50 Most Influential AI Leaders In India – 2021

50 most influential AI Leaders in India 2021

Analytics India Magazine brings to you its annual list of the 50 Most Influential AI Leaders In India for the year 2021. Selected on the basis of the expertise they hold in the field of AI and Data Science, the list recognises the exceptional work these professionals have accomplished over the last year.

AI has seen increasing importance in Indian organisations, public and private, over the last decade. The government has also shown intent to leverage AI for the country’s development through various initiatives. To drive AI growth successfully, we need leaders who are well-versed with the dynamic nature of the industry. Given the pace at which AI is moving, we need top management that can come up with innovative strategies while overcoming multiple challenges.

Leaders in this list have shown great ability to lead their teams to develop state-of-the-art AI solutions and support their companies or clients. Despite the pandemic, they have shown the potential in adapting to different circumstances to drive innovation and growth.

The final record is the work of over two months as AIM invited nominations from various leading organisations in India. The selection is done by a panel that includes members internal and external to AIM. The list is finalised primarily based on the criteria of the leader’s impact on the AI ecosystem in India.

Until last year, AIM published lists for the top 10 leaders. You can access them at the links below:

2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

This year, AIM has expanded the scope by including a wider set of professionals. Here is the list of the top 50 influencers in the Indian AI industry for 2021, presented in alphabetical order.


Abhinav Shashank

CEO & Co-founder at Innovaccer

Ambica Rajagopal

Group Chief AI Officer at Michelin

Anand Ekambaram

Country Manager, India at Tableau

Anirban Nandi

Head of Analytics (Vice President) at Rakuten India

Anish Agarwal

Director – Data & Analytics, India at NatWest Group

Ankush Gadi

Director – Data Management & Analytics at CRISIL

Anshu Sharma

CIO, Consumer Private Business Banking at Standard Chartered Bank

Anshuman Gupta

Vice President – Data Science at MiQ Digital India

Asha Poulose Johnson

Vice President, Data and Analytics, GE Healthcare

Ashwin Mittal

CEO at Course5i

Atul Jalan

CEO at Algonomy

Biswanath Choudhary

Vice President & Global Head of Analytics Operations at Evalueserve

David Zakkam

Vice President – Analytics at Swiggy

Devendra Sharnagat

Sr. EVP – Data Analytics and CVM at Kotak Mahindra Bank

Dinanath Kholkar

Vice President and Global Head of Analytics & Insights at TCS

Gaurav Dhall

Vice President – APJ & Middle East, Managing Director – India at SingleStore

Gunjan Gupta

Director- Collections & Contact Centers Technology, US Consumer Bank at Barclays

Kaushik Sanyal

GCP Data and AI Capability Lead at Accenture

Manish Gupta

Director at Google Research India

Manoj Madhusudanan

Head of dunnhumby India

Mathangi Sri

VP Data Science & Head of Data at Gojek

Mihir Kittur

Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Ugam

Neeraj Pratap

Chief Operating Officer at Hansa Cequity

Nidhi Pratapneni

SVP, Product, Analytics & Modelling, Public Affairs at Wells Fargo

Noshin Kagalwalla

VP & Managing Director, SAS India

Padmashree Shagrithaya

Global Head – Analytics & Data Science at Capgemini

Pankaj Rai

Group Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Aditya Birla Group

Paritosh Anand

SVP and Group Head for Analytics & Strategic Initiatives at Reliance Industries Limited

Phanimitra B

Head Digital & Process Excellence, India & Emerging Markets at Dr Reddy’s Laboratories

Pradeep Menon

Managing Director & GCC Head – HSBC Technology

Prakash Mallya

VP & MD – Sales, Marketing & Communications Group, Intel India

Prashanth Kaddi

Partner, Analytics & Cognitive at Deloitte

Prashanth Rao

Head of Application Engineering at MathWorks, India

Prithvijit Roy

CEO and Co-founder at BRIDGEi2i

Rahul Singh

Co-Founder & Chief Analytics Officer at Sigmoid Analytics

RB Rajendar

Head – Analytics and Information Management, India & Head – Citi Solutions Center, Bengaluru

Rohini Srivathsa

National Technology Officer – Microsoft India

Ruble Joseph

VP – Head of CoE for Data Science, Analytics and Consulting at eClerx

Saurabh Saxena

Intuit India Site Leader & Vice President, Product Development

Sayandeb Banerjee

Co-Founder and CEO at TheMathCompany

Shailesh Kumar

Chief Data Scientist, CoE AI/ML at Reliance Jio

Shanti Swaroop Mokkapati

Head – Analytics & Market Intelligence, Global Procurement at Abbott

Shashank Dubey

Co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer at Tredence Inc.

Sindhu Gangadharan

SVP and MD at SAP Labs India & SVP and Head of SAP User Enablement Unit

Smitha Ganesh

AI Director – Data Science Innovation & Execution at Ericsson

Sreekanth Menon

VP – Data Science at Genpact

Subramanian M S

Head of Category Marketing and Analytics at BigBasket

Swati Jain

Vice President Analytics at EXL Service

Vinod Ganesan

Country Manager at Cloudera

Vishal Dhupar

Managing Director, Asia South at NVIDIA

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Analytics India Magazine
Analytics India Magazine chronicles technological progress in the space of analytics, artificial intelligence, data science & big data by highlighting the innovations, players, and challenges shaping the future of India through promotion and discussion of ideas and thoughts by smart, ardent, action-oriented individuals who want to change the world.

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