Our speakers

K Ganesh, Founder, GrowthStory.in

K Paul Thomas, Managing Director & CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank

Sri. K Paul Thomas, the Founder of ESAF Group including ESAF Microfinance and ESAF Small Finance Bank has played an instrumental role in facilitating visionary leadership and has thus successfully established various social businesses with the primary motive of ‘creating opportunities’ in a way that these entities are able to provide valuable services to poor people on a sustainable basis. From a small credit of INR 3000 each to 10 women in 1992 ESAF is reaching out to more than 1.6 million women with an outstanding of INR 2500 Crores as on September 2016. He dreams of a society where everyone has equal opportunities to work and participate in the very fabric of our economy without the discrimination of gender, ethnicity or geographical barriers. He has thus set up ESAF group of companies which includes Evangelical Social Action Forum, ESAF Microfinance and Investments (P) Ltd., ESAF Small Finance Bank Ltd., ESAF Swasraya Multi State Agro Co-operative Society Ltd., ESAF Retail (P) Ltd., ESAF Healthcare Services (P) Ltd., ESAF Swasraya Producers Company Ltd., ESAF Staff Welfare Trust, ESAF Homes & Infrastructure (P) Ltd., ESAF Publications Trust, Lahanti Business  Services (P) Ltd., Lahanti Lastmile Services (P) Ltd., Rhema Milk Producer Company Ltd., Rhema Dairy Products India (P) Ltd., Prachodhan Development Services, Cedar Agri Solutions (P) Ltd., Sanma Garments (P) Ltd. etc.

Sri. Paul’s consultancy is sought by various social investors, debt investors, networks, technical providers in the Microfinance sector. He has strongly given his opinion through leading national dailies about the positive impact MFIs have been making and that state Governments should refrain from bringing MFIs under the purview of State laws.. Sri. Paul has been invited by National and International Academic and Research Institutions and Business Schools such as IIM, Kozhikkode, ILO-Geneva, European Microfinance Platform, Harvard Business School, Asian Development Bank etc. to share the lessons learnt on innovative inclusive finance model. He is bestowed with several awards including the Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014 by The Indus Enterpreneurs, CEO Excellence of the Year Award 2015 by DC Media, Dhanam Marketing Man of the Year Award 2015, SKOCH Order of Merit Award 2016, Indywood CSR Excellence Award 2016, Inclusive Finance India Award 2016 by ACCESS ASSIST, Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2016 by TIE Kerala and Banking Excellence Award 2017 by Chamber of Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises apart from various other awards being received by ESAF. He is also selected for Isow Mar Themotheous Award 2017 for the year 2017.

Sri. Paul strongly believes that ESAF’s integrated approach beyond just business motives might be a reason for getting the in-principle license from RBI to set up Small Finance Bank and shall continue to work with the same values and ethos with which he had set up ESAF in the beginning. ESAF Microfinance is the only NBFC in Kerala to start the Small Finance Bank.

K Radhakrishnan, Chief Mentor, Freshkins Foods India Pvt. Ltd

K Radhakrishnan,“Radha” as he is popularly known, has been a corporate citizen for 32 years, with an impressive track record, in a variety of industries. Radha is the Chief Mentor, of Freshkins Foods India Pvt  Limited, which is a franchise chain of stores selling Fruits Vegetables, and other daily needs groceries. It endeavors to take fresh produce to the door steps of the consumer, and create synergies between the deep knowledge of back end sourcing & processes and the entrepreneurial spirit and resourcefulness of the Indian kiranas. The ambition is 500 selling points in Mumbai in the next 3 years.

Radha in his earlier assignment was the  President and CEO of the retail chain in India- Kb’s FairPrice. it is Future Group’s neighbourhood chain of food stores, with presence in 3 cities with 175 stores). He was also the President of Future Freshfoods Limited(FFL), entrusted with  setting up a national wide business in Fruits and Vegetables. It runs 6 distribution centres and 25 farmer collection centers.

He was the start up team member of the first supermarket chain in India Foodworld Supermarkets Limited, started in 1996, where he was till 2006, before moving over as the CEO of Reliance Fresh and Hypermarkets till 2009. His experience in retail covers all aspects of the business. His career earlier covered Tea tasting, Aqua Culture and setting up a noodles collaboration with Unilever and a Japanese company company Nissin Japan. He is also an Entrepreneur and runs his consulting company Aligned Business Partners (ABP) (www.alignedbp.com). They work in the area of supply Chain Solutions, and Food Retailing, and work extensively with Private Equity firms as thought leaders in food, retail, FMCG and supply chain.

He is the Govt Nominee to the National Skill Devp Council (NSDC) Radha. Is also a trustee in a Not for profit school Sankalp- working with Dyslexic and Autistic Children.

K S Narayanan, CEO, Pan India Foods

K S Narayanan is the CEO of Pan India Food Solutions Private Limited, and he plays a key role in shaping long-term growth strategies for the company, besides building various restaurant brands in India.

Narayanan, an alumnus of IIT (Madras) and IIM (Calcutta), brings with him 25 years of rich and varied experience from the corporate world with leading companies. He comes with an insightful understanding of customers and brands in the Food and Beverage space.

He is also a fitness enthusiast and is a regular at the Mumbai and Delhi marathons.

K T Prasad, Country Sales Director, India, Zendesk

KT is the Country Sales Director for Zendesk, India. In this role, KT is responsible for Business growth and focused on helping customers transform their customer service to meaningful customer engagement with beautifully simple solutions. KT has over 20 years of management experience in software and services industry. He started in his role 26th September 2016.

Prior joining Zendesk, KT was the General Manager with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise responsible for Microsoft Business Applications, Asia Pacific and Japan. He was esponsible for delivering Microsoft based business applications such Dynamics CRM and Dynamics Axapta and leading HPE’s Enterprise Cloud Solutions strategy for Microsoft applications.

He was focused on the balanced objectives of driving customer satisfaction, improving integration across business units, addressing the unique technology needs of customers, and growing the business in the region. Prior to HPE, KT spent time with Adea, PSI Data Systems and Agilisys (formerly known as netdecisions) where he played various leadership roles. KT has Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) from the Karnatak University.

K Vaijayanti, Head, Research & Resource & Evaluation, Akshara Foundation | @aksharadotorg

Ms.K.Vaijayanti heads Resource and Research vertical of Akshara Foundation. A trained economist she has worked in health sector and decentralisation prior to venturing into education field. In education she has extensively worked on issues ranging from Early Childhood Education to School education in Indian context. Most of the research works have been evidence based policy research in education sector. She has authored and co-authored several research papers in the domain. She also heads ASER- Karnataka since 2009. Has been a member of several committees set up by Govt of Karnataka on Elementary education, Human Development and ECCE. Vaijayanti had a privilege to be a convenor for the preparation of new curriculum framework for ECCE- Karnataka.

K Venkatachalam, Executive Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers

K Venkatachalam joined PwC in 2007 after a merger of the RSM & Co. tax practice. His areas of expertise include corporate income tax, foreign investment into India, tax issues concerning multinationals and tax litigation. He provides solutions to technology, infrastructure and engineering companies.

Venkat has worked in the Pune office between 2007 and 2010, prior to which he was a partner with mid-sized firms in Pune. Venkat has prior experience with a Big Four audit firm in Jeddah and has worked as an internal auditor with an oil refinery in Yanbu, spending about four years in Saudi Arabia.
In the 2010 Genesis Park programme of PwC Global, he was a member of the team which authored Opening Minds – a global plan for achieving a diverse and inclusive culture.

Venkat is a qualified Chartered Accountant, Information Systems Auditor and holds Bachelor degree in Commerce and Law.

K Vijayaraghavan, Chairman, Cornell University

K. Vijayaraghavan (Vijay), is the founder and currently Chairman of Sathguru Management Consultants. He founded the firm in 1985 to integrate proficiencies in technology and management to help create and nurture innovative enterprises by adopting next generation technologies for product and services development and providing strategic ideas in reaching markets and delivery systems for diverse segments. His services to the hospitality sector provided several global players with the opportunity to establish their footprint in emerging regions such as India, China, Thailand and others — key emerging regions for the hospitality sector. His engagement with global leaders relates to identifying intellectual assets generated by the hospitality sector and protecting, licensing and managing intellectual assets including brand affiliation management. He takes special interest in exploring the potential of applying technological innovations in agriculture and food sector to support innovations in F&B services, food service industry and food safety management. His engagement with life science researchers has led him to advise food safety regulators in several countries. He has advised hospitality leaders and provided strategic input to countries to promote food safety management, a key driver for sustaining the travel and tourism sector. For over 25 years, he has advised several national governments of both advanced and emerging economies to shape their country strategy for hospitality sector development and international tourism. 

K. Chandrasekhar, Founder & CEO, Forus Health Pvt. Ltd

K.Chandrasekhar (KC) is the Founder & CEO of Forus Health Pvt. Ltd. We are an innovation-driven technology enterprise managed by very experienced professionals. Forus strongly believes that healthcare solutions for emerging countries have to be different both in terms of development as well as deployment. Forus develops innovative products combined with comprehensive software solutions to enable not only screening at the patient's doorstep but facilitate treatment as well. Forus develops affordable technology solutions that can easily be used by a minimally trained technician, thereby making health service accessible and scalable.

The Forus name means, "For us" - me and my community. Forus strongly believes that by "Democratizing Wellness,” they can play an active role in addressing healthcare issues in India and around the world.

Forus flagship product 3nethra, a screening device for common eye problems like cataract, diabetic retina, refractive problems, corneal infections and glaucoma is already deployed in more than 70+ locations pan India and in other emerging markets like Africa, Asia etc. Its digital imaging and cloud based portal enables easy interface to Telemedicine, remote diagnostics/ work flows and easy access to historical data. More details can be found on www.forushealth.com.

Prior to founding Forus Health, KC was the Director of Strategy & Software Partnerships at NXP (Philips) Semiconductors. KC has 23+ years of experience in Business Strategy, Business Development, Product Management, Sales Management in leading Semiconductor and Software Companies.

KC is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and IIM C 

K. Chandrasekhar, CEO, Forus Health Pvt. Ltd.

Mr. K. Chandrasekhar (KC) is the CEO and an executive board member of Forus. KC received his Master's of Science and Technology from Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS Pilani), PGDMM from Annamalai University and Global Manager Program from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. KC has a successful track record of over 26 years in handling Business Development, Business Strategy, Operations Management, Partnership Management & Sales Management portfolios for major Semiconductor and Software Companies. KC has extensive experience in handling customers & partners in USA, Europe, Asia-Pacific & Middle East Markets. He has worked in Senior management positions with NXP Semiconductors, Philips, Alliance Semiconductors, etc. KC is a Certified Corporate Director from the Institute of Directors. KC loves classical music, reading and cricket.