Shalabh Bhatnagar finished his PhD in Electrical Engineering from IISc in 1997. He was a Research Associate at the Institute for Systems Research, University of Maryland, College Park, USA, during 1997 to 2000 and at the Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands, during 2000 to 2001. From December 2001, he is a faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Automation, IISc, where he is a Professor since 2011.
His research interests are in stochastic approximation algorithms, stochastic optimization, stochastic control, reinforcement learning, and he also looks at applications in communication / wireless / vehicular traffic networks, autonomous systems, as well as performance optimization in smart grids etc. He is the principal author of a book on stochastic optimization using random perturbation methods and has authored or co-authored more than 200 papers in reputed journals and conferences.
He is an Associate Editor of the Systems and Control Letters as well as the IEEE Control Systems Letters journals, and a past Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Automation Science and Engineering. He has received several awards and distinctions including the ACCS-CDAC Foundation Award, Rajib Goyal Young Scientist Prize, Prof. Rustom Choksi Award for Research Excellence in Engineering at IISc, Dr. Rajkumar Varshney Award for Lifetime Contributions to Systems Theory, Systems Society of India, and Prof. Satish Dhawan Young Engineer Award, Government of Karnakata.
He is a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Science, the National Academy of Sciences, India, and the Indian National Academy of Engineering. From February 2020, he is a J.C.Bose National Fellow.
Mr. Satish Raman is an award-winning growth, strategy and corporate development professional with over two decades of experience.He has a track record of developing, formulating & executing organic & inorganic growth, and financing strategies at companies across the areas of advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, technology and tech-enabled services, resulting in significant competitive differentiation and value creation.
His skills, competencies & specialties include – Strategy, Corporate Development, M&A, Growth Strategies, Partnerships & Alliances, Equity & Debt Capital Markets, Investor Relations, Corporate Finance, Negotiations, Structuring, Valuation, Due Diligence & Competitive Positioning.
Mr. Sasha Mirchandani has completed his Business Administration from Strayer University and MMDP program at IIM, Ahmedabad. He is a Charter Member at TiE Mumbai and was inducted in their 2019 Hall of Fame as an Outstanding Angel Investor.
He is also Past President of Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) Mumbai. He is also on the Board of Governors of the Universal Business School. He is Managing Director and Founder of Kae Capital and Co-Founder Mumbai Angels. Previously, he was at Blue Run Ventures as Managing Director for the India operations. Before joining Blue Run Ventures, he was CEO and Founder of Imercius Technologies. Earlier, he was at Mirc Electronics (Onida) where he was Head of Corporate Affairs and new business. His investments include Inmobi, Healthkart,1Mg, Myntra, Porter and Fractal Analytics. Mr. Sasha sits on the boards of Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited, Nazara Technologies Limited, Healthkart, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited and Mumbai Angels Venture Mentors among others.
Mr. Gulu Mirchandani is the Founder Chairman of the Onida Group. The flagship company of the Onida Group is MIRC Electronics. He is also Co-founder Chairman of Akasaka Electronics and Iwai Electronics. He was appointed as the President of Consumer Electronics & TV Manufacturer Association (CETMA) for two consecutive years in 1992 & 1994.
He was also the Chairman of the Bombay chapter of the World Presidents’ Organisation (WPO). He is also on the Boards of VIP Industries Limited and KEC International Limited among others. He is an alumnus of BITS Pilani and holds a degree in BE (Mechanical).
Srikanth Velamakanni is the Co-founder, Group Chief Executive, and Executive Vice Chairman of Fractal, one of the leading players in artificial intelligence and digital transformation. Fractal’s mission is to power every human decision in the enterprise and to use the power of AI to help the world’s most admired Fortune 100 companies. Since Srikanth co-founded Fractal in 2000, the company has raised more than $300 million USD from private equity investors and has empowered more than 100 Fortune 500 companies with its AI, data, and analytics-driven business strategies.
Srikanth is also a Co-founder and Trustee of Plaksha University, which focuses on core engineering, AIML, and mathematics, and promotes interdisciplinary learning by bringing together science and liberal arts. In addition, Srikanth is a member of the NASSCOM Executive Council, where he serves as a subject matter expert on data and AI.
Srikanth’s passion for AI and analytics has made him a thought leader in the space and an admired public speaker. He considers himself a lifelong student of mathematics, behavioral economics, neuroscience, and consumer behavior. In his free time, Srikanth reads an average of 40 non-fiction books a year on these subjects, as well as memoirs, biographies, and books on leadership. He also actively follows US politics and American late-night talk shows, such as Stephen Colbert, Trevor Noah, Hassan Minhaj, and Jimmy Kimmel.
Srikanth completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, and holds an MBA in Management, Finance and Marketing degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad.
Mr. Hemant Kothavade brings over 24 years of experience in financial services and technology. Of this, 12 years have been on Wall Street in New York with Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and others. In India, for past 12 years, he has worked with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, setup KCG India (formerly known as Getco) and founded Theremin AI Solutions Private Limited (Theremin). He has focused his career on technology-led disruption in the trading markets.
Prior to Theremin, he was chief executive officer of KCG India, a leading algorithmic trading firm globally. He pioneered algorithmic trading setup in India, especially from a global trading firm’s perspective. KCG India traded equity futures and options actively in the India markets. His work has led to several other global algorithmic trading firms entering India. Overall, this has played a significant role in increasing liquidity in the derivatives segment.
With Morgan Stanley, he built options market making engines to automate trading quotes. For Citigroup, he created hedge fund platforms for order routing, trade execution as well as portfolio management in the mid-office. He designed some of the earliest market making algorithms for the New York Stock Exchange’s firm Banc of America Specialists.
Mr. Partha Sarathi Pahari brings years of expertise in quantitative investment. He specialises in building mathematical models to predict movements in the stock market. His passion for mathematics, finance & technology makes him uniquely suitable for his role as the Chief Investment Officer of Theremin.
Before joining Theremin as a Co-Founder, Partha led the Quantitative Investment Strategies team at Goldman Sachs India Pvt Ltd. There, he was in charge of the Emerging Market Portfolios, and expertized in building quantitative signals from alternative data sources.
Partha is an avid reader. He spends his free time reading, painting or travelling.
Partha is a CFA charter holder, and holds an MBA in Management, Finance & Economics degree from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore.
