Say hello to the future

President, Asia Pacific, Japan and China, Cisco

Miyuki Suzuki is President for Cisco Asia Pacific, Japan and China (APJC). This group comprises six organizations operating across a diverse set of markets and countries: Australia and New Zealand, India and SAARC, Japan, ASEAN, Korea, and Greater China. In this role, she is responsible for developing Cisco’s strategy, accelerating business growth, and ensuring Cisco APJC is the most trusted and relevant IT solutions partner and provider in the industry.

Suzuki joined Cisco in 2015, as President and General Manager for Cisco Japan, and managed all operations for the Japanese market. During her tenure, she successfully accelerated the business to sustained growth, demonstrating her proven record for driving high-performing teams that achieve results.

She has a passion for talent development, and driving diversity in both teams and thought. She is an innovative, entrepreneurially minded leader, who leads with a long-term view on vision and strategy.

Prior to Cisco, Suzuki has led a variety of organizations including serving as President of KVH Co. Ltd (a Japanese telecommunications and IT services company), and the CEO of LexisNexis for Asia Pacific. She also served as Jetstar Japan’s inaugural CEO, building the airline into one of the largest and fastest growing in the country. Previous roles also include working as the Executive Vice President of Consumer Business at Japan Telecom, and as the Managing Director for Reuters South East Asia.

Suzuki has over 35 years of business experience. As well as deep expertise of the Asia Pacific market, she has also spent time working in Europe, Middle-East, and North America.

Suzuki holds an honours degree in history from Oxford University, and a certificate in financial markets from the Securities Institute of Australia.

Vice President, Cisco Architectures, APJC

Vish Iyer leads the Architectures Business in Asia-Pacific, Japan and China, which includes all the sales, solutions and engineering teams that are part of Cisco’s business units – Enterprise Networks & Software, Data Center, Collaboration and Security.

Vish is a 24-year veteran of the ICT sector and a networking expert, having been with Cisco for 18 years, where he has successfully performed multiple engineering and sales roles across various geographies, including SE, CSE and RM, through to senior leadership positions.

In his previous role, as the Managing Director of Network Transformation Architecture for APJ Global Service Provider (GSP), Vish was responsible for driving the Core SP infrastructure business, with a charter to transform Mobile Broadband and Fixed Broadband deployments in both developed and emerging markets. Vish and his team have co-created a number of innovations in Mobile Backhaul, Network Automation and SDN/NFV use cases for SP customers that have met global market share gains and profitable growth.

Vish holds a Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University. Based in Singapore, Vish is passionate about reading, running, gastronomy and sports in his free time.

Chief Information Officer – APJC, EMEAR & LATAM
President - Strategy, Planning & Operations

VC Gopalratnam (Gopal) is Cisco’s Chief Information Officer (CIO) for its International Operations (APJC, EMEAR and LATAM) and Senior Vice President of Information Technology. He is also the leader for Global IT Services, guiding the vision and strategy for key IT enablers across the organization in the areas of Employee Services & Experience, Global Workforce Planning & Operations, Vendor Management and Application Support. In addition, he serves as Chief of Strategy, Planning, and Operations for Cisco India, managing infrastructure development and operations, university relations, and company priorities of inclusion and diversity, compliance and corporate social responsibilities.

A core member of Cisco’s executive leadership team in India and the region, Gopal has worked in the technology industry for more than 25 years with leading multinational corporations. He serves on the Board of the Cisco Foundation and leads the India Civic Council Board.

President, Cisco India and SAARC

As President, Sameer is responsible for sales, operations, growth initiatives and investments in strategic alliances in the theater. Sameer spearheads Cisco’s objective to be a transformational partner to the government across states and cities and provide customers with the right foundation for their digital businesses.

Over a career spanning 27 years, Sameer has led several top-performing organizations with an enduring track record across multiple roles and regions. His keen understanding of technology and market opportunities enables him to drive transformation and capture critical market transitions. A proven leader, Sameer has built and managed global and regional businesses in India, Europe, USA and Asia.

Sameer is a highly respected leader who maintains a commitment to professional development and inclusion and diversity in the workplace

Founder, SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh)

Sonam Wangchuk was born in the trans-Himalayan region of Ladakh in J&K, India. Though a Mechanical Engineer by education, he has been mostly working in the field of education reform for more than 27 years. In 1988, just after he finished his engineering studies he founded SECMOL (Students’ Educational and Cultural Movement of Ladakh), which aims to bring reforms in the government school system in Ladakh. In 1994 he was instrumental in the launch of Operation New Hope, a triangular collaboration of the government, village communities and the civil society to bring reforms in the government schools system.

As an engineer Sonam Wangchuk has been teaching innovation at the SECMOL Alternative School, where together with the students he designed and built solar heated buildings that are low cost, made of earth/mud but maintain +15 C even when the outside temperature is – 15 C in Ladakhi winters.

Sonam Wangchuk was granted several awards and the Governor's Medal by the J&K State Government in 1996.

MD & CEO, Syndicate Bank

Shri Mrutyunjay Mahapatra joined Syndicate Bank as MD and CEO in September 2018. Mr. Mrutyunjay Mahapatra is a Post Graduate in Physics and Business Management. He had varied stints in State Bank of India, in the country and abroad for over 35 years. He has worked extensively in Corporate Credit, Leasing, Global Strategy, Payments, Transactions, General Management and Transformation Programmes at SBI. Till recently as the Deputy MD (Strategy) & Chief Digital Officer and CIO of State Bank of India, he has handled IT, Data and Analytics, Innovation of India’s largest Bank and SBI Group. He has worked on Boards of several Indian and Global companies.

He is a well-known public speaker and regularly writes for leading newspapers and periodicals. He loves long distance running and mentoring. He is a violin enthusiast and plays in Hindustani Classical style.

Chairman, Celeris Technologies

Dr Sumantran is Chairman of Celeris Technologies and an advisor to several leading Fortune-100 organizations in autos, industrial equipment, defense and aerospace. He is the author of the book, Faster, Smarter, Greener: the Future of the Car and Urban Mobility, published by the MIT Press in 2017.

He is a MISI Adjunct Professor at MIT (USA) and a Distinguished Visiting Professor of the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras and. He is currently writing a book on the future of the global auto Industry with MIT. Previously (2006-2014) he was Executive Vice-Chairman of Hinduja Automotive, UK, the auto and manufacturing sector holding company of the Hinduja Group as well as Vice Chairman of Ashok Leyland. For their joint-ventures, he was the Chairman of Ashok Leyland Nissan Ltd, and Chairman of Ashok Leyland John Deere Ltd. Prior to this (2001-2005), he was the chief executive officer of TATA Motors’ Car business, reporting to Mr. Ratan Tata. During this time, he led that fledgling business to become India's 2nd largest car maker, and oversaw the concept development for their landmark projects including the Tata Nano and the Tata Ace.

Prior to joining TATAs, Dr. Sumantran had a 16-year career with General Motors in Detroit and subsequently served on deputation in Europe as Director, SAAB Automobile AB. Dr. Sumantran holds MS and Ph.D. degrees in Aerospace Engineering (Princeton University & Virginia Tech) and a Master’s degree in Management of Technology. He is a Fellow of SAE International and a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers. He is a licensed Pilot and possesses a FIA Racing Driver's License.