"Will an era of expansion and integration in global trade change to one of isolation and retreat? How will the power dynamics of major nation-states affect the future of global trade?" Join Asia Society Northern California and Arun Kumar, Managing Partner at Celesta Capital, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets, and former Chairman & CEO of KPMG India, in asking and answering paradigmatic questions about the changing dynamics of global trade. In his new book The Global Trade Paradigm: Rethinking International Business in the Post-Pandemic World, Kumar addresses the global trade ecosystem and how trade is adapting to today's unique, post-pandemic stressors.

Kumar will be joined in moderated discussion by Kirti Gupta, leader in Cornerstone Research’s technology, digital economy, and artificial intelligence practice and former vice president and chief economist at Qualcomm Inc., and M.R. Rangaswami, Founder of Indiaspora and Co-Founder of angel investment firm Sand Hill Group. Join our private, off-the-record Executive Roundtable on Tuesday, October 10th to engage with Kumar, Gupta, and Rangaswami in conversation about geopolitics, economics, technology, and how the global trade system is reshaping.

This Virtual Executive Roundtable Program is for all Members and will be held online on Tuesday, October 10 from 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. Pacific.

If you are a Innovator, Groundbreaker, Advisory Council, or Board Member, you may register through the link.

General Members should email Jason Fong at [email protected] for registration. 

Registration and confirmation are required at least 24 hours before the event.

Zoom link will be provided 48 hours before the event. 

AGENDA  

Date: Tuesday, October 10, 2023 from 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Pacific   

• 11:00 a.m.     Keynote with Arun Kumar; Remarks by MR Rangaswami & Kirti Gupta
• 11:20 a.m.     Moderated Speaker Discussion 
• 11:40 a.m.     Audience Q&A 
• 12:00 p.m.       Event Concludes

Location: Virtual 

SPEAKERS 

Arun M Kumar is a Managing Partner at Celesta Capital, a leading venture capital firm that invests in deep-tech and industry transformers with a particular focus on the U.S.-India corridor.

Prior to joining Celesta, Arun served as Chairman & CEO of KPMG in India for a five-year term that ended on February 6, 2022.  He was a member of KPMG’s Global Board as well as KPMG’s Europe Middle East & Africa Board.

At KPMG, Arun led an organization of thousands of talented professionals constituting the second-largest firm in terms of employee strength within KPMG globally. During this period, KPMG India recorded extraordinary growth in revenues, profits, and people – along with organizational transformation. KPMG India’s clients comprise the country’s largest companies as well as global corporations and funds who operate in India. Significantly, KPMG India is engaged in many of the Government of India’s priority development programs and works with several Indian states in areas of economic development ranging from enhancing investment to supporting urbanization. 

Arun previously served in President Obama’s Administration as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Global Markets and Director General of the U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service. As a senior United States commercial diplomat, he headed a bureau of 1700 professionals in 78 countries and all the 50 states. He was the Administration’s lead official to promote U.S. exports and inward foreign direct investment and supported enhanced market access around the world. He was a key architect of the U.S.-India Strategic & Commercial Dialogue in 2015-16.

Prior to his nomination by President Obama, he served in KPMG LLP and was a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Based in Silicon Valley, he led the firm’s Management Consulting practice in the West; his clients included global high technology corporations. He also founded the firm’s U.S.-India practice.

Before moving to the US, Arun was for five years with TAS (then known as the Tata Administrative Service), when he worked directly for Mr. Ratan Tata,

Arun is the author of two books of poetry, Plain Truths, published in 2010 by Current Books, and Mantram Beach, published in 2020 by the Aleph Book Company.

He newly published his book The Changing Global Trade Paradigm by Harper Collins. Reflecting his interest in the advancement of his home state of Kerala, Arun previously co-edited Kerala’s Economy: Crouching Tiger, Sacred Cows, published in 2007 by DC Books.

Arun is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, New York. He is a strategic advisor to the Board of the US India Business Council, an organization he has been associated with since 2007; he served on its Board for six years. He has formerly been a member of deans’ advisory councils at Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Cruz. He was an early Charter Member of TiE Silicon Valley. He currently serves on the board of Indiaspora. 

After his schooling at Lawrence School, Lovedale, Arun was a National Science Talent Scholar and graduated in Physics from University College, Trivandrum of the University of Kerala. Arun went to MIT’s Sloan School of Management to earn a master’s in management in 1980.

Kirti Gupta is a noted economist and expert specializing in global matters related to technology, antitrust, and intellectual property (IP). Dr. Gupta’s diverse expertise spans engineering, product, litigation, and policy issues in the technology sector. She has more than twenty years of experience working at the forefront of technologies, including mobile/wireless telecommunications, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and semiconductors. She is a leader in Cornerstone Research’s technology, digital economy, and artificial intelligence practice.

Before joining Cornerstone Research, Dr. Gupta was a vice president and chief economist at Qualcomm Inc. In this role, she provided economic analysis and strategic guidance on global technology, IP, antitrust, and macroeconomic policy issues in collaboration with business stakeholders and a global network of experts, economists, attorneys, and policymakers. She worked directly on Qualcomm’s strategic IP initiatives, antitrust investigations in various regions around the world, global litigation matters, mergers and acquisitions, and global trade issues.

Dr. Gupta is a leading tech and digital expert and has provided testimony in high-profile antitrust and IP litigation matters, including FTC v. Qualcomm. She is experienced in all phases of litigation and regulatory proceedings. In the United States, she has regularly presented to government entities, including the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Department of Justice (DOJ), Department of Commerce (DoC), and National Security Council (NSC), among others. Internationally, she has spoken before various directorates-general (DGs) of the European Commission (EC), Competition Commission of India (CCI), Japanese Fair Trade Commission (JFTC), and World IP Office (WIPO), among others.

Dr. Gupta serves as a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), focusing on the U.S. innovation system and American technological competitiveness. She is the executive director at the Institute for Business Innovation at the Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. She is also the founding member and executive director of LeadershIP, an industry platform that analyzes complex IP and antitrust concepts and provides data-driven dialogue on innovation and innovation policy issues.

Dr. Gupta has taught and presented at various academic institutions, including Harvard University, New York University, Northwestern University, and the University of Pennsylvania, among others, and served as a visiting professor at National Law University (NLU) in New Delhi. She has been featured in such mainstream media outlets as Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes, Reuters, and The Economist.

Prior to her work as an economist, Dr. Gupta spent over a decade as a wireless systems-engineering expert for global wireless standards and semiconductors that connect most of the mobile devices in the world today.

M.R. Rangaswami is an entrepreneur, investor, and community builder. His career as a technology CMO, angel investor, corporate eco-strategist, and philanthropist demonstrates a unique talent for fostering innovation and creating impactful networks. 

After a middle-class upbringing in Chennai, India, M.R. arrived in America with $8 in his pocket as a university student. Settling down in Silicon Valley, he contributed to the rapid expansion of the technology industry as a pioneering marketing executive at both small and large software companies, including Oracle and Baan. 

In 1997, M.R. co-founded Sand Hill Group, one of the earliest angel investment firms, and The Wall Street Journal featured his “hedcut” sketch on its front page.  Forbes named M.R. to its “Midas” list of the world’s best venture capitalists investors and CRN ranked him as one of the Top 25 Technology executives. M.R. publishes SandHill.com, a leading website for entrepreneurs, executives, and investors. He also produced the Software conference and now hosts the prestigious Enterprise retreat for the top 100 leaders in technology.  He also hosts NPC, India’s largest entrepreneurship conference. 

M.R. directed profits from Enterprise to fund the SHG Foundation, a million-dollar nonprofit funding a variety of social entrepreneurship organizations around the world, including Agastya, Black Girls Code, and Room to Read. He is currently a board member of the Kaliash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation, The Nudge Foundation, and the WISH Foundation.

In 2007, M.R. founded the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF), an invitation-only membership organization for Global 500 companies that demonstrate a serious commitment to the environment as a business strategy.  CEF’s mission is to accelerate sustainable business innovation by creating a neutral space for senior business leaders to strategize and exchange best-practice insights. Members represent more than 20 industries and have combined revenues exceeding $4 trillion.

In 2012, M.R. founded Indiaspora to unite the Indian diaspora and to transform its success into meaningful impact in India and on the global stage. By sharing insights, hosting events, and connecting people, the nonprofit organization unites the professionally, geographically, and religiously diverse Indian community toward collective action. Indiaspora events include its annual Leadership Forum, Philanthropy Summit, and the Global Connect program. Indiaspora also engages in community issues, such as its COVID-19 food insecurity relief effort and its successful initiative to obtain a USPS stamp to celebrate Diwali in 2016. The Canada-India Business Council’s inaugural “Global Service Award” recognized Indiaspora’s groundbreaking efforts to unite the diaspora.