at The Oberoi Group, IndiGo and Bharti Airtel.
KS holds a master’s degree in Personnel Management & Industrial Relations from XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Regional Director, Asia Pacific HR
Lennox International
Hema Mani has over 25 years of experience in Strategic Human Resources Capacity , with wide ranging Multinational experiences from Kelly Consultants, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Jain Group of Institutions, i2 Technologies and Honeywell .
She is a Leadership Coach certified under Korn Ferry Leadership Architect & Marshall Goldsmith and certified OD Facilitator from International OD Federation
She is currently Regional Director, Asia Pacific HR at Lennox International, part of her responsibility in Lennox India & Asia sourcing leadership team. Her responsibilities include HR, Leadership Development, Culture building, Site Operational Management, Driving Community Engagement, External Communications for the company in this region
Under her leadership, Lennox India has won several honors for HR such as the 13 best workplaces in Tamil Nadu by Times of India, 100 Best places to work for women in India 2016 by Avatar, Best places to work in Chennai by Economic Times, Dream companies to work in 2016 by Times Ascent, Best Community engagement Award by Economic Times. Lennox India has been certified as Top Great Places to work thrice in row, More recently Lennox was Certified as the Top 15 Great Places to work under her leadership
She is the current Chairwoman for CII-Indian Women Network in TamilNadu and part of her role she is focused on develop Leadership talent among women, Mentoring initiatives, Gender Parity diagnostics & facilitation in corporations and POSH activities
She has represented on topics of Human sciences in forums of IHRD, NHRD, ISTD, CII, Nasscom and SHRM. She has published a couple of papers on Execution Excellence in HR which is compiled into a journal released by Indian Institute of Science and another one on Innovative learning strategies was recognized by Nasscom. She is recognized as one of the 30 Women Super Achievers and One of the TOP HR Innovators in 2023
Founder & CEO
RippleHire
Sudarsan Ravi is the founder and CEO of RippleHire. He is known as a category creator in the space of employee referrals. RippleHire is the default platform on which referrals run in the country. He is respected as one of the foremost experts in the field of talent acquisition technology. RippleHire’s ATS has reimagined what’s possible and delivered what’s considered impossible. Their customers consistently score 90th percentile or more in candidate experience.
Head People & Culture, IT & Administration
RCG Global Services
With over 26 years of experience, Satish Rajarathnam is a seasoned Human Resources professional who has held various HR leadership positions across multiple industries. Satish has continually been at the helm of strategic resourcing, organization change management, HR Business consulting & Agile transformation, as well as leadership and talent management.
Satish is associated with several industry groups and associations such as SHRM, Agile Leadership, LEGO serious Play, PCMM, Six Sigma, ISABs India and NFNLP, among others from which he has received certifications marking him a qualified practitioner. At RCG, he is currently responsible for Global Staffing & Talent Transformation and Heads HR, Administration & IT for APAC.
Satish’s leadership experience spans across organisations such as Mphasis, Cognizant, HCL Technologies, and Siemens. He has also been the recipient of awards such as Forbes Top 30 Talent Leaders of 2023, Asia’s 100 HR Power leaders, Global Achievers Award 2022, Indian Achievers Award 2021, the Top 100 HR Tech Minds Award, Top 50 Aspiring Researchers award and the HR Excellence Award, from the Government of Rajasthan and Higher & Technical Education, Maharashtra. Outside his experience with HR, Satish has built a reputation as a TEDx speaker. As an entertainer and an illusionist & Mentalist, he has worked on over 1300 performances in association with various corporate houses and international workgroups. As part of giving back to the society he is associated with Udavum Karangal an Orphanage at Chennai and as a Corporate Advisory Board member with Chandigarh University.
Satish has authored a book on AI, co-authored 2 books on HR and has 8 patent applications published. He is a research Scholar from Swiss School of Management, Geneva, and a postgraduate in General Management from the Indian School of Business (ISB) and National University of Singapore (NUS)
CPO
Tally Solutions
With a career spanning over two decades, Naganagouda S J has built, upscaled and driven sustainable HR ecosystems & anchored organizational changes. His experience sprawls across sustaining established brands, handling multicultural talent in international forays as well as setting up an entire HR function including people, processes, policies and tools, and running it successfully.
Naganagouda believes in the cumulative power of individual strengths. In an increasingly M2M world, he spends time and effort in bringing back the human chain in business. Having spent 20+ years working in diverse environments and geographies, his efforts continue to focus on providing a learning environment for people. He also mentors’ business leaders and to-be leaders to be people focused.
Naganagouda’s focus is on creating effective leadership by helping organizations define what good leadership means, enabling people develop leadership skills, creating systems, processes and policies that support good leadership and creating conditions in which the value of leadership is recognized.
Having grown an organisation from 100 to 10,000 people, he likes to stay at the core of action. Creating a fit-for-purpose HR function and leading it to deliver success for the business is my mantra. In essence, he is still in the pursuance of that perfect combination of Head, Heart and Brain Power.
Head, Global Enterprise Services - HR (GES - HR)
dsm-firmenich
Dr. Dinesh Murugesan has an experience of over 2 decades, he has a diverse experience across all specialized areas within HR. Dinesh had worked in Companies like TCS, Deloitte and Bank of America before his stint in DSM. He currently works as Global Director – HRSS, GBS in dsm-firmenich
Well known for his oratory skills he speaks in various forums and conclaves. Dinesh is a recipient of several awards in his career, the most recent one being ‘The Best HR Leadership Award’ given by SHRI and Top HR Leaders Award granted by World HRD Congress. He was also conferred with the prestigious HR Chanakya award by IKON. He recently received the ‘101 Top HR Minds’ award from CHRO Asia. He is also the ‘Most Influential HR Leader’ in Telangana. Recently he received the ‘CHRO of the Year’ award in the Corporate Guru World Summit and Awards. Feather on the cap for Dinesh is the recent announcement by Forbes India that he is been selected as one of the ‘Most Powerful Leaders in Asia’ for the year 2022.
Dinesh is a social activist. He is a member of various social groups namely
Dinesh is very passionate about contributing to the society. He spends all his weekends in educating college students to prepare them for their career. He also teaches in various management institutions and trains their students in their curriculum. He strongly believes knowledge is the best gift that can be given to anyone and hence spends all his time in sharing his knowledge with youth. Dinesh also participates in various Summits, Webinars, Lectures and other events regularly to talk on various topics. He has organized several events for differently able people like a cricket match for the blind people. He has also adopted a home where over 300 differently abled people are taken care.
He is the Charter President of ‘Rotary Club of Royal IKON’. Through this group he has led several projects making an impact on society. The Club currently is implementing an ‘Education to Employment’ project through which underprivileged children are identified coached for professional courses and provided employment. Dinesh is also the Vice President of National Human Rights Protection Council of Telangana.
Dinesh has a Doctorate of Excellence (PhD) from University of Technology and Entrepreneurship Chicago USA in the field of HR Management. Dinesh is a person who plays multiple roles a senior professional in the corporate world, social worker and activist, a Human Rights activist and above all someone who plays a vital role in preparing today’s youth for tomorrow. A typical leader a country like India needs today.
Dinesh’s Academic Affiliations
Dinesh is also a well-known Executive Coach. He has coached several senior leaders from different organizations across different industry sectors. Individuals coached and mentored by Dinesh are performing leadership roles in large MNCs. Using sports techniques to provide management and leadership lessons are Dinesh’s specialties.
He had a Doctorate (PhD) in Human Resource Excellence from University of Entrepreneurship and Technology, Chicago, USA. He also holds and MBA in Humana Resource Management and a Bachelors degree in Computer Science
Vice President People India & Global Talent Advisory
Pegasystems
Smriti partners closely with India and Global Leadership teams at Pega to translate business objectives and priorities into HR strategy. She is also the Global Co-Chair for Women at Pega Employee Resource Group (ERG)
She brings 20+ years of leadership experience, spanning USA & India, across multiple disciplines in Human Resources including Business Advisory, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management and Learning & Development, for start-ups as well as large technology companies like Microsoft and Deloitte. She is passionate about building hybrid, diverse & inclusive work culture, driving people strategy to meet business agility & outcome and use of technology to drive people practices.
Before joining Pega, she was Vice President, Human Resources at Deloitte where she led talent strategy for global businesses across India, Australia, North-South Europe & Canada. Prior to Deloitte, she was with Microsoft where among many things, she was instrumental in setting up a global delivery center in Chongqing, China.
Smriti has a degree in Applied Psychology from Delhi University and a Global Executive MBA from Indian School of Business (ISB) with international immersion in CEIBS China and at Wharton and Kellogg in US.
My Favorite Quote:
“Life Begins at the end of your comfort Zone”– by Neale Donald Walsch
Head – HR (Group Companies)
MSN Laboratories Pvt. Ltd.
A leader in the Human Resources fraternity with experience from diverse industries like Pharma, EPC, Engineering, Service, Hardware majors. Developed functional expertise in areas of Strategic Business support, Performance Management, Talent Development, Crisis management, HR Process Excellence, and Industrial Relations. Professional experience ranging from Indian Conglomerates to Global Multinational Corporation. Highly passionate for working in challenging and demanding environments and managing diverse teams. He grew up his career by working in companies like KONE Elevators, TITAN Industries, NCR Corporation, Dr.Reddy’s and Larsen & Toubro.
Has hands on experience in the areas of:
Vice President & Managing Director
Lenovo
Shailendra Katyal is the Vice President and Managing Director of Lenovo India. Lenovo is a global technology powerhouse, ranked #217 in the Fortune Global 500, with an industry-leading portfolio of pocket-to-cloud solutions. Lenovo remains the #1 PC brand in the world, is recognized as one of BCGs Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and ranks #8 in Gartners’s annual Supply Chain rankings. With iconic brands like ThinkPad, Motorola, Yoga and Legion, Lenovo remains committed to bringing Smarter Technology for All.
Shailendra has been at the helm of Lenovo India since 2021 and is entrusted with driving Lenovo’s transformation from a devices leader to an end-to-end technology solutions leader, backed by a strong local manufacturing capability. Lenovo India shipped out over 5 mn Made In India products in FY2223.
Over a 24 year long career, he has had extensive experience in the traditional FMCG and new-age technology sectors across domains of business leadership, strategy, marketing and M&A.
Shailendra holds a PGDM degree from IIM Calcutta and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Studies from Delhi University. He is based out of Bangalore.
Talent Strategy Advisor
Indeed.com
An experienced content creator, with over eleven years of experience across verticals, Rohan Sylvester has a demonstrated history of working in the content industry. Combining his passion for content, data-driven insights, and recruitment technologies, he is able to provide companies with actionable strategies to enhance their recruitment.
As the recruitment evangelist for Indeed in India, Rohan leverages Indeed’s extensive platform data and research to support HR and TA professionals across India with insights that could help them attract and hire the right talent.
Rohan is a Marine Engineer and an alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology.
Managing Director & Global Lead for HR Operations
Accenture
Parag Pande is the Managing Director responsible for Accenture’s Human Resources Service Delivery & Operations across the globe.
Prior to his current role, Parag has been CHRO for Accenture India and in various leadership roles in Global HR, India Operations, leading Accenture India’s BPO operations in Delhi NCR and has served as the India & APAC Lead for Accenture's Customer Contact Business Services (ACCBS). During this period, he was instrumental in building differentiated capabilities, growing businesses & stabilizing operations.
Over the past 28 years Parag has spent a considerable part of his career in roles spanning Human Resources, Learning, Projects, Banking, Treasury, Financial Services and Business Operations. In addition, he has worked across strategy, planning, business development, mobilization, finance and service delivery. This included setting-up green field projects, Nominee - Director on board, turning around troubled businesses and companies, developing and executing strategy and managing over USD 1billion dollar investments.
Parag has also been a Rotarian, assisting orphanages and renovating schools in Mumbai’s slums. He has been recognized by The Rotary International as a Paul Harris Fellow.
Senior Vice President, HR
Berkadia
Debashish Ghosh is a senior Human Resources professional with over 2 decades of experience in managing end-to-end functions in HR. Over these years, he led both global organizations and Indian conglomerates across multiple industries and locations.
His expertise lies in driving HR transformation projects, succession planning, and building an outcome-driven HR function.
In his current role as SVP & HR Head of Berkadia India, Debashish has been instrumental in leading growth, implementing HR technology, and building the D&I function, among other things.
Debashish is a LinkedIn influencer, keynote speaker, and a mentor for students and several academic institutions.
CHRO
ALLEN Career Institute Pvt. Ltd.
With a career spanning 20+ years, Jayesh has worked extensively across the entire gamut of HR, touching every aspect of the employee life cycle, right from Talent Acquisition to Talent Management to Learning & Development to Diversity & Inclusion! A certified practitioner of Behavioural Sciences, his curiosity and zest to build things ground up is what propelled him to his current role as the CHRO for the Indian education powerhouse, Allen Career institute Pvt. Ltd. In his role as Allen’s CHRO, Jayesh is scripting the cultural ethos of the organisation and redefining the ways HR can partner with Business to make the impossible, a reality!
CHRO
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
Judhajit started his career with the RPG Group after graduating from XLRI, Jamshedpur in 1995. After working in a variety of roles with RPG Group, he joined the credit cards division of GE Capital, India. He joined ICICI Prudential Life Insurance in November, 2000 and has now been with ICICI Prudential Life for over 20 years. He assumed responsibility as Head of Human Resources in 2005. He is currently responsible for Human Resources, Operations & Customer Service, Admin & Infrastructure, IT Infrastructure, CSR & Sustainability (ESG).
Director, CoE- People & Culture
Vantage Circle
Saurabh is a seasoned HR professional with over 20 years of experience across HR consulting and line HR. Currently serving as the Director of COE - People & Culture at Vantage Circle, Saurabh has been a trusted HR partner and advisor to businesses. He specializes in working with start-ups and growth-stage organizations as a consulting Head of HR, helping them design and implement scalable HR practices.
Saurabh is also a sought-after subject matter expert (SME) for HR technology companies, partnering with them to drive intellectual property (IP) creation and product differentiation. He has previously worked with top-tier consulting firms such as Hewitt Associates (now Aon) and Mercer Consulting, as well as InMobi, India's first unicorn start-up, in line HR roles.
Saurabh holds a degree from St. Stephen's College, Delhi and an MBA from the prestigious Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. With his wealth of experience and expertise in HR, Saurabh is a valuable asset to any organization looking to build and strengthen their people and culture strategy.
Executive Vice President - HR, Learning & Development
ITC Hotels
Mr. Sanjay Bose currently heads HR for the hospitality and travel businesses of ITC Ltd. ITC Ltd is a USD 7.5 Billion conglomerate of India and its hospitality business is the third largest in the country with a workforce in excess of 16000 people.
During his 2 ½ decades in Human Resources, Mr Bose has had extensive experience in the areas of organisation restructure, M&A, HR Transformation and Total Rewards. He also provides strategic leadership to the organisation as part of the Management Committee.
In his previous assignment, Mr Bose headed global HR operations for Indian Hotels Company Ltd (The Taj Group), a part of Tata conglomerate, with responsibilities spanning 12 countries including US, UK and South Africa.
He has a MBA in HR (XISS Ranchi) and has completed his Advanced General Management Programme from IIM Bangalore and Advanced Leadership Programme from Stephen Ross School of Business Management, University of Michigan.
Mr Bose has served on various professional bodies and is currently on the CII Committees for IR and Skill Development at the national level and the Advisory Committee of NHRDN at regional level. At the global level, he serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Sustainability Hospitality Alliance, London -UK.
He is passionate about education and lends his expertise to institutions like MDI Gurgaon, IMT Ghaziabad, Tata Institute of Social Services, WGSHA -Manipal through participation in Governing Boards, Board of Studies and Admission panels etc.
His contributions in the field of HR have won him multiple accolades including CHRO of the Year -2019 by Business World and Best CHRO by W.E. Matter in 2022.
Sr. Director-HR & Strategy
MOURI Tech
A seasoned leader with proven success in business strategy, Swarna leverages her engineering background to create value through innovative solutions. She is a certified HR professional from National Academy of Legal Studies & Research (NALSAR) Hyderabad and is also an IIM - Indore graduate.
Currently, designated as Sr. Director-HR and Strategy at MOURI Tech, Swarna is responsible for overall HR & Strategy and ensuring that the “Better than the Best HR” strategies and policies are implemented and aligned across all the business units. She oversees the entire HRBP functions – Consulting, On-Boarding, Retention, Attrition Rates, Vendor & Performance Management, Audits, Compensation and Benefits, succession planning and leveraging workforce insights and analytics.
Swarna has been awarded Brand India WOMEN in Business Awarded – Brand India WOMEN in Business, GCPIT (UK) Limited GCPIT (UK) Limited -2021.
In her leadership role, she consistently spearheads both community and environmental development endeavours through her active participation in MOURI Tech Foundation’s CSR activities and fosters volunteerism among employees through the My Social Responsibility initiative (MySR).
Swarna is known for her out-of-the-box thinking and for driving impactful HR strategies. Swarna’s professional mindset makes her a popular and enthusiastic ‘people’ leader.
CSO & Head HR
Advantage Club
Raj is an official Forbes HR Council member and a well-known as well as a recognised HR professional in the Industry. In his two decades of global, cross-cultural HR experience, he has worked in various industries, including IT/ITES, Oil & gas, Pharmaceuticals, Engineering and Manufacturing. He has lived and practised HR in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Russia, and Europe.
He is currently the Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Advantage Club (AC). It’s a Global HR Technology (SaaS) platform serving 3.5 million employees in employee engagement, well-being, financial health, benefits, perks, rewards and recognition on a single platform. Headquartered in Delaware, Advantage Club has a strong presence in approximately 100+ countries worldwide, serving more than 1000+ Corporates and offering exclusive deals on more than 10,000+ brands.
In his previous role, Raj led Concentrix's global digital talent strategy across 40 nations. Additionally, he spearheaded the line HR department for 70,000 employees across 13 locations in India and the ASEAN region. Raj played a crucial role in the company's expansion into Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the United Arab Emirates. He also started the automation and modernization of Concentrix's HR operation.
Leading newspapers, business journals, TV stations, and international conferences feature his opinions and perspectives. He has also received many prestigious industry honours for his various contributions.
His formal qualifications include PGDM from Symbiosis and further study in Digital Transformation from Columbia Business School, Managerial & Leadership Effectiveness from IIMA, and Design Thinking & Innovation from Emeritus, Singapore. He is also a certified M&A Specialist from Aon Hewitt.
CHRO
Orient Electric
Aditya is the Chief Human Resources officer at Orient Electric (CK Birla Group), and is responsible for building the culture and the human capital of an organization that is undergoing significant transformation. He is passionate about leading the people agenda that ensures that we get the right people, in the right roles, with the right capabilities to drive differentiated performance and make a significant impact in our Industry.
He has over two decades of experience that spans across multiple facets of HR including Performance, Reward and Benefits, Business Relationship Management, HR Transformation & Change Management, Employee Engagement, HR Technology & Service Delivery Strategy, Shared Services and Global Payroll Models. He is a results-driven leader, who has worked in Singapore, India and London, managing global teams in a highly matrixed global environment. In all of his roles, he has created space to drive change through a multi discipline approach that leverages all aspects of Human Capital Management, Technology and Culture to drive productivity and performance.
Prior to Orient he has worked across sectors in marquee organisations like Clix Capital, Airtel, Standard Chartered Bank and Hewitt Associates (Aon).
Global Head - HR
Cigniti Technologies
Veera is the Global Head of HR for Cigniti. He is responsible for employee life cycle events, talent management, employee relations, performance management, L&D, global migration & immigration, diversity & inclusion and cultural transformation. He works closely with CEO, BU heads and Delivery head in implementing HR policies and procedures and complimenting the organization strategy through people processes. He also ensures HR compliance on all legal aspects and takes care of employee satisfaction.
An Air Force veteran, experienced HR Leader with over 18 years of experience with expertise spanning across Talent, Leadership, Engagement, M&A, C&B, Learning & Development, Performance Management, Organization Capability, HR technology implementation and Recruitment in IT and services industry in organizations like Genpact, Wipro and Indian Air Force. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from Kakatiya University and has done his Executive PG Program in Management from IIM Indore. Veera loves to spend time with kids, an advocate of environment, corporate social responsibility and diversity at work place.
SVP & Chief Talent Officer
Reliance Retail
Jeeva Balakrishnan is a Human Resources & talent development Leader, Executive Coach, experience designer, and change agent. Currently, he leads Talent Transformation at Reliance Retail Limited as its SVP & Chief Talent Officer.
Jeeva has over two and half decades of HR experience in varied functional domains in the Manufacturing, Retail, Consulting and Service Industries. Prior to his current role, he was leading the HR function for Reliance Digital, Reliance Market, Raymond Lifestyle Business, BAA, WethicA and Leela Group.
Jeeva has done his MHRM from Madurai Institute of Social Sciences and a certification in Strategic HRM from IIM-Ahmedabad. He is a certified Executive Coach from Coaching Foundation India (CFI). Currently, he is pursuing his PhD program with IIM Trichy.
‘Helping people succeed’ is his mantra of life. Passionate about redesigning the experience in work and life.
Head - HR
L&T Technology Services
Ravi, with 25 years of experience, has aced various HR functions in diversified geographies and industries. His portfolio at LTTS includes developing & executing human resource strategy for India, for support of the overall business plan and strategic direction of the organization, specifically in the areas of talent management, change management, organizational and performance management, training and development, Identification (evaluation) & resolution of human relations and work performance problems, and compensation design. He provides strategic leadership by articulating HR needs and plans to the LTTS Leadership Team. With master’s in social work, specializing in Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, Ravi enriched his experience at Capgemini, PwC SDC & iGate Global Solutions before he assumed the Head – HR, India at L&T Technology Services.
CHRO
Spice Money
Atul is an HR Professional with over 16 years of qualitative experience in HR Strategy, Organisation Design,HR Technology, Consulting, C&B and OD Interventions across industries globally. He has in-depth experience in setting up an start ups and scaling them and holds hands on experience in mergers, acquisitions, rebadging with large corporations. In depth experience on organisation design, Organization restructuring, Shared Services for global entities. He played all roles in HR space be it People Consulting, HR Technology or Business HR and passionate about solving people and system problems. Atul completed his engineering in Mining and MBA in HR. Currently he is a CHRO for one of the biggest and fastest Rural Fintech firm Spice Money. Previously, Atul has worked with Hexaware Technologies, IBM in global roles based out of Singapore and USA doing Human capital/Technology consulting and with Pricewaterhouse Coopers worked on HR Transformation projects. Atul moved to corporate HR role from consulting with PeopleStrong as an HR Head & Transitions Leader for their Cloud HR Product. Later he served in Puma Energy on Global Role and then with Oyo managed their Global Tech Organization.
CRO & Employee Engagement Evangelist
Vantage Circle
Pallav is a highly accomplished business leader with over 17 years of experience in various industries, including HCM, SaaS/PaaS/IaaS, HR outsourcing, and rewards and recognition. He has a proven track record in business and leadership and possesses a deep understanding of consulting, benefit strategy, HR technology, rewards and recognition programs, and growth strategy.
Pallav's ability to simplify complex products and services and communicate them effectively to entrepreneurs and business/People leaders is widely recognized. His extensive experience in HR technology, coupled with his expertise in rewards and recognition, makes him a valuable asset to any organization. He understands how technology can drive HR strategy in rewards and recognition and streamline HR processes, which is an added advantage.
As the CRO and Employee Engagement Evangelist at Vantage Circle, Pallav is responsible for driving growth, overseeing success of rewards & recognition programs, new logo acquisition, and channel management. His strategic leadership skills, combined with his extensive knowledge and experience, make him a highly respected and valuable asset to Vantage Circle and the industry as a whole.
Global HR Director
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)
Mr Kunal Sarkar is an accomplished HR Leader with more than 19 years of experience across several verticals of strategic Human Resource Management - talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, performance management, talent management, ethics and safeguarding, employee engagement, global mobility and organization development - in telecom, pharmaceutical, IT ,ITeS, and agricultural research. Kunal has been in global leadership roles in multicultural and multidisciplinary work environments in Asia, ANZ and Africa. He has worked for organisations like Wipro, IBM, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, and is presently the Global HR Director for the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
Head - HR
Gland Pharma
Manish has been an HR professional since graduating from SCMHRD in 2000 and has experience in multi-continent, multi-industry People/HR Operations with special focus on Talent Management, Change Management, Organization Development while participating in company’s growth. He has worked for Global roles and responsibilities in different industry segments like Engineering, FMCG and latest in Pharmaceuticals with companies like ABB, Schneider Electric India, Dr. Reddy’s Labs and currently with Gland Pharma
Head - HR
RealPage
Rekha Narendra is a Human Resources leader with over 25 years of experience across multiple industries. Having held HR leadership roles globally and at an India level she has established herself as a strong people partner to Business with focus on Transformation of workplaces, People Strategy and Talent Development. She has won many accolades for Employee Retention strategies and People interventions during her stints at Murugappa Group, Ford Motor Company, Genpact and Kantar. She is passionate about mentoring & Coaching and is a certified Life Coach. She was featured in Forbes magazine for the work she has done in establishing a great work culture in the new Normal. She is a strong advocate of lifelong learning and has recently completed The Future CHRO Program from ISB. In her free time she is an avid cyclist, marathoner and trekker and is currently preparing to trek to Everest Base Camp in May. She is currently working as HR Head of RealPage India
Head - Talent Acquisition
Virtusa
Management graduate in personnel management with 20 years of diverse experience in IT sectors in Human Resources. Presently, Head of Talent Acquisition for APAC at Virtusa. Seetharam has received multiple recognition within the company and the industry such as:
In his current role, responsible for developing and planning recruitment strategy, building innovative sourcing channels, driving cross functional teams to meet the demanding workforce needs in ever evolving IT sector. This also incudes driving the Talent Access framework, strategy, and plans, provide the talent marketing and operational excellence, as coach and develop Talent Acquisition teams who are responsible for executing the overall TA strategy.
Head - HR
Carrier Midea India Private Limited
Lopamudra Banerjee spearheads the Human Resources function at Carrier Midea India Pvt. Ltd. (CMI). She joined CMI in 2012 upon the inception of the joint venture between Carrier Corporation and Midea Group. Her last assignment was Head- Organisation Development for Aviva Life Insurance.
As the HR Head for CMI, Lopa plays a key role in contributing to the growth of the India business. She has been supporting the business by developing and executing an effective HR strategy and has been instrumental in enhancing the position of the HR team in the organization as one of the major levers to achieve business success.
Lopamudra has completed her Coaching certification from ODA-CFL, (Accredited by ICF) in 2015 and is a passionate Coach and loves working with individuals to help them channelize their energy for enhanced business results. She also loves to connect with young minds and frequently delivers guest lectures in higher educational institutions on different topics leveraging her industry experience.
Post her graduation from St Stephen’s College, Lopamudra pursued her Masters in History from Delhi University. Lopamudra has more than 25 years of experience of which she spent more than 10 years in Consulting with firms like Ernst & Young and PriceWaterhouseCoopers where she had an opportunity to work across industries and contribute in different areas. She also enjoys the role of a mentor to professionals facilitating career transformations.
Head - HR
KLA India
With over 18 years of experience, J Enfil Premraj has held various HR roles including Global Assimilation Center of Excellence, System Process & Analytics, University Engagement, HR process consultant, and most recently Head of HR. Enfil now serves as a dedicated HR leader at KLA India, finding fulfillment in his role as a servant leader. Currently focusing on honing his coaching abilities, he also finds energy in both watching and playing tennis.
Group Head HPD
Nagarjuna Fertilizers & Chemicals Limited
With a philosophical bend of mind and a cheerful disposition, Sankara Reesu, is a passionate and self-made HR leader who strives to elevate the everyday experience of employees and customers. He is an avid learner and doer with over two decades of versatile work experience in multiple industries.
Sankara’s professional journey commenced as Technician Apprentice at ISRO, after which he was associated with Gati Limited, TATA Tele, NCC Limited in various Project Management roles and went on to become head of HR & IR at Pennar Industries Limited.
Currently serving as the Group Head of Human Potential Development at Nagarjuna Fertilizers and Chemicals Limited, one of the most recognized agricultural brands in India. He is responsible for spearheading the strategic HR for diversified businesses, capability development, integration of HR strategies to strengthen current and future business plans.
Sankara embeds a culture of “Employee First and Openness” to ignite the human spark to build a better business and a better world. His diversified project management background coupled with experience in people management makes him a unique HR leader.
Having seen life from both sides in his early career, he spends his leisure doing social work and coach youngsters in career guidance and advancement. Recently, he has been awarded as the Great Indian CHRO Leader of the Year 2023-2024 by Transformance Forums.