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
