Speakers

Harish Bhat
Brand Custodian, Tata Sons

Harish Bhat is the Brand Custodian at Tata Sons. He joined the Tata Group in 1987, as an officer in the Tata Administrative Service (TAS). Currently, he is the Chairman of Tata Coffee Limited. He is a Director on the Boards of several other Tata Companies, including Trent Ltd., Infiniti Retail Ltd., Tata Starbucks Ltd., Tata Unistore Ltd. and Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited.

During his career spanning over 34 years with the Tata Group, Harish has held several senior roles. These include stints as Managing Director of Tata Global Beverages Ltd., and as Chief Operating Officer of the Watches and Jewellery businesses of Titan Company Ltd. He has played a key role in the launch and nurturing of many iconic brands of the Tata Group, such as Titan, Fastrack, Tanishq and Tata Tea. He also played a key role in the successful turnaround of the Jewellery business, and in the milestone acquisition of Tetley.

Harish is passionate about writing and is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to various national newspapers, such as Hindu Business Line and Mint. He has four published books to his credit, including the newly launched, “#TataStories”, which narrates 40 timeless tales from the Tata Group. This book is a sequel to the national bestseller “Tata Log”. His other books include “The Curious Marketer” and a book of fiction, titled “An extreme love of coffee”. In 2019, LinkedIn selected him as one of their Top Voices in India.

Herjit S. Bhalla
VP, India and AEMEA (Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa), Hershey

Herjit S. Bhalla is the VP, India and AEMEA at the Hershey Company. In his role at Hershey, Herjit brings in his extensive experience from renowned organizations such as Unilever in building consumer, food and retail brands.

Under Herjit’s leadership as Managing Director, Hershey India the organization has deepened its presence in the fast-growing Indian chocolate market with the launch of the iconic Hershey’s Kisses in 2018. This was followed by the national rollout of the larger Hershey’s chocolate portfolio in 2020. During the same period, Herjit has successfully led Hershey India’s transition to a multi-category play company with leading share positions across chocolate syrups, chocolate spreads, milkshake, soya milk and lollipops.

Starting January 2021 Herjit has been leading the business for The Hershey Company across India and AEMEA (Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa) as two separate BUs.

Prior to joining Hershey India, Herjit has spent more than 18 years in various leadership sales, marketing and management roles at Unilever in India, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. In his previous position, Herjit served on the Board of Directors with Metro Cash & Carry handling operations for North and East India.

Herjit possesses a unique proficiency in effectively leading teams, driving employee engagement, positively impacting revenue growth and turning around businesses. An accomplished industry leader, he is the co-chair for the FMCG committee at FICCI. Herjit is also a serving member of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and The American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM).

Herjit enjoys spending most of his time post work with his family, especially with his four-year-old son Hrihaan. He is an equestrian and is a life member of the Equestrian Federation of India (EFI) and Army Polo & Riding Club (APRC) Delhi. His passion for the sport led to his participation in national equestrian championships around the country.

Arjun Ranga
Managing Partner, N Ranga Rao and Sons and Managing Director, Cycle Pure Agarbathies

Arjun Ranga is the CEO of N. Ranga Rao & Sons. With an Engineering Degree from S J College of Engineering, Mysuru and MBA from Thunderbird, USA, he worked in the USA briefly before joining the family business in 2000. Through constant innovation and differentiation, NRR forayed into Homecare, Aircare and recently into spiritual products.

Having spearheaded many initiatives and innovations, Arjun aims to grow the business ethically, collaboratively and sustainably. Arjun is the current President of the All India Agarbathi Manufacturers Association and Past Chairman of CII, Mysore Chapter.

Vishak Kumar
CEO, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.

Vishak Kumar is the CEO of Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (MFL) and Whole-time Director of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL). Vishak has been with the company since 1995 when he joined as a Management Trainee at MFL.

During his 26-year long stint, Vishak has worked across functions and occupied various roles in sales, marketing and retail. Prior to his stint as CEO of Madura, Vishak was the CEO of Aditya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL), where he was instrumental in transforming and scaling up the “More” Supermarket and Hypermarket business.

Vishak has won multiple accolades for his stellar contribution to the fashion and retail industry. Within the ABG umbrella, in 2014, Vishak received the Aditya Birla Group ‘Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Leader’ for his exceptional contribution to the business. In 2015, ABG conferred him with the prestigious ‘Aditya Birla Fellow’ title.

Vishak is an IIM Bangalore alumnus and a computer engineer from BIT Ranchi. A keen sportsperson, he enjoys playing squash, badminton and tennis.

Gajendra Jangid
Co-founder & CMO, CARS24

Arjun Mohan
CEO - India, upGrad

Arjun Mohan is the CEO-India, at upGrad, South Asia’s largest online higher edtech. Arjun started his career with the Think & Learn Pvt Ltd, commonly known as Byju’s, as a teacher and moved up the ranks into a leadership role. He ran most of the Sales and Marketing in the company’s early years and was until recently running its International Business. He held several leadership positions throughout his tenure including Vice President - Marketing and most recently, Chief Business Officer (CBO).

Prior to Byju’s, Arjun drove Sales and Operations at Titan Industries and did his stints with Tata Motors, Tata Realty and Infrastructure Ltd. (TRIL) and Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts. He started his career as a Tata Administrative Services Manager after passing out from IIM Kozhikode with Gold Medal.

Roshni Das
Marketing Director - India, Intel

Coming soon...

Prashant Jain
Director - Marketing, India Market, HP

Prashant Jain is the Director for Marketing for HP’s India Market. He is responsible for all marketing initiatives across channels for HP in these markets. Prashant is leading digital marketing transformation for HP across the consumer and commercial businesses.

Prashant is a customer centric and innovative marketer with experience of 14 years in category management, e-commerce, digital marketing, brand management, innovation management and business development across emerging and developed markets. Prior to joining HP, he has held leadership positions in Unilever and Flipkart.

Prashant holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Delhi and an Electrical Engineering Degree from Dayalbagh Educational Institute.

Utsav Malhotra
Chief Operating Officer, Noise

Coming soon...

Sooraj Balakrishnan
Head – Marketing - India and Bangladesh, Acer

Sooraj Balakrishnan is currently the Head of Marketing at Acer overseeing India and Bangladesh markets. He is responsible for the entire product portfolio across PCs, tablets, monitors, projectors, audio, air purifiers and smart IoT devices for consumer, education, enterprise, government and banking segments. In his capacity he drives brand preference, customer acquisitions, product marketing, and strategic alliances. He also leads all GTM marketing efforts for the brand across online and offline channels.

His experience spans across advertising, banking, automobiles and IT hardware with successful stints in Intel, Deutsche Bank, ICICI, Ogilvy and more before taking charge at Acer. Having worked with some iconic brands in India and establishing new categories across PC and automobiles during his advertising and marketing career, Sooraj is a seasoned professional who has spearheaded multiple award-winning campaigns. He is also a regular speaker and contributor at various media forums and jury member to awards.

As a marketing leader, he is leading the Acer brand in the new normal and establishing new GTM and marketing model to reflect the changing consumer behaviour and driving the next chapter of marketing excellence and growth

Nitin Mathur
Co-Founder and COO, 91mobiles.com

Nitin Mathur is the co-founder of 91mobiles.com, where he leads the business, strategy and product management functions. Nitin has close to 10-years' experience in the digital space, with 91mobiles being his third venture. He is a maths graduate from Hindu College in Delhi, and holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta.

Anita Nayyar
COO - Media & Communications, Patanjali Ayurved

Coming soon...

Chanpreet Arora
Business Head - AVOD (Voot), Viacom18 Digital Ventures

Coming soon...

Akshay Tapase
Senior Vice President, Digital Marketing, AU Small Finance Bank

Akshay Tapase leads the Digital Marketing function at AU Bank. With over a decade experience in strategic marketing, Akshay manages digital brand & performance media, customer communication & engagement initiatives, and strategic alliances for the India's Largest Small Finance Bank.

Prior to AU Bank, Akshay has been part of the retail growth story of YES BANK with a stint of more than 8 years. He played an instrumental role in scaling the brand strategy & driving customer experience across digital platforms. He also managed marquee brand properties and sponsorships, including official partnership with IPL (Indian Premier League).

Akshay is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta (Indian Institute of Management) and NIT Allahabad (Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology). He is passionate towards consumer technology and automobiles.

Charu Malhotra Bhatia
Vice - President, Marketing, Brilloca Limited

Ms. Charu Malhotra Bhatia is the Vice-President, Marketing at Brilloca Limited, the home of the iconic brand ‘Hindware’.

A dynamic marketing professional with over 20 years of managing marketing and sales function across sectors like FMCG, banking, and building material industry, Charu played a pivotal role in growing brand equity and leading all aspects of brand strategy at her last stint at Somany Ceramics.

In her current role as the VP-Marketing at Brilloca, she is overseeing the entire marketing gamut for the iconic bathware brand HINDWARE along with steering the new age, super premium brand ALCHYMI and the QUEO.

Brilloca houses, Queo - the luxury brand, Alchymi - the super-premium brand, Hindware Italian Collection and Hindware and H-Vitreous and Benelave. Brilloca also houses ‘TRUFLO by Hindware’, plastic pipes and fittings business that comprises PVC, CPVC, UPVC and SWR pipes catering to the building segment. The company forayed into the premium and super-premium tiles business with brand ‘Neom- Neo modern Tiles by Hindware’.

Manika Sharma
Head of Marketing, Firefox Bikes

Manika is a seasoned marketing professional with over 14 years of experience in building brands and communication, leading to sustainable impact on business. At Firefox, she will be responsible for strengthening the brand’s position in the market and enabling the next wave of growth. An alumnus of Indian School of Business, Manika has worked with PepsiCo, ITC, The Times of India and BBDO and her last assignment was with Signify (formerly Philips Lighting India).

Siddharth Dabhade
Managing Director - India & SAARC, MiQ

Siddharth is currently the Managing Director of MiQ India & SAARC. In his current role he is responsible for commercial business & operations for MiQ in India and SAARC region.

Siddharth has an extensive experience in the technology industry and has worked with major technology giants like Criteo, Google, Microsoft and IBM. In his earlier role he was the Managing Director for Criteo India, leading the business and operations. Having worked with Google for almost seven years, Siddharth was heading its India travel business. One of his key achievements was balancing client satisfaction with innovations in the industry and growing the business 10x. During his stint at the technology conglomerates Microsoft and IBM, he headed business expansion for the southern India region, looked after country sales operations and channel sales.

Siddharth is a mindfulness practitioner and likes to understand how these practices change the thought patterns and outlook which can help navigate life & work in a better way.