Our speakers

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.

Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, MD, Citadel Research and Solutions

Konda Vishweshwar Reddy is an entrepreneur with an engineering background. He had spent more than a decade in United States, working initially as a  Design engineer in a defense electronics firm in United States. He later promoted Reddy Electronic Corporation which manufactures electronic subassemblies for Defense & Aerospace industry.

In 1991, he sold his business and returned back to India.Back in India, he founded two technology and innovation related businesses and has been a serial entrepreneur ever since. He divested the major stake in Health Care India to the Apollo hospital group. He sold the major IPR’s of Citadel Research and Solutions (formerly known as Citadel Health) to GE and Wipro. He has been MD & CEO of GE-MSIT (1999-2003) and MD & CEO of Wipro-HCIT (2003-2005). With his deep knowledge in Healthcare Informatics, he was a significant contributor to Health Unite, the Government of India project on Standardization in Health Informatics.

Mr. Reddy is currently the Managing Director of Citadel Research and Solutions, a company in which he holds significant stake. Citadel owns a major stake in Medvarsity, an Apollo- NIIT joint venture company. He has also invested and acquired a major stake in Emedlife, a Delhi based Insurance broking firm from the Dabur group.

Mr. Reddy is an angel investor in startup companies including Sristek, a CRO and Adventure trails India. Mr. Reddy is also a founder Director of Apollo Health Street – an IT, ITES Company. His other businesses include real-estate, algorithmic trading, mechanical design and  retirement homes.

Kopin Tan, Head, Barrons APAC

Kopin Tan is Editor of Barron’s Asia, a financial news website launched in 2014 that provides sophisticated advice in English about Asia and international investments. Barron’s Asia is the first overseas expansion for Barron’s, which was founded in 1921 and published by Dow Jones, which also publishes the Wall Street Journal.

Before this, Kopin was Senior Editor and an established columnist based in New York. He wrote the front-of-the-book “Streetwise” column, offering a forward-looking take on the financial markets, illuminating market trends and identifying investment themes and ideas. He also writes many cover stories and feature articles for the magazine. He has also written other widely-read columns including “The Trader,” about the U.S. stock market, and “Striking Price,” about the options markets.

Prior to joining Barron’s, Kopin was a special writer at Dow Jones Newswires. His column, “Options Report,” ran daily in the Wall Street Journal. He has also covered mergers and acquisitions, and private equity. Kopin was previously a litigation attorney.

In 2011, Kopin was awarded the prestigious East-West Center Fellowship to China and Hong Kong. In 2006, he was part of a team that won an award from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW) in the breaking news category. In 2002, he won the Harrison Roth Memorial Award for best options coverage.

Kopin received a Master’s of Art (journalism) from New York University. He also has a law degree from the National University of Singapore, and was called to the Singapore bar as an advocate and solicitor of the Singapore Supreme Court.

Kosturi Ghosh, Partner , Trilegal

Ms. Kosturi Ghosh is Partner and Deputy Head of the corporate practice group of the firm. Ms. Ghosh has been actively involved in several high profile in-bound and outbound acquisitions and joint ventures. She specializes in advising multinational clients on their entry into India - advising on commercial, regulatory and strategic matters, on setting up processes and procedures to ensure compliance in India, structuring investments and exit options. Some of her notable clients include Telenor, Merrill Lynch, Vodafone, Tribune, Philips, VF Brands, DE Shaw, Olam International Limited, Wipro, Quest Global, Regenersis PLC, IFC, TE Connectivity, Eredene Capital PLC, NewQuest Capital Partners, and Chrysler, etc. Recognized as a leading individual, she was praised for being “an intelligent, business-minded lawyer with exceptional negotiation skills and on-point experience.” - RSG India 2015. Ms. Ghosh has recently won the special jury award-Women in Legal Leadership-at IDEX Legal Awards 2016 and was also featured in ’40 Under 40’ in Asia Pacific by Asian Legal Business. She is an Alumnus of the University of Pune, ILS Law College and is a member of the Bar Council of Karnataka. Ms. Kosturi Ghosh has completed Executive Education Programme 2016 from IIM-A.

Kota Subrahmanya, Director, Central Data Systems Pvt Ltd