Industry Talks

Topic: How Automation and Data Unification are Rewriting the Rules of Enterprise Analytics

Speaker: Ranan Bhattacharya, Practice Head, MARG, Business Transformation

Date: April 11, 2026

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Key takeaways:

The session highlighted the shift from fragmented data ecosystems to integrated, intelligent frameworks, emphasizing how automation is driving efficiency, faster decision-making, and enabling enterprises to move from reactive reporting to proactive, insight-led strategies.

Topic: Architecting the Future of Autonomous Systems via Multi-Agent Orchestration

Speakers:  Raghavendra Tadepalli, Vice President & Head of AI Engineering, Covasant and Nanda Padmaraju, Chief Revenue Officer – EMEA, APAC & ANZ, Covasant

Date: January 12, 2026

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Key takeaways:

The discussion explored how enterprises are transitioning to agentic and multi-agent AI systems, and the practical challenges of deploying them at scale—balancing system design with business and go-to-market realities.

The session underscored the importance of aligning advanced AI architectures with organizational readiness and strategic intent, highlighting that successful adoption hinges on the interplay between innovation and execution.

Topic: Streamlining AI adoption

Speaker:  Rajiv Gajria,Vice President and Managing Director, Blackbaud India

Date: January 08, 2026

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Key takeaways:

Rajeev shared insights on building high-performance teams, scaling innovation responsibly, and aligning AI initiatives with business strategy, drawing from his experience in digital transformation and leadership.

The session offered a practical perspective on driving effective, AI-led growth through global capability development and strong leadership.

Topic: From Hype to Impact: Building Scalable AI Ecosystems

Speaker:  Gaurav Buddhiraja, Director, Data & Advanced Analytics, Tech Mahindra

Date: November 14, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

 

Key takeaways:

Gaurav Budhiraja delivered an insightful industry talk for the #AMPBA cohort, focusing on what it truly takes to build scalable AI ecosystems. Moving beyond hype, he traced the evolution from data and insights to automation and GenAI-driven outcomes, drawing examples from Insurance, Healthcare, Telecom, and Field Services. The session highlighted practical GenAI use cases in operations and contact centers, along with the enterprise AI stack powering them, and concluded with a strong emphasis on responsible, ROI-driven, long-term AI adoption.

Topic: Technology and Transformation in Public Procurement

Speaker:  Talleen Kumar

Date: October 14, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

 

Key takeaways:

An insightful session by Talleen Kumar, former IAS officer and Senior Advisor at IBM, who shared his experiences on driving large-scale digital transformation through the Government eMarketplace (GeM) initiative. The discussion explored how technology, data-driven decision-making, and innovation are reshaping governance and public procurement in India.

Topic: Navigating the Future of Finance: Technology, Skills, and Opportunities

Speakers:  Surajit Deb, President & Chief Technology Officer - Group Subsidiaries and Private Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank

Date:  September 16, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Key takeaways:

As part of the programme’s efforts to bring industry perspectives into the classroom, students attended a session that explored how technology is reshaping the financial services sector. Surajit Deb shared insights on the rapid transformation underway in banking, highlighting the growing role of digital technologies, evolving skill requirements, and emerging opportunities for professionals in finance and analytics. The discussion offered students a practical view of how technology and finance are increasingly converging.

Topic: From Learning to Practice: Shaping Careers in the Age of Data and AI

Speakers:  Lakshmikant Darbha, Head Delivery ai & Analytics at TechM BPS

Date: September 10, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Key takeaways:

As part of the programme’s industry engagement initiatives, students had the opportunity to hear from industry leaders on how data and AI are shaping today’s professional landscape. In this session, Lakshmikant Darbha shared insights from his experience in delivering AI and analytics solutions at scale, highlighting how emerging technologies are transforming roles, skills, and career pathways. The discussion focused on bridging the gap between academic learning and practical application in a data-driven world.

Topic: Strategic Leadership in the Age of Analytics

Speaker:  Vamsi Prasad, EVP - Management & Strategy

Date: August 12, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

 

As part of the Industry Talks series, Vamsi Prasad engaged with the AMPBA cohort, sharing perspectives on strategic initiatives, business growth, and transformative leadership. His session highlighted how analytics professionals can broaden their impact by complementing technical expertise with leadership and decision-making skills.

Key takeaways included:

• Success requires clarity at three levels: Industry, Organization, and Self.
• Moving beyond technical proficiency, professionals must strengthen narrative building and decision-making capabilities.
• Focus on strengths, passion, and skills, while aligning with the right mentors, enables professionals to create meaningful impact.

Topic: Data and Analytics in Business Transformation

Speaker:  Amit Sharma, Global Head of Analytics and Data at Sandoz

Date: August 09, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

 

The engaging session provided valuable perspectives on the evolving role of data and analytics in shaping business strategy and driving large-scale transformation. Drawing on his extensive global experience, Amit Sharma highlighted the scope of work in the analytics domain and the skills required for professionals to excel in this dynamic landscape.

Key takeaways included:

• Data is a critical driver of business strategy, with its influence extending across industries and functions.
• Thriving in analytics requires a blend of technical expertise, business acumen, and adaptability to change.
• Strategic digital solutions can be harnessed to achieve transformation at scale, enabling organizations to stay competitive in a fast-changing environment.

Topic: Convergence of AI and Blockchain

Speaker: Dr. Kiran K. Garimella, Assistant Professor of Instruction, University of South Florida and co- founder, Kore

Date: June 17, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

In his talk, he highlighted how blockchain is reshaping trust, transparency, and transaction infrastructure, from stablecoins, cryptographic seals, and Hyperledger Fabric to tracking diamond ownership, agriculture provenance, and rethinking double-entry bookkeeping.

He also explored the implications of quantum resilience, the divide between security and payment instruments, and why a robust buy/sell infrastructure is still missing in private markets.

Topic: The Evolving World of AI

Speaker: Raghu B, Director, AWS Cloud Practice

Date: June 15, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

From large language models (LLMs) and Generative AI to AI Agents, RAG, and multimodal systems, Raghu explored the cutting edge of Machine Learning and shared how these technologies are shaping real-world applications, highlighting a banking loan approval use case among others.

Topic: Evolving Landscape in CyberSecurity

Speaker: Dr. Amir Javed - Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University

Date: June 14, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

He discussed emerging threats like phishing attacks, challenges in data procurement, and the role of machine learning in risk mitigation.

Topic: Navigating Management in the age of AI: Leading and Building AI products and businesses

Speaker: Nikhil Kumar, Principal Product Manager, Microsoft India

Date: May 21, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

As part of the AMPBA Industry Talk Series at the ISB Institute of Data Science (IIDS), Nikhil Kumar, Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, delivered a session on “Navigating Management in the Age of AI.” He shared practical insights on leading AI-driven innovation, building agile teams, and aligning product strategies with emerging AI capabilities—offering students a clear view of effective leadership in an AI-first world.

Topic: Unleashing the new age with Generative AI

Speaker: Naren Kachroo, Head GTM, AI, Google Cloud, India

Date: April 14, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Topic: Navigating AI Implementation - Lessons Learned

Speaker: Vishal Nagpal – Director, Data & AI, Bestbuy

Date: April 13, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

Mr. Nagpal shared valuable insights drawn from his extensive experience in implementing AI-driven solutions across diverse business contexts. In a very engaging session, he focused on the strategic and operational considerations critical to successful AI deployment—highlighting real-world challenges, stakeholder alignment, and the importance of organizational readiness.

Topic: How to Protect Your Organization from Generative AI/LLM’s Privacy Breaches

Speaker: Srinivasa Rao Aravilli, Senior Director – Machine Learning Engineering, Capital One

Date: March 09, 2025

Location: ISB, Hyderabad Campus

As part of the AMPBA programme, students engaged in an insightful session exploring global data privacy regulations, risks of GenAI prompts and completions, and advanced privacy-preserving techniques like federated learning, differential privacy, and ML unlearning.