After 25 years in the product R&D space, on Dec 2015, moved full-time into academics. As Professor Co-Innovation, heading the Research/Innovation outreach at IIIT Hyderabad. helping start and grow the Technology Transfer Office, Co-Innovation (corp) labs, Entrepreneur On Residence program and the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship. Have been adjunct faculty (middle ware systems) at IIIT-H since 2002, visiting faculty at IIT Hyderabad (Innovation),member of governing board of incubators at IIIT-H, IIT and BITS.
Until recently , Center Head (& Vice President- Products), Progress Software’s Hyderabad labs, responsible for leading the product development at the Hyderabad Development center. As Center Head, Built a formidable product engineering group that now owns half of engineering in the company. And is widely seen as a very Innovation centered engineering group (won national awards). Prior to taking the above position, was VP of Middleware Technologies at Pramati, . heading Product Engineering.
An accomplished Technologist, with over 20 years product engineering and R&D leadership experience. Regularly speak at tech workshops and seminars in India. Recently co-authored a book on ‘SOA approach to Integration’, published by Packt Publishers. Member of several Standards Expert groups including J2EE 1.3. Active in Product/Startup circles. .
was Chair of ACM Hyderabad Chapter 2012-14. Active in industry organizations. most recently was President of HYSEA (Hyderabad Software Industry Association) and Regional council member at Nasscom. One of the Founders of Headstart Network (StartupSaturday)
Guru is a partner and leader of Sales and Innovation for the India region with a big 4 consulting firm. He has over 20 years of experience in founding consulting businesses and scaling teams across, financial services, government and energy sectors.
Guru has led some of the most challenging and complex projects, such as Aadhaar (Unique ID), Financial Intelligence Unit and modernization of tax administration, modernization of Banking technologies to a more recent technology solution around blockchain, cryptocurrencies. In addition, I have had the opportunity of advising various government agencies on policy, strategy, planning, PFI, private sector development, economic advisory, and enterprise risk. In addition to working with various financial institutions, and governments around the world, he has built an admirable portfolio of projects with multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, ADB, AfDB, FCO, JICA and the UN.
Born and raised in India, with an undergraduate degree in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry, Guru attended Middlesex University in London, where he earned a master’s degree in Technology, specializing in Expert Systems (AI) and Human-Computer Interaction. Subsequently worked in London with Standard Chartered Bank for a few years before returning to India.
Countries of experience: US, Mexico, Brazil, Carribean, UK, Kenya, Ethiopia, Turkey, Romania, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Srilanka, Bangladesh, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines.
A graduate in Economics from Loyola College, Chennai, with over 37 years of work experience, both India and overseas, across multiple functions. He is the former CEO of IDFC Foundation and led the HR, Marketing and Communications functions of IDFC Bank. He was the erstwhile Group Chief Human Resources Officer and member of the Group Executive Council at Tata Sons, the holding company of the Tata Group, a USD 150 billion conglomerate with over 700,000 employees. Prior to that he was Global Leader of the People Advisory consulting worldwide, at Ernst & Young (EY). He has rendered management consulting services to MNCs, Indian conglomerates and to leading navratna PSU’s such as IOC, NTPC, HAL and HPCL.
Rajan has served as a director on the boards of Tata Services, Indian Hotels (TAJ), Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System and Infrastructure Development Corporation, Karnataka. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Dalmia Bharat Ltd. Rajan provides professional advisory services, as the group mentor, to conglomerates. Rajan is a serving member of the XLRI Board of Governors and member of the Academics Committee of the Board. At the Tata Group, Rajan was responsible for board effectiveness interventions, helped develop the Governance Manual and in addition supported the Nomination and Remuneration Committees of the various boards in appointing new directors across group companies.
As Chairman of Group Affirmative Action of the Tata Group, Dr Rajan received a national award from Shri Narendra Modi, the honourable Prime Minister of India, for the Group’s contributions to the cause of the under-served and the under privileged. Dr Rajan was invited by the United Nations’ Economics and Social Council, to be part of policy makers panel to deliberate on achieving sustainable development through employment creation of 600 million jobs to meet future global needs. He has been a member of the governing council of CDC, an autonomous institution of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science & Technology, set up to help further the cause of research and consulting.
Rajan was conferred the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” by XLRI, Jamshedpur, a pre-eminent business school and has also received accolades such as Outstanding HR Leadership by Hindustan Times HR Leadership Awards, and “HR Professional of the Year” by National HRD Network, the country’s largest association of HR professionals. He is former National President of the NHRD Network and has also served on the national committees of CII. Dr Rajan is currently authoring a book on Happiness at Work, an area he has been researching for over two decades. He has been part of a think tank of IIT Delhi, Faculty of Management Studies, to rearticulate its vision in spearheading management education. Dr Rajan has researched global education institutions to help define next level practices in infrastructure and pedagogy for XLRI, Jamshedpur.
Rajan has been visiting faculty at IIM Ahmedabad and XLRI, Jamshedpur, in the areas of human capital and business management, and has recently been invited by National University of Singapore to teach in their Executive MBA program. He is the author of ‘Quote Me If You Can’, a compilation of his thoughts on business. He speaks many languages and writes poetry in three of them. He is an avid writer, speaker, blogger and photographer with an active presence on social media. Dr Rajan has been recognised by SHRM as being amongst the top ten social media influencers in HR. He is an angel investor and mentor of start-ups in HR and Technology.
Rajan, currently based in Bangalore is married to Vidya, a home maker and they have a daughter, who after completing her post-graduation from Harvard Business School is now working at New York.
After completion of his post graduation, he worked for six years with Godrej and Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. in the field of Marketing and Sales. He handled a number of positions while in Godrej. He worked as Executive Assistant to the Vice President Marketing and also as All India Product Executive for Godrej Locks. He was the Sales and Service Manager for the Mumbai Branch of Godrej GE Appliances Ltd. when he left the company. He then moved to Hyderabad and did an 18-month stint with VJ Infosystems Ltd. as head of their education and training division.
After this stint in corporate life, he took the entrepreneurial plunge and joined a friend and senior from IIMA to start a coaching institute for CAT – Triumphant Institute of Management Education – better known by its acronym T.I.M.E.
Headquartered in Secunderabad, T.I.M.E. is today a formidable brand in the field of education training across the country. T.I.M.E. has successfully countered the widespread belief that educational institutes lose out on quality when expand across the country. With 200 offices in 100 cities and training over 130,000 students every year, it is the one of the leading test prep institutes in India. T.I.M.E. trains students for CAT, GATE, Bank Exams, IITJEE, GMAT, GRE and a number of other competitive entrance exams. For the last number of years, more than 50% of the students who make it to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) are from T.I.M.E.
The group also includes T.I.M.E. Kids, a pre-school chain with over 350 centres all over the country and T.I.M.E. Schools consisting of two large-format CBSE schools in Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
Manek has been associated full-time with T.I.M.E. for the last 29 years – training and guiding students in preparing for a large variety of entrance exams. Even today, he enjoys taking a personal interest in the careers of young people and guides students in their exam and GD and interview preparation as well as in selecting the right B-Schools to apply to. He also provides career counseling to many a confused youngster and their even more confused parents.
Manek has been associated with a variety of functional areas at T.I.M.E. – from accounting and financial planning to advertising and field sales. Like all first-generation entrepreneurs he believes that if a job has to be done, it has to be done.
Manek has also been closely associated with Hyderabad Round Table No. 8 – a fellowship and public service organization where he has been involved in the building of schools for the under privileged and helping upgrade the facilities available in Government schools in Hyderabad and Secunderabad. Manek was also the Chairman of Hyderabad Round Table No.8, Chairman of Round Table India Area 9 covering the whole of the states of AP and Telangana and a Trustee of Hyderabad Round Table No. 8 Charitable Trust.
Manek is a keen follower of a wide range of sports and is happiest watching cricket, Formula 1 or tennis on television. He also enjoys listening to music and is an avid reader. Wodehouse remains his all-time favourite author.
He also heads the PSA-supported Hyderabad City Cluster initiative which is a collaborative network of research and academic institutions, industry, startups, civic bodies, and government, to implement science and technology Innovations for mass impact.
He retired as the Dean of the Indian School of Business, India’s highest-ranked Business School. He has been a member of many global committees in Business Education. He is Governing Board member of IIITH, a founding member of T-Hub, a Board member of companies, and a Director of Social Venture Partners, India where he volunteers with NGOs to help them increase impact. Prior to ISB, he was in Hong Kong for over 20 years, 14 of those with Price Waterhouse Consulting, handling various roles including Country Head, first of PW and then of PwC Hong Kong Consulting practice, and East Asia Head of PwC Telecomm practice and of Learning and Development. He is a graduate of IIT, Bombay, and did his post-graduation in Management from IIM, Ahmedabad.
Arindam Banerrji leads Wells Fargo’s operations in India and Philippines. He is responsible for enhancing value creation for Wells Fargo through effective governance, building efficient capabilities and enabling a culture of transformation.
Arindam is a qualified Charted Accountant and has a deep understanding of the banking industry across finance, technology, mid-office/ back-office operations developed over a career span of over 30 years in India and UK.
Most recently, Arindam worked with EY India as a Lead Partner responsible for building and leading its business with Global Financial Institutions with a large presence in India. He was instrumental in advising large banks on their strategic programs for technology transformation, market risk programs, and service delivery excellence.
Prior to EY, Arindam was the Managing Director at Deutsche Bank where he ensured harmonization of the operating model across infrastructure areas of the bank, to create a globally-efficient delivery model. He also served as Global Head of the GBS Service Centres and the GBS Business Delivery Manager for Global Markets (Equities). Prior to this, he was the Regional CIO for India, responsible for the strategic management of the India Smart Sourcing initiative, with oversight responsibilities for the Group Technology and Operations functions across India.
During his stint at JPMorgan Chase, he played multiple leadership roles such as CFO and COO, driving mergers and integration. As the COO, he was instrumental in setting up the Global Service Center for JPMorgan Chase.
Arindam is married with two children and likes to play golf in his free time.
M Rammohan Rao, Professor Emeritus Indian School of Business
During his tenure as Dean, ISB was ranked globally in the top twenty by Financial Times Rankings.
During his tenure as Director, IIM B was ranked No. 1 in India by the Business Today – Cosmode Survey.
He has published over 90 articles in professional journals.
He has been
He has received numerous awards, including
EDUCATION :
Ph D, Carnegie-Mellon University
MS (Industrial Administration), Carnegie-Mellon University
Master of Engineering (Industrial Engineering), Cornell University
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical), Madras University
Courses Taught Recenty
