SpeakIn selects trending speakers across genres, who are all pioneers in their own domains – from technology to media, education and entrepreneurship, among others. Unveiling the list, Deepshikha Kumar, Founder and CEO SpeakIn, said, “Today, businesses can no longer depend on traditional methods. Technology has pushed every sector from education to business and media into the fast gear. The speakers on our list this month include leaders who have been at the forefront of this development.” Rank 10: Leena R. Prabhoo: Prajna Strategist, Lifestyle Management and Spiritual Coach, Leena R. Prabhoo believes that living life well is a skill. Leena has developed a proprietary technique, MES-Q to assist individuals to navigate life skillfully and align their goals to be what they can be. According to Leena, “Having high IQ or EQ does not help people achieve what they want or to live a well-balanced Life. The missing link is Spiritual Quotient (SQ). Once you identify your unique Formula of Life, you will be able to align your thoughts, aspirations, and energies with the natural flow of your Life. This is what the Path to Prajna is.” Rank 9: Fatima Mahdi Karan: Fatima Mahdi Karan is Consulting Editor and Senior Anchor at Business Television India, BTVI. She has been a leading anchor and producer since 2005 and was a founding employee of one of the country’s top news organizations. She hosts BTVI’s premier shows, interviews business and political leaders and pioneered ‘Women Mean Business’. Commenting on the broadcast media landscape today, Fatima says, “As a person that has seen traditional platforms either thrive or consolidate since 2005, it also gives me great solace that technology can enable faster outreach and ensure credible content. It is therefore extremely important for key stakeholders to ensure that revenue models are protected, and brand credibility is never compromised.” Rank 8: Dinesh Singh: Padma Shri Dinesh Singh, chancellor of K.R. Mangalam University is a renowned Indian professor of mathematics. He started his career as a Lecturer at St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University and soon climbed the ladder to serve as the Vice-Chancellor of the University. He has been conferred honorary doctorates for his work as a mathematician and an educationist by renowned universities around the world. Professor Dinesh firmly believes in giving students more freedom in education and innovation, and says, “Our system of knowledge categorically states that knowledge without access is meaningless. So don’t confine it to the blackboards or the classrooms. Let them connect with the needs and challenges of the world and society.” Rank 7: Lt. Gen. Balbir Singh Sandhu: Lt. Gen. Balbir Singh Sandhu has been a proud member of Indian armed forces for 39 years and is a rare blend of a sportsman and a professional who led one of the biggest logistics wings of the Indian Army – and also represented Indian Army Polo team at the international level. Talking about how sports build better workplace leadership skills, Lt. Gen. Sandhu says, “There is an intrinsic sports person & sporting spirit in each one of us. I strongly believe to play it by the rules of the game, where a goal is a goal and a foul is a foul.” Rank 6: Dr. Manish Kumar: Dr. Manish Kumar is the MD & CEO of the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), which plays a pivotal role in creating training capacity with private sector participation and funding various skilling initiatives. Prior to joining NSDC, Dr. Kumar worked with The World Bank and also served in the Indian Administrative Service, holding many positions, his last as the Secretary to the Government of Tripura, Power & Home Departments. Commenting on the role of technology on the state of skill development in India, Dr. Kumar stated, “Technology is a catalyst for skill development, and therefore it is imperative to harness its potential to achieve greater efficiencies and effectiveness, streamline operations and strengthen coordination amongst various stakeholders.” Rank 5: Shweta Shalini: Shweta Shalini is the Official Bharatiya Janata Party Spokesperson and works closely with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis as an advisor, election strategist, and technology consultant. In addition to her political roles, she also helms the Maharashtra Village Social Transformation Foundation (VSTF) which aims to transform over 1000 backward villages in Maharashtra. A regular columnist for leading publications and thought leader in women’s issues, Shweta comments, “Women are already empowered from within and it’s important that she realize her true potential. I feel women and youth are going to be two crucial points for taking the country forward.” Rank 4: Arvind Gupta: A pioneer of digital transformation in India, Arvind Gupta has juggled countless roles in his career spanning over 25 years, as a tech entrepreneur, BJP’s IT wizard, a startup mentor and an advocate for digital India. Arvind played a key role in the history of Indian politics during the 2014 general elections. He was appointed CEO at MyGOV, the citizen engagement platform founded by the government, and is currently heading the Digital India Foundation. Speaking about the emerging trend of digitalization in India, Arvind says, “The biggest disruption that is still awaited is the alignment of business processes and policies to technology.” Rank 3: Arun Anand: Arun Anand is an NCR-based journalist and author of the bestseller ‘Know About RSS’, a primer on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He has served as the media advisor to the Union Health Minister and has over 20 years of experience at editorial positions in leading dailies and broadcast networks including The Statesman, Dainik Jagran, Midday, IANS and TV Today. On the relevance of traditional media in this increasingly digital era, Arun comments, “The traditional and the new media have a paradoxical relationship. At times they are competing and at times they are complementary.” Rank 2: Suresh Mahalingam: Suresh Mahalingam is a Non-Executive Director at WGC group companies – a leading Financial business conglomerate. As CEO and MD of TATA AIG Life Insurance, he succeeded in making the company break even one year ahead of schedule. With over three decades of experience in senior leadership roles across the BFSI and FMCG sectors, he has successfully etched a trail of multi-billion dollars in achievement. Commenting on how technology has changed the dynamics of housing finance & NBFC space, he says, “NBFC’s have embraced the digital-lending revolution, bringing ‘time to yes’ down to five minutes, and time to cash in less than 5 days in housing finance. They have focused on digital transformation of end-to-end credit journeys, including the customer experience and supporting credit processes. Digitizing front to back is the mantra to a successful transformation.” Rank 1: Nandan Nilekani: Padma Bhushan Nandan Nilekani is unarguably one of the most revered personalities in the Indian IT and entrepreneurship landscape. After his tenure as CEO of Infosys Ltd., he served as the chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) where he successfully created and implemented Aadhar, for which he was conferred with The Economist magazine’s Social & Economic Innovation Award in 2014. An entrepreneur at heart, he is passionate about mentoring budding business minds, and says, “Innovation with scale is the only way to meet the aspirations of over a billion people exposed to latest developments in the technology, media, and entertainment spaces, and are impatient for improvement in their lives.” About SpeakIn: SpeakIn (https://www.speakin.co/) is Asia’s finest and India’s largest tech-enabled network of thought leaders – Connecting its clients to over 12000 experts globally for their knowledge, speaker sessions, training, and learning requirements. SpeakIn works with corporate organizations, academic institutions and individual leaders to access verified and customized insights through one-on-one discussions or forum based knowledge sessions. These experts are then further engaged as speakers and trainers for Learning and Development, events, hiring and expert surveys. SpeakIn has garnered over 150 clients across India and beyond and is funded by tallest angel investors from all over India and Singapore. SpeakIn’s vision is to shape into a self-serving e-commerce platform that clients can access to connect with an expert (empaneled with SpeakIn). The platform will be the first of its kind to provide single point, open access to experts in over 500 genres and will be at least 40% cheaper than the currently available competition like GLG. The model will be backed by a bigger speaker database (evolving real-time) where customers can search for speakers and experts of their choice, else, they can put in a specific request – a matching expert/ speaker will be found and connected to by SpeakIN
