Executive Roundtable on The Next Leap of Growth in the Indian Economy with Manoj Kohli

On Tuesday, February 23, Asia Society Northern California will host an off-the-record executive roundtable program on the Next Leap Forward in the Indian Economy with Manoj Kohli, Country Head of Softbank India and Asia Society-Victoria Distinguished Fellow.  The discussion will address the overarching theme of: what will be the impact on the country's economy and foreign direct investment? Between comprehensive reforms in India and the unknown future of U.S. foreign policy with a new administration in power, India may be at a crossroads. This program will be moderated by Naren Gupta, Asia Society Northern California Board Member and Co-Founder and Managing Director of Nexus Venture Partners.

AGENDA

Date: Tuesday, February 23 from 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Pacific

Groundbreaker and Innovator Event. Please email James Gale at JGale@asiasociety.org if you are interested in attending. Space is limited.

6:30 p.m.   Program Begins
7:30 p.m.   Program Concludes

Link to join virtually will be emailed to guests the day before and an hour before the program is scheduled to begin from James Gale at JGale@asiasociety.org.  

SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Manoj Kohli

Manoj Kohli is one of India’s most respected business leaders with an extensive global experience. Over four decades he has held top leadership positions across a wide range of industries, including engineering and mobile internet, in India, Asia, Africa, the U.S. and Europe.

Mr. Kohli is currently responsible for SoftBank Group International in India, supporting over 20 portfolio companies to address public policies issues and government approvals to enable them to achieve their full business potential. Japan’s second largest publicly traded company, SoftBank Group is a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate with global interests. It runs the $100 billion Vision Fund, the world’s largest technology-based venture capital fund. This follows his role as Executive Chairman of SB Energy, a pioneer in India’s renewable energy industry.

Previously as CEO of Bharti Airtel, Mr. Kohli helped build it into the third-largest mobile company in the world with over 400 million customers.

Naren Gupta (Moderator)

Naren Gupta co-founded Nexus Venture Partners in 2006 to fund early and early-growth stage companies in India and the U.S. that serve consumer, business and enterprise needs using innovative technology. Nexus partner companies cover a broad range of technologies including Data Science, DevOps, automation, security and collaboration.  In addition to software and enterprise technology, Nexus companies address opportunities in Logistics, Education, Healthcare and Financial Services. Prior to launching Nexus, Naren cofounded Integrated Systems Inc. (ISI), a leading embedded software company in 1980 and took it public in 1990. At various times, Naren served as ISI President/CEO and Chairman till 2000. He subsequently served as Vice-Chairman and CEO of Wind River Systems. 

Naren is currently a trustee of the California Institute of Technology and was the Chairman of the Board of Red Hat (NYSE:RHT) till its merger with IBM in 2019.  He has served on numerous public and private company boards and has been an active advisor to entrepreneurs, technology companies and corporate leaders worldwide. Naren holds a B. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) where he received the President’s Gold Medal, an MS from the California Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, all in engineering.   He has been named distinguished alum by IIT and Caltech and has received numerous other awards.