Nasscom People Summit 2026: Full Schedule

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8:00am IST

Arrival and Registration at Hotel Conrad

Tuesday July 14, 2026 8:00am - 9:10am IST

Conrad, Bengaluru

Arrival and Registration at Conrad, Bengaluru.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 8:00am - 9:10am IST
Conrad, Bengaluru

Registration

9:10am IST

Welcome to Nasscom People Summit 2026

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:10am - 9:20am IST

Grand Ballroom

Welcome to Nasscom People Summit 2026.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:10am - 9:20am IST
Grand Ballroom

Welcome

9:20am IST

Grand Ballroom : Session I: President's Address - Leadership, Talent, and the New Realities of Work

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:20am - 9:35am IST

Grand Ballroom

As the voice of India's $315 billion technology industry, Nasscom sits at the intersection of one of the most significant workforce transformations in history. While AI is reshaping how organisations operate, innovate, and compete, it is also raising important questions around jobs, skills, leadership, and human relevance. For the industry, it is about ensuring that people can evolve alongside it.
As intelligence becomes abundant, the value of distinctly human capabilities such as judgment, creativity, empathy, resilience, ethics, and trust may become even more critical.

Speakers

Rajesh Nambiar

President, Nasscom

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:20am - 9:35am IST
Grand Ballroom

Address

9:35am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session II: Chair's Opening Address - The Rules Have Changed. Has Everyone Been Told?

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:35am - 9:45am IST

Grand Ballroom

The talent models built over the last three decades were designed for a world that no longer exists, and the gap between knowing that and acting on it is where the real risk lives. Over the next two days, NPS 2026 will take on the questions that matter most right now: how AI is reshaping work, what happens to workforce models as traditional career structures evolve, how organisations build skills at scale, and what it means to lead teams that are increasingly both human and digital.

Speakers

Lakshmi Chandrasekharan

Senior Managing Director & CHRO, Accenture, India

Lakshmi C is Senior Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) for Accenture in India. In this role, Lakshmi is responsible for leading the human capital strategy for Accenture in India focusing on enabling 350,000+ people in India to be successful, professionally... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:35am - 9:45am IST
Grand Ballroom

Address

9:45am IST

Grand Ballroom: Report Launch – The State of AI-Native Talent in India: Decoding the Readiness of India's Early-Career Technology Workforce

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:45am - 9:50am IST

Grand Ballroom

Discover India's first benchmark of AI-native talent, assessing AI readiness of India’s early-career technology workforce. The report offers unique insights into how this cohort is learning, building, and working with AI and what that means for enterprises and future capability building.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:45am - 9:50am IST
Grand Ballroom

Report Launch

9:50am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session III: Keynote - The Great Employability Myth of Two Indias: The Tech Dream and The Reality

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:50am - 10:10am IST

Grand Ballroom

India's technology sector is creating some of the world's most advanced AI, digital, and engineering capabilities, yet it continues to draw talent from a workforce where employability remains a persistent challenge. As AI reshapes skill requirements and the demand for specialised talent intensifies, the gap between the needs of the tech industry and the realities of the broader labour market is becoming harder to ignore. This session explores the weaknesses of India’s education/skills ecosystem; the implications for the continued growth in employment in the IT sector; and the precise roles government and industry leaders must redefine for themselves for India’s talent and its tech industry to emerge a winner in an increasingly uncertain international environment.

Speakers

Santosh Mehrotra

Lead Research Fellow, Institute of Education, Higher School of Economics, Moscow

Santosh Mehrotra, a human development economist, was a Prof of Economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and Chairperson, Centre for Labour at JNU. He has lectured at the Universities of Florence, Italy; American University, Cairo; & the Higher School of Economics, Moscow... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 9:50am - 10:10am IST
Grand Ballroom

Keynote

10:10am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session IV: In-Conversation - How AI is Reshaping the Technology Industry: From Products to Platforms to Services

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:10am - 10:35am IST

Grand Ballroom

AI is transforming every corner of the technology industry, from product companies and IT services firms to BPOs and digital businesses. As AI changes how solutions are built, delivered, and consumed, organisations are rethinking business models, operating structures, talent strategies, and customer expectations. This session explores the scale of this disruption and what it will take for companies to stay competitive in an AI-first world.

Speakers

Ajay Vij

Senior Country Managing Director, Accenture Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Ajay Vij is the Senior Country Managing Director of Accenture in India, responsible for leading the company’s strategy, operations, talent agenda, and growth in one of its most critical global markets. With deep, multi industry experience, he has played a key role in building India... Read More →

Rajesh Nambiar

President, Nasscom

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:10am - 10:35am IST
Grand Ballroom

In Conversation

10:35am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session V: Keynote - Governing the Second Workforce

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:35am - 11:00am IST

Grand Ballroom

AI agents, autonomous systems, hybrid teams. How do you set accountability, permissions, escalation, and quality standards for a workforce that isn't entirely human? The governance conversation most organisations are not having yet.

Speakers

Tanmay Bakshi

AI & Software Architect, IBM

Tanmay Bakshi is an internationally recognized AI and Software Architect, educator, author, and keynote speaker whose work explores the future of intelligent systems, human capability, and emerging technologies. Recognized by The Toronto Star as Newsmaker of the Year after developing... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 10:35am - 11:00am IST
Grand Ballroom

Keynote

11:00am IST

Networking Break: Coffee. Conversations. Connections.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am IST

Networking Area

Networking Break: Coffee. Conversations. Connections.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am IST
Networking Area

Networking Break

11:00am IST

Masterclass I: Beyond The Pilots: What It Really Takes to Scale AI

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm IST

Junior Ballroom 2

Most organizations are investing in AI, but far fewer are ready to scale it successfully. The gap is rarely about technology alone. It spans strategy, workforce, workflows, data, governance, and operations — all of which must evolve together for AI to deliver measurable business value. In this interactive working session, leaders will step back from pilots and hype to confront a more meaningful question: How AI-ready is my organization, really?
Led by Swati Sharma, Chief Growth & Strategy Officer, Accenture LearnVantage, this masterclass introduces the AI Maturity Appraisal & Roadmap (AI-MAP) — an offering that combines Accenture's proven methodology, extensive research, and deep industry expertise with an evidence-based model developed by the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (CMU-SEI) to help organisations assess readiness and accelerate AI adoption at scale.
The model evaluates maturity across eight critical dimensions of AI readiness, while recognising that the path to AI transformation differs across industries such as Telecommunications, Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, and others.
Structured as an interactive working session, participants will complete a short self-read before joining. The masterclass opens by revealing where the room collectively stands, explores common gaps between perception and reality, and examines the factors that enable some organisations to scale AI successfully while others struggle to move beyond pilots.
Drawing on the CMU-SEI model, Accenture's methodology, and industry experience, participants will see how an appraisal translates into a prioritised roadmap of quick
wins and bigger bets and will hear peers from across the C-suite share which dimension mattered most in their own journey.

Key takeaways for participants:
• Perspectives on the key questions C-suite leaders are asking as they shape their AI strategies
• A clear understanding of why AI maturity is critical to scaling AI successfully
• Insights into the common organisational, operational, and governance barriers that hinder AI adoption
• An appreciation of how the CMU-SEI model is addressing this challenge

Speakers

Swati Sharma

Chief Strategy & Growth Officer, Accenture LearnVantage

With 20+ years of experience driving strategic growth, innovation, and digital transformation across industries, Swati Sharma currently serves as Chief Strategy & Growth Officer at Accenture LearnVantage. She leads global expansion, ecosystem partnerships, and investment strategy... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:00am - 12:00pm IST
Junior Ballroom 2

Masterclass

11:30am IST

Grand Ballroom: Sutradhar's Introduction - Disruption: What is Breaking

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:30am - 11:35am IST

Grand Ballroom

Speakers

Sarika Pradhan

CHRO & Vice President, Human Resources - CGI APAC, CGI Information Systems & Management Consultants

Sarika Pradhan is a distinguished Human Resources leader and Vice President at CGI, overseeing HR strategy and operations across the Asia-Pacific region. With over two decades of experience, Sarika has been at the forefront of transforming people practices driving business success... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:30am - 11:35am IST
Grand Ballroom

Sutradhar

11:35am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session VI: Keynote - Fluid, Distributed, Augmented: The New Workforce Paradigm

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:35am - 11:55am IST

Grand Ballroom

The workforce is not waiting for the future to arrive, it is already being reshaped. Fixed roles are giving way to skills-based work, distributed teams are becoming the norm, and AI is increasingly becoming a collaborator in how work gets done. As organisations rethink talent, productivity, and workforce models in real time, this session explores the shifts already underway and what leaders must do today to build organisations that can thrive in this new reality.

Speakers

Kathy Diaz

Chief People Officer, Cognizant

Kathy leads all aspects of people strategy at Cognizant, guiding how the company attracts, develops, engages and rewards its diverse global workforce in the age of AI. She is focused on designing the future of work, providing an exceptional associate experience for talent at all career... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:35am - 11:55am IST
Grand Ballroom

Keynote

11:55am IST

Grand Ballroom: Session VII: Fireside Chat - When Everyone Has Access to Expertise, What Makes You Valuable?

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:55am - 12:20pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Today, AI can provide insights, recommendations, and expert guidance in seconds, fundamentally changing what creates value at work.
As technology amplifies individual capability and organisations invest heavily in reskilling and upskilling, a critical question emerges: how do we measure the real return on learning? Is it knowledge acquisition, productivity gains, career mobility, innovation, or something more?
This session explores how the nature of work is changing and what makes skilling investments truly impactful in an AI-enabled world, while helping employees develop the judgment, adaptability, creativity, and human skills that remain difficult to automate.

Moderators

Sarika Pradhan

CHRO & Vice President, Human Resources - CGI APAC, CGI Information Systems & Management Consultants

Speakers

Sudeep Kunnumal

Chief Human Resources Officer, Tata Consultancy Services

Sudeep Kunnumal is the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Tata Consultancy Services. He leads the company’s human resources strategy, prioritising progressive talent approaches and fostering an inclusive culture across a large workforce spanning 55 countries.

A seasoned HR professional, Sudeep holds a master’s degree in human resource management from Madurai Kamaraj University. He brings more than three decades of expertise in human resources and has held leadership roles across business units and strategic HR functions. He has managed... Read More →

Soumitra Saha

Managing Director, Country Head, Lumen India

Soumitra Saha serves as the Managing Director and Country Head of Lumen Technologies, India, and is based in
Bangalore. As a key leader within the organization, Soumitra is spearheading a transformative initiative to
establish Lumen India as a premier technology hub for Lumen Tec... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 11:55am - 12:20pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Fireside Chat

12:20pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Session VIII: Leaders' Discussion - Building Careers When the Learning Curve Itself Is Automated

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:20pm - 12:50pm IST

Grand Ballroom

For decades, young graduates learned how a business works by doing basic, repetitive tasks. Today, software handles those entry-level responsibilities instantly. If we remove that manual foundation, how do freshers build business intuition? This session will look at how entry-level roles are evolving in an AI-led environment. It will also raise questions around how young talent will enter and navigate the workforce going forward.

Moderators

Rostow Ravanan

Chairman and CEO, Alfahive Inc.

Speakers

John Dawber

Vice President & Managing Director - Global Business Services,, Novo Nordisk

John Dawber, Vice President and Managing Director, has been heading the Global Business Service (GBS) centre at Novo Nordisk in Bangalore since September 2022. He leads an organisation of around 4000 employees where he leads cross-functional teams to promote innovation, improve... Read More →

Nithya Balasubramanian

Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Inventurus Knowledge Solutions (IKS Health)

Nithya Balasubramanian is the Chief Financial Officer of our Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering in electrical and electronics engineering from the Birla University of Technology & Science, Rajasthan, and a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute... Read More →

Dr. Madan A. Sendhil

Chancellor, Rathinam Global Deemed to be University

Dr. Madan A. Sendhil is the Founder & Chairman of Rathinam Group and the Chancellor of Rathinam Global Deemed to be University. An innovation-driven entrepreneur, technopreneur, and infrastructure developer, he has played a significant role in building a future-ready ecosystem integrating... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:20pm - 12:50pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Leaders' Discussion

12:30pm IST

Junior Ballroom: Special Session with Times Techies: Work Reimagined: Leading the Human + AI Workforce

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:30pm - 1:00pm IST

Junior Ballroom 2

AI is reshaping how work is designed, delivered, measured and led. As AI agents enter enterprise workflows, organisations are moving towards Human + AI workforce models where people and intelligent systems work together, each bringing distinct strengths.
The discussion will explore how this shift is changing the definition of work, skills, roles and leadership. It will cover emerging job roles, new skills required to work with and manage AI agents, and how enterprises are navigating this transition. It will also look at the role of the wider ecosystem in ensuring that constant skilling remains a fundamental priority as AI continues to evolve.

Moderators

Sujit John

Deputy Resident Editor; Editor, Times Techies, The Times of India

Speakers

Sachin Khurana

Chief People Officer, Happiest Minds

Richard Lobo

Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra

Richard Lobo is a globally respected HR leader, author, and strategic advisor with nearly three decades of experience in shaping high-performing, future-ready organizations. As Chief People Officer at Tech Mahindra, he leads the people and culture strategy for a global workforce of... Read More →

Dr. Abhilasha Gaur

CEO, SSC Nasscom

Sushanth Tharappan

EVP & Head-HR, Infosys Limited, Infosys

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:30pm - 1:00pm IST
Junior Ballroom 2

Special Session

12:55pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Sutradhar Wraps Up- Disruption: What is Breaking

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:55pm - 1:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Speakers

Sarika Pradhan

CHRO & Vice President, Human Resources - CGI APAC, CGI Information Systems & Management Consultants

Tuesday July 14, 2026 12:55pm - 1:00pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Sutradhar

1:00pm IST

Networking Lunch

Tuesday July 14, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm IST

Networking Area

Tuesday July 14, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm IST
Networking Area

Networking Break

2:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom I & II: Deep Dive Track I: People, AI & Everything In Between: Session IXA: In Conversation - The Move Towards a Strategic Function: From Process Owner to Strategic Architect

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm IST

GBR 1 & GBR 2

AI is transforming HR from a process-driven function into a strategic driver of business growth. As leaders rethink operating models, talent, and organisational design, the opportunity is no longer just to reinvent HR, but to build more agile, AI-powered enterprises. This session brings together business and people leaders to explore how leadership, talent, and technology can shape the future of work and drive long-term growth.

Speakers

Lalitha Indrakanti

CEO, JLR TBSI

Lalitha is a transformational business leader with nearly three decades of cross-border experience. Her professional journey has been defined by strategic advisory, IT services, digital transformations and establishment of Global Capability Centers across the globe. She has catalysed... Read More →

Vivek Ranjan

CHRO, Zensar Technologies

Vivek Ranjan is Executive Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer at Zensar Technologies, part of the RPG Group, where he leads the global people agenda with a strong belief that organisations grow when people find purpose, opportunity, and belonging at work. With over 28 years... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:00pm - 2:20pm IST
GBR 1 & GBR 2

In Conversation

2:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom III: Deep Dive Track II: Culture, Inclusion & Wellbeing: Session IXB: Interactive Session - Ibasho – A Belonging Blueprint

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:00pm - 2:45pm IST

GBR 3

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of Ibasho—a place where people feel accepted, valued and safe, participants engage in a rapid design-thinking exercise to identify what makes people feel excluded versus valued and co-create a practical 12-Point Belonging Blueprint for an inclusive, psychologically safe and high-performing workplace culture.

Speakers

Siddhant Shah

DEI & Access Enabler, Access For All

Siddhant Shah is a National Award-winning Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Leader, Universal Design Expert, and the Founder of Access For ALL, Asia's leading accessibility and DEI consultancy. Over the past decade, he has partnered with leading multinational corporations, financial... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:00pm - 2:45pm IST
GBR 3

Keynote

2:20pm IST

Grand Ballroom I & II: Deep Dive Track I: People, AI & Everything In Between: Session XA: Fireside Chat - The New Reality of Work Needs a New Place: Reimagining the Corporate Workplace

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:20pm - 2:40pm IST

GBR 1 & GBR 2

The physical workplace is a critical driver of employer branding, collaboration, and employee well-being in a hybrid world. This conversation will showcase how curated, sustainable corporate spaces are helping enterprises bridge the physical-digital divide. This presentation breaks down how premium corporate infrastructure serves as a strategic catalyst for collaboration, talent retention, and operational agility in the modern corporate landscape.

Moderators

Kritika Murugesan

Senior Director - GCC & Talent, Nasscom

Kritika Murugesan, Senior Director Nasscom, leads the GCC and talent Initiative. In her current role, Kritika is focused on aligning India’s tech talent supply with evolving industry needs and driving a National strategy on deep skilling, reskilling, and emerging technology capabilities... Read More →

Speakers

Priyadarshini Prabhu

People Solutions Director, India, Baker Tilly One India

Priyadarshini Prabhu oversees talent strategy and manages employee lifecycle from hire to retire. Her role involves shaping exceptional experiences for a group of professionals in the accounting and professional services domain and developing an employee-led organizational brand.
... Read More →

MV Manikandan

Founder and CMD, Adissia Developers Pvt. Ltd.

M.V. Manikandan is a first-generation entrepreneur whose journey is a testament to perseverance, resilience, and the belief that success is built through consistent effort.

At the age of sixteen, he began working by delivering bus tickets across Coimbatore on a bicycle. What seemed like a simple responsibility at the time became the starting point of a much larger journey. Those early experiences taught him discipline, accountability, and the importance... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:20pm - 2:40pm IST
GBR 1 & GBR 2

In Conversation

2:30pm IST

Masterclass II: The HR AI Sandbox: A Masterclass in Managing AI Agents

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm IST

Junior Ballroom 2

The next member of your workforce may not be human. This immersive masterclass gives HR leaders a hands-on opportunity to experiment with AI agents, understand how they learn, collaborate, and execute work, and explore what it takes to integrate them into the enterprise. Participants will leave with a practical understanding of how agentic AI is reshaping jobs, teams, and organisational design, and what HR must do today to prepare for a future where managing AI agents becomes as important as managing people.

Speakers

M Chockalingam

Director - Technology, Research and Responsible AI, Nasscom

With over 26 years of experience across content, data, and AI domains, M.Chockalingam, a Tech expert, brings deep expertise spanning multiple industries, including government and the legal sector.

A key milestone in his career was serving as Chief Architect – AI, where he led the establishment of the Center of Excellence for Emerging Technologies (AI) for the Government of Tamil Nadu over a span of four years. This included end-to-end leadership of AI strategy, use case identification... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:30pm - 3:30pm IST
Junior Ballroom 2

Masterclass

2:40pm IST

Grand Ballroom I & II: Deep Dive Track I: People, AI & Everything In Between: Session XI A:Fireside Chat - Beyond Prompting: Building an AI-Fluent Culture

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:40pm - 3:00pm IST

GBR 1 & GBR 2

We talk about reskilling for the automated era, but the conversation rarely moves past the surface level. That is an illusion of capability. True AI literacy is no longer a technical choice for engineers, it has become the mandatory alphabet for every single department in the enterprise. From the HR manager deploying automated evaluation engines to the operations head auditing workflow dashboards, every leader is now a data gatekeeper.
What does it actually mean to build systemic tech fluency when you do not write a single line of code?

Moderators

Vidya Munirathnam

Vice President – Human Resources, Lowe's India Private Limited

Vidya Munirathnam is Vice President, HR at Lowe’s India. In her role, Vidya leads the full range of human resources functions for Lowe’s India, including business partnering, total rewards, communications, talent acquisition, learning, culture and diversity. Additionally, Vidya... Read More →

Speakers

R S Subramanian

SVP - South Asia, DHL Express

Mr. R. S. Subramanian is currently the SVP for South Asia and Managing Director of DHL Express India. He is also a member of the DHL Express Asia Pacific Management Board. With over 30 years of experience in both product-led and service industries, Mr. Subramanian possesses extensive... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:40pm - 3:00pm IST
GBR 1 & GBR 2

Fireside Chat

2:45pm IST

Grand Ballroom III: Deep Dive Track II: Culture, Inclusion & Wellbeing: Launch of Nasscom White Papers

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:45pm - 2:50pm IST

GBR 3

• Culture: The Strategic Capability Behind Every Transformation, Including AI
• Emotional and Mental Wellbeing: Best Practices in the IT Sector

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:45pm - 2:50pm IST
GBR 3

White Paper Launch

2:50pm IST

Grand Ballroom III: Deep Dive Track II: Culture, Inclusion & Wellbeing: Session XIB: Keynote - The Desk Athlete: High Performance For The Human Body That Goes to Work

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:50pm - 3:30pm IST

GBR 3

The body you bring to work is the instrument you think with.
Most of the people in this room sit for long hours a day. They make decisions that affect thousands of people. They are, in every meaningful sense, performance athletes, except nobody treats them like one. This session changes that.

Speakers

Ryan Fernando

Founder, Qua Nutrition

With 20+ years of experience in the nutrition field, Ryan Fernando is considered among the elite thought leaders in the field of health and nutrition. Ryan's clientele includes prominent cricketers like Harbhajan Singh, Shikhar
Dhawan, Virat Kohli and famous Bollywood actors Aamir... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 2:50pm - 3:30pm IST
GBR 3

Keynote

3:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom I & II: Deep Dive Track I: People, AI & Everything In Between: Session XIIA: Fireside Chat - Building India's Skill-First “Builder” Talent Pool

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:00pm - 3:25pm IST

GBR 1 & GBR 2

India's ambition to become a global product powerhouse hinges on one critical question: how do enterprises create more "builders," not just operators? This session explores how leading organisations are reimagining talent through skills-first models, internal builder frameworks, innovation ecosystems, and product-centric career pathways, empowering employees to become product thinkers, IP creators, and innovators while building a lasting competitive advantage.

Moderators

Dr. Abhilasha Gaur

CEO, SSC Nasscom

Speakers

Isabelle Isnard

CHRO, AXA

Isabelle Isnard is the Chief Human Resources Officer at AXA Global Business Services (GBS) since 2023. She is at the helm of driving an inclusive and dynamic work culture that prioritizes both people and performance at AXA GBS. She is currently overseeing a strategic vision that encompasses... Read More →

Sandhya Varanasi

VP, India Hub CTO & Chair of India R&D Council, Schneider Electric Pvt Ltd.

With 21 years of experience across R&D, innovation, and transformation, Sandhya has built a career on turning ambitious ideas into real-world results. From hands-on engineering to executive leadership, her journey is fueled by a passion for Innovation, Product Development, digitalisation... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:00pm - 3:25pm IST
GBR 1 & GBR 2

Fireside Chat

3:30pm IST

Networking Break: Coffee. Conversations. Connections.

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:30pm - 3:55pm IST

Networking Area

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:30pm - 3:55pm IST
Networking Area

Networking Break

3:55pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Sutradhar's Introduction - The Internal Alignment

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:55pm - 4:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Speakers

Sushanth Tharappan

EVP & Head-HR, Infosys Limited, Infosys

Tuesday July 14, 2026 3:55pm - 4:00pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Sutradhar

4:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Session XIII: In-Conversation - The Skills Cliff: Reskilling at a Pace the Human Brain Wasn't Built For

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm IST

Grand Ballroom

The jobs of tomorrow require skills that don't yet have names. We are asking the biological brain to keep pace with an exponential machine. The corporate mandate is simple: reskill or redundant. But the human mind has a speed limit, a metabolic cost, and a threshold for change. We are standing at a skills cliff, and most organisations are still handing out maps of the old terrain. This session confronts the reskilling imperative honestly: what it costs, what it takes, what technology can and cannot do, and what happens to the people who can't make the jump in time.

Speakers

SP Arun

Professor, Centre for Neuroscience, IISc Bangalore

SP Arun received his B.Tech from IIT Bombay, and MS & PhD from Johns Hopkins University, all in Electrical Engineering. He completed his postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University and since 2010, is a faculty at the Centre for Neuroscience at IISc. His lab, the Vision Lab@IISc... Read More →

Richard Lobo

Chief People Officer, Tech Mahindra

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm IST
Grand Ballroom

In Conversation

4:00pm IST

Masterclass III: Stress, Burnout & Nutrition: The Corporate Survival Blueprint

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm IST

Junior Ballroom 2

Stress and burnout are among the most significant challenges facing today’s workforce. This masterclass explores the powerful link between nutrition, stress management, and resilience, helping professionals understand how food impacts energy, focus, emotional regulation, and recovery. Participants will gain actionable strategies to manage cortisol, navigate demanding schedules and travel, and build sustainable eating habits that support wellbeing and peak performance.

Speakers

Ryan Fernando

Founder, Qua Nutrition

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:00pm - 5:00pm IST
Junior Ballroom 2

Masterclass

4:30pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Session XIV: Keynote - Measuring What Matters: Beyond Productivity, Performance, and Utilisation

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Quarterly targets, engagement scores, productivity metrics, utilisation rates, and thousands of other instruments of modern management have become so refined that we can measure almost anything. And yet, the central question often goes unasked: are we measuring genuine value, or simply rewarding what is most visible?
As AI begins to reshape how work is performed and how productivity is generated, many of the measures organisations rely on today are being put to the test. This session is a challenge to the measurement culture we have inherited, and an invitation to rethink whether the metrics that have long defined success remain fit for a rapidly changing world of work.

Speakers

Krish Shankar

Independent Director, Indira IVF Hospitals and Founding Mentor, Crossmentors

Krish Shankar is an HR professional with around four decades of experience and has led HR functions in organizations like Hindustan Unilever/Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Philips and Infosys, where he retired as Group Head of Human Resources. He is an Independent Director with Indira IVF... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:30pm - 4:50pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Keynote

4:50pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Session XV: Fireside Chat - The AI Leader's Dilemma

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:50pm - 5:15pm IST

Grand Ballroom

The AI era is creating challenges and opportunities that few leaders have encountered before. As traditional assumptions about work, skills, careers, and organisations are rewritten, leaders must navigate complexity, make consequential decisions with incomplete information, and prepare their organisations for futures that cannot be fully predicted. This session examines the leadership capabilities, decision-making approaches, and human qualities that will matter most in an age of unprecedented technological change.

Moderators

Nisha Gopinath

Vice President & Head of Human Resources (HR), IBM India & South Asia, IBM India Pvt Ltd.

Nisha Gopinath is the Vice President and Head of Human Resources (HR) for IBM India & South Asia. She is responsible for the people strategy, engagement, skilling & development of IBMers in the region.
Nisha has held strategic leadership positions in India and internationally, spanning various business units and functions. In her previous role, she served as the HR leader for all of IBM’s Global Delivery Centers,. In the course of her career, she has also spent many years at... Read More →

Speakers

Rahul Kothari

COO, Razorpay

Rahul Kothari is the Chief Operating Officer at Razorpay. With over 21 years of experience in both consultancy and technology in leading companies, Rahul comes with a strategic and analytical mind that is geared towards delivering growth and agility for companies.

As a COO at Razorpay, Rahul is focused on further building the company as a customer-centric organisation, providing a more integrated and seamless customer experience to various customer segments and businesses. His role entails guiding the company’s business strategies to ach... Read More →

Kishor Patil

Co-founder, CEO and Managing Director, KPIT Technologies Limited

Mr. Kishor Patil is the Co-founder, CEO & Managing Director of KPIT, and is responsible for the overall management and strategic direction of the organization. He leads long-range planning, mergers and acquisitions, business performance reviews, and oversees all client-facing functions... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 4:50pm - 5:15pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Fireside Chat

5:15pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Session XVI: Fireside Chat - They Didn't Break the Social Contract, They Were Born After It Did

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:15pm - 5:40pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Gen Z and Gen Alpha have entered a world shaped by AI, uncertainty, side hustles, mental health conversations, and careers that no longer follow a straight line.
In this session, young voices and business leaders come together to tackle some uncomfortable questions: What does loyalty mean today? Is job-hopping the new career ladder? Does AI make experience less valuable? And what will it take to build workplaces that this generation actually wants to be part of?

Moderators

Sushanth Tharappan

EVP & Head-HR, Infosys Limited, Infosys

Speakers

Deetya Aradhya

Editor-In-Chief and Founder, The Ivy Magazine

Deetya Aradhya is the Editor-In-Chief and founder of The Ivy Magazine, a digital literary magazine for youth writers, artists, and photographers. She is also the founding president of The Ishara Archives, a youth-led platform preserving and celebrating South Asian identity. A passionate... Read More →

Abhishek Pratap

Founder, Extrive Innovations

Abhishek Pratap is the Founder of Extrive Innovations, where he is building wearable robotics and AI-powered ergonomics solutions to make physically demanding work safer and more sustainable. He has never separated technology from business, believing that the best innovation is the... Read More →

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:15pm - 5:40pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Fireside Chat

5:45pm IST

Grand Ballroom: Sutradhar Wraps Up- The Internal Alignment

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:45pm - 5:50pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Speakers

Sushanth Tharappan

EVP & Head-HR, Infosys Limited, Infosys

Tuesday July 14, 2026 5:45pm - 5:50pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Sutradhar

7:00pm IST

Networking, Band Performance & Dinner

Tuesday July 14, 2026 7:00pm - 9:00pm IST

Grand Ballroom

Tuesday July 14, 2026 7:00pm - 9:00pm IST
Grand Ballroom

Networking

8:00am IST

9:10am IST

9:20am IST

9:35am IST

9:45am IST

9:50am IST

10:10am IST

10:35am IST

11:00am IST

11:00am IST

11:30am IST

11:35am IST

11:55am IST

12:20pm IST

12:30pm IST

12:55pm IST

1:00pm IST

2:00pm IST

2:00pm IST

2:20pm IST

2:30pm IST

2:40pm IST

2:45pm IST

2:50pm IST

3:00pm IST

3:30pm IST

3:55pm IST

4:00pm IST

4:00pm IST

4:30pm IST

4:50pm IST

5:15pm IST

5:45pm IST

7:00pm IST

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