Mr. Kiran Karnik served as the President of NASSCOM, the premiere trade body and the “Chamber of Commerce” for the IT software and services industry in India, for 6 years until January 2008. Mr. Karnik is widely recognized as a thought-leader and guiding force for the Indian IT industry. He is credited with promoting “Brand India” by showcasing India’s technological strength to the world.

Earlier, Kiran Karnik was MD and CEO of Discovery Networks in India, where he spearheaded the launch of Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. He worked for over 20 years at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), where he held various positions including that of Founder-Director of ISRO’s Development and Educational Communicational Unit. Mr. Karnik has served as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General of UNISPACE 82 in the United Nations.

Mr. Karnik, in his career of almost four decades, has been conferred with many awards and accolades. He has been awarded the Padma Shri (bestowed by the Government of India for distinguished service) in 2007, was recognized as ‘DATAQUEST IT Person of the Year – 2005’, was named as one of the ‘Stars of Asia’ in 2004 by Business Week and was selected as Forbes Magazine’s ‘Face of the Year 2003’, for being the driving force behind India’s offshoring wave. In 1998, the International Astronautical Federation awarded him the Frank Malina medal for Space Education. His deep involvement in the Kheda Communications Project won wide national and international acclaim, including the first UNESCO-IPDC Prize for Rural Communication. Mr. Karnik is presently a member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India and is deeply involved with several NGOs.

Kiran Karnik is a Post-Graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad and holds an Honors degree in Physics from Bombay University.

Srinivas Rao is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Aujas Networks, a pure-play digital security services company. Rao co-founded Aujas in February 2008 after over 20 years of experience in the technology industry.

Prior to joining Aujas, Rao served as the Senior Vice President, Market Management at Cisco Systems and also served as the Chief Operating Officer at IBM Netsol.

Previously, he was at Network Solutions as their Executive Director, where he was instrumental in scaling it from an early stage entity to a medium-sized company, before it was acquired by IBM Global Services. He has also worked as a senior executive with Microland, a leading Indian IT service provider.

Rao holds a B.E. from Osmania University and holds an MBA from IIM Bangalore.

Mr.Sudhir Sethi is the Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of IDG Ventures India, a US$150 Million early-stage technology venture capital fund backed by IDG, the world’s largest IT-focused media company. Sudhir founded IDG Ventures in 2006 after 26 years in the Technology and Venture industries.

Prior to joining IDG Ventures India, Sudhir served as the President and Executive Director of Infotech Enterprises, India’s premier design engineering and GIS services company.

Previously, as a General Partner for Walden International for 4 years, he was responsible for leading their venture capital operations in India. Sudhir served the IT industry for 12 years as a Senior Executive at Wipro and 5 years at HCL, both leading global IT service firms.

In 2001, Sudhir was recognized by Red Herring as one of the leading venture capitalists in the country. He has been named one of the Top Ten IT Professionals by Dataquest. Sudhir also served on the Investment Committee of UTI Ventures for 4 years, on the Advisory Board of Westbridge Capital (now Sequoia Capital) and on the Board of Advisors at N. S. Raghavan Center for Entrepreneurship, IIM Bangalore.

Sudhir was the seed investor in Mindtree Consulting and served on the Board for 4 years. He has also served on the Board of Directors at Infotech Enterprises, Venture Infotek, Jobstreet, Webvision and Webdunia. Mr Sethi today serves on the Boards of Manthan Systems, ConnectM and US IVCA (India Venture Capital Association) as well as Emploi Globale Consulting.

Sudhir holds a B.Tech in Engineering and an MBA Degree from FMS, Delhi.

Mr. Meenakshisundaram (TCM) is the founding Managing Director of IDG Ventures India, a US$150 Million early-stage technology venture capital fund backed by IDG, the world’s largest IT-focused media company.

Prior to joining IDG Ventures India, TCM served as Chief Financial Officer and President - Corporate Services at Venture Infotek, a leading payment processing company in India.

Previously, TCM spent 3 years with Walden International’s India investment team working on investments in companies such as Mindtree Consulting, Venture Infotek, Jobstreet and Webvisions, across a range of technology sectors. He also worked for 14 years with Wipro, India’s leading global IT services firm.

TCM currently serves on the Board of ConnectM. Previously TCM has served on the Boards of Jobstreet India, Webvision India and VIeTrans. TCM is a Chartered Accountant by qualification.

Dr. Balasubramanian is a widely respected academic, practitioner and author in the field of Corporate Governance. He is currently a Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B) and besides teaching courses on corporate governance and business ethics, he designs and directs training programs in corporate governance and related fields for board level participants.

Balasubramanian has served on several bodies on issues dealing with Corporate Governance, such as: National Advisory Committee on Accounting Standards constituted by the Ministry of Company Affairs, GoI; National Council for Corporate Governance of the Confederation of India Industry; and as Chairman of the Centre for Corporate Governance and Citizenship at IIM-B. He has been associated with the Global Corporate Governance Forum in the USA and the International Corporate Governance Network in the UK. He has served as a Corporate Governance and Management Expert for the World Bank / UN-FAO Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. He has also chaired a Core Group on Principles of Board and Director Independence, constituted by the GoI-sponsored National Foundation for Corporate Governance.

Dr. Balasubramanian has authored several books - Corporate Financial Policies and Shareholder Returns, Corporate Boards and Governance, Management Perspectives: Essays on Managerial Priorities and Management Education, and Corporate Governance and Stewardship (forthcoming). He has held executive/statutory board level positions at Britannia Industries, Wipro, iGate Global Solutions, Securities Trading Corporation, and Union Bank of India, besides serving on a number of advisory boards.