Our speakers

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.

K. L. Mukesh, Venture Partner, Unitus Ventures

KL Mukesh Mukesh brings an excellent balance of large scale global corporate experience across the television and healthcare business combined with rich entrepreneurial experience both as a successful entrepreneur and as a Mentor and advisor to a host of startups and investors. Mukesh ran the Japan and LATAM operations for DIRECTV and was also involved in their successful bankruptcy turnaround. Subsequently, he founded Akeso Healthcare, a fast growing healthcare startup which got acquired by the Apollo Hospitals Group. Mukesh holds an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a Masters in Statistics from Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).

K. Pandia Rajan, Founder, Ma Foi Group

K Pandiarajan (KPR) is one of the most well respected business leaders in India with over 28 years of experience in Management and Human Resources.  As the founder of Ma Foi Management Consultants, he was at the forefront of the transformational changes that swept the HR landscape over the last two decades and pioneered the HR outsourcing concept in India.

After his pioneering role in defining HR industry, he moved to Consulting, Analytics and Education businesses  with the incorporation of Ma Foi Strategic Consultants P Ltd as a holding Company in the year 2012. The new venture focuses on providing high end consulting solutions to Indian Industries with the special focus on SMEs.

KPR keenly believes in the fundamental principle of empowerment at all levels and is actively involved in the CSR activities that focuses on empowering children, women and youth through education, healthcare and livelihood support. He is also a Member of Legislative Assembly of the State of Tamil Nadu in India.