Mr Suresh Raman
Vice President & Regional Head
Tata Consultancy Services, Chennai
Suresh Raman is the Vice President and Region Head for Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Chennai. He manages TCS’ largest delivery centre, with over 98,000 associates. His focus areas are to provide right experience for customers and associates; facilitate talent transformation into digital technologies;promotingdiversity;provideagileandsustainableinfrastructure; Cost optimization; besides working closely with region stakeholders across Government,IndustryAssociationsandCommunities.
An alumnus of Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani, India, Suresh has over 3 decades of experience in Management Consulting Services andInformationTechnologyIndustry.
During this period, he has held diverse leadership roles across Sales, Delivery and Operations, across multiple geographies, including, Regional Director & HeadforCentralEurope;OperationsHeadforaGlobalDeliveryCentre,Head of Large Strategic Opportunities for a large business unit; P&L Ownership for cluster of large accounts; as well as Global Relationship Head for key global customers.
HavingearlierspentadecadeasaManagementConsultantwithinTCSaswell as briefly with PriceWaterhouse, he had played an advisory role to MNCs as wellastoGovernments.
He holds key honorary positions and/or is a member in core committees in industrybodiesasbelow:
Board Member and Member of the Executive Committee of the IndoAustralianChamberofCommerce
Member of the Tamil Nadu State Advisory Council to develop a Federal FiscalModel.
MemberoftheTamilNaduStatePlanningCommissionWorkingGroupon IndustrialPolicy.
FormerPresidentoftheMadrasManagementAssociation(MMA) ChairmanofCONNECT(2020aswellasfor2019),apremierICTeventof the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), hosted by the Government of Tamil Nadu and co-hosted by STPI (Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology),GovernmentofIndia
CII Special Invitee to the Tamil Nadu State Council & General Committee memberofMadrasChamberofCommerce&Industry(MCCI) Advisory committee member of the Deakin-IIT Madras-IIT Hyderabad CentreofExcellenceinAdvancedMaterialsandManufacturing ChairofChennaiChapterofTataNetworkForum President,MMAfortheyear2022-23
Ms Priti Arora President, Global Capabilities Centres, CRISIL
PritiheadstheCapabilityCentrewhichisaconsolidationofcapabilitiesand is aimed at scaling and enhancing productivity across resident capabilities. She works closely with business leaders in Crisil Coalition Greenwich, Crisil Integral IQ and Crisil Intelligence to identify and fulfil new growth opportunities, showcase the combined strength of standardised capabilities and expertise to clients, and drive talent mobility and employee value propositionacrosscapabilitycentres.
Priti joined Crisil in Ratings in the year 2000 and has donned multiple roles across Ratings, GR&RS and GAC, including as the head of GAC and CorporateStrategy.
PritiisanEconomicsHonorsgraduateandcompletedherMBAdegreeasa goldmedalistfromInternationalManagementInstitute.
Dr Sandhya Shekhar Advisor, Digital & Business Strategy
SandhyaShekharcurrentlyworkswiththeindustry,academiaaswellasthe start-up and innovation ecosystem. She is an Advisor and Strategy Consultant to several corporates in the areas of Business Strategy and Digital Transformation. She serves as an independent director on the governing boards of Uno Minda Ltd., MI Torica, Mynda Onkyo and MITIL PolymerPvtLtd.ShehascompletedtwotermsontheboardsofSimpson& Co. Ltd., IP Rings Ltd., Amco Batteries and Bimetal Bearings Ltd. She is a memberoftheExpertCommitteeandSelectionCommitteesconstitutedby BIRAC to scale the bio-tech incubators nationally into a robust innovation ecosystem.Sheisavisitingfacultywithleadingeducationalinstitutions.She has served as an Advisor to State Bank of India as part of the IT Advisory Council for Digital Transformation. She serves on several advisory boards including SOIL Institute of Management and the Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science. She has served on Government of India policy committees including India’s Science, Technology & Innovation Policy.
She has over three decades of professional experience, occupying various CXOpositions.Shehasworkedattheconfluenceofindustryandacademic fraternitieshelpingtobuildandscaleavibrantinnovationecosystem,inher former role as the founding CEO of IIT Madras Research Park, the first university research park in the country. She has extensive industry experience, having worked as Director, Asia Pacific Consulting – Gartner Inc.; CTO, BConnectB.com; Head, Knowledge Management ResearchAptech; and Group Consultant – NIIT). She has worked in multiple industry domains.
She is an alumna of IIM Bangalore and IIT Madras and is a University Rank holder in her under-graduation. She earned her PhD from IIT Madras, with her dissertation winning the global award for outstanding doctoral research fromtheEuropeanFoundationforManagementDevelopmentandEmerald. She is a recipient of several awards like the Excellence Award at Gartner, outstanding achievement awards at NIIT and Aptech and personal commendationlettersfromgloballeaders(includingProf.CharlesVest,Prof Emeritus MIT and President of the US Academy of Engineering, Rt. Hon. David Willet, House of Commons, UK and Dr. V.K. Saraswat, former Chairman DRDO & Scientific Advisor to the Defence Minister). She was felicitated as an Outstanding Woman Achiever during the 100th International Women’s Day. She is an author of several books, papers and articles.HerbookonKnowledgemanagementwasthefirstbookinIndiaon the subject and her latest book titled ‘Managing the reality of virtual organizations’publishedbySpringerhasreceivedworldwideacclaim.Sheis a frequently invited speaker to international and national conferences and forums.
Ms S Rukmini Founder & Director, Data For India
RukminiS.isanindependentdatajournalistbasedinChennai.
In2004,shebegancoveringMumbaicityfortheTimesofIndia.Since2010, she has specialised in data journalism. She was the first Data Editor of an Indiannewsroom,initiallyatTheHinduandthenatHuffPostIndia.Shehas alsoreportedonthefieldfromacrossthecountry.
She now writes for a range of publications including Mint, IndiaSpend and the Guardian. She won the global Sigma Awards for Data Journalism and a JurySpecialMentionforInvestigativeReportingattheACJAwardsin2022. Herpandemicpodcast,TheMovingCurve,wonanEmergentVenturesIndia Covid-19 Prize in 2020. She was awarded the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Media person (Honourable Mention) in 2020. Born in Pune, she studied in Mumbai and London, and has a postgraduate diplomat socialcommunicationsmediaandanMScindevelopmentstudies.
Rukmini founded ‘Data for India’, a public platform to expand the understanding of India through data for everyone and leads research and writing. Data For India uses public data from the Indian government and multilateralagenciesliketheWorldBanktoproduceresearch-backeddatadriveninsightsandchartsonsocio-economicissues.
Dr Vidya Mahambare
Professor of Economics & Director (Research and Fellow Program in Management), Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Vidyaisa2020and2022jointwinneroftheEmergentVenturesGrantbyThe Mercatus Centre, George Mason University to study the causes and consequences of low female labour force participation in India. She also received the World Bank South Asia Gender Lab grant in 2022 and the Azim PremjiUniversityresearchgrantin2021withhercolleagues.
In August 2021 she was appointed as a member of the Expert Committee of the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu, India, set up to draft the state policyon'EmployabilityandSkillinginTransitioningEconomy'.
She has an MSc in International Trade and Finance, and a doctorate in Economics from Lancaster Management School, UK. Vidya's doctoral work was supported by a grant from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals(UK),araredistinctionaccordedtointernationalstudents.Vidyaisa recipient of the Pandurangi Prize for securing the first rank in the masters in economicsfromtheGokhaleInstituteofPoliticsandEconomics,Pune.
ShehasbeeninvitedtospeakontelevisionchannelssuchasBloomberg,BBC, NDTV, and WION to discuss the challenges and prospects for the Indian economy, based on her research related to growth, employment and public policies. She regularly writes opinion articles in popular media including Bloomberg Quint, Mint, Times ofIndia, EconomicTimes, HinduBusiness Line, Hindustan Times, Financial Express, Business Standard, and The Print among othersandherarticleshaveappearedintheWallStreetJournal,Asia.
Prof. Vidya's core teaching expertise lies across macroeconomics and microeconomics, both of which she has taught in full-time MBA programs at Great Lakes. She also teaches a highly appreciated customised course combining the relevant dimensions of micro and macroeconomics in the executive MBA and corporate programs for mid-and senior-level executives. Her elective course – Applied Behavioural Economics' attracts students from alldomainsincludingmarketingandfinance–wheretheylearnhowcognitive biases affect decision making, and implications for businesses and individuals. Vidya has also taught the economics courses to the RBI's newly recruited officersintheBank'strainingcollegeatChennai.
Prior to joining GLIM, Vidya was a Director and Principal Economist at CRISIL andearlier,withCardiffBusinessSchool,UK.
Dr Angayar Pavanasam Project Manager, Tamil Nadu Women Employment & Safety Project
(TNWESafe)
Dr. Angayar brings over 31 years of national and international expertise in academia, teaching, research, and project leadership. She has contributed extensively to her field with more than 30 published articles in reputable journals,conferenceproceedings,andnewsletters.Herdistinguishedcareer includes roles at premier institutions such as the University of New South Wales and the University of Sydney in Australia; Nanyang Technological UniversityinSingapore;theUniversityofCentralLancashire(UKaffiliation) intheMiddleEast;and,inIndia,theIndianInstituteofScienceinBangalore and the National Institute of Technology in Tiruchirappalli. Currently, she is leading the Government of Tamil Nadu's initiative on Women Employment andSafety.
Mr Vijay Kumar J
Vice President - Human Resources
Brakes India Pvt Ltd
Mr Vijay Kumar comes with a versatile experience of 31 years in HR profession, covering Pharma Science, Chemical, Auto component and Engineering sectors, in association with brands like Pfizer, Strides Pharma, Rane,BorgWarnerandAmaraRaja.
His career trajectory, for 16 years as Business HR lead, and about 11 years as Site HR Lead, gave him the opportunities to play constructive roles in various verticals, say, Compliance, Talent, Engagement, Org redesigning / restructuring, Digitalization, ER & Industrial Relations, including strategical integrationoforganizationsandgreenfieldsetupthriceinhiscareer.
He is currently the Vice President – Human Resources for ‘Brakes India P Ltd’, a TSF Group Company (formerly called as ‘TVS Group’-the auto component major), which is into the business of braking systems manufacturingandmarketingwithmajordomesticandexportshares.
HeholdsaMastersinHumanResourcesManagement.
Accreditations: Professional Certified Coach (from ICF), Designing Assessment&DevelopmentCenters,CompetencyMapping,MBTI,BELBIN, DISC,HJAandNLP.
He is associated with Professional forums like ISTD as Honorary Chairperson for Chennai Chapter, and was Hon’y Secretary for NHRDN Chennaiinthepast.
Vijay is a pro-bono coach, Career Architect using Development Center Platforms.
Heisalsopassionateaboutlaunchingcareerexpeditionswithfasttrackers.
Education
Mr K Mahalingam President, MMA & Partner/Director, TSM Group of Companies
1984-GraduatedfromNITTrichyinChemical.
Engineering-DistinguishedAlumni2016.
1987-CompletedPGDMfromIIMCalcutta.
Key Achievements
Exceptionalleader,transformationspecialist,andimpactfulinvestorwithover 35yearsofexperience.
Driving force behind T S Mahalingam & Sons, turning it into one of South India'swellrespectedautomobileafter-marketbrands.
Diversified TSM’s interests into financial services, real estate, and angel investing.
Transformer
Transformed TS Mahalingam & Sons into a prominent brand, retailing 5000 carsannuallyinSouthIndia.
Accelerated TSM’s growth from a single-business, single-location operations intoamulti-business,multi-locationorganisation.
Pioneer
Pioneeredthedistributionofthird-partyloanproductsinpartnershipwithCiti bank,revolutionizingfinancialservices.
Co- developed brands like Autoline, Propshop, and Shelters along with Citi bank.
Entered the real estate space in 2003, is today a prominent player in residential,commercial,andleisurepropertieswith100+projectsdelivered.
Impactor
President of the REC alumni (RECAL), leading impactful projects and massive fundraisingincollaborationwithNIT.
President of the IIM Calcutta Alumni Chennai, enhancing the IIM Calcutta brand. Launching unique initiatives focused on imparting practical knowledge tomanagementstudentsinTN&beyond.
President of the Madras Management Association (MMA), India’s top management association. Member of the Chennai Angels' Executive Committee, guiding operations and ensuring compliance & corporate governance.
Investor
Active angel investor, mentoring budding entrepreneurs and fostering entrepreneurshipbygrowingtheecosystem.
Recognized as a go-to person for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking guidance, support&funding.
Dr Suresh Ramanathan
Dean & Principal
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Chennai
Dr. Suresh Ramanathan is the Dean & Principal of Great Lakes Institute of Management. Prior to joining Great Lakes, Dr Suresh was an Associate Professor of Marketing at the prestigious University of Chicago Booth School of Business between 2002-2011, and later, Professor of Marketing for close to 8 years at the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University, holding the David R. Norcom’73 Endowed Professorship. Suresh joined the world of academia in 1997 after spending ten years in industry in India. He receivedhisPh.D.fromNYU’sSternSchoolofBusinessin2002.Sureshhas a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, DelhiandanMBAfromtheIndianInstituteofManagement,Calcutta.Prior to joining the Ph.D. program at Stern, Suresh worked with Brooke Bond (now Unilever) in their tea and coffee business for three years and then moved to the world of media and advertising, where he worked with JWT, Lintas,MTV,andMcCannEricksonforsevenyears.Hewaspartofthecore leadership team at MTV India, helping launch the channel in India in 1996, and then head of media research at McCann-Erickson India before leaving fortheUS.
Dr. Suresh is a leading expert in consumer emotions and motivations, focusing on social consumption, self-control, and brand engagement. His widelycitedresearchappearsintopjournalsandmajormedialikeTheNew YorkTimesandCBSNews.
A recognized Emerging Scholar, he has served on editorial boards and received prestigious research awards. With 20+ years of teaching experience, he has taught at Chicago Booth, Mays, and Michigan Ross, specializing in Consumer Behavior, Brand Management, and executive education.