SOME TESTIMONIALS
Gaurav Vaid
Founding Partner, Venturis Inc
Prof. Sanjiv Sambandan
Department of Electronic Systems Engineering Indian Institute of Science
2025 PROGRAM
The 4th meeting of the India Global Innovation Connect
Innovation in the Age of AI: Business, Society And Governance
8:30 - Ongoing | Registration
9:30 - 10:00 | Official Opening Ceremony
Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland
10:15 - 11:30 | AI and Deep Tech as the new frontier of innovation
We are just beginning to take the full measure of the radical transformative impact of AI and Deep Tech technologies on every sector of the economy, on every aspect of individual lives and on the fabrics of societies. Whether it is finance, supply chains management, biotech and Healthtech, defense and security the convergence of Web 3.0 and of AI fast-increasing capabilities is changing the way the critical economy sector operates and interacts with their customers. A global trend towards increasing investments and accelerated global adoption is adding to the momentum of AI and Deep Tech innovation and development of new capabilities.
- Three to five years from now what kind of AI developments can we foresee?
- What are already the new forms of Deep Tech that we see emerging?
- What are the “MUST DO” for corporations to integrate and leverage AI and Deep Tech capabilities?
- How are innovative startups contributing to expand the AI innovation frontier and leveraging the technology to improve people’s lives?
- About half of global VC funding is going to AI-focused startups. Will this situation continue? What trends to foresee in AI-startups funding?
Speakers:
Pravin Agarwala, Co-Founder & CEO, Betterplace, India
Satya Bansal, Founder & CEO, Blue Ashva Capital, Singapore
Vic Bhagat, Senior Vice President and Global Advisor, Kyndryl, USA
Jay Krishnan, Partner & Head of India Investments, Beyond NextVentures, Japan
Umakant Soni, Chairman & Director, AI Foundry, Co-Founder Artpark, India
Moderated by:
Sudhir Rao, Senior Partner, Celesta Capital, USA
11:45 - 12:30 | One-on-One dialogue
The invisible reforms toward “Developed India” (Viksit Bharat)
In every country – India included – the public attention tends to focus on the headline-grabbing structural reforms, the big bang initiatives which are expected to have a broadly felt transformative impact. There are however, the much less-publicized, under-the-radar reforms whose impact in improving the framework conditions for economic activities, for saving of public money and for making life easier for citizens and corporate decision-makers which are a much-needed complement to structural reforms and which – in many cases – are quite important in ensuring their efficiency and their full impact.
- What kind of reforms are we talking about when speaking of these “invisible” or “process” reforms?
- Are there ways to measure their impact?
- Why is it so important that this process reform drive be pursued permanently?
Speaker:
Sanjeev Sanyal, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), India
In conversation with:
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), India
11:45 - 12:45 | Brainstorming
What next in the Fintech sector?
- The next developments to expect
- What new opportunities this could create
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
Pritam Dutta, Founder & CEO, Zoth.io, UAE
Amarjeet Kumar, Head of Strategy & Operations – India, Revolut, UK
Varun Malhotra, Partner, Quona, USA
Moderated by:
Venkatesh Panchapagesan, Professor of Finance, Indian Institute of Management, India
12:30 - 13:30 | Buffet lunch
13:30 - 14:45 | Plenary in parallel
Shaping AI for society and society for AI
As we become increasingly aware of the transformative – and even potentially revolutionizing – impact of AI on economies and societies, there is a realization that transparency, accountability and ethical safeguards are crucial to address the concerns that this technology is generating and to ensure its widespread acceptance. At the same time, it is no less crucial to ensure that people are able to acquire the skills and mindset needed to operate in an environment reshaped by AI, to manage a human-AI interaction that will increasingly permeate more and more aspects of our professional and social lives.
- What actions are needed to achieve these two intertwined goals?
- What is required to avoid creating “AI divides” inside and among countries?
- How can startup founders pioneering the new disruptive technologies capabilities help leveraging AI for the common good?
Speakers:
Jagdish Mitra, Founder & CEO, Humanize, India
Shashidhar Nanjundaiah, Dean of the School of Digital Media and Communication of Mahindra University, India
Madan Padaki, Founder & CEO, 1BRIDGE; Co-founder, GAME; President, TiE Bangalore & Trustee, TiE Global, India
Kenneth Serrao, Co-Founder & CIO, OAKS Asset Management, India
Nemesisa Ujjain, VP & Head, The Circle Founders Club, India
Moderated by:
Umakant Soni, Chairman & Director, AI Foundry, Co-Founder Artpark, India
13:30 - 14:45 | Plenary in parallel
What success factors for joining the world’s leaders in semiconductors?
While already a significant player in semiconductors design and R&D, India is lagging behind when it comes to chips manufacturing. In that respect a milestone will be achieved when, according to the Union Minister for Electronics and IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, the first Made-in-India Semiconductor chip will be ready for mass production by the end of 2025. Several Joint-Ventures projects with foreign companies are also in the process of being implemented that will create an accelerating momentum for the expansion of all segments of the value chain for chips production in India, from design and R&D to manufacturing and assembly.
- It is estimated that over 500,000 semiconductor professionals will be needed by 2030. What existing solutions and what additional ones to address the shortage of skilled workers?
- The advanced manufacturing infrastructure required for chips production is still lacking. How to accelerate the creation of necessary supply chains? What is happening in this domain?
- How can India remain in the race and keeps catching up in a context of the fast-evolving semiconductors technology?
- How to look at the present government policies and regulatory framework for the semiconductors sector? Is it efficiently implemented? Are there additional elements needed to accelerate the development of the semiconductor industry?
Speakers:
Pankaj Gupta, Co-Founder & Partner, AlphaGen Venture Capital, Singapore
Sanchayan Sinha, Co-founder & CEO, Turiyam AI, India
Anshuman Tripathi, Member, National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), India
V Veerappan, Co-Founder & President, Tessolve Semiconductor Private Ltd; Chairman India Electronics & Semiconductor Association, India
Moderated by:
Yaël Smadja, CEO, Smadja & Associates Inc., USA
15:00 - 16:10 | Plenary in parallel
Leveraging the impact of customer centric technology
The increasing use of customer-centric technologies is contributing to reshape various products and services markets all over the world. Technologies such as AI and Machine-Learning, customer data platforms allow companies – and in some cases new market entrants – to capture evolving customer expectations and needs, in high-growth sectors such as HealthTech, Fintech or E-Commerce. A case in point is what is happening in the insurance sector moving from a product to a customer-centric approach and generating new categories of products that respond to the market new trends and expectations – and even anticipating them, for instance in the domain of health.
- How to ensure that the “right” data is available to leverage customer-centric technologies, and not create an adverse impact?
- Are regulations evolving fast enough to allow new services and products to be in synch with customers’ new expectations and needs?
- What does the move from a product to a customer-centric approach mean in terms of changes in management culture?
Speakers:
Saurabh Aggarwal, Strategic Advisor, Healthify, India
Shruthi Bopiah, EVP & Head – Customer Obsession, Axis Bank, India
Mitesh Jain, Co-founder & CTO, Symbo, Singapore
Sivaram Kuppachi, Founder, Zamstars; CEO, Quarterback, India
Moderated by:
Shashank Avadhani, Co-founder & CEO, Alyve Health, India
15:00 - 16:10 | Plenary in parallel
The race to market: The changing paradigm for the go-to-market process
Some important shifts are happening with respect to the way startups have to envisage their Go-To-Market strategies as customers’ expectations are evolving faster but the ability to analyze huge amounts of Data can help not only identify customers groups but anticipate their behavior. At the same time, the impact of AI and Deep Tech increases the pressure to keep up integrating the latest technology developments in the offering of products and services. Last but not least, founders have to contend with increased scrutiny from their funders with the end of the era of cheap and easy money.
- How can Accelerators and Incubators enhance their contribution in helping shape successful Go-To-Market strategies?
- How can startups ensure the permanent adjustment of product-market fit to the accelerating changes in consumer expectations?
- What best ways for leveraging AI to compress time-to-market and enhance productivity and market research?
- What requirements for ensuring that critical IP issues are taken care before, during and after the Go-To-Market process?
Speakers:
Shafrir Godel, CGO, NatureGrowth Incubator LP, Israel
Madhu Gupta Khandelwal, Managing Partner, EthAum Venture Partners, Singapore
Olivier Lépine, Co-founder & CEO, Brad Technology, France
Peter Ling, Partner, Lenz & Staehelin, Switzerland
Vikram Upadhyaya, Founding Member & Chief Mentor, GHV Accelerator, India
Moderated by:
Deepu Philip, Professor In-Charge, Innovation & Incubation, Startup Incubation and Innovation Centre, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India
15:00 - 16:10 | Brainstorming
What next in the Aerospace sector?
- The next developments to expect
- What new opportunities this could create
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder CEO, Garuda Aerospace, India
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri, India
Udayant Malhoutra, CEO & Managing Director, Dynamatic Technologies, India
Abhay Pashilkar, Director, CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), India
Moderated by:
Naganand Doraswamy, Managing Partner & Founder, Ideaspring Capital, India
16:10 - 16:30 | Networking break
16:30 - 17:15 | One-on-One dialogue
The coming blood revolution
Research has been going on since quite some time on the possibility of creating synthetic blood to address the dire global shortage of human blood causing millions of deaths every year. Recent progress in stem cells “editing” and developments in several countries have created the prospect that, a few years from now, synthetic blood could be mass produced, thus saving millions of lives every year and also triggering significant progress in the treatment of some life-threatening illnesses. Listen to one of the pioneers in the quest for synthetic blood.
Speakers:
Ari Gargir, Founder & CEO, RedC Biotech, Israel
Praveen Kumar Vemula, Professor, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem); Principal Investigator, Vemula Lab, India
Moderated by:
Madanmohan Rao, Research Director, YourStory Media, India (TBC)
16:30 - 17:15 | One-on-One dialogue
Join the AI-driven learning revolution
AI capabilities are already transforming and enhancing the way we learn and the process of knowledge acquisition. The use of AI algorithms allows for customized, personalized learning processes. Virtual support and mentoring are enhancing teaching as well as learning, all of this making knowledge more accessible and thus inclusive. While this Ai revolution requires educating students as well as teachers about AI and a re assessment of the way we teach and learn, there are also crucial ethical considerations and requirements to be set for data privacy protection and for protecting against “algorithms bias”.
Speakers:
Kobi Gal, Professor, Department of Software and Information Systems Engineering, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
In conversation with:
Ganapathy Venugopal (VG), Co-founder & Chief Executive Officer, Axilor Ventures, India
17:15 - 17:40 | Networking break
17:40 - 18:45 | Capitalizing on the innovation dynamics between startups and established corporations
With close to 2000 global capability centers (GCCS) and R&D Centers operating in the country, India has now established its leadership position as THE global hub for GCCs which are becoming significant technology innovation accelerators. GCCs – as well as corporate India – are increasingly collaborating with Indian startups and leveraging local innovation for their own digital transformation and for enhancement of their own products and services for global delivery. The increasing momentum of this trend is not only reshaping India’s technology and economic landscape but is also having a global impact.
- What challenges still to be addressed such as talent retention, regulatory complexities, or cultural integration, for enhancing even more the role of (GCCs) as drivers for technology innovation?
- What requirements for a win-win GCC/corporate-startups collaboration?
- Are there specific sectors in which the innovation dynamics between startups, GCCs and established corporates is the most pronounced and rewarding?
Speakers:
Siddharth Balachandran, Head Airbus Innovation Center for India & South Asia, France
Mohammed Faraz Khan, Partner & Head of GCC Advisory EMEA, Zinnov, USA
Rajan Luthra, Head of special projects, Chairman’s Office, Reliance Industries Ltd, India
Prachi Sinha, Principal, Axilor, India
Souad Tenfiche-Ancelle, CEO, Link-innovations; Co-President, La French Tech India
Moderated by:
Ralph Voltmer, Partner, Head of the India Practice, Covington & Burling, USA
17:40 - 18:45 | Brainstorming
What next in the Greentech?
India’s budget 2025 has comprised several measures to boost renewable energy and Greentech, reflecting the emphasis on Greentech development seen in many other countries. A global increase of investments in the sector is leading to the development of new innovations generating reductions in emissions and decarbonization of manufacturing activities. New technology developments are not just aiming at achieving the sustainability of economic activities by reducing pollution and the environmental impact. Startups and established corporations are now focusing on technologies that would not only sustain but regenerate resources, reduce waste and energy consumption. Meanwhile the leveraging of AI capabilities in the Greentech sector is improving efficiency and profitability of the sector as a whole.
- What further developments to expect in the Greentech sector?
- What new opportunities this could create?
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
Pankaj Agarwal, CEO, Panitek Green Ventures, Switzerland
Massimo Bagnani, Founder, Proteofy, Switzerland
Pankaj Gupta, Co-Founder & Partner, AlphaGen Venture Capital, Singapore
Sanjiv Sambandan, Founder, Openwater.in, India
Moderated by:
Vasudha Madhavan, Founder & CEO, Ostara Advisors, India
18:45 - 19:30 | Cocktail Reception
19:30 - 21:15 | Sit-down gala dinner
B V Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), India
G. Satheesh Reddy, President, Aeronautical Society of India; Former Secretary DD R&D, Chairman DRDO and Scientific Advisor to Raksha Mantri, Government of India
Moderated by:
Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland
9:00 - 10:15 | Making the most of the new ways of raising capital for startups
New funding models have emerged – or have been developing in the last few years – which are offering more diverse options to startup founders. It is not only Family Offices and Corporate VCs getting increasingly involved in startups funding. The revenue-based financing model is for instance creating access to non-dilutive financing. Or the model of Simple Agreement for Future Equity – SAFE – could be an efficient way to get funding at an early stage of the startup as it gives investors the right to purchase preferred shares in the startup when the company raises a future round of funding. There is also the increasing role played by crowdfunding and Angel Investors, while the debt-financing model can be mostly attractive in a low-interest rates context.
- What criteria to select the most efficient funding model?
- In what ways different funding models condition a startup’s strategy and the Modus Operandi?
Speakers:
Prem Barthasarathy, Founder & Managing Partner, Pontaq, United Kingdom
Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner, Rebright Partners, Singapore
Nruthya Madappa, Partner & Head of Growth and Capital Development, 3one4 Capital, India
Venk Krishnan, Founder & CEO, NuWare / NuVentures, USA
Moderated by:
Yaël Smadja, CEO, Smadja & Associates Inc., USA
9:00 - 10:15 | Brainstorming
What next in the Defense/Security sector?
AI and Deep Tech leveraging, increased focus on cybersecurity, the need for enhancing the resilience of systems are among the different factors shaping the development of the Defense/security sector. This development is also impacted by the disruptions and limitations created by the increased weaponization of technology innovation by countries most advanced in this domain. At the same time, the challenge of availability of increasingly higher skills as well as cost pressures are compelling companies to rethink their operational models.
- What further developments to expect in the Defense/Security sector?
- What challenges and what new opportunities this could create?
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
P Hani, Founder & CEO, Edgeforce, India
Ofir Nichtern, Founder & CEO, Eikolos, Israel
Raanan Volk, V.P Business development, Rogat Engineering, Israel
Moderated by:
Madanmohan Rao, Research Director, YourStory Media, India (TBC)
10:30 - 11:30 | How do we innovate with AI?
In this thought-provoking session, Nir Koren explores how individuals and organizations can not only survive but lead in a world defined by rapid technological shifts and constant disruption. Drawing from real-world examples, powerful visuals, and cutting-edge AI tools, Nir invites the audience to embrace experimentation, and turn uncertainty into opportunity. With a dynamic storytelling style and deep insights into innovation ecosystems, this talk is a wake-up call — and a practical guide – to stay ahead in the age of exponential change.
Speaker:
Nir Koren, Global Innovation expert, CEO & Founder, Buildinn, Israel
10:30 - 11:30 | Brainstorming
What next in the Clean Energy sector?
Renewables are growing exponentially in India. The country is making substantial progress towards its stated goals of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity and 50% renewable energy by 2030. Among the trends gaining momentum are the role of AI as an optimizer in expanding renewable capabilities as well as the development of technological innovations in renewable solutions. There is an increase of investment in the domain of energy storage In India as well as more globally that will help increase production and use of clean energy. However, coal dependency is still high, infrastructure is still a challenge as well as grid stability among others.
- What further developments to expect in the Clean Energy sector?
- What new opportunities this could create
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
Natalia Guida Giampietri, Co-founder & COO, PayGas, South Africa
Prasanta Sarkar, Co-Founder & CEO, Newtrace, India
Nitin Seth, CEO – New Mobility, Reliance Industries Ltd, India
Lakshay Taneja, Founder, Chainfly, India
Moderated by:
Ashutosh Kumar Jha, General Partner, Expert Dojo, India
11:30 - 12:00 | Networking break
12:00 - 13:00 | The geopolitics of innovation: The crucial strategic challenge that shapes our future
Deep technologies and the Data that sustain their development are today key tools driving growth performance and military capability, creating dominant positions or even supremacy in these domains, and providing to countries that master them a crucial tool for international influence and geopolitical leveraging. Increasingly stringent restrictions on technology transfers, sanctions banning the export of categories of chips, or high-tech products or services to specific countries are now part of the standard panoply of the geo-economic competition among countries. The fact that Deep Technologies are by nature dual-use ones creates even more complex situations, opening the gates to discretionary decisions and pressures by the country most able to dictate its will.
- How can countries of middle technological level protect their ability to develop further their capabilities in this context of great powers competition for technological dominance?
- What should startup founders be aware of to avoid becoming the collateral casualties of the geopolitics of innovation?
- How can open-source technological platforms can be developed and leveraged to blunt the impact of the geopolitics of innovation on third parties?
Speakers:
Vinod G. Khandare, Lieutenant General India (Retd), Principal Adviser, Ministry of Defense
Phani Kondepudi, Chief Delivery Officer, T-Hub, India
Praveen Mysore, Senior Director – Industry Consultants, Dassault Systèmes (TBC)
Moderated by:
Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland
12:00 - 13:00 | The innovators leveraging the fine edge of AI’s capabilities
Startup founders pioneering new products and services by leveraging the very fine edge of Ai capabilities describe their work, the challenges they have faced -or are still facing – and look at the next stage they want to get in their innovation process.
Speakers:
Aditi Avasthi, Founder & CEO, Embibe, India
Ankur Goyal, Co-Founder & CEO, Fibr, USA
Suguru Kawashima, Head of Global Expansion CFO, Findy, Japan
Lakshay Taneja, Founder, Chainfly, India
Sajeev Viswanathan, Co-Founder & CEO, New Street Technologies, India
Moderated by:
Prabhu M, Senior Editor, AIM Media House, India
12:00 - 13:00 | Brainstorming
What next in the Healthtech sector?
Developments in the Healthtech sector are increasingly driven by the enhancement of AI and Big Data capabilities, and making significant advances in digital therapeutics, diagnostic tools, personalized medicine, predictive analytics powered by AI allowing to anticipate future patient health outcomes and remote patient monitoring. Healthcare delivery, pharmaceuticals, and Healthtech scalable innovations addressing real healthcare challenges are among the domains attracting most investment. India has the potential to be among the global leaders in the Healthtech revolution with its strong innovative capabilities in biotech and Healthtech, its policies to expand digitization and the possibility to develop scalable solutions.
- What further developments to expect in the Healthtech sector?
- What challenges and what new opportunities this could create?
- How does India stand in this domain compared to what is happening elsewhere?
Speakers:
Shyam Akku, Sr. General Manager, Hetero, India
Purav Gandhi, Founder & CEO, Healthark Insights, India
Sonali Srungaram, Co-Founder & Managing Director, CION Cancer Clinics, India
Bargava Subramanian, Head of AI and Product, 5C Network, India
Anish Tripathi, Director, Epigeneres Biotech, India
Moderated by:
Florin Müller, Head of Swiss Business Hub India, Switzerland
13:00 - 14:00 | Buffet lunch
14:00 - 15:15 | A roadmap for a $ 7-8 trillion Indian economy by 2030?
While there is today a momentum and mobilization of efforts to get India’s economy to the 6-7 trillion dollars milestone by 2030, there is still a lot of debate about the different elements of the strategy to achieve that goal, and not yet a clear road map on how these elements should be implemented in a synergetic and complementary way to successfully implement this strategy.
- How to combine a technology-driven approach to growth with one producing the millions of new jobs needed to absorb the cohorts entering the job market?
- How to engineer the necessary synergies between government policies, corporate initiatives and the R&D contribution from academia?
- What is needed to mobilize the bigger domestic and foreign investment resources required?
Speakers:
Agendra Kumar, Managing Director, Esri, India
Madan Padaki, President, TiE Bangalore & Trustee, TiE Global, India
Mohandas Pai, Chairman, Aarin Capital, India
Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland
Moderated by:
Sanjeev Gupta, CEO, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission (KDEM), India
15:30 - 16:30 | Engineering cross-border innovation synergies
There is no underestimating the benefits of engineering cross-borders synergies between innovation ecosystems to benefit from the multiplier impact of combining complementary knowledge and resources to accelerate the development of new technologies. Joint research projects, technology transfer programs, Joint-Ventures on technology projects are among the most used ways of implementing these synergies. There are however a number of issues to be addressed and elements to be checked to ensure that such cross-border collaboration don’t end up in mutual recriminations or even more badly. Factors such as aligning corporate culture and dealing with different regulatory frameworks and standards are often underestimated.
- What success factors for developing genuine innovation synergies?
- What ways to measure the tangible results of these synergies?
- What safeguards to protect the interests of each party in such synergetic collaborations?
Speakers:
Priscilla Fasoro, Partner, Covington & Burling, USA
Stefan Metzger, Co-Founder & CEO, Beyond Civic, Switzerland
Aruna Schwarz, Co-founder & CEO, Stelae Technologies, India
Dheeraj Tiwari, Co-Founder & CEO, Capgrid, India
Moderated by:
Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, Indian Institute of Management, India
16:45 - 18:00 | India Innovation going global
Indian startups are increasingly leveraging fine edge technologies such as AI, IoT, Biotech, Blockchain, Fintech etc. to come up with products and services able to compete on the global market. Scaling up beyond the national borders involves a coherent and data-based expansion strategy, a very close attention to IP-related issues, an ability to emulate best successful practices.
- What are they learning from the experience of going global?
- What do they consider the best asset they were able to leverage to be able to compete internationally?
- What will be the next steps in scaling up further globally?
Speakers:
Anand Anandkumar, CEO & Managing Director, Bugworks Research PVT, India
Hareesh Chandrasekar, Co-Founder & CEO, Agnit Semiconductors, India
Mudit Dandwate, Co-Founder & CEO, Dozee, India
Subramani Ramachandrappa, Founder, Fermbox, India
Moderated by:
Yaël Smadja, CEO, Smadja & Associates Inc., USA
18:00 - 18:10 | Concluding remarks: What we take home
Claude Smadja, Chairman, Smadja & Smadja Strategic Advisory, Switzerland
18:00 - 19:00 | Farewell cocktail
2025
SPONSORS & CONVENER
STRATEGIC PARTNERS
SPONSORS
KNOWLEDGE PARTNERS
PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS
COMMUNICATIONS PARTNER
CONVENER
ADDITIONAL SMADJA PLATFORMS
3 – 4 February 2026
Jakarta, Indonesia
17 – 18 March 2026
Tokyo, Japan
4th Qtr 2025
Shenzhen, People’s Republic of China
To be announced
Mexico
To be announced
Tucson, USA