Kartik Suri brings over 2 decades of experience spanning Telecom, Media and Entertainment, and Public sectors. Heis a certified Data Scientist, career mentor for students, and has been a visiting faculty member at Symbiosis, Pune.In his current role at IndiaAI, Kartik leads efforts to enhance accessibility to AI education by establishing Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. He also drives the IndiaAI Fellowships that foster a culture of research and innovation, resulting in increased student participation from undergraduate to doctoral levels in AI projects. ‍

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Previously, he has held leadership roles at Lend A Hand India, Reach 2 Teach, Vodafone, Sony Pictures, and also worked with the State governments of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat in various capacities. Kartik is passionate about music, education, and motivating the next generation of learners.‍

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Kashyap Shah, Partner at The Bridgespan Group heads the Bridgespan Nonprofit Development Program (BNDP) for Asia and Africa. Prior to Bridgespan, Kashyap led Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s efforts to pioneer systemic education reforms in multiple Indian states. Kashyap has also worked as an Officer on Special Duty with the Andhra Pradesh Government. He has spent close to a decade in for profit business consulting. He is a British Council scholar and has a dual Master’s degree in Public Administration from London School of Economics and National University of Singapore.

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Kaushik has spent the last 16 years building social enterprises in rural India. He is the Cofounder and CEO of Kheyti, an organisation helping smallholder farmers through its "Greenhouse-in-a-Box", a low-cost greenhouse bundled with services that doubles farmers incomes, reduces crop losses from climate risks by 60% and helps farmers grow using 1/50th the water and 70% lesser chemicals. Before launching Kheyti, Kaushik was a leadership team member of B-ABLE, a social enterprise that provides high quality training and placement services to rural school dropouts. He is a graduate of IIT Kharagpur and has an MBA from Columbia Business School. Kaushik is a winner of the prestigious EarthShot Prize and the Elevate Prize. He is an Acumen India Fellow and a DRK Foundation Entrepreneur.

Keya is the Director of Operations at the India Climate Collaborative. In her role on the leadership team, she is responsible for operations, organisational growth and strategy, partnerships, donor engagement, and communications. She also launched and oversees Earth Exponential, ICC’s platform to unlock corporate philanthropy. Prior to the ICC, she spent more than 7 years at Twitter India, working across the Asia. Pacific region as a Communications Lead. At Twitter, she established teams and processes,managed public crises, drove content sales and built strategic partnerships. She has also previously worked directly for the CEO and Founder of Acumen, Jacqueline Novogratz, in a Chief of Staff role, where she was responsible for board engagement, special projects, and content strategy.

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Kishore Darak works as a Sr Manager, Education, Tata Trusts. Within the Trusts, he leads programmes in secondary and higher education and teacher education including the Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. He has been working in the field of education for about 25 years. An alumnus of TISS, Kishore holds a Diploma in Finnish Education from Helsinki University, Finland and is a fellow of Georg Eckert Institute of International Textbook Research, Braunschweig, Germany. He has taught STEM courses at high school and undergrad levels for more than a decade. He has worked on textbook development committees of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra states. Teacher development, cultural politics of education and language, educational policies and practice, pedagogy of Mathematics, are areas of his research interest. He has written extensively in Marathi language print-media on issues related to school education and has presented his work in many international conferences and published in renowned journals.

 Kishore Kumar Thangavelu leads Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives for Microsoft India, driving programs under AI Skills, AI4Good, Airband, Tech for Social Impact, and Employee Engagement. With over 13 years of experience, including 9 years in CSR roles at Tata Consultancy Services and Microsoft, he has designed and deployed 100+ programs advancing AI skills, digital education, and technology for social good across India. Kishore is deeply passionate about integrating technology for inclusive development, fostering emerging talent, and enabling digital transformation in underserved sectors.

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Kumaresh Pattabiraman is LinkedIn’s India Country Manager, leading the company’s vision to create economic opportunity for every member of the workforce. Stepping into this role in October 2024, he is focused on driving LinkedIn’s vision through product innovation, strategic partnerships, and a skills-first approach to ensure no one gets left behind in today’s changing ways and world of work.

With over 11 years at LinkedIn, Kumaresh has played a pivotal role in evolving the company’s AI-powered products to drive personalization and engagement at scale for more than 135 million members in India and over a billion globally. As Senior Director of Product, he led key initiatives that enhanced the platform experience for LinkedIn members and customers, making it more meaningful and valuable in ways that matter the most.

Before joining LinkedIn, Kumaresh gained deep expertise in engineering and product innovation during his time at Microsoft. Working on advanced machine learning and search technologies, he contributed to the development of large-scale systems that improved user relevance and enhanced product capabilities. With 15+ years of experience in the global tech industry, Kumaresh is a people-first leader with the ability to drive strategic product and business decisions while building impactful solutions at scale.

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In addition to his professional accomplishments, Kumaresh is a strategic thinker and problem-solver—skills that he applies to his work and personal interests as an avid chess player. He also balances his professional life with his role as a father of two, which he considers his most rewarding challenge.

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