Nikhil Sinha is Chief Executive Officer of GSVlabs, a global innovation platform and Partner at Global Silicon Valley, a leading venture capital firm. Prior to joining GSVlabs as CEO in May 2018, Nikhil served as the Chief Business and Content Officer at Coursera, the world’s largest higher education platform. He continues to support Coursera as Senior Adviser to the CEO. Nikhil is a leading international expert on the information and communication technology industries and has extensive experience as an academician and corporate executive.

In his academic career, Nikhil was the founding President of the Shiv Nadar University from 2011 to 2015, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas from 2002 to 2005 and a faculty member at the University
from 1991 to 1999.

Outside the academy, Nikhil has served in senior positions in several organizations. In the past he has been President & Co-CEO of Silverskills, Executive Vice President of eFunds Corporation, President & CEO of iDLX
Technology Partners, and a Venture Partner at Adams Capital Management. Nikhil began his professional life in the Government of India’s Ministry of Information & Broadcasting in 1983.

Nikhil serves on several corporate and non-profit boards. He is Chairman of the Board of HCL Infosystems, a Director of Silverskills Pvt. Ltd. and a member of the Advisory Board of the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Director Emeritus of the US-India Business Council and a member of the Higher Education Committee of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Nikhil has an M.A. and Ph.D. from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. (Honors) from St. Stephen’s College,Delhi University. He has published numerous articles and papers in scholarly journals and conferences and has been awarded a number of research, publishing and academic grants and awards.

Mr. Kirti Kumar Dawar worked in the Corporate Sector with Shriram Refrigeration Ltd., now SIEL a Charatram Group Co. and Mohan export, international trading company, from 1974 to 1983. He worked in the International Trade Business through his 9 years in the company. Afterwards, he started his entrepreneurship journey in 1984 as a partner with United Exports. In 1991, Mr. Dawar started Jaishree exports, an ISO 9001: 2015, ISO 22000: 2018 firm that was recognized and continues to be a Star Export House, exporting to multiple countries in Middle east, USA, Canada, and Europe. Mr. Dawar brings 45 years of rich experience in International Trade, Finance, and Investment Management. He has an excellent mix of corporate & entrepreneurship world. He holds a master’s degree in economics from Delhi University and LLB from Faculty of Law, Delhi University.

Mr. C.V. Raghu was the Group General Counsel (Global Role), Motherson Group. He drove the Legal, Secretarial, Regulatory, Compliance and Governance processes across the globe for the Group. During his tenure at Motherson he has extensively been associated in its growth, strategy and has led all its acquisitions ( which included acquiring listed entities, large operating entities spanning across multiple jurisdictions etc), fund raising (from ordinary debt to structured debts, issuance of commercial papers to issuance of global bonds listed in international stock exchanges), restructuring ( from listed entities to collapsing special purpose vehicles in India and abroad) and large transactions across the globe.

He has rich and varied experience for nearly over three decades in the legal domain that encompasses a diverse set of industries including large business conglomerates like the Max Group, American Express, Hindustan Unilever. He has served on several Boards & Committees since 1998 and also been on the Advisory Board of various Institutions. He was a member in the working committee of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India for harmonizing Corporate Governance Guidelines for the Insurance sector and on CII task force on dispute resolution. Mr. Raghu is the President and Founding member of the General Counsel’s Association of India (“GCAI”). He holds bachelor’s degree in science from Utkal University, Cuttack, LLB from Delhi University and P.G. Diploma in industrial relation and personnel management from Sardar Patel College of communication & Management, New Delhi and a Certified Associate of Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB).  He is a trained Six-Sigma Black Belt and has also undertaken extensive classroom trainings on Negotiating skills and Techniques organized by George Washington University at Harvard Law School.

Mr. Pawan K. Danwar is the Executive Vice-President & CFO of HCL Corporation and Shiv Nadar Foundation. He brings over 24 years of vast experience to HCL. His association with the HCL Group spans over 18 years and he has served in different operational and strategic finance profiles within HCL; such as Business Finance, Corporate Restructuring, Acquisition & Business Integration, Treasury ,Planning & Strategy, Commercial, Business Development, Secretarial, Legal & Corporate Compliance and Investor Relationship.

He has not only been instrumental in shaping different financial strategies for HCL but he has also been associated with various new business initiatives. Mr. Danwar is a qualified Chartered Accountant & Company Secretary.

Neelesh Agarwal is a Taxation & Finance professional, serving as President –Taxation with HCL Corporation, a promoter company of HCL group. His association with the HCL Group spans over for past three decades and has served in varied lead profiles in the realm of corporate tax planning and efficiency, corporate restructuring and business integration, accounts, corporate laws & regulatory compliances and realties. Entrepreneurial orientation, strong commercial approach with operational excellence have been his key strengths and driving force. He has been contributory in finalizing and executing various financial & business strategies of the HCL group.

Mr. Agarwal is also associated with Shiv Nadar Foundation (SNF), one of the India’s largest philanthropic initiatives for nation building through transformational leadership & education, advising and overseeing on financial, taxation and compliance matters of strategic nature.

On professional front he is a Chartered Accountant.

Mrs. Ritu Arora is a respected professional, vastly experienced in the BFSI and FMCG industries, with a career spanning  19 years. She has extensive experience in corporate finance and capital markets, with a passion for coaching and mentoring.  As an economy specialist she has deep appreciation of emerging global and domestic macro-economic trends and their business impact. She has held key  responsibilities such as Investment management and governance, P&L strategy, corporate finance, Strategic tie ups, merger and acquisitions,  treasury, procurement etc. She is also presently the Non Executive Director of Canara Bank Securities Ltd.Mrs. Arora is founding member of one of the fastest growing life insurance company Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co Ltd where she holds the responsibility of Chief Investment Officer and Head Procurements. Here she and her team manage over Rs.10,000 cr. of capital market investments.Mrs. Arora has worked with some of the most respected FMCG companies. She began her career in 1996 at Marico Industries, and later moved to Gillette India Limited. In 2002, she joined Coca Cola India treasury. During these years she had extensive exposure to different corporate Finance responsibilities, commercial finance, treasury, mergers & acquisitions, export markets etc.

After successful assignments in the FMCG industry, Mrs. Arora moved to the BFSI industry when she joined MetLife India Insurance in 2004 to head Investment and Treasury. Here she played an important role in launching ULIPS,  strategic distribution tie-ups and piloted and implemented the global investment management system in India.Mrs. Arora has been widely recognized by the industry as economy and capital markets expert, and has been frequently featured in the national business media. She was awarded “Leading Women in Finance” by Women in Leadership Forum India and “Women Leader of Choice” Award in 2013 by WILL. She is a frequent speaker at CII and ASSOCHAM industry conferences and Women in Leadership Forum. She was also invited to speak at the Asia Investment Summit for Insurance in Singapore in 2013 and 2014 wherein her recent presentation on Currency Turmoil was very much appreciated.Mrs. Arora has a passion for coaching and mentoring senior management talent. She has a post graduate in Executive Coaching from CFI and has been certified in Mentoring by the Indian School of Business. An alumnus of SP Jain Institute of Management and Research(1996), Mrs. Arora is a graduate of commerce and a gold medalist lady topper from Osmania University.  She is also a post graduate from ICWAI (Institute of Cost and Works Accountants).