Speakers 2023

Aparna Piramal

A noted columnist and writer on business, design, and leadership, Aparna is a motivational speaker actively advocating mental health, and a thought leader on business, design, and workplaces. She is a Visiting Faculty Member and on the Board of Studies at the Anant National University in Ahmedabad.

She serves as a member of the CII National Design Committee, and as a member of the Advisory group of Maker’s Asylum, a fast-growing makerspace in Mumbai and Delhi. An advisor to the Wonder Girls movement, Aparna is committed to supporting gender equality. Aparna has completed MBA from Harvard Business School and read Economics, Politics and Philosophy at Oxford University.

Avik Chattopadhyay

Having taken on diverse roles in marketing, advertising, institutional sales, business strategy, product planning, vendor development, network management, mergers & acquisitions, public relations, advocacy, and integration, Avik has garnered rich industry experience.

He is the co-founder and partner at brand strategy and solutions consultancy Expereal. Avik is also a part of two of India’s leading mentor platforms and sits on the Advisory Board of XLRI Delhi-NCR campus. He is an alumnus of IMD Lausanne and XLRI Jamshedpur, having graduated in Economics from Hans Raj College, Delhi University. He is a regular contributor at several noted publication on subjects ranging from automotive policy and brand strategy to socioeconomics.

Ayush Kasliwal

Ayush is one of India’s leading design thinkers, practitioners and advocates for artisans. He is Creative Director and Co founder of AKFD & ANANTAYA, interdisciplinary design companies based in Jaipur. The business practices of both these companies reflect social consciousness, sustainability.

Ayush’s work highlights traditional crafts and artisans, reflecting a deep understanding of mythology, architecture and culture through a contemporary aesthetic. Named among 100 most Influential Design firms in the Indian Subcontinent 2018 by Architectural Digest, Ayush won the Lexus Design Award India 2019 and EDIDA India Designer of the year 2013. He has been a panelist, speaker, faculty, and jury member at prestigious national and international forums.

Chandrashekhar Bheda

An ardent traveler, curious photographer, instrumental musicians, singer and regular punster, Chandrashekhar Bheda is a prolific textiles and handicrafts product designer, artist, and curator. Over the last 35 years he has been discovering new possibilities for the textiles and handcraft industry.

An alumnus of India’s premier design and art schools, Chandrashekhar has been a part of several eminent jury panels. He currently leads several design projects with key commercial and developmental organisations for the creation of marketable textiles and handicraft products. His familiarity with the traditional as well as high-technology textiles and craft techniques has allowed him to realise path-breaking concepts and scintillating creative expressions in his work.

Harsha Paruchuri

At Pragati, India’s most premier packaging and printing company, Harsha leads from the front with his keen eye for detail and deep understanding of colour science. Joining Pragati in 2000, he built up an expertise in digital pre-print and colour management, that enabled Pragati to deliver higher accuracy.

As a Director at Pragati, Harsha leverages the latest technologies in packaging and printing to stay at the forefront of innovation, often pioneering their use in India. Combining his design expertise with business acumen, he ensures that Pragati keeps evolving constantly to keep step with the changing times and becomes a global player in packaging and printing.

Hitesh Kewalya

Director, story writer, dialogue writer, and screenplay writer, Hitesh Kewalya wears several creative hats. He started working as a writer for All India Radio in 1999. His stint at the AIR made him want to take up writing as a career. He went on attain formal training in the field of movies from NID, Ahmedabad.

Hitesh has been a part of several popular films and TV shows in various capacities. His films have broken the glass ceiling and sparked conversations around the concerns of the LGBTQ+ community. Having won the Filmfare and IIFA awards for Best Dialogues, he continues to highlight socially relevant subjects in his films.

Honey Bajaj

Honey Bajaj is a leader in consumer experience, user research and product design with over 15 years of global experience. She was awarded inventor of the year 2016 in San Francisco, a decade of Honey’s work has demonstrated the leadership and technical talent to develop and deliver outstanding products.

In 2009 she co-invented Embrace, a low-cost baby warmer which has saved over 200,000 babies across 22 countries. She designed and launched the Technology Entrepreneurship program at Indian School of Business Hyderabad in 2014. A student of David Kelley at Stanford Design School, she has led multiple design workshops for corporates and schools on design thinking and innovation.

Minti Shah

Design Entrepreneur Minti Shah is a graduate of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad with over half a decade of rich experience in the Indian Television industry. Possessing a comprehensive expertise in varied disciplines, she has been working on various known visual communication projects in India for the last decade.

Minti has extensive expertise in varied disciplines including motion graphic design. Working with various brands and visual communication projects in India for the last decade, she has many ‘Firsts’ to her credit. With the passion and urge to spread awareness about art and design, she curates and conducts workshops for all age groups and professions, children being her special target audience.

Pankaj Sapkal

Pankaj Sapkal defines design as “The creative intelligence that lies between intent and result,” embracing a multidisciplinary, fluid, and collaborative model of design. A co-founder of Thought-Craft (Pune), Pankaj’s experience includes hard‐core Industrial design and product development with leading global corporates and consultancies.

He has worked extensively in Digital Product Design, UX, Purposeful Gamification, Visualisation Sciences, Systemic Representations and Modelling, Systems Design, Design Ethnography, and Design strategy. Pankaj helped create the Vibrancy Festival (along with ‘The Pune Happiness Dialogues’) for promoting Mental Health, Inclusion, and Diversity. He was recently appointed by the GoI to a committee of experts for outlining the setup of a National Centre of Excellence in the AVGC sector.

Prathamesh Krisang

Prathamesh Krisang describes himself as a shopkeeper-turned-designer-turned-filmmaker-turned-marketer-turned-entrepreneur. A multiple national & international award-winning filmmaker, marketer & entrepreneur, he is innately curious about human nature and what makes people do what they do. He is the founder of Qathaa, a digital growth marketing agency.

It helps businesses grow by leveraging result-oriented content creation, digital technologies, and marketing analytics. He is a growth marketer who looks at the world from the lens of Behavioural Science. He started his career with graphic design and later turned to filmmaking. His latest venture Magicleaf is a product of years of passionate development, hundreds of sleepless nights and a firm commitment to ‘not cutting corners’.

Priyanka Sachdev

Priyanka Sachdev is a visual storyteller with a passion for drawing Children’s Books and Indian Mythology stories. With over eight years of work experience specialising as an Illustrator and Print designer for Textile, Fashion, Packaging and Publication, she is the Creative Director and Founding Partner at Quirk Box Design Studio.

Priyanka is passionate about creating Illustrated stories that transform individuals and objects into walking art galleries. She is always looking to conceptualise and execute detail-oriented creative visuals and solutions for diverse industries. A Textile Design graduate from Srishti School of Design, Bangalore, she pursued her Masters in Illustration from London College of Communication before founding Quirk Box.

R. Balki

R. Balki is a prominent filmmaker and screenwriter known for his unconventional style of storytelling. After completing his education, Balki began his career in advertising and made his directorial debut with a critically acclaimed film that received widespread appreciation for its unique storyline and the actors’ performances.

Balki continues making thought-provoking films that challenge gender stereotypes and address critical social issues that are relevant even in these modern times. Winning many awards and accolades for his work, he is also a National Film Awards winner. Besides his filmmaking career, Balki has written several successful ad campaigns which include several catchy campaigns that have achieved an iconic status.

Sambit Mohanty

Creative Director, consultant and copywriter, Sambit assumes multitudinous roles in his profile as Creative Head at McCann Worldgroup. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) New Delhi, Sambit has spent over two decades in advertising and design across agencies such as Lintas, DDB-Mudra, Leo Burnett and Elephant Design.

Able to wield traditional and new media with effortless ease, his self-assured style of leadership inspires great confidence in clients as well creative teams. With his diverse experience, he has helped build some popular brands in India. He has worked with brands like Airtel, Coca Cola, Adidas, Bata, Patanjali, Hero Motors, Chevrolet and many more.

Sarita Sundar

Sarita Sundar is a Designer and Design Historian whose practice and research spans heritage studies, popular and visual culture, and design theory. At Hanno, her heritage interpretation and design consultancy, she combines 30+ years of working with brand design and strategy with her academic training in museum studies.

Over the years, she has engaged in critical enquiries into how culture engages with the visual. Her research into the cultural history of the seat in India culminated into a book. During her 2022-2023 Fulbright Teaching and Research Fellowship, she researched the intersections in the resistances to modernism in Indian and American design histories.

Sudhir Sharma

Having more than three decades of experience in branding and design, Sudhir Sharma is a reputed brand consultant who has played a pivotal role in shaping household name brands. He is a member of the first India Design Council, constituted by the government of India, and is member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Global Council for Design.

Sudhir is a founder and President of the “DesignIndia”, the first online community of professional designers in India. He has served the jury panel of the inaugural Cannes Lions for Design in 2008, and Adfest in Pattya, Thailand. As an educator, he lectures and conducts workshops on innovation and creativity, specialising in brand clarity.

Tarun Thakkar

Co-founder and Business Head at IndiDesign, Tarun has a significant contribution in the company’s growth. He is an experienced professional with a long association with the design industry. His primary skill set includes design, advertising, and business management. He has a demonstrated knack for leading various projects in all aspects, from research, strategy, and concept ideation to development.

Often the first responder, Tarun acts as a facilitator between the client and the design team, keeping the information flowing smoothly in both directions. He takes on various roles as required, leading marketing activities, coordinating with clients and conducting client briefings. Tarun is passionate about driving and loves to be on the road indulging his passion.

Vijaybahu Joshi

Vijaybahu is an Experience Design, Creativity Automation and Branding professional with expertise in designing Automated Design Systems, UX Strategy Blue-Prints, Behavioural CX Audits, Interaction & Communication Design Solutions, Product Design, Exhibition Design, Brand DNA analysis, Design MI-Systems, Cognitive Branding, and Marketing Communication Design.

Presently leading Jio Platforms Ltd. as AVP – Head of Experience Design, Vijaybahu is also actively engaged with various academic institutions and design events in the country as a visiting faculty, guest speaker, and jury member. He enjoys writing on diverse design issues related to neurodesign, national design policies, design practice, soft design skills, professional design practice and ethnography research methods.