Our speakers

K.L Bansal, MD, Dee Development Engineers Limited

After successfully completing Mechanical engineering degree from Punjab Engineering college, Mr. Bansal joined Engineers India Limited. In 1983, he left the cushioned corporate job to fulfill his long envisaged dreams.

His first venture started with providing Design consultancy followed by EPC for Sugar plants. Innovation and R&D are the two critical attributes Mr. Bansal has inculcated in the employees and has made them DNA of the group. Later the company ventured into Pre-Fabrication business for Piping, started its own fitting manufacturing capacity and is now one of the leading international engineering enterprises offering a single source solution for piping systems.

Under the supreme guidance and management of Mr. Bansal for last 27 years, the company grew by leaps & bounds and have achieved new heights. But if you take his words it’s just the starting and there is lot to be achieved and to be given back to the society.

The company ventured into Biomass space way back in 2003, when it was just a beginning of green power/ cleantech era. With the years of industry experience and passion to do something new, Mr. Bansal along with the team erected and commissioned 2 biomass plants in the record time of 9 months from the date of starting the civil works.

The vision of setting up these plants was beyond corporate profits & accounts. It was to give back something to the society, something to the farmers, to rural people and something to the State of Punjab where his roots are from.

K.S.Narayanan, CEO, Pan India Foodsolutions Pvt Ltd

K S Narayanan is the CEO at Pan India Foodsolutions Private Limited and in this capacity is playing a key role in shaping the long-term growth strategies for the company besides building the various Restaurant brands in India.

Narayanan brings with himself about 22 years of rich and varied experience in Business Responsibility, Strategic Planning, Sales & Marketing, Retail Network Development, Operations, Supply Chain and Exports. Prior to joining Pan India Foodsolutions, Narayanan has held key positions in India and Europe in reputed organizations like McCain Foods, Hindustan Unilever Limited and Asian Paints.

His 2.5 years of experience in McCain Foods India as Managing Director saw McCain emerge as one of the largest Frozen Foods business in India spanning across Retail, Foodservice with a nationwide footprint and Exports. His 17 years of experience in Hindustan Unilever Limited has been with the various Food categories covering Beverages, Oils and Dairy Products, Culinary products, Ice Creams and Frozen Foods. He possesses wide expertise across categories in FMCG, Impulse and service oriented businesses with Ambient, Chilled and Frozen distribution. Narayanan brings with him an intimate understanding of Supply Chain, B2B and B2C, Retail / Modern Trade, Customer and Business development and New Channel development.

Narayanan has graduated from IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta. He has a passion for food which is reflected in his writings on Convenience Foods in the various Hospitality Magazines and is well known amongst the Chef Community. He is also an excellent cook and never spares an occasion to try his hand at cooking. His latest passion is in the area of Nutrition Management. He is also a fitness enthusiast and is a regular at the Mumbai and Delhi marathons.

K.T Rama Rao, Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj, Government of Telangana | @MinIT_Telangana

Sri Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, Cabinet Minister for Information Technology and Panchayat Raj, has been representing Sircilla Assembly Constituency since 2009.Sri K.T. Rama Rao was born in Siddipet, Telangana, on July 24, 1976, and grew up in politically and socially active environment. He has completed his schooling from St. George’s Grammar School, Hyderabad. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Microbiology from Nizam College, Hyderabad. He has two post-graduate degrees - M.Sc. in Biotechnology from University of Pune and the other is MBA in Marketing and E-Commerce from Baruch College-City, University of New York, New York.

 After completing his MBA, Sri K. T. Rama Rao worked as IT Professional for six years - from 2001 to 2006. His keen observation of political activism as a child, his international exposure as a student, and his strategic role as IT professional empowered Sri K.T. Rama Rao to join ‘fulltime’ in bandwagon of politics. He became the full-time TRS activist in the year 2006. His go-getter tendency, never give-up mindset, inclination to fight for the deprived enabled him to get connected with wide spectrum of the political arena. He established the required convergence from grass root level workers to the national level leaders. He actively participated in the Telangana movement between 2009 and 2014.

Sri K.T Rama Rao has been putting relentless efforts in streamlining the two vital portfolios - Information Technology and Panchayat Raj. As an IT Minister, Sri K.T. Rama Rao has come up with omniscient vision to cater the multi-dimensional requirements of the IT industry. Several complementary initiatives are launched under his noble leadership to address the needs of the industry.

@KTRTRS

K.V. Ramakrishna, Director and Partner, Kotak Private Equity

Ramakrishna joined the Private Equity practice at Kotak, in November 2004 and brings with him over 15 years of experience, with the last 13 years in Private Equity and Venture Capital. Prior to his current assignment, Ramakrishna was Senior Associate with Carlyle Asia Venture Partners (CAVP), a $330 mn technology focused fund, part of the Carlyle Group.

Prior to Carlyle, Ramakrishna was with ICICI Ventures, the PE & VC arm of the ICICI Group, where he was a key member of the investment team. His investment experience spans sectors ranging from information technology and retailing to services and light engineering. Prior to his career in the Private Equity field, Ramakrishna worked for two years at the Management Services Division of Tata Motors (formerly, TELCO), as Systems Officer.

Ramakrishna adopts a value based investment strategy of controlling risks and aiming for long term growth. He believes strongly in guiding the business and growth strategies of portfolio companies with active board participation.

Ramakrishna is a Computer Science & Engineering graduate from National Institute of Technology, Warangal (1991) and holds a post graduate degree in Management from the IIM Bangalore (1995).

KA Srinivasan, Partner & CFO, Ventureast

K A Srinivasan (KAS) is a Partner & CFO at Ventureast, focuses on Fintech and Food tech sectors. Besides investment, he also oversees the Fund administration, Investor reporting, Valuation and Deal structuring. He assists the portfolio companies in designing their internal controls and monitoring processes. KAS has over 25 years of experience in finance & accounting and operations with multiple verticals - Manufacturing, Processing and Services. Prior to joining Ventureast, he set up his own Finance and Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) business, and sold it to Aditya Birla group. He was the Global Finance Controller for Sutherland Global Services, a US based BPO, wherein he set up the shared services platform and implemented ERP across the globe. He held several senior positions in A V Thomas group and also managed their agro operation. KAS is a Chartered and Cost Accountant by profession. He is passionate about photography, tamil literature, sketching and loves to travel with family

Kabir Jeet Singh, Chief Executive Officer, Burger Singh

With a pedigree in QSR operations, Kabir comes with a product that satisfies even the most demanding. Having studied through two master’s degrees, a Masters in Financial Strategy from Said Business School (University of Oxford) and an MBA from the University of Birmingham, Kabir comes with an expertise of identifying locations, launching & managing operations and managing supply chains down to the last mile.

Kabir Narang, Partner, Eight Road Ventures (formerly Fidelity Growth Partners) | @8roadsventures

Kabir leads investments in technology, consumer and financial services at Eight Roads Ventures India (formerly Fidelity Growth Partners). He brings over 15 years of experience in management consulting and private equity. Kabir has led investments/sits on the board of several companies including BankBazaar, Icertis, CredR, ShadowFax, Toppr, AbsolutData, Milk Mantra, ClassTeacher, Cygnus, Greenlight Planet and Chai Point.

Prior to joining Eight Roads, Kabir was with Warburg Pincus where he completed investments in a leading budget hotel chain, a port and a BPO company in India. At the firm, he worked extensively in healthcare delivery, financial services (including managing portfolio investments in Kotak Mahindra Bank, Max India) and IT Services/BPO. Kabir has worked at leading consulting firms, McKinsey & Co. in India and the Boston Consulting Group in the US. His consulting projects were in the areas of strategy and operations in the US, UK and India. Kabir holds a BA Hons degree in Mathematics from St. Stephen's College and an MBA from the University of Oxford.

Kabir Narang, Managing Director, Eight Roads Ventures (formerly Fidelity Growth Partners)

Kabir Thakur, Director, ChrysCapital

Kailash Katkar, CEO & CMD, Quick Heal Technologies

Kailash Katkar is passionate about making the online world a safer place to be. His vision and thought leadership has made Quick Heal Antivirus a leading and preferred security solution for individuals, small and medium companies as well as large organizations worldwide.

He founded Quick Heal Technologies under the name of CAT Computer Services in 1993. An inspiration to many entrepreneurs, he built the empire through sheer hard work, keen business acumen and a solid moral foundation. As founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Quick Heal Technologies, Kailash leads the sales, marketing, customer services and technical support teams and also provides guidance to the wide network of dealers and distributors. Under his leadership, the company has achieved a market share of more than 30% in revenue in India.

He has been felicitated with multiple recognitions including the Rotary Recognition Award and the Entrepreneurs International Honors for his exemplary contribution and significant achievement in the field of IT.