His unflinching desire to learn, openness to new ideas and possibilities, and ability to adapt makes Pankaj a versatile leader that are rare to find. In his 25+ years’ career, Pankaj has built several Technology & Product organizations, scalable systems, and large scale global products driving global businesses in both B2C and B2B spaces

He has honed his leadership skills and delivered outstanding outcomes for large enterprises, MNCs as well as start-ups in different phases of their journeys. He has left his impact across versatile domains including Telecom, Bioinformatics, Distributed computing, SaaS, Big Data, Ecommerce, Fintech, Omnichannel Retail and Logistics

An Harvard Business School (HBS) alumnus, Pankaj did his M.E. from BITS Pilani and B.E. from NIT Surathkal.  He is currently Chief Product and Technology Officer at Reliance Retails for its Fashion & Lifestyle business building new age technology and products for fast growing muti-billion USD business. At Reliance, he is also a certified Leadership coach.

Pankaj has also been instrumental in scaling several start-ups including Lenskart where, as CTO he transformed it into a deep tech organization, established and drove Lenskart’s Omni-channel Tech strategy with innovations like seamless Virtual Try-On, Headless commerce platform, Endless Aisle, and Assisted selling, and played pivotal role in company hitting 100 Mn USD revenue, becoming profitable and enter into Unicorn club in 3 years of his stint. In a completely different domain of Big Data SaaS, Pankaj played pivotal role in building three product lines at Guavus (later acquired by Thales Group) enabling to take its revenue from almost zero to more than 35 Mn USD in 3 years.

Pankaj has always questioned traditional model of leadership that sees people as resources, rather than assets and infinite spectrum of possibilities. This led his quest to deeply understand human behaviours and potential and ultimately led him to quantum model of leadership. This has enabled Pankaj to be an inspirational leader who uses empathy, empowerment, building trust and coaching as primary tools while setting and achieving audacious goals. Empathetic yet decisive, Pankaj always challenges status quo and don’t hesitate to take hard calls. Most of the people who worked with him are strongly willing to work with him again with many joining him in his subsequent innings, is a testimony to his leadership.

He has personally coached and mentored more than 50 leaders and entrepreneurs over last 7 years. He blends his understanding of human behaviours and potential, Vedantic philosophy, Quantum physics, and his spiritual and professional experiences in his unique approach to coaching.

Pankaj had a deep desire to create larger impact on ecosystem. When Indian start-ups landscape started coming of age, Pankaj found the entrepreneurs and start-up grappling with challenges that he has consistently solved across start-ups. He realized that he can use his rich experience and learnings to help these start-ups. For last 7 years, he has been an early stage angel investor and/or advisor and mentor to start-ups helping them with product strategy, technology architecture and roadmap, defining & launching MVP, organization design, product positioning and GTM, and  also fund raising in some cases.

Currently he is mentoring a few start-ups  in the Education, Wellbeing, Omni-channel eyewear retail, and helping his wife build MindsPrism (https://mindsprism.com) – a life coaching and holistic well-being platform.

Pankaj has authored 10 worldwide patents and more than a dozen research papers in top-rated international conferences and journals. He also has authored several articles in Business and Technology magazines.

Regarded as a thought-leader on Technology, Start-ups, Digital Transformation, and Leadership & Coaching, he is regularly quoted in publications and invited to speak at conferences and events. Last year Pankaj was also awarded as CTO of the year, Retail by Quantic Business Media, and CTO of the year by IAF.

On account of his passion for Science and mathematics, he decided to pursue a B. Tech degree at IIT Indore. Interacting with people who are as driven— sometimes more – and certainly as smart as you are, provides you with the type of learning no amount of formal education can. Academics at IIT Indore offered him the chance to hone his analytical skills, and the projects gave him an insight into the type of extensive research required to come up with something innovative and understand the clinical nature of work expected.

During IIT, he developed basic design & engineering and a prototype of “Smart Mobile Manipulator”, which finds application in India’s “Smart City project” for automated cleaning of the cities. The prototype algorithm used image processing to gauge the distance of the waste material, followed by safe disposal at the nearest site. The project was built with the intent to use IoT in the subsequent stages and is currently under further iterations at IIT Indore.

Being part of Student Gymkhana, IIT Indore (2016-17) taught him how to shoulder huge responsibility, especially when you are working for your peers.

With a rich cross-functional experience of around 4 years, he has worked with the trading desks of investment banks at Evalueserve, where his team was awarded the “Best Team Award”. He automated manual index and financial strategy computations, reducing the process time by 40% and improving manpower productivity.

During his internship at Dunzo, he has worked on investor pitchbooks, business plans for fundraising, and assisting prospective VC firms with due diligence.

He has been associated with Vedanta Resources for around 3 years now working with various internal and external stakeholders on projects spanning digitalization and finance. He has worked on the annual impairment exercise of Cairn Oil & Gas unlocking a value potential of ~$200 mn in FY22. He holds good experience in financial modeling, business valuation, and project valuations to assess the viability & associated sensitivities. He is currently working with the Vice Chairman of Vedanta to set up a new business group, Runaya with ESG as its major pillar. He is currently assisting Runaya with fundraising, M&A, governance structure, and business analysis of the operational units.

The operational sustainability business of Runaya is based in Jharsuguda and focused on the safe disposal of aluminum dross post-metal recovery. Runaya also produces safe ground mining support solutions in the Bhilwara plant. He has worked on the implementation of the renewable power project, reducing the environmental impact and dependence on grid power.

His current projects in Runaya comprise the establishment of two exclusive large-scale production facilities. Each of these facilities will be first-of-its kind in India and is in line with the “Make in India” vision of our Prime Minister. He is working with Runaya senior management on collaboration with potential technology partners/consultants.

Having always been driven by a passion for sustainability and unconventional technology, he envisages to contribute to India’s development to the best of his knowledge and capacity.

-VIVEK KHOKHAR

As a true visionary and a machine learning expert, Ketan’s original contribution was to devise a statistical simulation model using deep learning algorithms which identify velocity patterns from hidden, missing, or partial data and recognize objects from various angles. The significance of this advanced model is its ability to determine the severity of cardiac arrest based on the patient’s age, ejection fraction of the heart, and patient follow-up time at the hospital. The model also continuously assesses the infant’s heart block abnormalities and determines the severity based on symptomatic information.

Despite the availability of numerous technologies, it is challenging to diagnose cardiac problems and use investigative procedures accurately. The technological field has already benefited much from Ketan’s study. For instance, he developed a multivariate risk model using advanced neural networks. He included a Feed-Forward Backpropagation neural network, which provided the first evidence of forecasting cardiac arrest in its early stages and impending occurrence. To recognize patterns, the machine learning model analyzes image pixels and groups them into appropriate classes. Natural language processing techniques are incorporated into this AI-driven model to help doctors voice-command the algorithm using raw or real-time unstructured data. According to Ketan, after the data has been organized and analyzed, the model proposes the best courses of action for doctors to take in the event of cardiac arrest immediately.

Numerous researchers, medical professionals, and business leaders believe that relatively few scientists know dynamic digital imaging that uses multivariate classification modeling to find missing patterns and ejection fractions. They claim that this finding has great promise and has the potential to significantly cut treatment costs while increasing cardiac patients’ chances of survival.

With a strong academic pursuit, Ketan is PMP certified by PMI. He holds an undergraduate degree in pharmaceutical sciences (India), MBA/PGDM in international business (India), M.S. in Supply Chain (USA), and M.S. (Honors) in Information Technology (USA). He is pursuing his Ph.D. in Information Technology from the USA. Demonstrating his versatility and technical prowess, Ketan is an IEEE senior member and possesses several renowned publications and awards.

Ketan is a driven research scientist who constantly aspires to greatness and works to use artificial intelligence and machine learning technology in the healthcare industry to improve social and community welfare.

Ajay is currently working as a Senior Software Engineer with the IP-DevOps team at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers America Inc. Before his work tenure at Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers America Inc, Ajay worked as Observability Subject Matter Expert at Fortune 500 companies. With expertise in DevOps/SRE/Platform engineering landscapes specialized in Observability and AIOps Monitoring, he has enhanced his skills in technical roles which enabled him to perform admirably well in his technical domain.

He completed his Master of Science in Management Information Systems from University of Illinois Springfield and Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering from JNTU Hyderabad. He has cleared around 14 Professional Certifications in the Information Technology field.

Ajay is currently volunteering as Vice President of American Association of Information Technology Professionals (AAITP), Senior Member of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Advisory Board Member for Notable Startups and member of other reputed professional bodies – BCS, IET etc.,

Ajay had served as Observability Subject Matter Expert Judge in Multiple Global Award Competitions. Ajay had published multiple Scholarly Articles in International Conferences and High Impact Factor Journals as an Independent Researcher and gained attention from Global Media, further validating the impact of their work.

Over a decade of relevant experience and a shard analytical mind; Ajay’s mastery at resolving technical obstacles has encouraged him to foster into technical writing skills; his inner writer gave rise to the book on Observability and AIOps Monitoring in an international publication.

Traveling to multiple countries broadened his perspective, with personal growth, mental health, and spiritual enlightenment. Ajay considers the lives of people around him as a major inspiration behind choosing a path filled in relinquishing guidance.  

Ajay has made significant contributions as a mentor, guiding and inspiring students and professionals across 14 countries. Ajay is a very active member of the AIOps, DevSecOps, GitOps, MLOps and DataOps communities on different forums. When it comes to Observability, Ajay tops the Global list.

Balaji made him realise that in the last two decades, the technology around the Hotel industry has become so revolutionary, from pre Booking, PMS, HMS, ERP, CRM and so on. It fascinated him so much how “Make my trip, Booking.com, Oyo Ritesh Agarwal, Agoda, and Trivago” and so many great people set their mark in the hotel industry using technology.

Balaji pointed out to him that though there are lots of technology in pre bookings and management software, they don’t even have one software solutions to enhance guest experience. They love to travel and the industry behind it. Still, they faced lots unpleasant situations with ordering room service. Sometimes, orders are different what was being ordered. At times, the order has been forgotten completely. Sometimes, need to call four or five times to get even one bottle of water. For a country like ours, where we speak many different languages, it becomes a tedious task.

Once in early morning he received a call from Balaji-

“Anna, one of my guests who stayed in the hotel room, pulled the intercom wire and  now it’s broken. I don’t want this Intercom anymore, I will remove this intercom and just leave a front office phone number at the rooms. Intercom is burning our money in the name of breakage and maintenance, and it’s a very stupid device”

In fun, Barath said,

“Then why don’t you make a QR code based app. So guests can just scan and order service through their phone”

The other line went silent for a while, when he finally said

“Anna, if I might had 25 hotels we can invest in this I only have 2 Hotels. But all hotels having this same issue with Intercom”

Jack Ma’s words came to my head. “When people complain, there is an opportunity”

He started developing a digital communication software. This is how Hotelcom was born. Hotelcom’s vision is to replace the telecommunication system called Intercom with a Digital Communication system called Hotelcom in all hotels. We are still using a 128 years old Intercom device for customer service. 

The very nature of Hotel is Customer service. If Customer is happy and has enjoyed staying at the Hotel it reflects that the hotel was able to fulfill its goal. When they launched their product they realized how much hoteliers were waiting for this change to happen. They are super amazed about Hotelcom. Finally, when travellers and tourists used Hotelcom they became psyched and showed their love towards Hotelcom. They loved the convenience and functionality that the Hotelcom gives. It’s time to say bye to Intercom, and say your Hello and welcome to Hotelcom.

Mr. Puri has personally helped numerous differently abled job seekers seeking support in this travel industry. He also led this initiative at the organizational level in association with various NGOs. He wants the Travel Industry to set an example for the rest of the industries on how inclusivity can foster more talent and empathy.

His work in this area has inspired him to create a technology-enabled platform community in the future which addresses all these issues on a larger scale. He aims to develop a solution that enables the specially abled community to travel with ease and dignity, regardless of their physical abilities.

He serves as a role model for individuals who aspire to make a difference in society and contribute to a better world.

Prof. Ravi Patel serves as the head of the Intellectual Property Facilitation Centre and Technology Innovation Support Centre supported by WIPO at GTU. He provides IPR support to students, entrepreneurs, startups, and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). He played a vital role in securing approval for the establishment of an IPR Chair by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. He also provided technical support in the establishment of India’s first Food and Drug Control Administration (FDCA) approved Public Testing Laboratory at the university. Moreover, he has been consulted as a subject matter expert by many renowned pharmaceutical research centres for their scientific and commercial problems. Before moving into academia, Prof. Patel worked for Sun Pharma (R&D) for nearly five years, holding various positions as an executive and senior executive.

As a mentor, Prof. Patel has successfully guided many PG students, interns, and young colleagues in their research projects. He has collaborated with international publishing houses such as Elsevier, Taylor & Francis, Wiley, and AAPS, taking on different roles as an author and reviewer. Prof. Patel’s outstanding achievements in the field have been recognized by the Danida Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who selected him for a learning program on Innovation Management at Copenhagen Business School under the Danida Fellowship. He passed the program with distinction and was awarded as a certified Innovation Manager.

Continuing his education, Prof. Patel is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science discipline. His research on nitrosamines, carcinogenic chemicals, has been published in top international journals and is significant for society as it highlights the health risks associated with exposure to these chemicals. His work has garnered attention from various national media houses and has been recognized by esteemed scientists worldwide.

Indian Achiever Forum recognizes individuals based on their outstanding professional accomplishments, academic achievements, leadership abilities, impact in their respective field, and community contributions. Therefore, it was a natural choice to honor Prof. Patel for his significant research contributions and impact in the field of pharmaceutical science.

Mr. Oza, with his rich international experience as CFO for 15 Years & 4-1/2 Years as CEO (for a German company) and has worked across 18 countries & various industries few of them are Engineering, Chemicals, Pharma, Paint, Resins & Construction Chemicals, Packaging Industries, FMCG, RTE, Flavors & Edutech. Skills are endorsed with international Merger & Acquisitions, Financial & Operational Restructuring, ERP & BI Structuring & Implementation, Plant Operations, Finalization, & Establish Wholly Owned Subsidiaries & Joint Ventures. With expertise and hands on experience in SAP B1 & R3, Microsoft AX, Nev, dynamic, tally prime, developing Budgetary System, monitoring and reviewing, the SME Listing provides added value to the Expertise.

Mr. Oza founded M Oza & Associates in 2013 with a vision to provide Virtual CFO/CEO advisory services to the industries from START UP level to Mid Large Corporates. The organization runs on the principle of “EVERY BUSIENSS NEED A CFO & WE MAKE IT AFFORDABLE”.

Trushant Ugalmugale – Co-Founder & COO (Left), a Global Executive, with a consistent record in managing big projects and delivering exceptional value through operational excellence, strategic vision and business acumen. Visionary with a vast experience in deploying best practices, process re-engineering and business intelligence to enable growth and deliver a valuable change. Successfully created a viable roadmap for Inuxu’s growth story through operational & compliance excellence.

Shashikant Anpat – Co-Founder & AVP Products – A decisive & result oriented technical analyst with detailed oriented approach to product strategy and roadmap. Spearheaded the technology and tactical roadmap towards building a world-class ad-tech product. Adgebra continues to evolve with market leading features under his strategic product vision.  

Inuxu Digital Media Technologies, more popularly known for its ad-tech platform “Adgebra”, was formed 10 years ago with its’ founder’s vision to empower brands to connect, engage and win the trust of billions of digital consumers. With a foresight that Digital advertising will overtake television & print and brands would need to tap the new age vernacular internet users, the idea of Adgebra was conceived. Indian ad-market had seen a dramatic shift since mid-2010s – when Television & Print contributed to about two-thirds of media spends in India, with increased focus on Digital, Mobile and Regional Languages eventually. Inuxu’s Ad-Tech platform has helped numerous brands ride this shift bandwagon by providing a digital advertising medium apart from Google and Facebook.

Inuxu Digital Media Technologies works with almost all major media agencies in India and also with 200+ direct advertisers month-on-month to help brands connect to their intended audience through various engaging ad-formats in the user’s language of choice. Through Adgebra, Inuxu has been helping brands to connect with almost 90% of internet users in India in 10+ regional languages.        

Rohit Bagad – Founder & CEO, Trushant Ugalmugale – Co-Founder & COO and Shashikant Anpat – Co-Founder & AVP Products are gearing towards making Adgebra a truly GLOCAL Ad Platform, that will service “Global Brands” with a need to “Local” advertising needs.