22nd All India Management Students Convention Speakers’ Profile
With a distinguished educational background, including a Chemical Engineering degree from NIT Trichy and a PGDM from IIM Calcutta, this individual boasts over 35 years of experience as an exceptional leader and transformation specialist. They have been the driving force behind the remarkable evolution of T S Mahalingam & Sons into a highly respected automobile after-market brand in South India, expanding its operations across multiple businesses and locations. As a pioneer, they revolutionized the financial services industry by introducing third-party loan products in collaboration with Citi bank and ventured into real estate, successfully delivering over 100 projects. Notably, they have made a significant impact on various alumni associations, serving as President of REC alumni (RECAL), President of the IIM Calcutta Alumni Chennai, and President of the Madras Management Association (MMA). Additionally, their role on the Chennai Angels’ Executive Committee showcases their dedication to fostering entrepreneurship and supporting budding entrepreneurs through mentorship and investment guidance, solidifying their reputation as a go-to figure in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
In his career spanning over 35 years in Upstream Oil & Gas Sector, Elango has held several leadership roles in different areas of the business and is a recognized leader in the Indian Oil and Gas industry.
Currently Elango is the Managing Director of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd (HOEC) since February 2015.
Prior to joining HOEC, he was the Chief Executive Officer & Whole Time Director of Cairn India Limited.
Elango was one of the five finalists for Platts’ first-ever Asia CEO of the Year award 2013
Elango holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration and began his career with ONGC in 1985 and over a span of 10-years, has performed diverse roles Prior to joining Cairn India in January 1996.
Apurba is an Associate Partner with KPMG in India’s ESG practice. As a climate, energy and ESG specialist, over the years, she has focused on solutions around deep decarbonisation, ESG transformation, energy transitions, carbon markets, green finance, platform building, energy modelling, sustainability reporting and strategy, corporate social responsibility, etc. She has worked extensively with the corporate sector but also worked quite closely with the government on policy. In her previous role, she was the Head for Climate Policy and Modelling at WRI India.
Mr K V Ramani, founder and chancellor of Sai University, is one of the pioneers who led the efforts to bring India’s information technology sector to global prominence. He co-founded the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) to assist the growth and development of the IT sector in India. He served as its chairman from 1997 to 1998 and was a member of its executive council for the first 10 years, being re-elected by the members five times over. He received the Founder’s Award at NASSCOM’s silver jubilee celebrations in 2015 for ‘putting India on the Global IT Map.’
Mr Ramani is currently the chairman and managing director of Digital Holdings Pvt. Ltd. and the founder and managing trustee of Shirdi Sai Trust. A successful technology entrepreneur, he joined IBM as a graduate engineer in 1970 at a time when very few Indians were a part of the IT sector’s talent pipeline. Anticipating the advent of the age of technology, he founded a premier communications technology firm called Future Software in 1985. He co-founded Hughes Software Systems, a telecommunications software company in India, as a joint venture with the US firm Hughes Software in 1990.
He has been the charter president of the TiE (The indUS Entrepreneurs), Chennai Chapter. Additionally, he has worked for the department of electronics as a member of the working group on information technology and as the chairman of the study team on software development and exports for the ninth Five-Year plan during 1996. Between 1988 and 1992, he was the chairman of the software panel, southern region, for the Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council (ESC) under the Ministry of Commerce.
He has been honored by Hon. Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for creating the brand of a new India as co-founder of NASSCOM and for the Shri Saibaba Sansthan, Shirdi, the inspiration behind his numerous philanthropic initiatives which include educational and medical services for the underprivileged.
Mr Ramani is driven by the urgent need to create world-class institutions for higher education in India and now steers his philanthropic efforts towards building a global interdisciplinary university in India. He is currently the Founder and Chancellor of Sai University, India’s first international university, based in Chennai. Sai University is a multi disciplinary and inter disciplinary university providing Liberal Education in Arts, Science. Technology and Law.
Gp Capt R Vijayakumar (Retd), VSM, is a highly accomplished individual with a distinguished career in the Indian Air Force and currently serves as the Executive Director of the Madras Management Association (MMA) since April 2007. Throughout his tenure, he has significantly contributed to the growth and reputation of MMA.
During his three-decade-long service in the Indian Air Force, Gp Capt Vijayakumar held various pivotal positions, including Director of Financial Planning and Financial Advisor to the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Western Air Command. His exceptional service and dedication were recognized through several prestigious awards. He was honored with the Vishisht Seva Medal by the President of India for his outstanding and meritorious service. Additionally, he received the Commendation Medallion on four occasions from the Chief of Air Staff and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief for his commendable contributions.
Gp Capt Vijayakumar is an alumnus of Loyola, Chennai, and holds a diverse range of educational qualifications. He has obtained an LLB degree and pursued his studies further to earn a Master’s degree in Industrial Relations & Personnel Management from Nagpur University. He has also earned a Master’s degree in Management Studies from Osmania University.
Under Gp Capt Vijayakumar’s dynamic leadership, MMA has become a prominent and highly respected management association in India, particularly in Tamil Nadu. The organization consistently attracts top industry leaders and policy makers, solidifying its status as the recognized face of Indian industry in the state. Thanks to his exceptional leadership skills, MMA has been honored with the Best Management Association in India award by AIMA for fourteen consecutive years, including the year 2022-23.
Apart from his professional pursuits, Gp Capt Vijayakumar is an avid golfer and has represented the Indian golf team in various international tournaments. He is actively involved in various philanthropic endeavors as well. Currently, he serves as a member of the Executive Committee of St. John Ambulance Association and P S Educational Society. Additionally, he holds the position of President at P S Matriculation School, North (SRKM, Mylapore).
Dr. Ashwin Mahalingam joined the faculty in the Building Technology and Construction Management division of the Civil engineering department at IIT-Madras in 2006. Ashwin received his B.Tech in Civil engineering from IIT-Madras and then proceeded to Stanford University for a Masters in Construction Engineering and Management. He then helped start up an internet based company in the USA called All Star Fleet, aimed at providing asset management services for construction companies. Following this he returned to Stanford University to pursue a PhD in the area of Infrastructure Project Management. Ashwin’s research interests are in the areas of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) in Infrastructure planning and management, the management and governance of large engineering projects and the use of technology in infrastructure development. Ashwin is also a co-founder of Okapi Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd and serves as a Director on the Board. He is the Editor of the Engineering Project Organization Journal (EPOJ) and has served on many national committees.
Girish is a seasoned sustainability professional and entrepreneur with a specialization in energy analytics.
His expertise encompasses various fields, including 3D digital twin technology, city mapping for climate change initiatives including water & energy conservation strategy development, ventilation system design, automation, and retrofits. In recognition of his contributions to the field, he received the IGBC fellowship in 2020, becoming the youngest Indian to receive this honor.
With over fifteen years of experience, Girish has successfully managed and led award winning green projects across diverse sectors, including FDIs, retail, healthcare, hospitality, government, and educational institutions. Girish has had the honor of spearheading the attainment of Platinum Rated Green campus status for IIT Madras, while also proudly holding the distinction of overseeing the highest rated green building in India. His work extends to both new and existing manufacturing industries, where he has employed mathematical and simulation models to devise solutions for indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort while achieving significant energy savings.
Girish is also actively engaged in collaborations with different Green Building councils and regularly serves as a specialized trainer and lecturer at reputed institutions worldwide. His passion remains on fostering stronger connections with students and young professionals whilst bridging the industry-academia gap.
Nathan is a partner with Deloitte, focusing on Advisory and enterprise development work. He is the former CHRO of Deloitte South Asia where he was a member of the India leadership team and served on the Talent Executive Leadership of Deloitte Asia Pacific.
Nathan has over 35 years of experience in HR management in Indian and MNCs across diverse industries including Manufacturing, Services, Telecom, IT and Professional Services. He has worked extensively in the field of education and skills development as the pillars for social upliftment.
A respected voice of the HR profession in India, Nathan was featured in all National events of significance related to HR. He has been recognized as a ‘Distinguished Alumnus’ by XLRI by his Alma Mater. Incidentally he was a topper of his batch. He was recognized and awarded a ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ 2021 by Economic Times and Business People’.
He served as the immediate past President of National Human Resources Development Network, the largest body of HR Professionals in the country.
Nathan is on the advisory Board of the Economic Times on HR matters.
Nathan is an author of a bestseller ‘The Heart of work’. He is a regular blogger, an HR Power Influencer on LinkedIn and Twitter, and has an active presence on social media and is well known for his ‘#OfficeTruths’. He is recognized as a Power Profile of LinkedIn and Twitter. He is known as a storyteller and cooks for family and friends.
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 the 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.
Dr. R. Palaniswamy, I.A.S. (Retd), is a highly accomplished and dedicated civil servant with 33 years of distinguished government service. With a strong educational background in Physics, Education, and Law, he has held various key administrative positions, both in the IAS Cadre and School Education Service. Notably, as the State Election Commissioner, he successfully conducted Rural Local Body elections across 27 districts. His numerous awards and recognition’s reflect his exceptional contributions to public service and his commitment to excellence. His leadership, expertise, and dedication have made a lasting impact on the administration and governance of Tamil Nadu.
Dr. Palaniswamy has been honored with numerous awards, including the Gandhiya Vishista Vidya Shiksh Award in 1995, the Prime Minister Award for Mahatma Gandhi NREG in 2010, and multiple accolades from the Hon’ble Governor and Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for his outstanding contributions to public service and administrative excellence, including best Flag Day Collection, overall Flag Day Collection, C.M. Petition disposal, and best implementation department in 2013.
Mr. Suniti Kumar Bhat is the Founder and Director of Antelopus Energy Private Limited, an India-focused energy Company.
Mr. Bhat served as the Chief Operating Officer and Member- Executive Committee at Cairn Oil & Gas. He has extensive experience in exploration, development and production operations of all assets and has successfully led the implementation of the world’s largest polymer flooding project at the Mangala Field.
An experienced CXO with a demonstrated history of working in the oil & energy industry delivering top quartile safety and cost performance. He is skilled in reservoir development and management, production operations, project execution and Production Optimization with operators including BG and Centrica in UK & Central Asia. He has completed a General Management Program from Harvard Business School, Masters in Petroleum Engineering from Stanford University and has a BE (Hons.) in Chemical Engineering from Punjab University Chandigarh.
Suhrith Parthasarathy practices as an advocate at the Madras High Court in Chennai, India. In 2013, Suhrith established an independent law office, specialising in public law, commercial disputes and income tax litigation. Suhrith holds a BA. LLB. (Hons) degree from the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, and an MS from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, New York. He has contributed chapters to two books: “Dignity in the Legal and Political Philosophy of Ronald Dworkin,” and “Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court of India: Transparency, Accountability, and Independence,” both published by Oxford University Press. Suhrith is a regular contributor to the op-ed pages of The Hindu newspaper. He has also published articles in a number of other dailies and magazines including The Caravan Magazine, The Open Magazine, The Indian Express, The New Yorker, The New York Times, and the Economic and Political Weekly. He participated in the third Melbourne Forum in 2018.
Gayathri Shanmugam has held various roles throughout their work experience. Gayathri started their career at Ramco Systems as a Senior Product Executive in 2001. Gayathri then worked at TCS as an Assistant Manager – HR from 2002 to 2005. From 2006 to 2008, they were a Manager at TeleTech UK Ltd, specifically in the Operations Support Centre. In 2009, Gayathri attended IIM Bangalore as a student for a year. In 2010, they joined IBM Global Process Services, where they served as DGM and later as GM in the WFM department until 2013. In 2014, they founded two organizations – ScienceHopper and Litmus and Bubbles. Gayathri worked at Gray Matters India as a Consultant from 2019 to 2020. In 2020, they joined Snehadhara Foundation as a Process Consultant. Gayathri then moved to Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions, where they initially worked as a Consultant from October to December 2020. Gayathri subsequently held the positions of Vice President from January to June 2021, and Chief Program Officer starting from July 2021.
Gayathri Shanmugam pursued their education in a chronological order. Gayathri started their academic journey at the University of Madras in 1995, where they obtained a Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (EEE) in 1999. Following this, they joined the Bharathidasan Institute of Management Tiruchirapalli from 1999 to 2001, where they completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. In 2009, they enrolled at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore for an unspecified course or field of study, which they completed in 2010.
Additionally, Gayathri Shanmugam obtained a certification in “Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators” from Coursera in April 2020.
Mr Sujoy Ghosh is a business leader with 30 years of track record in delivering growth in emerging markets by nurturing deep industry relationships and building high performance teams, with specific expertise on the power sector across multiple segments (generation to T&D) and with domain knowledge of a broad set of technologies from gas turbines to wind and solar PV and grid automation.
Name : M S JAGAN
Qualification : PGDM, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
(1981)
BE, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (1978)
Some working areas :
Ascendas India P Ltd – wholly, First CEO in India. Set up the Indian Company owned by Govt. of Singapore. and ran it for 4 years. Set up large IT Parks Mahindra Group. Responsible for implementing a major 1500 acre Industrial Park project near Chennai, now known as Mahindra World City.Private Management Consultant Advisors to large and medium funds and corporates – Indian and Foreign – in the areas of infrastructure and Real Estate. Education sector Advisory panel for selected management schools on curriculum and selection process.
Mr V Shankar an IITM, IIMC graduate who worked briefly then went on to found CAMS (Computer Age Management Services Pvt. Ltd.) in 1988 to provide a Platform and services to the Indian Mutual Fund industry. CAMS was recently listed.
He is involved with several organisations that promote entrepreneurship, as will as with both his alma mater.
Ravi Viswanathan is responsible for driving strategy formulation and execution. He is implementing a transformation agenda to drive Digital Operating System at TVS SCS, enabling a digital journey and a Zero Touch Process to engage with customers in the supply chain space seamlessly.
Before joining TVS SCS, Ravi worked in the TATA group for over 33 years holding various positions in the Tata group of companies. He was the Chief Marketing Officer at Tata Consultancy Services just before joining TVS SCS. Ravi is actively engaged with the Industry bodies, namely Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), where he headed the IT committee.
Ravi was formerly President of the Madras Management Association and has been part of the Executive Council of NASSCOM since 2015. Ravi Viswanathan graduated from the Regional Engineering College, Tiruchirappalli (since renamed as NIT Tiruchirappalli) with a degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering.