Attendees

Industry Leaders

Live Sessions & Panels

About Spark

Name: WiT ACE Spark 2021
Start: 2021-06-29T22:30:00-0400
End: 2021-06-30T08:30:00-0400

We are in the midst of dark and difficult times. The world is facing challenge after chal-lenge, with our country in a humanitarian crisis. But, even in the darkest of times, there is always light. This year at Spark, we want to highlight what does it take to rise above challenges and lead the way in future with the power of inclusion and innovation, and how, when brought together, they can make an impact to Save Lives and Save Livelihoods.

The theme this year
What's our purpose
Why should you attend?

To be future-forward in these trying times and succeed, we need to adapt to our chang-ing surroundings, and rise against the new normal. So, what did it take to weather the storm and flourish— as individuals, and as organisations?

The answer— Inclusion. Innovation. Impact.

While women bore the maximum brunt, this year spared no one. People from all walks of life were challenged by the pandemic, finding work-life harmony, feared unemploy-ment, and have suffered loss of livelihood. Those who survived brought diversity and in-clusion into their business models. Others leveraged the new age of technology to inno-vate, and actually solved challenges during the lockdowns. Our aim is to highlight the importance of this combination of Inclusion and Innovation, leading to Impact.

The purpose of this future-forward conference is to act as a catalyst in inspiring change, and in paving a brighter, more diverse future for individuals, industries, and eventually, the world. We want to enable conversations amongst global thought leaders, share suc-cess stories and inspire difficult but necessary discussions that will lead the way for change.

We are also joining forces with AIF (America India Foundation) in raising support and funds for their Livelihood and Public Health initiatives. Every bit counts and you can do your bit with a humble contribution.

If you are passionate about driving change, and being a part of a knowledge-sharing cul-ture, one where everyone has space to learn and grow, then this conference is for you. Here is why you should attend:

Participate in an industry wide ideation to define the future for sustainability and livelihood.
Engage with thought-leaders and experts from around the globe.
Interact with organisations and build a strong network to engage with like-minded professionals.
Learn, Grow and Upskill with exclusive workshops and masterclasses.

Key Speakers

Aditi Mahadevan

Managing Director, APAC Head of Talent, Learning and Diversity at Citi.

Amber Alam

Director, Prevention and Well Being, APAC, Optum

Ameera Shah

Promoter & Managing Director - Metropolis Healthcare Ltd

Anjali Singh

MD at Deutsche Bank, National President-WICCI Banking Council

Ans Raja Joseph

Head HR, Novartis NGSC Hyderabad

Anu Aga

MP, Teach For India - Founder

Aniruddha Sen

Director & Chief Business Officer at WeAce

Anuradha Das

Head HR, Engineering Research Centre,Tata Motors LTD

Aruna Rao

Advisor, Technology Strategy - Kotak Mahindra Bank

Ashok Sethi

Chief Executive Officer Publicis Groupe Resources AMEA; CIO Emeritus at Publicis Groupe

Ashu Suyash

Managing Director and CEO - CRISIL

Chitra Shringare

Independent Director at ICEX

CP Gurnani

Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director - Tech Mahindra

George Koshy

Founder & CEO – LetsSolv | Glocal Konsult

Gopi Bahl

Associate Director, Head of Technology for BFS, Macquarie, India.

Harish Iyer

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Axis Bank

Jasminder Gulati

Co-Founder - NowFloats

Jayati Talapatra

President - WICCI Delhi Sustainable Businesses Council; Visiting Faculty - MDI Gurgaon and TERI School of Advanced Studies

Jyotin S Kutty

Chief Sustainability Officer, TATA Motors

Karan Bajwa

Vice President, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud

Kirti Seth

Co-architect & Head FutureSkills Prime

Manisha Kohli

Head of Partner Customer Engineering (India Sub-region), Google Cloud

Manmeet Singh

Vice President of Business Development - Comply4Hr

Manu Wadhwa

Global Business Executive | Board Member | CHRO - Sony Pictures Networks

Mohit Thukral

Founder & Managing Partner Vivtera / Board Member Arise Founder & Trustee Plaksha/ Board Member Nasscom Foundation

Monica Jasuja

Head of Product Management, Mobile Financial Solutions - Comviva

Neelam Dhawan

Board Member at Royal Philips Netherlands, ICICI Bank Ltd, Yatra Online Inc, Skylo Technologies Inc, IIIT Delhi. Coach and advisor of businesses and entrepreneurs

Niranjan Nakhate

Co-founder at Futwork.

Nishchae Suri

President Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa - EdCast

Nidhi Das

HR Director, UiPath

Pankaj Bansal

Co-founder and Group CEO - PeopleStrong

Pooja Bhagat

Pooja Bhagat, Vice President, Total Rewards and Compensation, Optum global Solution (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Pratik Pota

Chief Executive Officer - Jubilant Foodworks Ltd.

Prateek Roy

Global HR Business Partner, Corporate Finance, Unilever

Pratyusha Kothi

Senior Business Solutions Manager, APAC at SWIFT

Preethi Thoppil

Senior Director - Software Engineer at Nasdaq

Priyanka Goswami

Co-Founder MonAmI

Ramkumar Narayanan

VP Technology & Managing Director, VMware India

Ratika Mittal

Leadership Coach and Management Consultant

Rajesh Shewani

Head of Customer Engineering, India-West, Google Cloud

RajKamal Vempati

Head of Human Resources - Axis Bank

Rohan Lawrence Menezes

Chief Operating Officer - Light Information Systems

Ritesh Talapatra

Managing Director - Optum Global Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd

Rituparna G Vats

Co-founder at Sinerrgia Consulting

Sairee Chahal

Founder and CEO - Sheroes

Sangeeta Robinson

Business Development Leader (South Asia Region) - Open iT Inc.

Sanjay Uppal

Founder & CEO - Finbots.ai

Shalini Kapoor

IBM Fellow & Director for AI - AI Applications

Shalini Lal

Co-Founder Unqbe

Shayantani Sen

Executive Director - Organizational Development, The Judge Group India

Sridhar Turaga

Senior VP Digital Innovation and Data Science - Citius Tech

Sudhir Singh Dungarpur

Partner I Leader - Digital & Experience Consulting at PwC

Sugandha

Managing Director, Digital Technology Services, India Operations - S&P Global

Suman Gopalan

Chief Human Resources Officer - Freshworks

Sumit Chadha

Independent Director on Corporate Boards | Advisor & Coach to Start ups

S Sivakumar

Group Head, Agri & IT Businesses - ITC Limited

Shinjini Kumar

Co-Founder at SALT - mysaltapp

Srikanth Velamakanni

Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive and Executive Vice Chairman - Fractal Analytics

Sunil D'Souza

CEO & Managing Director at Tata Consumer Products

Vaishali Nambiar

Senior Vice President at CitiusTech

Vanessa Vallely

Managing Director - WeAreTheCity

Vijaya Prasanna

Director – Core Services; Walmart Global Tech

Vishpala Reddy

Head of Human Resources Indian SubContinent at Philips, Ex-APAC Regional HR Director Uber

VR Ferose

Senior Vice President, Head - SAP Academy for Engineering

Agenda

09:15 AM - 09:30 AM

Welcome Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

09:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Opening Keynote

Ameera Shah, Promoter & Managing Director - Metropolis Healthcare Ltd
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Future-Forward with Inclusion, Innovation and Impact in saving livelihoods

Neelam Dhawan, Board Member at Royal Philips Netherlands, ICICI Bank Ltd, Yatra Online Inc, Skylo Technologies Inc, IIIT Delhi .
Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and CEO - CRISIL
Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and Group CEO - PeopleStrong (Session Host)

10:50 AM - 11:40 AM

Inclusive Leadership in the times of a Crisis: How companies can create a sense of inclusion in a remote working world

RajKamal Vempati, Head of Human Resources - Axis Bank
Vanessa Valelly, Managing Director - WeAreTheCity
Ratika Mittal, Leadership Coach and Management Consultant (Session Host)

11:40 AM - 12:30 PM

Rise - Ignite, Innovate, Inspire

Manisha Kohli, Head of Partner Customer Engineering (India Sub-region), Google Cloud
Rajesh Shewani, Head of Customer Engineering, India-West, Google Cloud
Shweta Kumar, WeAce (Session Host)

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM

Mental Health, in the context of the Pandemic

Suman Gopalan, Chief Human Resources Officer - Freshworks
Jaskiran Mehta, WeAce (Session Host)

01:00 PM - 01:40 PM

Hackathon Prize Winners

Live Ceremony

01:40 PM - 02:30 PM

AI Ethics & Bias: Algorithmic and unconscious biases

Aruna Rao, Advisor, Technology Strategy - Kotak Mahindra Bank
Sridhar Turaga, Senior VP Digital Innovation and Data Science - Citius Tech
Shalini Kapoor, IBM Fellow & Director for AI - AI Applications
Manmeet Singh, Vice President, Business Development - Comply4Hr (Session Host)

02:30 PM - 03:20 PM

Can women wish biases away

Gopi Bahl, Associate Director, Head of Technology for BFS, Macquarie, India.
Nidhi Das, HR Director, UiPath
Shayantani Sen, Executive Director - Organizational Development, The Judge Group India
Vijaya Prasanna, Director – Core Services; Walmart Global Tech
Aniruddha Sen, Director & Chief Business Officer at WeAce (Session Host)

03:20 PM - 04:10 PM

Working From Home - A boon or a bane: Blurred lines between the personal and professional in a pandemic

Manu Wadhwa, Global Business Executive | Board Member | CHRO - Sony Pictures Networks
Vishpala Reddy, Head of Human Resources Indian SubContinent at Philips, Ex-APAC Regional HR Director Uber
Shalini Lal, Co-Founder Unqbe (Session Host)

04:10 PM - 05:00 PM

Pride in Identity - tomorrow's workforce needs support

Harish Iyer, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Axis Bank
Ans Raja Joseph, Head HR, Novartis NGSC Hyderabad
George Koshy, Founder & CEO – LetsSolv | Glocal Konsult (Session Host)

05:00 PM - 05:50 PM

Viewing 'disability'' as a different ability

VR Ferose, Senior Vice President, Head - SAP Academy for Engineering
Sangeeta Robinson, Business Development Leader (South Asia Region) - Open iT Inc. (Session Host)

05:50 PM - 06:20 PM

Closing Keynote

Anu Aga, MP, Teach For India - Founder
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

06:20 PM - 06:30 PM

Thank You Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

09:15 AM - 09:30 AM

Welcome Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

09:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Opening Keynote

Ameera Shah, Promoter & Managing Director - Metropolis Healthcare Ltd.
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Future-Forward with Inclusion, Innovation and Impact in saving livelihoods

Neelam Dhawan, Board Member at Royal Philips Netherlands, ICICI Bank Ltd, Yatra Online Inc, Skylo Technologies Inc, IIIT Delhi.
Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and CEO - CRISIL
Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and Group CEO - PeopleStrong (Session Host)

10:50 AM - 11:20 AM

Keynote

Ritesh Talapatra, Managing Director - Optum Global Solutions (India) Pvt. Ltd.
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

11:20 AM - 12:10 PM

The Future of technology - are we too dependent on it?

CP Gurnani, Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director - Tech Mahindra
Karan Bajwa, Vice President, Asia Pacific, Google Cloud
Nishchae Suri, President Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa - EdCast (Session Host)

12:10 PM - 1:00 PM

Business in a contactless world— Digital innovation vs customer relationships

Monica Jasuja, Head of Product Management, Mobile Financial Solutions - Comviva
Pratik Pota, Chief Executive Officer - Jubilant Foodworks Ltd.
Pratyusha Kothi, Senior Business Solutions Manager, APAC at SWIFT (Session Host)

01:00 PM - 01:40 PM

Hackathon Prize Winners

Live Ceremony

01:40 PM - 02:30 PM

On The Way To Becoming The World's Best Food-Tech Company

Pawan Bhargav, Chief Technology Officer - Jubilant Foodworks Ltd.
Rahul Bharde, Head Analytics & Insights - Jubilant Foodworks Ltd.
Vaneet Singla, Chief Product Officer - Jubilant Foodworks Ltd.
Aniruddha Sen, WeAce (Session Host)

02:30 PM - 03:20 PM

Leading change during upheavals

Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive and Executive Vice Chairman - Fractal Analytics
Ashok Sethi, Chief Executive Officer Publicis Groupe Resources AMEA; CIO Emeritus at Publicis Groupe
Sudhir Singh Dungarpur, Partner I Leader - Digital & Experience Consulting at PwC (Session Host)

03:20 PM - 04:10 PM

Achieving a culture of health at workplace

Pooja Bhagat, Vice President, Total Rewards and Compensation, Optum global Solution (India) Pvt. Ltd
Amber Alam, Director, Prevention and Well Being, APAC, Optum
Priyanka Goswami, Co-Founder MonAmI (Session Host)

04:10 PM - 05:00 PM

Power founders— What’s your SPARK?

Sairee Chahal, Founder and CEO - Sheroes
Shinjini Kumar, Co-Founder at SALT - mysaltapp
Jasminder Gulati, Co-Founder - NowFloats (Session Host)

05:00 PM - 05:50 PM

Pitfalls in the age of data ubiquity - Cybersecurity and Privacy

Sugandha, Managing Director, Digital Technology Services, India Operations - S&P Global
In conversation with: Anuradha Amudalapalli, Executive Partner, Center Head - Hyderabad IBM

05:50 PM - 06:20 PM

Closing Keynote

Anu Aga, MP, Teach For India - Founder
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

06:20 PM - 06:30 PM

Thank You Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

09:15 AM - 09:30 AM

Welcome Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

09:30 AM - 10:00 AM

Opening Keynote

Ameera Shah, Promoter & Managing Director - Metropolis Healthcare Ltd
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

10:00 AM - 10:50 AM

Future-Forward with Inclusion, Innovation and Impact in saving livelihoods

Neelam Dhawan, Board Member at Royal Philips Netherlands, ICICI Bank Ltd, Yatra Online Inc, Skylo Technologies Inc, IIIT Delhi.
Ashu Suyash, Managing Director and CEO - CRISIL
Pankaj Bansal, Co-founder and Group CEO - PeopleStrong (Session Host)

10:50 AM - 11:40 AM

Sustainability – Impact on Planet & People

Mohit Thukral, Founder & Managing Partner Vivtera
Sunil D'Souza, CEO & Managing Director at Tata Consumer Products
Anjali Singh, MD at Deutsche Bank, National President-WICCI Banking Council (Session Host)

11:40 AM - 12:30 PM

Unmasking the hidden pandemic - Overwork, Emotional and Mental toll

Anuradha Das, Head HR, Engineering Research Centre,Tata Motors LTD
Vaishali Nambiar, Senior Vice President at CitiusTech
Rituparna G Vats, Co-founder at Sinerrgia Consulting (Session Host)

12:30 PM - 1:00 PM

Supporting Investors in Transitioning to a Sustainable Global Economy

Deepti Jain, Product Manager at Morningstar

01:00 PM - 01:40 PM

Hackathon Prize Winners

Live Ceremony

01:40 PM - 02:30 PM

Social Innovation to drive sustainable change — How they can help in a pandemic and beyond

Jayati Talapatra, President - WICCI Delhi Sustainable Businesses Council; Visiting Faculty - MDI Gurgaon and TERI School of Advanced Studies
Sridhar Turaga, Senior VP Digital Innovation and Data Science - Citius Tech
Preethi Thoppil, Senior Director - Software Engineer at Nasdaq
Prateek Roy, Global HR Business Partner, Corporate Finance, Unilever (Session Host)

02:30 PM - 03:20 PM

Corporate sustainability & responsible competitiveness: Myth or reality?

S Sivakumar, Group Head, Agri & IT Businesses - ITC Limited
Sumit Chadha, Independent Director on Corporate Boards | Advisor & Mentor to Start ups (Session Host)

03:20 PM - 04:10 PM

Automation acceleration in the new normal & its impact

Sanjay Uppal, Founder & CEO - Finbots.ai
Chitra Shringare, Independent Director at ICEX
Rohan Lawrence Menezes, Chief Operating Officer - Light Information Systems
George Koshy, Founder & CEO – LetsSolv | Glocal Konsult (Session Host)

04:10 PM - 05:00 PM

Purpose driven strategy: What can leaders do to embed sustainability in business strategy & operations

Jyotin S Kutty, Chief Sustainability Officer, TATA Motors
Ramkumar Narayanan, VP Technology & Managing Director, VMware India
Sumit Chadha, Independent Director on Corporate Boards | Advisor & Mentor to Start ups (Session Host

05:00 PM - 05:50 PM

Skill Development - The three legged stool between Academia, Private and Public institutions

Aditi Mahadevan, Managing Director, APAC Head of Talent, Learning and Diversity at Citi
Kirti Seth, Co-architect & Head FutureSkills Prime
Niranjan Nakhate, Co-founder at Futwork

05:50 PM - 06:20 PM

Closing Keynote

Anu Aga, MP, Teach For India - Founder
In conversation with: Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce

06:20 PM - 06:30 PM

Thank You Note

Anuranjita Kumar, Founder & CEO WeAce