Advisory Council

Kaustav Das

CEO, Ralph & Das Advertising

• Bachelor of Arts from the University of Calcutta
• Advertising and brand communication leader with 34 years of experience across organizations including HUL, Lintas, Ogilvy & Mather, Publicis, TBWA, Mudra and Havas
• Expert in brand strategy and account planning, having worked with leading brands such as Apple, Sony, Titan, Citibank and HDFC; a certified Disruption Moderator and visiting faculty at MICA Ahmedabad and Symbiosis Pune

Srini Raju

• Founder & Chairman – iLabs Capital; Chairman – Sri City Pvt Ltd
• Founding CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Satyam Software (which evolved into Cognizant); former COO of Satyam Computer Services
• Pioneer of India’s venture capital ecosystem. Governing member at IIIT Hyderabad, ISB, IIIT Sri City and Krea University

Deenanath Harapanahalli

Board Member

• Alumnus – Carnegie Mellon University, IISc
• Former Country Head – Invesco India; former Chair of NASSCOM GIC Forum
• Serial founder across startup studios, enterprise FACT-Ops platforms and India’s leading cycling and wellness platform

K. Nagabhushan Raju

Pro-Vice-Chancellor

• Commonwealth British Fellowship for doctoral research at UMIST, Manchester, UK
• Founder Director of an Atal Incubation Centre under NITI Aayog
• 35+ years in academia with 110+ publications and 18 Ph.D. scholars guided

Anil Thomas

Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer at Ralph & Das

• B.Com graduate with a PGDM from the University of Mumbai
• Advertising and brand leadership professional with 30 years of experience across DMB&B, DDB, TBWA, Lintas, Ogilvy, McCann and TTM Jakarta
• Worked with leading brands including Unilever Foods, Britannia, ITC Foods, Titan, Coca-Cola, Tata Tea and Blue Star; recognized among the Top 10 Creative Directors and Most Influential Advertising Leaders for five consecutive years

John Devasahayam

CEO and Managing Director, Pixstone

• Managing Director of PixStone, one of India's leading visual effects studios, delivering high-end VFX for feature films across Hollywood, Bollywood, and regional cinema industries
• Technology and media leader with senior leadership experience at Satyam Computers, Sify, and Zenith Computers, driving business transformation, operational excellence and organizational growth
• Brings a unique blend of enterprise technology expertise and creative industry vision, contributing to India's emergence as a global hub for IT services and world-class visual effects production

Gopi Santhanam

• Deputy Dean & Director – School of Nova Media at Sricity International University
• 30+ years across Branding, Telecom, Advertising, and Digital Transformation; Marketing Leadership at Airtel
• IICA-certified Independent Director; expertise in Web3, Blockchain and emerging media technologies