Our speakers

Kirill Kozhevnikov, Managing Director , Insitel/Sistema Asia Fund Advisory

Kirill is a Managing Director and Partner at Sistema Asia Fund (SAF) Advisory and is based out of New Delhi. He joined SAF from Sistema Headquarters in 2015 and supervised and executed the launch of Sistema Asia Fund.

Kirill leads SAF investments in the space of enterprise software, healthcare, education, artificial intelligence/data analytics, virtual/augmented reality, and internet of things (IoT). He led 3 deals of the fund in 2016-2017 – Seclore, Qwikcilver, Netmeds where he now serves as a Board member.

Kirill brings almost two decades of operational and investment experience to his role, having worked on projects in Russia/CIS countries, Europe, USA, South Africa and India. Prior to Sistema and Sistema Asia Fund Kirill was a Venture Partner in an early stage VC fund, a Chief Investment Officer in Russian sovereign nanotechnology fund, and a VC advisor to multiple Russian startups. Before VC community fascinated him, Kirill spent 7 years in investment banking and 2 years in management and financial consulting. Kirill holds an MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He has also done his Masters in Engineering and Economics from Moscow Aviation Institute (National Research University).

Kirit Gala, MD, Gala Precision Engineering Pvt. Ltd.

Kirit Gala is a mechanical engineer and an MBA from Mumbai University, and did  his doctoral research in marketing at Tennessee USA for one year.  He has led Gala Precision Engineering on to a fast track growth by Globalization. After achieving market leadership status in three niche market products , Gala successfully entered other Asian & European Markets.
 
 As Strong believer in value system & scientific management principles, has developed a highly dedicated  management team at Gala.
 
Partnering with Private Equity, implementing aggressive growth plan and creating win-win situation for all stake holders and partners  is his strength.
 
Currently he is looking at new business opportunities in the emerging sectors of energy and environment.

Kishor Patil, MD & CEO, KPIT Cummins Infosystems Ltd

Kishor is responsible for defining KPIT Cummins' technology and customer acquisition strategy across six continents. He is the champion for new technology adoption and incubation of customer centric new projects. Under his leadership KPIT Cummins has filed 38 patents and has developed over 100 IPs in cutting-edge automotive and semiconductor technology areas.

A Chartered Accountant by profession Kishor began his career as a practitioner in Kirtane & Pandit Chartered Accountant in 1983 and within a year and a half was a partner in the firm. Kishor's vision and passion have been integral to KPIT Cummins' leadership in key focus verticals and in building the company from a small start up to one of the world's largest, most recognized engineering services provider for the manufacturing industry.

His contributions have been pivotal in building strategic partnerships leading to a strong and prestigious customer base. He has set a standard of excellence in the areas of international operations, acquisitions, mergers and integration. His keen observation and open mind have contributed greatly to KPIT Cummins' growth as a company. His exceptional people skills and sincerity has worked wonders in diverse cultural geographies.

Kishore A K, Founder & CEO, Althea Systems

Kishore is the co-founder and CEO at Althea Systems. Prior to his ongoing stint as an entrepreneur he used to develop software at EmSyS, Samsung, TrueSpan and SiRF, mostly as a part of multi-location and cross functional product teams. He has represented his company on the working groups of multiple wireless standards. He is an open source enthusiast and enjoys contributing to community development projects.

He closely follows the advancements in web, mobile, TV, and related technology spaces. He is fascinated by the possibilities of consumer internet technologies.
At Althea Systems the scope of his work involves just about anything and everything that is required to run an early stage technology startup. The company has successfully launched its first product - Shufflr, for the desktop, web and mobile. Shufflr today has users from more than 50 countries.

He independently consults with companies as a developer/architect/adviser. In addition, he advises early stage companies on seo, online marketing and social media strategy.

Kishore Babu, COO, Axis Finance Ltd

Mr Kishore Babu (Chief Operating Officer, AFL) has over two and half decades of wide-ranging experience across diverse industries including Banking & Finance, Energy Sector and Financial Institution. He started his career with IFCI in their project finance vertical where he was involved in entire spectrum of project financing involving appraisal, credit monitoring, recovery and resolution. Subsequently, he was associated with a prominent developer in the energy sector and led business development as well as financial closure involving tying up of debt and equity for multiple projects. He has been with Axis Bank since June, 2008. At Axis Bank, he has held several responsibilities in leading Credit and Relationship teams in growing business in the Infra, Large and Mid Corporate space. At Axis Finance, he leads the company's operations including process improvement, risk and compliance, technology and innovation, human capital management, and developing & implementing strategies for top line growth. He holds PGDM from IIM Ahmedabad and B. Tech in Electrical & Electronics from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada.

Kishore Biyani, Group CEO, Future Group

Kishore Biyani is the founder and Group CEO of Future Group. Widely credited as the pioneer of modern retail industry in India, Kishore Biyani is a mentor and role model for many Indian entrepreneurs and a thought leader in Indian business.

Over the past two decades he has created and lead some of India's most popular retail chains like Big Bazaar, Food Bazaar, Central, Home Town and eZone. These retail chains are present in over 95 cities and 60 rural locations in India and connect 300 million customers annually with over 30,000 small, medium and large entrepreneurs and manufacturers in the country. In addition, Future Group has made substantial investments in setting up food processing and manufacturing, manpower training and educational facilities, logistics and warehousing networks across the country. It has also partnered and invested with a number of entrepreneurs and businesses in multiple sectors.

A believer in the group’s corporate credo, ‘Rewrite Rules, Retain Values,’ Kishore Biyani considers ‘Indianness’ as the core value driving the group. His autobiography, ‘It Happened In India,’ has been translated into a number of languages. Kishore Biyani serves on the board of the National Innovation Foundation, Marico Innovation Foundation and other leading companies and organizations.

Kishore Poduri, Country Head- Human Resources, DBS India

Mr. Kishore Poduri, currently Heads the HR function for DBS Bank India.  Kishore has over 19 years of experience within the financial services, ITES, manufacturing industries and the government sectors. 

Prior to DBS Bank , Kishore Poduri served as Head - Shared Services at eClerx, one of the few listed KPOs in India, where he lead the Human Resources, Administration, Knowledge Management and Quality teams. During his tenure at eClerx, the organization was recognized with the Best employer award in the BPO sector by DATA QUEST, Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise( MAKE ) Award, Asia across industries and certified as PCMM Level 3 enterprise.

Before eClerx, he was the Regional head for Human Resources, at HDFC bank, where he looked after the HR responsibilities across South and Eastern regions for the bank. Kishore had also brief stints at TATA Motors, where he was the HR Business partner for the Auto manufacturing unit at Pune, and served as Commissioned officer in the Aviation branch of the Indian Navy.

He has a Masters in Business Administration degree, with a specialization in human resources from the Symbiosis Centre for Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), Pune (India) and a Bachelors of Science degree with a specialization in computer science from Nagarjuna University (India).

KL Mukesh, Co-Founder, SciTal

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).

Klaas Oskam, Managing Director, Signal Hill

Mr. Oskam brings more than 18 years of middle market investment banking experience to Signal Hill, of which the last 15 years focused on Technology M&A and private placements. Over the past eight years, Mr. Oskam has personally led and closed in excess of 25 transactions across Software / SaaS, IT Services, Internet & Digital Media and Education Technology with a combined equity value of in excess of $1B USD.

Prior to joining Signal Hill in 2012 to begin Signal Hill India’s operations, Mr. Oskam was a Director in the Investment Banking team of Ernst & Young India, responsible for Technology M&A in the South of India. Before moving to India in February of 2005, Mr. Oskam worked for eight years in Europe, primarily with Arthur Andersen / Deloitte in Technology M&A. He began his career at NIB Capital, a mid-sized European wholesale and investment bank in the Netherlands.

Mr. Oskam holds a MSc in Economics / Finance from Groningen University.

KNC Nair, CIO, The Muthoot Group

KNC Nair has been in the IT profession for over 4 decades, spearheading digital transformation and technology-driven innovations in the banking and financial services domain.

As CIO, he has been spearheading the e-transformation in the Muthoot Group which has 5000+ branch network and 35,000+ employees. He is also the current CEO of Muthoot Systems & Technologies Pvt Ltd, Infopark, Kochi, and the software development subsidiary of the Muthoot Group. Prior to this, he was the Chief Knowledge Officer in Enzen, Bangalore for 4 years heading its BFSI Consulting, Knowledge management, software quality assurance & process excellence.

KNC was CIO of the Federal Bank for over a decade and transformed the traditional bank into a leader in technology infusion. While in the Bank, he pioneered the deployment of rural ATMs starting in Kerala in early 2000 which was followed by all banks to provide customer convenience and reduce transactions cost.

He served the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for 12 years in the areas of financial software systems development, Rural Credit Information Systems, Statistical Analysis, and Securities Trading. He was selected to the Indian Statistical Service (ISS) in 1980 and served in a couple of Govt. of India Ministries in New Delhi working in statistics and computer related areas for 4 years.

KNC started his long career in IT as a Systems Analyst in the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Bombay in 1978.

KNC has also served the following Committees as a member.

1. RBI Working Group on Critical Infrastructure Protection
2. RBI Working Group for Business Rules formulation for RTGS
3. IBA Committee on Computerisation in the banking industry.
4. Member of Board of Information Systems Audit & Control Association (ISACA), Cochin Chapter.