Asia Pacific Future Skills Leadership Summit 2025

Anita Sahu

Head HR & Corporate Services

SNF India

With 25 years of experience in people management, including 17 years at SNF India as Head HR and Corporate Services, I have been instrumental in shaping HR strategies and fostering a people-centric culture across all units in India.My expertise spans talent development, employee engagement, and leadership coaching. I hold a Master’s in Human Resource Management (MHRM) and am currently pursuing a PhD, further strengthening my academic and professional insights.I am passionate about developing people through coaching, mentoring, and structured guidance, ensuring they reach their full potential.As a seasoned speaker, I have conducted numerous classroom lectures at universities, focusing on real-world corporate expectations in MNCs and how young professionals can prepare for the evolving job market. My sessions emphasize career continuity, communication, attitude, and financial independence, particularly for women.Additionally, I am a certified POSH trainer, committed to fostering safe and inclusive workplaces. I actively engage in learning and development initiatives, ensuring employees and students alike are equipped with the necessary skills to thrive in today’s dynamic business environment.In recognition of my contributions to HR excellence, I have been honored with an award for Best HR Practices. My goal is to create a lasting impact by developing future leaders and driving organizational excellence through people-focused strategies.

Danish Shaikh

Head - Human Resources (Centre of Excellence)

ACG CAPSULES

Globally recognized HR leader with 16+ years of experience driving organizational transformation through strategic people initiatives. Proven track record of building inclusive workplaces and implementing award- winning HR frameworks across global organizations. Combines academic expertise (ongoing PhD in DEI) with practical leadership experience to deliver measurable business impact. Known for innovative approaches to talent management, organizational development, and cultural transformation.

Shireen Sultana

Senior Vice President - Marketing

KLAY Preschools and Daycare

Shireen has over 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, and operations, working with Fortune 50 companies and startups like Coats PLC, Mars, Aircel, and the Indian School of Business. An alumna of IIM Indore, she has spent the last 5 years as an entrepreneur in early childhood development. Her passion is helping every child get the best start in life.
In her role as Senior Vice President of Marketing, Shireen leads all marketing efforts, including digital strategies, design, content creation, strategic partnerships, targeted campaigns, and interactive voice response (IVR) systems. Her leadership ensures the brand effectively reaches and resonates with our audience, fostering meaningful engagement and growth.>When not at work?
Travel, reading, music, and movies are her go-to activities to unwind. She finds sketching and watercolor painting meditative and always tries to make time for them.

Sushma Banthia

ICF-PCC Leadership Coach and Facilitator

Sushma Banthia is an ICF-PCC Leadership Coach and Facilitator. She has been in the area of people development for almost 25 years. Sushma is passionate about helping leaders improve their teams’ performance. She believes that coaching has to have a holistic approach and hence she coaches the person not the problem. Sushma has coached numerous Leaders in India and internationally. Sushma uses various techniques in her coaching practise and has a customized approach. Her clients and coaches talk about the lasting impact she has on their lives and way of thinking.
Sushma is a facilitator for Coaching.com for 4 years. Coaching.com is a platform where Global Thought Leaders in Coaching get together and upskill themselves.
Sushma has been contributing to the growth of the younger generation and coaching students of various Universities – Christ University, Dayanand University, Shoolini University. At Shoolini University, Sushma is a on the Advisory Board of the Center for Leadership Coaching. She has also been actively involved with the V-Empower Coaching program where more than 2000 students have already been coached. The program is in collaboration with ICF ignite.
Certifications apart from coaching – Genos Emotional Intelligence practitioner, MBTI, Thomas Profiling, and Strategic Leadership (FLAME Institute).

V. Padmapriya

Head HR – Products

Neilsoft

With extensive experience in aligning HR strategies with organizational objectives, Padma has successfully spearheaded initiatives in Talent Acquisition, Leadership Development, Employee Engagement, and Change Management. Her career reflects a deep passion, expertise, and a track record of impactful leadership. She crafts strategies that enhance talent attraction, development, and retention—key drivers of organizational success.
Her advanced management credentials from XLRI, along with certifications in coaching, crisis communication, leadership, and organizational design, highlight her dedication to continuous professional growth. Recognized as a Women Independent Director by the MCA, she exemplifies excellence in governance.
Beyond HR, Padma has a strong consulting background in policy formulation, operational optimization, and process improvement across diverse industries. Committed to driving organizational growth, she applies innovative leadership philosophies to empower individuals and foster thriving workplaces.
She champions the role of HR as a coach and guide, serving as a cornerstone for organizational growth. As a Professional Certified Coach, she brings a structured and transformative coaching approach, helping individuals and organizations unlock their full potential.
Her approach reflects her belief in HR as a strategic mission—leveraging People and Culture to drive sustained success.

Dr. Ajay Bakshi

Managing Director

Metamorphosis Unlimited

Ajay Bakshi is a Senior HR thought leader, Ex CHRO, Independent Board Director, Executive Coach at C suite levels and Business Leader with extensive experience in HR, Sales and Business leadership with an experience of 30 plus years in transforming organizations through people. He is also a TEDx Speaker.
He has over 33 years of corporate and consulting experience, as a CHRO and Board Director in various organizations like Vodafone Global Services, Director HR, CHRO Prudential Global Solutions, Head HR & Global Head L&D Sterlite Technologies Limited. He has domain experience across Automotive, Oil and Energy, Metal and mining, in Manufacturing, BFSI, Telecom & FMCG.

KERLIN SARA WILSON

HEAD OF OPERATION

Nice Neotechm Medical Systems Pvt Ltd

Kerlin Wilson is a rising icon in the medical device industry, specializing in neonatal intensive care equipments & hospital relations As the Head of Strategic Operations & Corporate Relations at Nice Neotech Medical Systems Pvt. Ltd., she has played a pivotal role in strengthening industry partnerships, expanding market presence, and driving corporate success.
With a Bachelor’s in Electronics and Communication Engineering and dual Master’s degrees in Communication Systems and Business Administration, Kerlin combines technical expertise with business strategy. Her proficiency in planning, SEO, and brand development has significantly contributed to the company’s visibility. Known for her strong organizational skills and proactive problem-solving, she efficiently manages complex projects and high-level collaborations.
Beyond her corporate role, Kerlin is a recognized public speaker having been featured on TEDx ,various other events organised by SSN, Indian Chamber of Commerce and other prestigious colleges & forums. She is a passionate advocate for women’s empowerment, actively supporting initiatives that promote professional growth and leadership among women.
She also dedicates time to mentoring students, offering career guidance, interview preparation, and resume-building workshop. With a deep commitment to nurturing future leaders, she inspires individuals to achieve their full potential as she deeply propagates Conscience Social Responsibility (CSR).

Sanjay Gawde

Chief Human Resources Officer

Mahindra logistics

A seasoned Human Resources professional with well rounded experience spanning HR Strategy, Processes, Operations and Consulting across Manufacturing, Banking, Financial Services, IT and ITeS industries. Deep technical expertise in Strategy, Governance, Analytics, Total Rewards, Strategic Workforce Planning, Organization Restructuring, Leadership Development, Employee Engagement, Shared Services and Program Management. Broad based leadership and managerial experience across all aspect Human Resources, Labor Relations, Administration, Business Management and Client Management.

Preeti Bajaj

Managing Director & CEO

Luminous Power Technologies

the Chief Executive Officer & Managing Director of Luminous Power Technologies, an innovation leader in energy solutions in India. Founded in 1988, Luminous has over the last 33 years, grown into one of India’s most trusted in the power back-up, and residential solar space. At Luminous, the brand’s purpose has been to devise solutions that are sustainable and energy-efficient to make lives comfortable and full of happiness.

Over the years, I have built a career at the intersect of technology and transformation. With an experience of nearly two decades in the Australian and Asian business environments, I hold expertise in developing and executing strategies to set the pace for sustainable growth across a range of enterprises (multinationals, ASX listed corporates, and startups).

Yuvaraj Srivastava

Group CHRO

MakeMyTrip

Exposure of handling all domains of HR for the last 26 Years, incomparable experience of serving in Armed forces as a commissioned officer for 5.5 Years. HR Leadership role for more than 15 years.

Worked with marquee companies like Asian Paints, The Oberoi Group of Hotels, PepsiCo and currently with MakeMyTrip as Group CHRO. Current role provides opportunity to shape and execute HR and people strategy for all the group companies viz GoIbibo, Redbus, Bitla solutions and others.

Worked and experienced HR across the spectrum of industries ranging from Manufacturing, Supply chain, hospitality, Sales, and Technology. Handled roles across all the domains of HR.

Responsible to lead MakeMyTrip Foundation, engaged in high impact social projects in the fields of Climate change and community empowerment.

Closely involved with business and industry forums like National HRD Network as President of Delhi NCR Chapter, Member Advisory Panel for Central Board of film certification, Member Advisory Committee of FICCI, Member of HR & Leadership Committee of CII and on advisory boards of many institutions and organisations.

Samir Prakash

Chief People Officer

Adani energy solutions

Accomplished HR Leader with 27+ years of well rounded and diverse experience in different sectors, like Manufacturing, Services, Telecom, IT, ITES and BPS

- Versatile and open-minded professional who deploys progressive HR practices through collaborative and participative management style.

Proven track records in Strategic HR, Talent Management – transition & transformation, Organisation Culture and leadership development.

Business partner who has sound understanding & works closely with business
- Strategic Talent Management SME who develops executable strategies that catalyzes attracting, developing and retaining top talent in a high performing culture
A Consultant, Coach, Guide and Mentor
Employee relations and employee engagement Champion
Excellent team leader and supervisor, skilled at building, developing and motivating a high performing team of HR colleagues
- Currently Sr, VP HR & Admin (CHRO) with Indian Energy Exchange Ltd,. Previously worked with companies like Wimco, Ericsson and Steria (Now Sopra Steria).

- Degree in Law from Lucknow University (Public Admin & Labour Laws) and holds a PG Diploma in Industrial Relation and Personnel Management from IPM, Lucknow. Also certified in Neuro Linguistic Programming from ANLP.

Ashishkumar Chauhan

Managing Director & CEO

National stock exchange of India

Ashish (56) works as the CEO of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). He is also the Chancellor of the University of Allahabad. Earlier, Ashish served at BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) as CEO for 10 years. Ashish also served on the Board of Directors of Central Depository Services Limited (CDSL). He is also on the Board of Governors of IIM Raipur, Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, and Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management. He has been ranked amongst the 60 most influential Gujaratis in the world by Chitralekha, a Gujarati magazine for several years. From 2000-2009, Ashish worked as the Group Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Reliance group. Reliance group is India’s largest business house with turnover in excess of US $75 billion. Ashish has won several international and Indian awards in providing the best IT solutions for different industries he has worked for, including stock markets, petrochemicals, telecommunications, etc. He also worked as the Head of Corporate Communications from 2005 to 2008 for Reliance group. In addition, as part of his responsibilities within Reliance group, Ashish served as the CEO of Mumbai Indians, a cricket team with legends such as Sachin Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh, Sanath Jaisurya, Lasith Malinga, and Dwayne Bravo. From 1993-2000, Ashish worked as a 5-member team to set up and operate the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Ashish set up and operated NSE’s equities markets from 1994 to 2000. He was instrumental in setting up the initial Information Technology infrastructure, including the first commercial satellite telecom network in India for NSE. Due to his work in setting up modern exchange-traded financial derivatives in Indian markets at NSE, he is known as the ‘Father of Derivatives’ in Indian markets. He was instrumental in creating NSE-50, the largest traded index in derivatives in India, NSE’s certification in Financial Markets (NCFM), IPO through screen, and several other innovations in the Indian markets. Ashish holds a B Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Bombay (1989) and an MBA from IIM Calcutta (1991). Ashish serves on several government and regulatory committees currently.