About US
Reimagining India: Shaping the Global Economic Landscape
The India Business Conference at Kellogg School of Management stands as a prominent business forum globally, with its vision rooted in fostering dialogue among industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and policymakers. Hosted at Kellogg’s Global Hub in Evanston, the primary objective of the conference is to promote meaningful collaboration, cultivate groundbreaking ideas, and foster innovation—all through the lens of the Indian business landscape. This year’s conference aims to facilitate discussions on the tremendous growth opportunities and evolving business landscape within the Indian context.
Through insightful panel discussions, keynote sessions, and workshops, the conference brings together speakers from diverse industries and functions. The goal is to delve into subjects that offer nuanced insights into India’s ongoing transformative journey, positioning it as a significant global economic powerhouse.
Featured Speakers 2024
Laxman Narasimhan is a trusted leader who brings nearly 30 years of experience leading and advising global consumer good businesses. Building on the rich and complex histories of storied companies like PepsiCo, Laxman is a consumer industry veteran who has succeeded in rallying talent to deliver on future ambitions by driving customer-centric and digital innovations. Prior to Starbucks, he served as chief executive officer of Reckitt, a multinational consumer health, hygiene and nutrition company, where he led the company through a major transformation and a return to sustainable growth.
Laxman Narasimhan
CEO Starbucks
He is the recipient of several accolades, including four National Film Awards, ten Filmfare Awards and an Academy Award nomination. His well-known films as director are the crime drama Parinda (1989), the patriotic romantic drama 1942: A Love Story (1994), the action drama Mission Kashmir (2000) and the biographical drama 12th Fail (2023). He is also known for producing the Munna Bhai film series, 3 Idiots (2009), PK (2014), and Sanju (2018) under his banner Vinod Chopra Films.
Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and editor.
Vineeta Singh is the Co-Founder & CEO of SUGAR Cosmetics – the cult-favourite beauty brand amongst Gen Z and Millennials. With an annualized sales run rate of INR 500+ CR, the company has scaled faster than any other and is now one of the top 3 cosmetics brands in terms of sales contribution in the country. It has a physical presence of over 45,000+ retail touchpoints across 550+ cities and has a digital community of five million beauty enthusiasts across all platforms with its own website and mobile app getting more than a million unique visitors every month Well-regarded in entrepreneurial circles for her business ventures, Vineeta is one of the investors on Shark Tank India, one of the most successful reality shows in the country in recent times.
Vineeta Singh
Co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics and Sharktank India Judge
Anand Kumar is an Indian Mathematics educator, best known for his Super 30 programme, which known for coaching underprivileged students for JEE- Main & JEE-Advanced, the entrance examination for the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Kumar was named in Time magazine's list of Best of Asia 2010. By 2018, 422 out of 510 students had made it to the IITs and Discovery Channel showcased his work in a documentary. In 2023, he was awarded the Padma Shri, country's fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India for his contributions in the field of literature and education.
Anand Kumar
Indian Mathematics educator, known for his Super 30 programme
Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2013 and September 2016. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund. The books he has written include Breaking the Mold: Reimagining India's Economic Future with Rohit Lamba, The Third Pillar: How the State and Markets hold the Community Behind 2019 which was a finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year prize
Raghuram Rajan
Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India
Indian billionaire businesswoman, philanthropist and the chairperson of HCL Technologies. She is the first woman to lead a listed IT company in India. In 2019, she was ranked 54th on the Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women list. She is a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which is focused on education and has established some of India's top colleges and schools.
Roshni Nadar Malhotra '03, '08 MBA
CEO HCL Corporation & Chairperson,HCL Technologies
George joined the NetApp in 2011, bringing his passion and relentless focus on execution to his leadership roles at NetApp. He was named CEO in June 2015. Previously at NetApp, as executive vice president of Product Operations, George was responsible for the strategy and development of NetApp’s product and solutions portfolio. Before that, George was senior vice president of the Data ONTAP Group overseeing development of the Data ONTAP operating system. George is also an independent director on the Board of global health services company Cigna Corporation
George Kurian
CEO and Board Member of NetApp
Anupama is an Indian author, journalist, film critic and director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. She is also the founder and editor of the digital platform Film Companion, which offers a curated look at cinema. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a film critic for NDTV, India Today, as well as the Hindustan Times. She also hosted a weekly film review show The Front Row With Anupama Chopra, on Star World.
Anupama Chopra '91
Editor In Chief at Film Companion
Mathew Oommen as President of Reliance, leads Jio’s Network, Strategy, and Service Platforms enabling India’s digital transformation to affordable and scalable broadband connectivity for the creation and adoption of digital services leveraging cloud centric open source platforms disaggregating hardware, software and services. Prior to Reliance, Mr Oommen was Chief Technology Officer of Sprint, responsible for network and technology development, systems architecture, device development, including leading the M2M/Connected Car Service development
Mathew Oommen
President and Member of the Board of Directors, Reliance Jio
Niren Chaudhary is the Chairman of the Board of Panera Brands, one of the world’s largest fast casual restaurant companies with nearly 4,000 locations in 10 countries. Panera Brands is comprised of Panera Bread, Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros Bagels. Prior to becoming Chairman in 2023, Niren served as CEO of Panera Brands and Panera Bread. During his four-year tenure, Panera Brands strengthened its leadership in the fast casual segment by expanding its leading digital capabilities, which as of 2023 account for 51% of total sales at Panera Bread, while increasing its loyalty base to more than 53 million members. Previously, Niren served as Chief Operating Officer and President of Krispy Kreme where he implemented a new operating model to elevate consistency across the global brand
Niren Chaudhary
Chairman Panera Brands
Madhabi Puri Buch is the chairperson of the securities regulatory body Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). She is the first woman chairperson to lead SEBI. Between 1993 and 1995, Buch lectured in England before delving into diverse roles in sales, marketing, and operations for 12 years. She then became Managing Director and CEO at ICICI Securities until May 2011. Afterward, she joined Greater Pacific Capital in Singapore, holding executive roles at companies like Zansar Technologies and Max Healthcare until 2017.
Madhabi Puri Buch
Chairperson of the securities and regulatory body Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
Dr. Krishnamurthy V Subramanian is an Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He is a professor (on Leave) at the Indian School of Business. As the youngest Chief Economic Advisor to the Government of India from 2018 to 2021, Dr. Subramanian instituted economic policies that led to India emerging from the once-in-a-century Covid crisis with strong macroeconomic fundamentals, unlike the previous crisis when India joined the “Fragile Five” economies. Dr. Subramanian authored path-breaking Economic Surveys on Ethical Wealth Creation for a prosperous India (2019-20), the Strategic Blueprint for India to become a $5 trillion economy (2018-19), and the post-Covid economy using public capital expenditures in infrastructure and healthcare to further counter-cyclical fiscal policy (2020-21
Krishnamurthy Subramanian
Former Chief Economic Advisor to Gov’t of India
A veteran of the technology industry, Debjani is the fifth president of NASSCOM and the first women at the helm in three-decade history. She was instrumental in developing ‘Think Digital, Think India’ strategy aimed at establishing India as a hub for digital talent and innovation. In January 2018, she was felicitated by the President of India under the auspices of the ‘First Ladies’ program, which honors exceptional women pioneers in their respective fields. In 2020, she has been honored by Vogue as the Tech Leader of the year 2020. She has also been listed among the India’s most powerful women in tech by Business Today.
Debjani Ghosh
President NASSCOM
Co-Founder of Excelan, Co-Founder of TiE, Venture capitalist, EVP of Novell. Kanwal Singh Rekhi is an Indian-American businessperson. He was the first Indian-American founder and CEO to take a venture-backed company public on the Nasdaq stock exchange
Kanwal Rekhi
Managing Director – Inventus Capital Partners
As the Geography head, he is responsible for the overall strategy and growth plan of the company in the geography. This includes executive connect with key clients’ leadership, business development, operations. Before heading Americas, Mr. Chinmay Pandit led the Vehicle Engineering & Design practice/business line of the Company. The Vehicle Engineering & Design practice in KPIT offers newage mechanical engineering services of design and simulation enhanced by technologies such as artificial intelligence, automation, digital twins and augmented/ virtual reality.
Chinmay Pandit '07 MBA
Board Member and Geo Head, Americas – KPIT
He is also the Founding partner and CEO of Pramand LLC, which is developing products for surgical sealing and hemostasis. Previously he was President and CEO of Ocular Therapeutix, Inc. (OCUL: NASDAQ) a company focused on unmet needs in ophthalmic drug delivery. He was also the Chairman of Augmenix, Inc. (acquired by Boston Scientific), Founder and CEO of Confluent Surgical (acquired by Covidien), the Chairman of MarketRx (acquired by Cognizant).
Amarpreet Sawhney
Chairman and CEO Instylla and Rejoni Inc.
Rashmi is a General Partner at B Capital leading growth-stage enterprise investments. Previously, she was a Managing Director at M12, Microsoft's Venture Fund and led investments for the fund globally in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, devops, AI/ML, and enterprise SaaS
Rashmi Gopinath '11 MBA
General Partner B Capital Group
A Kellogg Alum, Mallika Chopra is the CEO of Chopra Global. She is the author of several books, including Living With Intent: My Somewhat Messy Journey to Purpose, Peace and Joy, and the Just Be Series, a trilogy of illustrated how-to books for children (and the adults in their lives). These books provide simple tools to understand and support social and emotional knowing, resilience, meditation, mindfulness and self reflection. Mallika has taught meditation to thousands of people, and is currently a mindfulness consultant for the animated series, Stillwater, on Apple TV+
Mallika Chopra '02 MBA
CEO at Chopra Global. Author of the Just Be Series and Living With Intent
A Kellogg Alum, With over two decades of venture capital experience, Sumant has generated multiple meaningful exits in companies that he either incubated or had been the first institutional investor. Sumant is also co-founder of two technology incubators in the San Francisco Bay Area: The Hive, focused on AI and Blockchain driven companies, and The Fabric, focused on cloud, IoT, and network infrastructure companies. Previously, Sumant was a Managing Director at Clearstone Venture Partners and began his career as an entrepreneur, starting companies in both India and the United States
Sumant Mandal '00 MBA
Co-Founder & Managing Partner – March Capital
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Event Agenda
- 8:00 AM - 8:45 AM
Breakfast and Check-In
- 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM
Welcome Address
- 9:00 AM - 9:15 AM
Dean's Address
- 9:15 AM - 10:00 AM
Session 1
Balancing Local Roots and Global Wings: Corporate Strategy and Market Insights
- Laxman Narasimhan (Starbucks)
- Niren Chaudhary (Panera Brands)
- 10:15 AM - 11:00 AM
Session 2
Breaking Barriers: Enabling The Indian Entrepreneurial Journey
- Rashmi Gopinath (General Partner B Capital Group)
- Sumant Mandal (Co-Founder March Capital)
- Kanwal Rekhi (Managing Director – Inventus)
- Amarpreet Sawhney (Chairman and CEO Instylla and Rejoni Inc.)
- 11:15 AM - 12:00 PM
Session 3
Pioneering access to Equitable Education
- Anand Kumar (Mathemetics Educator - Super30)
- 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
Lunch and Networking
- 1:15 PM - 2:00 PM
Session 4
Bharat 2.0 - Redefining India through Technology
- George Kurian (CEO and Board Member of NetApp)
- Chinmay Pandit (Board Member and Geo Head, Americas – KPIT Technologies)
- Mathew Oommen (President and Member of the Board of Directors, Reliance Jio)
- Debjani Ghosh (President NASSCOM)
- 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Session 5
Fireside Chat with Vineeta Singh: Indian Startup Ecosystem
- Vineeta Singh (Co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics and Sharktank India Judge)
- 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM
Session 6
Cultivating a balanced creative mindset in the modern age
- Anupama Chopra (Editor In Chief at Film Companion)
- Mallika Chopra (CEO at Chopra Global. Author of the Just Be Series and Living With Intent)
- 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Break
- 4:00 PM - 4:45 PM
Session 7
Fireside Chat with Vidhu Vinod Chopra: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
- Vidhu Vinod Chopra (Acclaimed Filmmaker)
- 4:45 PM - 5:30 PM
Session 8
The Indian Boom: Understanding the Drivers of Rapid Economic Expansion
- Raghuram Rajan (Former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India)
- Subramanian Krishnamurthy (Former Chief Economic Advisor to Gov’t of India)
Our Past Sponsors
Past Speakers
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat, politician, a noted writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is the present Chairman of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers
Shashi Tharoor
Member of Parliament, India, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for External Affairs
Indira has been consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. In 2014, she was ranked at number 13 on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women and was ranked the second most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2015 and 2017.[8][9] She also serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.
Indra Nooyi
Former CEO PepsiCo
N.R. Narayana Murthy, listed among Fortune's 12 greatest entrepreneurs, is hailed as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time and CNBC. Honored with the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri awards, he has served on corporate boards, including HSBC, Unilever, and DBS Bank. Murthy is actively involved in advisory roles for educational, philanthropic institutions, and chairs the Governing Board of the Public Health Foundation of India.
Narayana Murthy
Indian Billionare and Co-founder of Infosys
Past Speakers
Shashi Tharoor is an Indian former international civil servant, diplomat, bureaucrat, politician, a noted writer and public intellectual who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is the present Chairman of the Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers
Shashi Tharoor
Member of Parliament, India, and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for External Affairs
Indira has been consistently ranked among the world's 100 most powerful women. In 2014, she was ranked at number 13 on the Forbes list of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women and was ranked the second most powerful woman on the Fortune list in 2015 and 2017.[8][9] She also serves on the boards of Amazon and the International Cricket Council.
Indra Nooyi
Former CEO PepsiCo
N.R. Narayana Murthy, listed among Fortune's 12 greatest entrepreneurs, is hailed as the "father of the Indian IT sector" by Time and CNBC. Honored with the Padma Vibhushan and Padma Shri awards, he has served on corporate boards, including HSBC, Unilever, and DBS Bank. Murthy is actively involved in advisory roles for educational, philanthropic institutions, and chairs the Governing Board of the Public Health Foundation of India.
Narayana Murthy
Indian Billionare and Co-founder of Infosys
Developer
Azaan Webber
Designer
Aliza Guthrie
Entrepreneur
Kelvin Walls
Public Relations
Rose Larsen
Developer
Azaan Webber
Designer
Aliza Guthrie
Entrepreneur
Kelvin Walls
Public Relations
