WELLESLEY, MA– Babson College will host its first ever India Symposium on April 16 in Wellesley, MA. Some of the speakers include V.G. Siddhartha, founder, Coffee Day; Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, PepsiCo Latin America; and Karambir Kang, former general manager of Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai and current GM of Taj Boston.
Hosting India-themed symposiums and conferences has become a new trend in major US universities and colleges. Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) already organize such meetings annually.
The Babson event will provide a stage for global business leaders, entrepreneurs, and academicians alike to share in their experiences about India’s emergent business world, burgeoning opportunities, and how to further unlock the country’s potential.
“We are pleased to focus on India’s business and entrepreneurial ecosystem during our first-ever Babson India Symposium,” said Babson College President Kerry Healey. “The Babson community has long been engaged in this vital segment of the global economy. I would like to thank our students, faculty, and staff who have convened such impactful speakers, and we anticipate a day filled with important, engaging discussions on the future of business in India.”
Keynotes:
Laxman Narasimhan, CEO, PepsiCo Latin America, who will speak about decoding the psyche of consumers in emerging markets.
Mr. Narasimhan is the chief executive officer of PepsiCo Latin America Foods. PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $66 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.
Prior to PepsiCo, He was a director and location manager of McKinsey’s New Delhi Office where he has worked across multiple industries, including consumer, retail, energy, manufacturing, technology and healthcare. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the College of Engineering, University of Pune, India. He has an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania.
V.G. Siddhartha, Founder, Coffee Day, who will speak on starting up in India and what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur.
Mr. V. G. Siddhartha is the Founder and Owner of Coffee Day Enterprises Limited and served as its Chairman of the Board and Managing Director since January 17, 2015. He founded Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Company Limited in 1992 and has successfully grown it into the largest chain of coffee shops in India with 1,640 cafes, including outlets in Prague, Vienna and Kuala Lumpur. He has also consolidated family holding of 400 acres of coffee plantations to 12000 acres in India. Over the years, his enterprise has created more than 24000 jobs directly and over 15000 jobs indirectly, spread over agriculture, retail, logistics, technology etc.
Awarded as the ‘Entrepreneur of the year” in the year 2004 by the Economic Times and “Nextgen Entrepreneur” by Forbes in 2011, he has displayed the dynamism to revitalize an existing enterprise, and in the process, redefined the rules of business and prepared the enterprise for a whole new vector of growth. He holds a Masters in Economics from Mangalore University
Speakers and Panelists
- Karambir Kang, Former GM of Taj Mahal Hotel Mumbai, current GM of Taj Boston and Area Director USA;
- Raghunandan G, Founder of Taxi for Sure;
- Keshav Baljee, Founder and CEO of Ziprooms.in;
- Akhilesh Gupta, Non-Executive Chairman of Blackstone India;
- Lakshmi Rebbeca, Founder of Red Bangle, Talk Show Host, and Vlogger;
- And many more.
Discussion Topics
- Redefining family businesses in India
- Envisioning India as the next economic super power
- Value-driven culture and business in India
- Starting-up in new-age India
Babson College is the educator, convener, and thought leader for Entrepreneurship of All Kinds®. The top-ranked college for entrepreneurship education, Babson is a dynamic living and learning laboratory where students, faculty, and staff work together to address the real-world problems of business and society. We prepare the entrepreneurial leaders our world needs most: those with strong functional knowledge and the skills and vision to navigate change, accommodate ambiguity, surmount complexity, and motivate teams in a common purpose to make a difference in the world, and have an impact on organizations of all sizes and types.
