Best of the Best Conference & Awards
India’s Most Prestigious Gathering of Workplace Culture & Inclusion Experts and Thought Leaders
Our Valued Sponsors and Partners
Thank you to our partners who have supported us in our mission to promote
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace.
Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsors
Silver Sponsor
Session Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor
Delegate kit Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Photo Booth Sponsor
Roundtable Sponsor
Charging Station Sponsor
Silver Sponsors
Stationery Sponsor
Social Excellence Award Sponsor
Supporting Sponsors
Leaders, Pioneers, and Change
Makers Meet Our Esteemed Speakers
Dr. Saundarya Rajesh
Avtar Career Creators Limited
Subha V. Barry
Erika Irish Brown
Pakhi Singhal
Prakesh Nair
Puneet Rajput
Arnab Goswami
Ankush Bhandari
Anuradha Mishra
Arun Arumugam
Ashwin Kumar
S Bhanukumar
Bhavani Balasubramanian
Chella Pandian Pitchai
Captain Dileep Narayan
Eswar Balasubramanian
B. Ganesh Kumar
Geeta Ramamurthi
Geeta Singh
Himesh Justa
Irene J
Jennifer Manchikanti
Jilji Elayath
Capt Jyotsna Malhotra
Kannan Hariharan
Karthik Ekambaram
Keshav Prasad
Krishna Prasad Harinath
Lalitha M Shetty
Dr Nandini Murali
Neelam Naiksatam
Nisha Gopinath
Paramita Sahu
Pradeep Rajaram
Praneeta Singh
Priyanka
Priyanka Kalra
Pulkit Mitra
Reema Bhandari
Rohith Anand T
Rupa Ramamurthy
Satchidanand Sharmamamurthy
Sonali Jain
Subhathra Srinivasaraghavan
Sudeep Jain
Sunil Kumar Srivastava
Dr. Tooba Modassir
Umasanker Kandaswamy
Usha Pillai
Usha Subramaniam
Vinayak Abadgire
Why Experience?(Recognizing & Showcasing Culture Excellence)
Industry-Wide Recognition
Gain visibility through our Best of the Best Awards and Workplace Culture Indexes
Networking & Influence
Participate in leadership panels, industry summits, and knowledge-sharing forums
Showcasing Workplace Excellence
Highlight your organization’s culture transformation success stories on influential platforms
Insights-Driven Strategy
Access research-backed workplace culture reports, case studies, and transformation metrics
Join the Best of the Best Conference
Prism of Diversity
In today’s interconnected world, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) have evolved to become fundamental pillars of organizational success. True leverage of DEI lies in the convergence of perspectives and ideologies, resulting in synergistic outcomes which in turn become critical success factors for organizations.
The theme for 2024 Best of the Best Conference (BOB) is “Prism of diversity”, symbolizing this convergence. As we view the world through the prism of diversity, the intersectional possibilities enabled by the richness and complexity of human experiences, presents itself. When embraced and celebrated, convergent DEI becomes a powerful tool for fostering innovation, nurturing creativity and enhancing employee experience.
At 2024 BOB, through #PrismofDiversity, we will embark on a journey to celebrate the varied, rich spectrum of human identities, experiences, and perspectives that together form the multi-hued tapestry of our society. We look forward to inspiring work cultures where everyone feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives. This conference aims to be a catalyst for change, inspiring action towards a more inclusive and equitable future.
We invite leaders, practitioners and DEI allies to join us as we deliberate on how diversity congruence can unlock full-potential and drive meaningful change!
Discover cutting-edge best practices and transformative insights from the Best Companies for Women and the Most Inclusive Companies.
Network with some of the brightest minds in DEI, including leaders, experts, and pioneers from across the country.
Gain visibility among some of the top companies in India, and align your brand with a cause that's making a difference.
Highlights of the 2022 edition
of the Best of the Best Conference
42+
Companies
5000+
Participants
500+
Speakers
Agenda for BOB 2026 — November 3rd, 2026
| 8.30 am – 9.30 am | Registration & Networking |
| 9.30 am – 9.50 am | Emcee Announcement & Lamp Lighting |
| 9.50 am – 10.15 am |
Welcome Address Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Managing Director, Avtar Career Creators Limited |
| 10.15 am – 11.00 am |
CHRO Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3) Culture as Infrastructure Most inclusion efforts still live as initiatives: a program, a heritage month, a training module, an ERG network. They are easy to measure and simple to report, yet the evidence shows their impact remains limited. Viewing Culture as Capital requires treating Culture as Infrastructure. True culture isn't found in corporate statements. It lives in the daily operating model. In this session, a panel of leading CHROs goes beyond surface-level programs to discuss what it actually takes to embed culture and inclusion directly into the organization’s structural design.
|
| 11.00 am – 11.30 am | Best Companies for Workplace Wellness – Awards |
| 11.30 am – 11.50 am Tea & Networking | |
| 11.50 am – 12.20 pm |
Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3)
ESG Panel Discussion
Built to Last, Built to Win: The Optimist's Business Case for ESG
Doing right and doing well were once treated as a trade-off. The companies leading India’s ESG story are proving they are not, and that the advantage holds only when it is built into the culture deeply enough to outlast one good leadership team or one good year. This panel brings together genuinely optimistic leaders from India’s most ESG-mature organizations to make the business case for sustainability in their own words, backed by their own results, and to share what it takes to build something that lasts rather than something that simply looks good this year.
Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 4)
Scaling Culture Before Scale Changes It
In high-growth organizations, expanding from 10 to 50, 100, and towards 500, culture is at its most concentrated, yet most fragile. Left unmanaged, culture does not scale; it dilutes. Rapid expansion tests its resilience through every new hiring wave and every added layer of management. This panel brings together CXOs to candidly discuss how to scale organizational DNA without diluting it. Leaders will unpack how to identify core capital, institutionalize value, and manage transition to scale.
Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 5)
Architects of the Future: Inclusion as the Engine for AI-Era Leadership
The rise of intelligent automation is redefining the fundamental unit of work across organizations. As routine execution is automated, the competitive differentiator becomes human synthesis—judgment, domain intimacy, and systemic problem-solving. To capture this value, organizations must treat inclusion not as a downstream initiative, but as an upfront design choice in their talent architecture. How can inclusion be embedded early into AI adoption and workforce planning, rather than retrofitted?
|
| 12.20 pm – 12.50 pm |
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
ESG Awards
Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 4)
The Tamil Nadu Playbook: How any Cluster can Build a Women-Powered Workforce
Tamil Nadu accounts for 42 percent of India's registered women factory workers, achieved through hostels, free transport, education schemes and industrial clusters working together. This session will bring in speakers and leaders who will dwell upon how employers in any state can build the same infrastructure to become the destination for women entering manufacturing.
Panel Discussion (Rajendra Hall 5)
Belonging as Resilience: Leading through AI without losing your Culture Builders
Every organization has people who hold it together. They onboard the new hire nobody assigned them, calm the client's call, mentor across teams, notice when a colleague is struggling and speak up when something is wrong. They are culture builders, and their contribution rarely shows up on a productivity dashboard. The panel will look at how leaders must identify and protect culture builders, because an organization that retains them through change comes out with its trust, knowledge, and future intact.
|
| 12.50 pm – 1.50 pm Lunch & Networking | |
| 1.50 pm – 2.50 pm |
Best Practices Session (Hall 1 – 3)
Best Practices Session (Rajendra Hall 4)
Financial and career support for women in safety-critical aviation roles
Best Practices Session (Rajendra Hall 5)
|
| 2.55 pm – 3.40 pm |
CEO Panel Discussion (Hall 1 – 3) Culture is the Moat You Build Capital, technology and AI are becoming available to every serious competitor at roughly the same price. The advantage that endures is the one an organization builds for itself: a culture people trust, choose and stay to build. That culture is a moat. It cannot be bought, licensed or copied, and it compounds. This panel brings CEOs from different industries to make the case for culture as the growth strategy of the decade: what they measure, what they invest in, how they are tapping into underrepresented talent pools across the country, and why the CEO, not a function, is now the Chief Culture Officer. |
| 3.40 pm – 4.00 pm |
Keynote Address (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3)
|
| 4.00 pm – 4.45 pm Networking Break | |
| 4.45 pm – 5.00 pm | Entertainment (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3) |
| 5.00 pm – 5.10 pm |
Special Address
|
| 5.10 pm – 7.45 pm |
Awards Evening (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3)
|
| 7.45 pm onwards | Cocktails and Dinner |
Transformative Sessions on
Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion
Agenda for BOB 2026
November 3rd 2026
TIME (IST)
DESCRIPTION
9.30 am – 9.50 am
Lamp Lighting (Rajendra Hall 1 – 3)
09.45 am – 10.00 am
Lamp Lighting
10.00 am – 10.15 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Welcome Address: Unbox Inclusion
Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group
10.15 am – 10.30 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Opening Keynote Address: Lighthouse Leadership
- Subhathra Srinivasaraghavan, Vice President, India Systems Development Lab, IBM Infrastructure
10.35 am – 11.15 am
BOB EXCLUSIVES – Case Study: Innovative Best Practices towards Inclusion
Leaders from the 2025 Best Companies for Women and Most Inclusive Companies will share impactful stories from their transformational Inclusion journey
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Practices Session
Inclusive Voices – CRG
- Anuradha Mishra, Senior Director – Talent, Learning & Inclusion, Marsh McLennan Global Capability Center
SWIFT (Sales Workforce Integration and Future Talent) Program
- Priyanka Kalra, Head Talent Acquisition, Haleon
- Priyanka, Head Talent, Learning, OD & I&B, Haleon
Women’s Leadership Program
- Sonali Jain, Inclusion Leader, Programs, External partnerships, Genpact -APAC
Rajendra Hall 4
Best Practices Session
Shopfloor Associate Career Development Program
- Pradeep Rajaram, Sr. Manager – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Women on the Shop floor in core blade manufacturing roles
- Sunil Kumar Srivastava, MD, TPI Composites
Psychological safety for holistic well-being of your workforce
- Capt Jyotsna Malhotra, General Manager, HR – People & Culture
Rajendra Hall 5
Best Practices Session
Nurturing Women Leaders: EPAM’s Structured Development Approach
- Captain Dileep Narayan, Director HR, EPAM Systems
On the Discover Platform that supports data analytics for attrition
- Pulkit Mitra, Zonal Head – HR, Aditya Birla Capital
Building an Inclusive Workplace Together
- Lathasha Sasidharan, Global Head of Inclusion & Equal Opportunity, Allianz Services
11.15 am – 11.35 am
Tea & Networking
11.40 am – 12.20 pm
BOB EXCLUSIVES – Case Study: Innovative Best Practices towards Inclusion
Leaders from the 2025 Best Companies for Women and Most Inclusive Companies will share impactful stories from their transformational Inclusion journey
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Practices Session
Inclusive culture for employee well-being
- Himesh Justa, Senior Director – Operations, Midland Credit Management (MCM), Encore Capital Group
Learning Partner
- Neelam Naiksatam, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Health & Wellness Director, Human Resource – CGI APAC
Rajendra Hall 4
Best Practices Session
Accessibility Lab
- Ashwin Kumar, Quality Engineering Lead, IQE-iHLCP Infosy
- Naminder Kaur Malhotra, Delivery Lead, AXA XL
Rajendra Hall 5
Best Practices Session
LGBTQ+ BRGs and their initiative to influence culture and policy
- Arun Arumugam, Senior Managing Director – Head of Retirement, Wealth, Marketing & Digital Client Technology, TIAA Global Capabilities
LGBTQ+ Hiring in Front line roles
- Maira Q, Lead – Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Godrej Capital
12.20 pm – 01.05 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Panel Discussion
Intersectional by Design: Moving Beyond the Labels
- Praneeta Singh, Associate Director, Macquaire
- Krishna Prasad Harinath, Partner Assurance, EY GDS Assurance
- Jilji Elayath, Director of Software Engineering, Motorola, a Lenovo company
- Usha Pillai, Sr VP, Recruitment Delivery, Avtar Group
Rajendra Hall 4
Panel Discussion
Culture Rebooted: Reengineering Workplaces for Radical Belonging
- Irene J, Senior Technical Professional – Mechanical at KBR
- Lalitha M Shetty,
Vice President – Human Resources, Omega Healthcare Management Services - Rupa Ramamurthy, Sr. EVP – Banking Operations, Lead #TPWomen India Board, TP in India
- Garima Tyagi, Vice President, HRBP & DEI, Societe Generale Global Solution Centre
Rajendra Hall 5
Panel Discussion
From Ally to Accomplice: Power, Privilege, and Everyday Acts of Equity
- Allen Gilbert, COO & EVP, Financial Services SBU, Capgemini India
- Chella S Pandian, Global Head of DEI, Culture, Values & Belongingness, Leadership Development, Talent & Sustainability, Biocon Biologics
- Madhurima Pant, Regional IT Director, Abott India
- Dr Nandini Murali, VP, Research & Solutions, Avtar Group
01.05 pm – 02.15 pm
Lunch – Rajendra Hall 6
02.15 pm – 03.00 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Forum Theatre
- Anju G Parvathy, VP, Research & Solutions, Avtar Group
03.00 pm – 03.45 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
CEO Panel
What is Your Org Vitality? Unboxing Leadership by Rethinking Power, Presence & Empathy
This panel explores how CEOs are shifting from command to connection — where empathy is a source of power and inclusion is non-negotiable
Geeta Ramamurthi, Managing Director, KBR India
Sudeep Jain, Managing Director, Intercontinental Hotels Group
Satchidanand Sharma, Dean – Hapag-Lloyd Academy
Usha Subramaniam, Country President – Grundfos India
- Kannan Hariharan, Chief Strategist, Culture & Belonging, Avtar Group
03.45 pm – 05.00 pm
Tea & Networking
05.00 pm – 05.15 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Companies for Women Awards – Top 10
The tenth annual awards for the Avtar & Seramount Top 10 Best Companies for Women in India
05.15 pm – 05.30 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Chief Guest Address
Thamizhachi Thangapandian, Member of Parliament, South Chennai Parliamentary Constituency, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
05.30 pm – 05.50 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Unfiltered Conversation:
Subha Barry, President, Seramount (part of EAB) & Dr Saundarya Rajesh, Founder – President, Avtar Group
05.50 pm – 06.05 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Entertainment
06.05 pm – 07.05 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Companies for Women in India Awards
07.05 pm – 07.10 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Reflections & Revelations: Wrapping up and Embracing Tomorrow
- Umasanker Kandaswamy, Co-founder & Chief of Staff, Avtar Group
07.10 pm – 09.00 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 4
Cocktails and Dinner
*Agenda subject to change
TIME (IST)
DESCRIPTION
9.30 am – 9.45 am
Registration
09.45 am – 10.00 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Conference Begins
10.00 am – 10.15 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Welcome Address
Subha Barry, President, Seramount
10.15 am – 11.15 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Practices on ESG Social Impact & Governance
- Geeta Singh, VP Shared Services, Diversey Group (A Solenis company)
- B Ganesh Kumar, General Manager, Operations & Projects (Gujarat), GRP Ltd
- Paramita Sahu, IT Program Manager, Eaton
- Vinayak Abdagire, India EHS & S Leader, Lear Corporation
- S Bhanukumar, Vice President, ESG & Information Services
11.15 am – 11.30 am
Tea & Networking
11.30 am – 12.00 am
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Best Company for ESG Awards
Male Ally Legacy Awards
12.00 pm – 12.45 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Emerging Icon Panel
The CEO’s Playbook for Future-Ready Organizations
- Ankush Bhandari, Vice President, Alight India Country Leader
- Reema Bhandari, Director, M Moser
- Rohita Ananda T, Managing Director, Sureworks
- Bhavani Balasubramanian, Chief Strategist, Diversity Evaluations, Avtar Group
01.00 pm – 02.00 pm
Networking Lunch
02.00 pm – 02.45 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
CHRO Panel Discussion
Inclusive Leadership in High-Performance Cultures
Can we build psychologically safe cultures while driving results at a rapid pace?
- Amit Vaish, Vice President, Human Capital & Head of HR, Optum India
- Nisha Gopinath, Vice President- Human Resources, IBM – India South Asia
- Dr. Tooba Modassir, Chief Human Resources Officer Citi India & Cluster HR head, Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh, Citi
- Karthik Ekambaram, Co-founder and Head of Solutions, Avtar Group
02.45 pm – 03.35 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Awards Presentation
Best Companies for Women in India – Emerging Icons
Most Inclusive Companies Index – Champions
03.35 pm – 03.45
Chief Guest Address
Padma Shri Aruna Sairam, Carnatic Vocalist
03.45 pm – 04.15 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Awards Presentation
Most Inclusive Companies Index – Exemplars
04.15 pm – 04.30 pm
Rajendra Hall 1 – 3
Vote of Thanks
- Eswar Balasubramanian, Senior Vice President, Outreach & Impact, Avtar Group
04.30 pm – 05.30 pm
Tea & Networking
*Agenda subject to change
Our Valued Sponsors and Partners
Thank you to our partners who have supported us in our mission to promote
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace.
Photobooth Sponsor
Accessibility Sponsor
Charging Station Sponsor
Breakfast Round Table Sponsor
Gift Sponsor
Photobooth Sponsor
Accessibility Sponsor
Research Partner
Technology Partner
Anantha Radhakrishnan
CEO and MD,
Infosys BPM
Winner
Winner
Anantha Radhakrishnan (Radha)
CEO and MD - Infosys BPM
Radha has been a quiet strength and patient ally of DEI at Infosys BPM. Apart from strengthening quantifiable metrics on gender diversity, he also has added impetus to softer aspects such as bringing in transparency across selection criteria, giving a fair chance for diversity in leadership-hiring and personally mentoring women within the leadership council of Infosys BPM. Today, the leadership council of Infosys BPM has a third of women leaders from across global DCs who actively lead and execute key strategic initiatives globally. While this change is structural, the transparency of selection criteria based firmly on performance and meritocracy, has ensured there is no corridor talk on ‘tokenism’ or any flippant references to ‘diversity candidates’. There have been several instances over the years where Radha has, during discussions on awards, recognitions, and executive/ leadership program nominations, subtly brought up the glaring lack of diversity, which may have been inadvertently overlooked. This consistent nudge has, over the last few years, ensured that the equity in ensuring diverse representation is an activity that is done before it reaches Radha’s office. He maintains that ‘awareness is key’ and ‘no one deliberately tries to exclude, but we need to make a conscious and deliberate attempt to include’. Under his guidance and leadership, there are also specific DEI assessment programs (both for new joiners and existing employees) that have been rolled out where employees can test their DEI quotient. Programs on unconscious bias in hiring and performance evaluation were launched across job levels over the last couple of years. Through systematic awareness-creation that Radha spearheads, several unconscious gender biases have been weeded out and appreciation for inclusive thinking has become part of the DNA of Infosys BPM. Following in his footsteps, several of the male leaders are now staunch allies, doing ‘equity’ checks before nominating a candidate for an award or recognition, actively mentoring women leaders, counselling on career progression and sponsoring leadership development programs.
Glimpses from past sessions
Register for the
Once again thank you very much for all the support, and we look forward to a long term relationship with both of you.
I truly appreciate your efforts and look forward to continuous support and a long-lasting association with Avtar.
The quick turn around from your team helped us in closing positions with women candidates who wished to return to work after a significant break.
We at MiQ are committed to Inclusion and Diversity and your partnership has definitely helped us achieve that.
Keep working hard and best of luck to your future assignment team!
