OUR FOUNDERS OF TECH INDIA ADVOCATES

Af Malhotra

Af Malhotra is a leading tech entrepreneur, investor, speaker and advisor on Digital Disruption. Af has been interviewed on BBC News, CNBC, and quoted in The Times (UK), Bloomberg, Economic Times (India), The Telegraph (UK), and authored articles for Business Insider and HuffPost.

In addition, Af is the co-founder of GrowthEnabler, a disruptive AI tech company radically changing the way corporations partner with, procure from, and invest in the global digital ecosystem. He is also the Founding Partner of Advisory firm, Zone Capital Advisors, Advisory Board Member of Exogenous, Inc and Research Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Digital Life (Think Tank). As Chair of Tech India Advocates (not for profit), Af actively champions tech trade and innovation between the UK, US and India. Most recently (in response to the C-19 pandemic),

Af co-founded and co-hosts an inspiring weekly podcast StraightTalk.Live, focussed on influencing the world’s leading enterprises to transform and prepare for the impending Digital Revolution.

Af’s career kicked-off in Technology with the iconic brand Amstrad. He then joined the renowned Japanese technology company, Fujitsu, where he led the Sales & Marketing efforts in Public Sector, evangelised the brilliance of the Fujitsu R&D labs, and then was instrumental in educating the market on the ‘Future value of the Data Centre’ (which is the core infrastructure powering cloud computing today!). Af then entered the world of Research & Advisory, with another prestigious brand, Gartner (NYSE), where he made a material impact in a variety of executive roles, from Sales, Competitor Strategy to Product Management.

In 2013, Af decided to shift gears and dedicated himself to Philanthropy. He supported various charities and was the chair of WOW Talks – an event platform to inspire young people to live a life of purpose. He then entered the venture capital arena, and built a portfolio of companies in IoT and AI. This led him to unearth a big unsolved market problem – the lack of trusted data & insights on digital disruptor’s! Which was the impetus behind GrowthEnabler.

Af spent time at Harvard (Organisational Behaviour); Studied Anthropology at Goldsmiths College (London), and acquired his Post-grad in Business at Kingston Business School (UK). Music is a significant part of Af’s life and his way of ensuring he is in ‘flow. He is a percussionist, specialising in the Indian Drums (Tabla’s) and has performed in hundreds of shows and
festivals over the past 20 years.

ANI KAPREKAR

Ani Kaprekar is a highly creative business and community leader, with more than 30 years of multi-faceted international leadership career. Ani is engaged in several public-private initiatives in Technology, Entrepreneurship, and Performing Arts. He has partnered with many industry leaders, organisations and Tech start-ups as an Executive Coach, Non-Executive Director, and Independent Advisor.

In his early India career, Ani played a key role in building a large Tech venture in the eGovernment sector – influencing citizen-centric Tech policies and applications, winning national and international awards. In the UK, Ani worked with culturally diverse tech-centric enterprises such as Mastek, Capita, Lex, HBoS, Lloyds and LeasePlan, amongst others, before setting up his coaching and mentoring practice, Banyan Tree Answers Ltd. He is a Certified NLP Master Practitioner and a member of the Protégé programme at The Coaching Academy, UK.

Ani is an alumnus of Xavier’s Institute of Communication, Mumbai and formally trained in theatre and film craft. He is also a social media storyteller followed by more than 1 million people across the world on Facebook. Ani regularly hosts many virtual events in performing arts and tech.

Ani is a brand ambassador for Sajda (Festival of South Asian Performing Arts) which is supported by Manchester Museum, Nehru Centre London, Akshay Patra Foundation and Asian Lite group of publications.

Ani is also co-founder of OMPEG UK, a thriving entrepreneurship platform for members of the British Indian community that includes many Tech entrepreneurs. He volunteers his time for many charitable causes including QUEST, India which works in the area of education reforms for under-served children. He is also on the board of trustees at Vision Multi-Academy Trust in Manchester.

Ani is passionate about technology and as co-founder of Tech India Advocates, he aims to collaborate and showcase the coolest digital innovations and investment opportunities in the “UK-India” Tech world – to strengthen trade relations and to inspire the next generation of innovators and disruptors.

NILESH GOPALI

Nilesh advises Indian & International companies on their cross border growth & strategic investments. He is a business mentor in London Mayor’s International Programme.

Nilesh has advised & facilitated cross border investments and M&As in the tune of $1m to $100m across India, UK, Europe & USA, including being an active investor in his London days, successful in significant growth or turning around said companies

As an entrepreneur & business consultant based in London for 16 years, Nilesh led, conceptualised & was responsible for the growth of a wide range of organisations, from SMEs to global enterprises, turning their creative visions into viable business models and generating increased revenue across both geographical and cultural borders (UK, EU & Asia/India). This includes launching a new Retail Bank in the UK from ground up (first time in over 100+ yrs)

Nilesh is known for giving business leaders pragmatic, forward-looking business strategies they can count on. With over two decades of extensive experience in the financial and technology markets, Nilesh’s expertise goes well beyond strategy, planning and research; to include execution, ROI and successful evaluation.

With considerable expertise in both the western and India markets, Nilesh is an active speaker for emerging markets, technology and investments across India, UK and EU

Nilesh is a co-author of AI Book (to be launched in London, May 2020) & published a paper on AI strategy – presented in the Oxford, UK, Nov 2019.