Our speakers

Amit Somani, Chief Products Officer, Makemytrip.com

Amit Somani is the Chief Products Officer for MakeMyTrip, heading the online product portfolio along with User Experience and Content. Amit comes with over 17 years of experience and has worked with Google and IBM where he was Head for Mobile Products for Google for Asia-Pacific and Director for the Enterprise Search and Discovery business at IBM based out of San Jose, California.

 

Amit has published several papers, holds seven patents and is the recipient of three IBM Outstanding Technical Achievement awards.

 

He holds a Bachelor's in Technology degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Insititut of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (IT-BHU), India (Gold Medalist) and an M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Among his interests, Amit is a cricket enthusiast, enjoys reading and is a fusion chef.

Amit Soni, Principal, General Atlantic | @generalatlantic

Amit Soni joined GA in 2008 and has worked in our New York, London and India offices. He is based in the firm’s Mumbai office where he focuses on investments in the firm's Internet & Technology sector, including IT services.

Amit is closely involved with General Atlantic’s investments in BillDesk, CitiusTech, IBS Software and Mu Sigma. He has played an active role in General Atlantic’s investments in House of Anita Dongre (formerly known as AND Designs), Kaspersky, MedExpress, Red Ventures, Hexaware and Infotech Enterprises.

Prior to General Atlantic, Amit worked at 3i Plc’s India office and focused on investments in the automotive, media, and oil & gas sectors. Amit has previously worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was instrumental in setting up the largest HIV/AIDS prevention program in India. He has also been a consultant with McKinsey & Company.

Amit earned his M.B.A from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and his Bachelors of Technology in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Amit Thakkar, Senior Vice President - Private Equity, Indiabulls Asset Management Company Ltd.

Amit Thawani, Executive Director, Nomura Financial Advisory & Securities (India) Private Limited

Amit is an Executive Director in Nomura India Investment Banking and has 14 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience in India. He is responsible for coverage of Real Estate and Infrastructure sectors and Financial Institutions Group (FIG) in India. Amit has been associated with several large capital raising situations including REIT products with DLF Assets, Religare, L&T, IL&FS etc.

Prior to joining Nomura, Amit worked with KPMG Corporate Finance for 7 years advising on cross-border M&A and private equity capital raising transactions across sectors including financial services, industrials, real estate, etc

Amit is a Chartered Financial Analyst, Chartered Accountant and Company Secretary by qualification. He is also associated with Indian Institute of Management (IIM) for guest lectures / recruitment processes.

Amit Varma, Managing Partner, Quadria Capital

Over 25 years of Private Equity, strategic & operational leadership and board level experience in healthcare organizations across USA, Asia and Australia.

Co-founder and Managing Partner of Quadria Capital, one of Asia's largest healthcare private equity firms, with assets under management exceeding US$1.6 billion and focused on investing in the healthcare sector across South and Southeast Asia.

Dr. Varma is also the sponsor of Healthquad, a healthcare focused Venture Capital firm investing in technology backed companies in India, and spearheaded India Build Out Fund, US$100 Mn Healthcare and Education focused domestic Private Equity Fund.

Co-led the deployment of RHC Principal , a US$ 700 Mn  principal pool of capital, across various healthcare sub sectors  in Asia.

Renowned Critical Care Medicine Physician and  continues to practice as a critical care physician on a part-time basis.

Has over 25 years of Private Equity, strategic & operational leadership experience in healthcare organizations across USA, Asia and Australia. 

Previously, he has been associated with Fortis Healthcare, Narayan Hrudayalaya  and Manipal Heart Foundation.

Has also served as an adjunct professor at the University of Pittsburgh and the Cleveland Clinic.

Education:

• M.B.B.S., M.D. from the University of Delhi, India
• Super-specialty  medicine training from the University of New York and University of Pittsburgh, USA
• Attended MBA courses at the University of Chicago, USA

Amit Zutshi, Director - Head of Commercial Advisory, Ernst & Young

Amit Zutshi – Director, Head Commercial Advisory Services - Amit works in the Transaction Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young and leads the CAS (Commercial Advisory Services) practice at E&Y India since 2008 and is based in the Mumbai office. Prior to joining E&Y, he has worked with KPMG UK’s Strategy and Business Transformation practice for 2 years and their Strategic and  Commercial Intelligence practice for over 7 years. Amit has been involved with over 60 commercial due diligence (CDD) assignments across a number of sectors including consumer products and retail, manufacturing,  defence, services, technology/ITeS, telecom, education, media, infrastructure , real estate and financial services.

Amitabh Chakraborty, MD & CIO, Kitara Capital Pvt Ltd

Amitabh joined Kitara Capital in January 2010 and is responsible for Investment management of the firm, including identification, evaluation, deal execution and monitoring every investment made by the firm. An Electronics and Telecommunications engineer from Jadavpur University, Calcutta, he received his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. In addition, he has received certification and membership as a Financial Risk Manager from Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP), USA and as a Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute, USA, besides being awarded the CFA charter from ICFAI, Hyderabad, India.

Prior to joining the Kitara family, he was the President (equity) in Religare,  carrying overall responsibility for supervision, management and development of the company’s equity broking and research business. In the past, he has worked as the Business Head and Head of Research at Brics Securities; Kotak Securities as the head of Private Client Research; IDBI Capital Markets as the head of institutional equity business; Cazenove & Co, London, as the Director and head of research for India operations; A.F. Ferguson & Co as a management consultant; and in Gas Authority of India. He is a member of professional industry organizations such as the CFA Institute, Virginia, USA, and GARP, New Jersey, USA, course coordinator for capital market for FT-IGNOU joint curriculum, besides being the founder member of the Indian chapter of the CFA Institute, USA. He has over 25 years of work experience, including over 16 years in the financial services industry.

He pursues hobby reading history, travelogues and biographies. In his free time he loves to share knowledge taking guest lectures in business schools.

Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Axis Bank

Mr. Amitabh Chaudhry is currently the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of Axis Bank. Under his leadership, Axis Bank is undergoing a well outlined multi-year transformation program which is expected to catapult the bank to a premier financial institution in the country.

Before joining the Bank, Mr. Chaudhry had a long and successful stint of nine years at HDFC Life. Under his leadership, HDFC Life emerged as the finest and technology savvy brand in the insurance space and is today one of India’s largest private life insurers.

Prior to HDFC Life, Mr. Chaudhry was the Managing Director and CEO of Infosys BPO and Head of the testing unit of Infosys Technologies Ltd. He was instrumental in building the BPO right from its inception and was later credited for making it an extremely profitable business having presence across seven countries. He started his career with Bank of America in 1987 and played diverse roles such as Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia, Regional Finance Head for Wholesale Banking and Global Markets, and Chief Finance Officer of Bank of America (India). He moved to Credit Lyonnais Securities in 2001 as the Head of Investment Banking franchise for South East Asia and successfully structured the finance practice for Asia before joining Infosys BPO in 2003.

Mr. Chaudhry also served as Director on the board of several reputed organizations and has received numerous awards and recognitions.

Amitabh Chaudhry, Managing Director & CEO , HDFC Standard Life Insurance

Amitabh Chaudhry has been associated with HDFC Life since January 2010. Prior to joining HDFC Life, he was associated with Infosys BPO Ltd (since 2003). He was the MD & CEO of Infosys BPO Ltd and was also heading the testing unit of Infosys Technologies Ltd. Prior to Infosys BPO Ltd, he was associated with CALYON Bank (Formerly Credit Lyonnais Securities). He started his career in 1987 with Bank of America, where he worked in diverse roles ranging from Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia, Regional Finance Head for Wholesale Banking and Global Markets and Chief Finance Officer (Bank of America, India). Mr. Chaudhry holds a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Amitabh Kant, Chief Executive Officer, NITI Aayog

Mr. Amitabh Kant serves as the Chief Executive Officer of NITI Aayog. He is a member of the Indian Administrative Service, Kerala Cadre, 1980 batch. He has authored Branding India: An Incredible Story (2009) and Incredible India 2.0: Synergies of Growth and Governance (2019), and edited The Path Ahead: Transformative Ideas for India (2018).

Mr Kant has been a key driver of award-winning initiatives, such as ‘Make in India’, ‘Startup India’, ‘Incredible India’, and ‘God’s Own Country’, that have positioned India and the state of Kerala as leading manufacturing and tourist destinations. He has conceptualized the ‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’ (or the Guest is God) campaign to train taxi drivers, guides, and immigration officials as stakeholders in the tourism development process. In his capacity as Secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Government of India, Mr Kant drove the Ease-of-Doing Business initiative, which led to the emergence of state specific rankings. What started as a national level exercise, is today being emulated by some states to rank their own districts. Mr Kant has previously worked as CMD, ITDC; Joint Secretary, Union Ministry of Tourism; Secretary (Tourism), Government of Kerala; Managing Director, Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation; District Collector, Kozhikode; and Managing Director, Matsyafed. During his tenure in Kerala, he structured the Calicut Airport as a private sector project and developed the BSES Power Project and Mattancherry Bridge under private-public partnership. He also introduced new technology (fiberglass crafts and outboard motor) in the fisheries sector and launched beach-level auctions that substantially enhanced returns to traditional fishermen.

At NITI Aayog, Mr. Kant is driving the Aspirational Districts Program, which has succeeded in improving the socio-economic outcomes in some of the most backward districts of the country through a mix of data-based governance, competitive federalism and collaborations. Mr Kant is the Chairman of Empowered Group 3, one of the 11 such groups constituted by the Government of India to tackle the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The group worked with the private sector, NGOs, and international for pandemic management activities, including the management of international aid. He has been at the helm of driving various other national level initiatives such as Asset Monetization, National Mission for Transformative Mobility besides others. A proponent of competitive federalism, Mr. Kant has driven exercises for state and district level ranks across a variety of indicators.

Mr Kant is the recipient of the Economic Times Policy Change Agent of the Year Award, the Bloomberg TV Personality of the Year Award, the NDTV Administrator of the Year Award, the One Globe Award, 2016, for Leadership in Transforming Governance in the 21st century, and the Golden Peacock Award for Leadership in Economic Transformation, 2017. He was also awarded the Distinguished Fellowship of the Institute of Directors. India Today, in its 45th Anniversary special issue, featured Mr. Kant as one of the 45 celebrated Indians. He was listed as one of the world's 50 most influential people revolutionizing governance by Apolitical, a global government learning platform. He is a Member of the Steering Board of “Shaping the Future of Production Systems” of World Economic Forum (WEF) and is a Champion of the EDISON Alliance of WEF.

Mr Kant has done his schooling from Modern School, New Delhi; graduation in Economics (Hons) from St Stephen’s College, Delhi University; and MA from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He is a Chevening Scholar. He is the recipient of the Sir Edmund Hillary Fellowship by the Prime Minister of New Zealand.