Biography:

Ajith Singh Rajapoopathy is an accomplished product leader with 15 years of experience in the technology industry. He began his career in IT sales before transitioning to consumer product development at CaratLane, India's leading omnichannel jewellery retailer. Starting as a Product Manager at CaratLane, Ajith has advanced to leading the entire product team, overseeing the development of systems and products used by millions of customers daily. An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Ajith is passionate in building and scaling products that create meaningful experiences for both customers and employees.

Biography:

Anvesha leads digital commerce for the Home Care business at Unilever. She started her career with Google, where she worked closely with clients across different verticals. She's been instrumental in shaping the digital marketing strategies of brands like Asian Paints & L’Oreal. She has been an Economic Times Young Leader & was also placed in Top 30 Digital Marketing Leaders by Brand Equity, Top Digital Marketing Leaders by Exchange4Media in 2023. She is extremely excited and optimistic about the adoption of digital technology in India and is excited about how digital is resharing the world of marketing.

Biography:

Anand leads the consumer industry for Deloitte Consulting in South Asia. He is responsible to grow the business and technology consulting practice for Deloitte Consulting across four verticals – consumer products, retail, auto and hospitality, transportation & services.​ Anand has around 20 years of experience from both an industry and consulting perspective and has executed over 100 engagements in strategy formulation and implementation. He is a graduate from BITS Pilani and has completed his MBA from IIM Indore and PhD from IIM Bangalore. ​ Anand has extensive experience in assisting clients with their business transformation including formulation of growth / entry strategy, designing operating models, preparation of business plans and assisting with implementation support. He incubated the sales acceleration practice and helps clients achieve profitable growth through front end transformation from a brand, product, sales, channel, distribution, store and commerce standpoint. He also advises governments from a policy standpoint in the areas of economic development and investor promotion.​ Anand started his career with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare in various sales & marketing roles. Prior to Deloitte, he was a part of the management consulting practice at KPMG where he led the consumer practice for management consulting. Anand also led the channel and salesforce effectiveness solution for the practice. He also founded the Food, Agribusiness and Retail COE in the Indian practice.​ In his spare time Anand teaches courses in the sales and marketing area for management schools in India and abroad.

Biography:

I am an IT professional with 19 plus years of experience across Information Technology , Retail , Ecommerce , Real Estate , Logistics & Hospitality organisations. Currently moved as CIO at Lulu Group India . In my pervious capacity as General Manager - IT innovation at Tata Starbucks & Head –IT, Trent Hypermarket Pvt. Ltd. I have worked extensively on the company’s digital transformational projects, Cloud & Mobility Platforms, Retail Analytics, Enterprise systems and Security & Information management systems. Prior to Trent Hypermarket, I have worked with Cybage Software as a Solution Architect in the retail CoE focusing on digital and e-commerce solutions. Having worked with companies such as Future Group, Wadhwan Retail and Zensar Technologies has also given me vast techno-functional experience. In my career as a technology consultant, I feel extremely passionate about using the latest in technology to provide business solutions to accelerate growth. The areas that challenge my interests are Artificial Intelligence, ML, Blockchain and robotics and I am always keen to enhance processes to up the customer experience in my organizations.

Biography:

Apoorva Maheshwari is seasoned marketer with rich and diverse experience across industries including FMCG, Premium Retail, E-commerce, and Hospitality in India. She is currently heading marketing at BESTSELLER India, which is a part of BESTSELLER, a family-owned fashion company founded in Denmark, Europe in 1975. BESTSELLER India is redefining fashion retail through its brands JACK & JONES, VERO MODA, ONLY, and SELECTED Homme

Biography:

Hema leads the Consumer/Retail practice for Enterprise Technology & Performance, Deloitte Consulting in India. She is responsible for growth of business across Consumer Products and Durables, Retail and transportation and Services in Enterprise Technology & Performance.​ Hema has over 25 years of industry experience specializing in digital transformation and SAP implementation for clients in the Consumer and Retail sector and has worked extensively with clients in US, UK and Nordic region. With a wealth of experience in this field, she has helped organizations successfully navigate the complex landscape of digitalization and leverage SAP technologies to drive business growth and operational excellence. She possesses an in-depth knowledge of SAP's suite of solutions and their applicability to the industry, including SAP Retail, SAP Customer Experience, and SAP S/4HANA. Her meticulous approach ensures seamless integration of SAP systems with existing infrastructure, minimizing disruptions and maximizing the benefits of these powerful tools. ​ In addition to her technical experience ,Hema is a trusted advisor who excels in building strong client relationships. Prior to joining Deloitte, she worked with Accenture for about two decades and was also associated with Infosys and Tech Mahindra.​

Biography:

A multi-disciplinary business professional with over 23 years of sales, distribution, business development & business operations experience ranging across FMCG, Telecom, Ecommerce, Health Tech & Food tech. Having held various leadership roles across India & MEA region, he is currently a Senior Vice President at ONDC & heads the F&B + Grocery verticals.

Biography:

He has 2 decades of experience in Saas and direct-to-customer sales and marketing processes. He has business leadership experience in managing sales, marketing and account management functions in IT Services or IT products environments. He comes with a deep understanding of building sales and revenue generation functions in start-ups and scaling organisations across industries and regions. Apart from leading the Growth function across APAC and MEA for Kore.ai, he is one of the founding members of Sales Enablement society in India and Malaysia, Ambassador for Future Of Sales - APAC community, Advisory Board member to multiple start-ups in India, Malaysia and US and Mentor to the Entrepreneurship cell of BITS Pilani India.

Biography:

Katreddi Kiran Kumar, Vice President - Data Platform Engineering at Meesho. Kiran has over 18 years of experience in building large scale distributed systems in BigData, Video Streaming, Healthcare, Electronic Warfare domains. After completing his Masters in Computer Science from University of Hyderabad (Central University) in 2004, Kiran worked for companies like TCS,Yahoo!, Akamai, Mediamelon and Decision Resources Group building distributed data processing and storage systems at petabytes scale. As the VP, Data Platform engineering, Kiran is building a talented team committed to building a world-class Data/ML platform that improves customer satisfaction and propels Meesho ahead as a data-driven company. Apart from spending time with his family, Kiran also enjoys all things sports and a keen interest in the stock market.

Biography:

Mr. Lalatendu Panda, is the Chief Marketing Officer at Reliance Grocery Retail, India’s largest Retailer with the largest network of retail outlets across the nation. He is a Sr. Vice President and part of the leadership team. He is the man behind the successful launch of JioMart in India in 2020 and is currently reshaping the new JioMart growth trajectory for the grocery business. He has been behind launching and strengthening multiple successful brands across formats He leads India’s largest Omni-channel Grocery vertical in the country with more than 3900+ brick & mortar stores across 1200+ cities across India. He has also helmed the success story of Reliance Fresh - India’s No1 Neighbourhood Supermarket chain; SMART Superstore - A value destination Hypermarket which he launched in 2017 & SMART Point - last mile delivery neighbourhood supermarkets which he launched in 2019. He is widely recognized as India’s Top Marketer and has been the keynote speaker & panelist at various marketing and business summits. Mr. Panda is a 1999 batch MBA graduate from the prestigious XIMB, Bhubaneswar & has more than 2 decades of extensive experience in consumer-facing businesses & brands in the FMCG and Retail sector.

Biography:

Lavanya is a distinguished leader with over two decades of experience in e-commerce, retail, telecom, and IT sectors. Known for her results-driven leadership style, she has made significant contributions through strategic collaborations and senior roles. As a Chartered & Cost Accountant, Lavanya excels in business strategy, financial management, and crafting comprehensive business plans. Currently, as Chief Operating Officer at Zivame, Lavanya's vision and direction are instrumental in propelling the company to new heights. Her emphasis on developing a seamless omnichannel strategy ensures Zivame remains at the forefront of innovation, providing a cohesive and engaging shopping experience across all platforms. Lavanya's professional journey is a narrative of excellence, showcasing her unwavering commitment to effective omnichannel strategies. Her ability to integrate various retail channels seamlessly reflects her adaptability and forward-thinking approach, ensuring a consistent and engaging customer experience in the ever-evolving landscape of modern retail.

Biography:

Rajesh Jain is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer for Sports And Leisure Apparel Limited - Lacoste Licensee in India. He has been constantly nurturing the brand since October 2009. With his persistent efforts and focused vision, he has built and propagated Lacoste in India as a complete Lifestyle brand, offering unique and original universe for different verticals including clothing for women, men and children, shoes, leather goods, watches etc. His strong belief in his own quote, “Top Line, Bottom Line, Growth, Customer Delight and Human Resource Development - Everything else is merely incidental” has cultivated the brand with firm establishments reaching out to every major city/ metro of the country today. From a financial background analyzing and evaluating company strategies to details, Rajesh’s inclination for retail industry was not a mere milestone but an opportunity to adapt to an industry which is characterized by ever changing demands and varied preferences. A persona of high esteemed spirit, Rajesh embraced the retail industry justifying his position as an ethical and process-oriented leader always open to experimentation and taking calculated risks. He possesses wide ranging knowledge and unique perspective on the retail industry having worked for leading organizations across the spectrum. Prior to his position as CEO, Rajesh served Sports and Leisure Apparel Limited (Lacoste Licensee in India) as CFO for three years wherein with his steep prophecy, he directed and motivated the company to achieve desired results. Managing responsibilities that included supervising the financial risks of the corporation, designing and implementing systems and processes across the board and empowering people to execute them, Supply Chain, IT, Sourcing and Legal functions, Rajesh has imbibed the essential values of authenticity, performance and elegance from the brand. As a gregarious socialite, team cohesive professional, process-oriented entrepreneur, he has fostered the brand with remarkably positive sales growth, strategically implemented marketing campaigns and pioneering media and financial planning. Rajesh is a Master of Commerce from the University of Delhi and a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He obtained his Company Secretary degree from the Institute of Company Secretaries of India. Born and brought up in Delhi, Rajesh follows an ethical and aesthetic attitude towards life.

Biography:

Ruthraiah Thulasi is the Senior Director of Platform Engineering at Tata CLiQ. With nearly 22 years of experience, Ruthraiah brings in-depth knowledge and expertise in technology and architecture strategy, enterprise architecture, and digital and data enablement. He has been involved in designing, architecting, engineering, and building scalable IT products and platforms across the financial services, banking, and retail sectors. Prior to joining Tata CLiQ, Ruthraiah held several senior management positions at BCG, Jio Payments, and Flipkart. He holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from VIT, Vellore.

Biography:

Praveen has 18 years of industry experience including 16 years of Strategy & Business Transformation Consulting experience. He leads Sales Acceleration & Growth Solution for Deloitte Consulting in India primarily focusing on advising clients in the Retail sector. His recent experiences have been in the areas of Digitally enabled Business Transformation, Growth oriented Omni-channel transformation, D2C & e-commerce, Sales transformation through Execution Excellence, Future of Retail etc​

Biography:

Shivanee is a seasoned fashion leader, managing brand marketing, merchandising, and content strategy for Snapdeal and Stellaro brands. With over two decades of experience, she's navigated roles at Myntra, Calvin Klein India, Fossil, Spanx, and Levi's. Passionate about shaping fashion trends, Shivanee excels in crafting innovative branding, product strategies and enhancing customer experiences. Her leadership has driven successful global launches and impactful campaigns. Recognized as a top creative influencer, Shivanee has earned prestigious awards like the Top 50 under 50 and the Levi's Global Koshland Award. Beyond her achievements, she mentors in fashion retail tech and beauty sectors, nurturing future industry leaders.

Biography:

Multidisciplinary business leader, Mr Sanjeev Rao, comes with over close to 3 decades of management experience leading strategic growth in the retail arena (apparel, hypermarkets, departmental stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and entertainment). An alumni of the Wharton Business School UPENN, Mr. Rao has handled core teams of large retail units as a cross-functional expert. Moreover, he has worked at leadership levels with retail giants like Raymond Apparels, Aditya Birla Retail, Jubilant Retail, RPG Group, Auchan Hypermarkets, SPAR Supermarkerts and Times Group across Strategy, Operations and P&L management. Currently he is the CEO of Being Human Clothing, an organization driven with the purpose of conscious fashion, which is expanding in India and Globally.

Biography:

Smita Murarka is a Director with Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu India LLP , based out of Bangalore, India. She has 20+ years of consumer industry experience in building brands across diverse categories, through their transformational growth journeys. She is a full-stack marketer and omni-channel strategist and has managed functional head roles across marketing, product and D2C at leading Consumer companies. At Deloitte, she advises consumer products and retail clients on growth strategies. She supports brands in their go-to-market strategy, consumer and commerce strategy, business planning, and implementation support for technology transformation across its consumer journey. Before working with Deloitte, Smita was the CMO at Duroflex, leading its transformation journey to become a renowned national omnichannel brand in sleep solutions.

Biography:

Vivek leads Seller Experience for Amazon across the emerging markets and also heads Amazon’s Global Trade business in India. He’s been with Amazon for over 17 years now and has led several teams across his tenure including Customer Service and Supply Chain Operations. Vivek also led the launch of the India Seller Lending program which leverages a network of banks and NBFCs to help Amazon sellers with their working capital needs. Currently, Vivek’s team is responsible for driving the growth of the seller business across Emerging Markets (Australia to Latin America) including fulfilment solutions such as FBA, Easy Ship and Seller Flex. As part of Global Trade, his team helps Indian MSMEs to sell to customers globally and create strong global brands. Vivek completed his Masters of Computer Science from University of Texas, he also holds an MBA from the Indian School of Business.