Intro to About

Anjali serves as Managing Director at Techne Infiniti, leading the Techne Accelerator Program. She works with global startups that are using innovative technology solutions to disrupt the hospitality industry. Anjali also serves as a Strategic Advisor to Shashi Group. She brings expertise in operations and business process excellence. Anjali led the establishment of Shashi Group’s Center of Innovation & Excellence (COIE) that establishes best practices, drives operational excellence, and evaluates and implements cutting edge technology solutions.

Anjali has a Masters in Economics from Delhi School of Economics, and an MBA in Marketing and Organizational Strategy from William E. Simon School of Business, University of Rochester. Anjali worked for over 10 years in high tech in various roles ranging from management & technology consultant at Eastman Kodak and American Management Systems, to Director of Marketing & Bizdev at HelloBrain, where she led business development for the online B2B marketplace for technology and intellectual property collaboration. Anjali built a global base of supply-side technology providers from research labs and universities across 150 countries and went on to lead the launch of the company’s first enterprise collaboration software as well as its rebranding campaign. In 1999, Anjali co-founded eMazza, an online double-blind algorithmic auction marketplace for technology labor with Arti Raman and Prof. Edward Lazear (Professor at Stanford Business School and formerly Chief Economist for the White House).

Anjali has a deep interest in education and believes that wholesome education should enable children to develop a love for learning and gather a wide variety of experiences. In 2009 Anjali founded FUSION, a pragmatic after school program that served elementary and middle school students. In addition to math, science, foreign language study, arts, music, dance and sports, FUSION learning programs included STEM labs, multi-generational programs conducted at local senior living centers, community campaigns for local shelters and food bank, and fundraisers for health, education and food charities including Just Like My Child Foundation, Akshaya Patra and Ekal Vidya. Anjali served as Vice Chairperson of the Board at Villa Montessori School, Cupertino.

Most recently Anjali co-founded Efkaria, a non-profit that identifies and funds social impact ventures, provide micro loans and give grants for projects that help end hunger, provide education, clean water and basic healthcare, protect animals and the environment, and empower women and children around the world.

Gilad serves as a Managing Director at Techne Infiniti Ventures. He is an Israeli born AI Entrepreneur, Board Director, and Venture Capital Investor based in Seattle. Gilad founded & led Brook Bay Capital, the first AI focused fund in the Travel, Hospitality, and Lifestyle sectors and serves on numerous Boards of both large traditional businesses and startups, including Virtuoso, Faye, Mindtrip, Resort Pass, and others. Gilad is passionate about Travel & Hospitality and related experiential and lifestyle businesses and has a deep background in Artificial Intelligence and Personalization. Gilad is eager to share his knowledge and in addition to his Board and Advisory roles Gilad is a friend and mentor to leaders across many of the largest consumer businesses in the travel, hospitality, retail, and related spaces, and to PE and other institutional investors across these industries.

Gilad has been on the forefront of AI and Innovation since he was a kid in the back of the living room listening to his dad who was an AI pioneer in the 1990’s. Today Gilad is one of the most prolific thinkers, speakers, and writers on the myriad of ways that AI, and what he coined as the Great Commoditization, are changing the ways we build and scale businesses, the ways we serve consumers, the realm of personalization and Dynamic Product creation, and the power dynamics at the core of our economy.

Gilad began his entrepreneurial career early founding his first startups in college. Most notably, Gilad was the founder and CEO at Utrip, a pioneering AI startup in the travel space founded in 2011. While at Utrip Gilad championed the utilization of AI and its integration, for the very first time, by many of the largest hospitality brands in the world. In addition to his investing and board work, Gilad is a prolific public speaker and speaks at many major industry and technology events around the world.

Gilad is passionate about his young family, technology, travel, food, yoga, history, and the philosophy of AI.

Dipesh co-founded Techne Infiniti Ventures and serves as the Managing Director of the company. He also co-founded Shashi Group and serves as the Co-Chairman and CEO. Under his leadership, Shashi has experienced tremendous growth and business success. Shashi owns and operates one of the premium and most technologically advanced hospitality portfolios in Silicon Valley. The company was honored to receive the prestigious Starwood President’s Award for exceptional achievement in 2014.

Prior to founding Shashi Group, Dipesh was the Director of Global CRM Solutions at Oracle. In this role, he worked with Fortune 100 clients, including AT&T, GE, Honeywell, EMC, and Sun, to improve their competitiveness within the market by adopting leading industry practices and automating their end-to-end business processes.

Earlier in his career, Dipesh was the Director of E-Business at Fleet Boston Financial (prior to being acquired by Bank of America). In this role, he was responsible product development and marketing. Among the highlights and accomplishments during his tenure, Dipesh led the development and successful launch of one of Fleet and Visa’s most high-profile products: Fusion – the first Visa Smart Card in the United States. The project required the assembly and leadership of a 200+ person team that spanned ten companies; the product launched in record time and led to the acquisition of 200,000 new customers within the first two months.

Dipesh received his MBA from the Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics at the University of Delaware and a BS in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

Manish co-founded Techne Infiniti Ventures and serves as the Managing Director. Techne is a venture fund focused on investing in next generation hospitality technology startups and platforms globally. Manish also co-founded Shashi Group and serves as its Co-Chairman. Shashi owns and operates one of the most premium hospitality asset-portfolio in Silicon Valley.

Manish has worked extensively in the technology industry before venturing into hospitality & investments. He has experience as a founder & CEO, and has led & structured joint ventures, acquisitions, partnerships, sales, operations, and Investments across technology and hospitality industries. He has led over a billion dollars of deals and has structured debt and equity transactions with some of the leading private equity funds, hedge funds and pension funds.

Prior to Shashi, Manish was the founder & CEO of Panache Services. Manish built Panache from an idea into a profitable global technology company. Previously, as EVP Operations at Zamba, Manish helped transform it from a niche technology player into a leading integrated CRM and data analytics solutions provider. Manish also worked with KPMG and led the CRM solutions for North America. Manish started out writing artificial intelligence & expert systems code for microprocessors.

Manish has a BS in Computer Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka and an MBA in Global Service Operations Management from William E. Simon School of Business, University of Rochester, New York.

Mark co-founded Techne Infiniti Ventures and serves as a Managing Director.

Mark has invested in and/or worked with 100+ software startups throughout the world. His work has focused on investing, revenue growth, international expansion, talent development, fundraising and M&A, His portfolio has included Vignette (IPO), Persistent Systems (IPO), Kana (IPO), AvantGo (IPO), MX Logic (acq by Intel), Postini (acq by Google), DoubleClick (acq by Google), PGP (acq by Symantec), Koral (acq by Salesforce), PlaceWare (acq by Microsoft), Arcot Systems (acq by CA) and dozens of other B2B & B2C software tech startups.

Mark also has had an extensive career doing strategic advisory work with Boards and leadership teams in F5000 companies globally. His clients have included Microsoft, Google, IBM, Cisco, Facebook, SAP, Intel, HP, Symantec, Citi, BMW, the GSMA, Etisalat, Rabobank, Telenor, Telstra, Turkcell, Batelco, Zain, STC, PTCL, Toyota, Volkswagen, Eli Lilly, JPMorgan Chase, UBS, Zurich Insurance, Union Bank of Nigeria, WPP Group, Shell, Commonweath Bank of Australia and many others.

Mark is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD and also a regular guest lecturer at leading business schools globally including Stanford, London Business School, Wharton, HEC and others.

Mark has a BSc in Marketing from the University of Colorado and an MBA in Finance from William E. Simon School of Business, University of Rochester, New York.

Mark is dually based in Amsterdam and Silicon Valley. Mark’s role at Techne is focused on Europe, MENA, India and Asia; investing, strategic partnerships and nurturing limited partner relationships.

2x CxO; 8x Exits; Startup Advisor; Innovation & Growth Strategist

Sudhir is a serial entrepreneur, investor, and corporate innovation expert. He was on the founding team of a startup that scaled organically from zero to $100M and has been through three exits: Telecom CRM, Telecom Data Analytics, and Mobile Advertising acquired by Softbank in 2020. Five of his advisory portfolios had successful exits in areas such as Location Apps acquired by Location Labs, Video Streaming, IIoT Platform acquired by AirLinq (2017), Cybersecurity acquired by McAfee (2019), and Document Signature acquired by Foxit Software (2021).

Sudhir has run several acceleration programs in the US, Europe, and Asia, for Early and Growth stage startups, and mentored 100s of startups, many of whom have raised Series A from tier-1 investors in the valley. He has been part of Corporate Innovation programs for international giants like LG and Mitsubishi. Sudhir takes programs in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at San Jose State University for Global EMBA participants and is on the advisory council of CSU Chico for their digital marketing program.

BTech in Mechanical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Kharagpur), Tech Entrepreneurship from Stanford, and VC Investing from Università Bocconi.

Pankaj’s stellar experience speaks for itself: An engineer‑turned‑MBA and Silicon Valley–based C-suite executive, he has spent his career at the intersection of strategic execution, brand transformation, and scaling ventures from idea to multi‑million‑dollar outcomes.

Most recently, Pankaj served as President & CEO of Renaissance Park Corporation, where he led the company’s mission of developing sustainable products and forming global alliances that promote Nature-Based Manufacturing. Prior to this, he held a dual role as COO and CMO at privacy app provider FigLeaf. As a founding member, he drove 30% growth in brand recognition, secured strategic partnerships with global leaders, and accelerated subscriber growth by 40% – leading to a successful acquisition within two years. Earlier, as Group COO and Board Member at ZEO Alliance, he managed a multi-vertical portfolio with a $100M+ P&L, increased market presence by 25%, and improved operational efficiency by 30% while leading strategic portfolio optimization and acquisitions. Prior to that, as CMO at White Sky (acquired by Intersections Inc.), he led a full-scale turnaround, growing revenue 10x and scaling the customer base from under 200K to 11M+ users.

Across roles as CEO, GM, VP, and COO for startups and billion‑dollar enterprises alike, Pankaj has consistently married visionary planning with disciplined execution to unlock revenue growth, cash‑flow strength, and shareholder value. As Vice President of Global Marketing at McAfee, he spearheaded revenue growth from $80M to over $1B in under six years, expanded the customer base from 1.1M to 22M+ users, and helped set the stage for McAfee’s multi‑billion‑dollar exit to Intel. As General Manager at MetricStream’s ComplianceOnline business, he scaled the platform into a leading global compliance knowledge portal, driving 30% annual revenue growth and achieving profitability in under 18 months.

From turnaround mandates and brand repositioning to scaling category‑defining platforms, Pankaj brings a systems‑level view of how to translate untapped market opportunities into durable, compounding growth. As Founder & CEO of PracticalSpeak, he helped 25+ founders sharpen GTM strategy, build sales discipline, and increase revenues by 7–25%, giving him a front‑row seat to the zero‑to‑one patterns that distinguish truly scalable companies from the rest.

Anand Krishnamurthy is a strategic finance leader advising technology and services businesses on financial performance, operational excellence, and growth. He brings nearly three decades of experience spanning global enterprise software, commercial finance, healthcare, and financial services, with a track record of partnering with executive teams to scale businesses ranging from $100M to $5B in revenue.

Most recently, Anand served as Services-CFO at Juniper Networks, a $2B business providing networking solutions to service providers, cloud, and enterprise customers. As a strategic partner to the EVP, he drove 15% top-line growth while improving contribution margin by 5 percentage points over three years.

Prior to Juniper, Anand was Director of FP&A, Cash & Engineering Spend at GE Digital, where he partnered with Product Management and Engineering to prioritize $90M in annual R&D spend across 30+ projects. Earlier, at GE Healthcare, he held progressively senior finance roles over more than a decade, including Global FP&A Leader for the newly formed $5B Global Services organization, GTM Finance Director for the $2.5B US Services business (where he helped drive $100M+ in new revenue growth), and Global FP&A Leader at GE Healthcare Financial Services, where he led the financial reporting and systems integration during the spin-off from GE Capital and merge with GE Healthcare.

Anand’s expertise spans business planning, cashflow management, M&A due diligence and integration, commercial finance, business modeling, and process improvement. He has performed valuation and led integration on multiple acquisitions and has consistently built and re-engineered high-performance teams in complex matrixed global organizations.

Anand holds an MBA in Finance & Strategy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He is a Certified Public Accountant (AICPA) and a Chartered Accountant (Institute of Chartered Accountants of India).

Karimulla Shaikh is the Chief Technology Officer at Volta Insite, where he leads the development of AI-powered solutions for real-time energy monitoring and predictive maintenance. His work leverages machine learning and generative AI to improve equipment reliability, power quality, and operational efficiency for data centers and industrial clients. He is also a faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University’s Integrated Innovation Institute, where he teaches product innovation and futures-based development. With 30+ years of experience, Karim has built scalable, cloud-native platforms and led high-performing teams across startups and global enterprises. He is a co-author of Greener Data Volumes I & II, contributing thought leadership on sustainability in digital infrastructure and the future of environmentally responsible technology.

Natasha Hyatt-Khan is an Operating Partner at Techne Infiniti Ventures. She leads capital formation and works closely with founders to scale go-to-market strategy, operations, and enterprise value across the portfolio, drawing on years of deep exposure to hotel operations and guest experience across luxury and business hotels.

She has engaged with over 50,000 CEOs and senior decision-makers globally, identifying commercial blind spots and operating at the intersection of business, capital, and hospitality. Fluent in seven languages, she brings a cross-cultural lens to complex negotiations and market entry. Her work spans startups to multinational corporations across service and technology businesses in life sciences and healthcare, as well as funds across private and institutional capital.

Previously, as Managing Director at Marcus Evans Group for 16 years, Natasha scaled the life sciences division globally, creating a blueprint for innovation and sustainable revenue growth. She later took over a multi-industry business unit, building the highest revenue-generating and most profitable division across 60+ international offices. Working closely with the Chairman and cross-functional leadership, she set new benchmarks for revenue and operational performance adopted across the group.

Natasha is an angel investor in the hospitality, wellness, and entertainment industries and has lived between London, New York, and Dubai. She maintains a high-trust global network across capital allocators, operators, and strategic partners, giving Techne and its portfolio companies a distinct advantage in accessing capital, scaling internationally, and compounding enterprise value.

She is also a founding supporter of MPN Voice, a rare blood cancer charity, and is involved in philanthropic initiatives supporting children’s orphanage programs and women’s social enterprise initiatives, with a focus on mentoring and backing girls and women from underserved communities. She studied Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford and International Relations and History at the London School of Economics.

Jonathan Polansky currently serves as Head of Data & Analytics Global Services at Alter Domus, a global provider of integrated solutions for the alternative investment industry. He brings 25+ years of experience in structured finance in commercial real estate. Prior to this, Jonathan was the Managing Director of Moody’s Investor Service, leading surveillance ratings for the Americas, covering ABS, RMBS, CLOs, and CRE CLOs. He has also served as Managing Director and Portfolio Manager at Triton Partners. A recognized expert in regulatory strategy and quantitative tools, Jonathan has played a key role in advancing automation, analytics, and operational efficiency across financial systems.

Jessica currently serves as Operating Partner and GTM Scaler Lead at Techne Infiniti Ventures. With 18+ years of experience in hospitality tech as a founder and GTM leader with three exits so far, her primary expertise lies in SaaS business scaling, partnerships, and digital transformation within the hospitality sector. Jessica has held several executive positions at companies like TravelClick, ALICE, and SevenRooms, leading sales, revenue operations, business development, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and more. Her passion for the industry also led her to co-found JAK Advisory to mentor startups – primarily in hospitality – on their journey. Additionally, she is a member of several industry associations such as the Travel Industry Executive Women’s Network (TIEWN) and HSMAI.

Jessica holds a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law, and a Bachelor’s degree from Brown University.

Eric Ball is the co-founder and General Partner at Impact Venture Capital. A technology finance leader and investor with extensive experience across global capital markets, enterprise software, and AI, Eric served as SVP & Treasurer at Oracle for over 10 years and was CFO at C3 AI. Eric chairs the audit committee at SoundHound, which reached a $5B market cap in 2024, and previously chaired the audit committee at Glu Mobile through its $2.4B acquisition by Electronic Arts. He co-founded capital market startup CapConnect+ and serves as an advisor and board member across multiple organizations. Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in Finance by Treasury & Risk, Eric holds a PhD in management from the Drucker School of Management.

Marc currently serves as Venture Partner at Techne Infiniti Ventures, advising early-stage AI founders on product and GTM execution. He also serves as Executive Chairman and Consultant to the CEO at Simon Data, a Series D startup enabling AI-powered personalized marketing. With 30+ years of experience as CFO, COO, board member, and VC investor, Marc has architected the transformation of several SaaS and consumer internet startups into multimillion-dollar organizations. In his previous position as CEO of Rapid, Marc led the turnaround of the venture-backed unicorn by revamping the GTM strategy and execution, resulting in 110% net revenue retention and six-figure enterprise deals. This culminated in Rapid’s successful exit via sale to Nokia.

Marc holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from MIT.

A powerhouse of Silicon Valley operational expertise and global strategic leadership, Chitra Nayak brings three decades of experience in go-to-market, general management, and operations leadership across global technology, financial services, and logistics. She currently serves as a Board Director at Infosys, where she chairs the ESG Committee and sits on the Risk and Cybersecurity Committees, as well as a Board Director at Vimo, an AI-enabled health insurance platform. Chitra is also a BCG Executive Advisor and an active advisor to high-growth technology companies across SaaS, AI/ML, IoT, mobile, and fintech on strategy, scaling, and go-to-market execution.

Chitra’s operating background includes C-suite roles as COO of Comfy – a smart building and real-estate tech startup acquired by Siemens – and COO of Funding Circle US, where she led GM and drove rapid revenue growth and efficiency. Earlier in her career, she spent eight years across senior leadership roles such as COO, Platform and Senior Vice President, Global Sales Development at Salesforce. She also held leadership positions at AAA Northern California, Charles Schwab, and the Boston Consulting Group.

With a long-standing passion for empowering women in the workplace, Chitra co-founded Neythri.org to support South Asian professional women, and the Salesforce Women’s Network. She also co-created an MBA course on “Women in Leadership” at California State University.

Chitra holds an MBA (Honors) from Harvard Business School, an MS in Environmental Engineering from Cornell University, and a B.Tech in Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology.

Manoj Goel is a seasoned entrepreneur, avid investor, and former VC fund manager with 30+ years of experience at Apple, Cisco, Excelan, HP Enterprise, Intel, Novell, and Prysm. In 1996, he sold his security startup, Internet Junction, to Cisco – their first software acquisition, which laid the foundation for the Cisco Security Business Unit. Manoj is co-founder and board member of IIT Roorkee Heritage Foundation, board member of IIT Bay Area Alumni Association, as well as board member and founding president of a tech accelerator IIT Startups that has graduated 130+ startups with 9+ exits. Manoj currently serves as CEO of India Community Center (ICC), a nonprofit with 31,000+ members of the Indian diaspora.

Subramanian (Subbu) Srinivasan brings 25+ years of cybersecurity experience and holds more than two dozen patents. Currently the Senior Director of Engineering and Innovation at Zscaler, a global leader in cloud-based cybersecurity, Subbu is responsible for delivering new products in the Emerging Technology Group. His recent focus has been Zscaler’s efforts around 5G, OpenRAN, and AI/ML. Subbu was a co-founder and architect of Zscaler Private Access (ZPA), the company’s flagship Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solution that provides secure, direct connectivity to private applications without granting network access. Subbu previously held senior roles at PayPal and Cisco.

Anil Advani is a globally recognized lawyer, angel investor, and advisor with 20+ years of experience guiding early-stage ventures from incorporation to exit. As Founder and Managing Partner of Inventus Law – and through prior roles at powerhouse law firms like Cooley Godward and Orrick Herrington – he has represented 3,500+ startups, angels, and founders, and participated in almost 500 financing and M&A transactions valued at more than $4B.

Through Inventus, Anil and his team provide founder-first, cost-effective counsel to global startups across all growth stages – including many backed by accelerators and incubators like Y Combinator, 500 Startups, and Alchemist, from garage-stage ventures to companies scaling beyond $100M. He specializes in cross-border transactions and strategic expansion for founders navigating Silicon Valley from abroad, and has made 120+ angel investments across SaaS, healthcare, and fintech.

Anil is licensed to practice law in the U.S. Supreme Court, California, New York, and India. He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Georgetown University Law Center and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from Delhi University.

Industry veteran Dorothy Dowling brings 35+ years of hospitality leadership, with 18 years as CMO & SVP of Sales at Best Western Hotel Group. She grew Best Western Rewards® to 50M+ members and increased its revenue contribution fivefold. Dorothy has also held senior leadership positions at Wyndham, Forte Hotels, Travelodge Canada, Royal Host REIT, and ARAMARK. Dorothy received the Lifetime Achievement award from HSMAI and was named one of the “Top 40 Women in Travel” by WINiT by GBTA. She was ranked 18th most influential CMO in the world in the Forbes/ScribbleLive/LinkedIn’s 4th Annual CMO Influence Study in 2015.

Flo Lugli is an industry trailblazer with a legacy of 35+ years of experience in travel and hospitality. She has held senior leadership roles leading strategy, growth, and transformation at Wyndham, Travelport and Wizcom, and stepped into interim CXO roles at Radisson, CheapCaribbean, and DHISCO. A long-time mentor at NYU’s Hospitality Innovation Hub, Flo has also been named one of the “Most Powerful Women in Travel” by Travel Agent Magazine for seven years. She has been recognized by Lodging Magazine as one of the top 75 hotel executives and a top 10 hospitality technology expert.

Rob is currently SVP of Media Solutions at Expedia Group, where he leverages industry-leading travel data and marketing technology to transform how brands engage with travelers and drive growth across the global travel ecosystem. He also serves as Executive Board Member of U.S. Travel Association and has previously held roles as Vice Chairman and member of the Operating Committee at the World Travel & Tourism Council, as well as Board Chair of HSMAI. He brings 25+ years of experience in travel and media, including 16+ years at Google as Managing Director Travel, where he led $4B+ in global marketing revenue.

Eric currently serves as EVP – Global Revenue for Adara (A RateGain Company). He brings 25+ years of experience in revenue management, and in building and leading sales for Travel & Hospitality companies like Kayak, Journera, and Blackstone. Under Eric’s leadership, Kayak’s advertising revenue grow from $30M to $100M+. He was a key player in their IPO and subsequent $1.8B acquisition.

Nirav Shah is Vice President – Real Estate & Development at Hyatt Hotels. Since joining Hyatt in 2010, he has also held leadership positions as VP – Development Finance & Asset Management and Director – Development Finance & Strategy, Global Real Estate & Development.

With three decades of experience spanning corporate finance, M&A, market research, and strategic planning, Nirav brings a multidimensional perspective to hospitality development. Prior to Hyatt, he held roles at Extended Stay Hotels, PricewaterhouseCoopers (Hospitality & Leisure Advisory), Starwood Hotels, and Morgan Stanley. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester and a master’s degree from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration.

Siva Kantamneni is a seasoned technology and industry leader with 35+ years of experience at the intersection of travel, hospitality, transportation, and AI-driven digital transformation. He has held senior leadership roles at Deloitte and IBM, where he scaled global consulting and technology practices exceeding $1B in annual revenue and guided organizations through complex capital markets milestones, including over $4B in Nasdaq listings. Earlier in his career, he helped architect Travelocity’s pioneering digital commerce platforms and has since led Airline Resiliency initiatives, positioning him at multiple inflection points in the evolution of digital travel ecosystems.

A recognized authority in Travel and Hospitality and a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, Siva advises boards and executive teams on aligning emerging technology, AI governance, and fiduciary responsibility to drive long-term enterprise value. He holds foundational patents across Cloud, IoT, and AI/NLP and combines this technical depth with boardroom experience to help enterprises de-risk innovation while scaling AI-powered platforms responsibly. He holds a Master of Technology in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Brian Batts is a seasoned executive with 25+ years across global ad tech, travel, and SaaS industries. As VP of Global Partnerships at Revinate, a leading platform for AI-powered guest engagement and direct bookings, he leads strategic alliances that expand partner ecosystems and deepen guest engagement for hospitality brands. Brian has held leadership roles at Kevel, Koddi, and HookLogic (acquired by Criteo), where he served as VP of Travel and helped redefine search advertising for OTAs and hotel groups. Prior to that, he led product strategy at Expedia, Travelport, and American Express Vacations. Brian’s expertise spans the entire product lifecycle, digital transformation, user experience design, vendor management, and global campaign optimization.

Ajay Khosla is a senior procurement and supply chain transformation leader with 25+ years of experience spanning technology, consulting, and digital operations. Currently Senior Director – Procurement Digital Experience at Google, Ajay is leading its procurement transformation by deploying streamlined processes, launching a “Google-worthy” buying platform powered by agentic AI, and reimagining the future operating model. Ajay previously spent 14 years as a Managing Director/Partner in Accenture’s Strategy practice, heading strategic cost reduction and procurement transformation programs for global clients across TMT sectors. He also led strategic sourcing at Verticalnet – managing teams generating $4M+ in annual revenue – and built foundational consulting experience at Tigris Consulting and EY. With proven expertise in enterprise-scale transformation and emerging technologies, Ajay brings both strategic vision and operational excellence to drive procurement innovation.

Suresh Manayil serves as Chief Digital Officer at Canyon Ranch, a luxury wellness resort brand. With nearly two decades of experience in digital product leadership, Suresh has overseen the evolution of Canyon Ranch’s tech ecosystem – right from its mobile app to platform-wide personalization, focusing on delivering exceptional guest experiences across every touchpoint. His previous roles include VP of Consumer Engagement at Bioworld and product leadership at Neiman Marcus Group, where he built tools that powered high-touch, data-driven retail. Earlier in his career, he worked with global brands like Barnes & Noble and Marks & Spencer through SapientRazorfish.

Marina serves as Chief Marketing Officer at Red Roof Inn and brings 25+ years of experience in marketing, commercial strategy, and hospitality leadership. She steered Red Roof’s growth to $1B ARR across 700+ properties, redefined their brand strategy and expanded loyalty membership to 5M members. Her leadership positioned Red Roof as a hospitality sector leader, increasing women’s ownership by 40%.

Andrew McCartney is a data-driven leader with 25+ of experience in the digital space, known for guiding Fortune 100 companies through transformation, growth, and marketing innovation. Currently Chief Revenue Officer at Curacity, a travel tech company with an award-winning guest acquisition platform, Andrew leads all customer-facing teams – spanning marketing, sales, and customer success – to deliver a seamless, value-driven journey for its 300+ hotel partners. Andrew has a track record of leadership experience at globally renowned agencies and heading collaborations with iconic brands like Adidas, McDonald’s, and Volkswagen. His work has earned global recognition from the Effie Awards, Cannes Lions Awards, and Webby Awards. He was also featured on Maclean’s annual Power List as one of “the 50 Most Important People in Canada” for his impact on the Canadian business landscape.

Whitney Scott is Principal and Co-founder of Walden Insight, a market intelligence and data platform for the global outdoor industry. Here, she helps outdoor hospitality brands make smarter, data-driven decisions, anchored in her mission to enable businesses to innovate, streamline and scale while preserving the wilderness. With 20 years of experience, Whitney has held several leadership positions and driven revenue, growth, global brand strategy, and market innovation across some of the most recognized outdoor hospitality brands. Prior to founding Walden, she spent over a decade at Kampgrounds of America (KOA), holding multiple leadership roles such as Senior Vice President of Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer. She also pioneered KoA’s accommodation-only glamping brand Terramor, where she served the CMO and COO in its early years. Whitney holds an MBA from the University of Montana and has pursued executive training at the Kellogg School of Business.

James Lemon is Global Lead for Travel, Leisure, Transport & Automotive at Stripe, where he ensures that partners can benefit from the Stripe financial infrastructure to improve customer experiences, innovate faster, and scale more productive operations. Prior to Stripe, James founded and successfully exited Otolo, a global hospitality edtech start-up that built a peer-to-peer mentoring platform with hospitality professionals from 100 organizations in 45 countries. Previously, he was the COO of Hostmaker, the Airbnb property management company that piloted the Marriott Homes and Villas project and led strategy teams for global travel businesses at IHG and Travelport. With 25+ years of experience in fintech, travel, and hospitality, James advises startups and private equity firms and is a frequent speaker at industry forums shaping travel and tech discourse.

Justin Call is currently Chief Legal Officer & SVP of Key Partnerships at Actabl, an integrated hospitality tech platform serving the needs of over 10,000 properties around the world today. He brings 25+ years of experience spanning legal leadership, strategic partnerships, and operational oversight across hospitality, technology, and healthcare. Justin has also served as General Counsel at ALICE and TRAVELCLICK, both of which exited during his tenure – ALICE (now Actabl), at 11x revenues in 2021, and TravelClick (now Amadeus), through transactions valued at nearly $1 billion in 2014 and $1.5 billion in 2018. He holds a J.D. in Intellectual Property and Finance from the University at Buffalo School of Law, and an M.B.A. in Finance from the University at Buffalo School of Management.

Kshama Swamy is a seasoned enterprise software executive with 20+ years of experience leading global customer success, engineering, and operations teams across high-growth and pre-IPO companies. She is currently Vice President of Customer Engineering & Success at CircleCI, a developer-first platform that helps teams build, test, and deploy code at scale. Kshama also champions boardroom diversity via her role as Founding Member of FirstBoard.io, helping connect women tech leaders and domain experts with board opportunities.

Previously, Kshama was SVP of Client Services at Punchh, a leading AI-powered loyalty and engagement platform for restaurants and retailers. Her leadership has helped scale businesses like Intapp, where she grew ARR from $30M to $180M, and she’s held key roles at IBM, Cognos, and the U.S. Department of Defense. Kshama holds a Master’s in Computer Science from DePaul University, and is a passionate advocate for women in tech.

Vimal Sebastian is Senior Vice President at The Bay Club Company, a network of luxury lifestyle campuses offering hospitality, fitness, and wellness experiences across the West Coast. Prior to this, he served as SVP at Marriott International and Director of Operational Excellence at Shashi Hotels. With global experience spanning New Zealand, India, Canada, and the U.S., Vimal has held senior roles at Auberge Resorts Collection, Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and Stamford Plaza Hotels. He holds degrees from Auckland University of Technology and George Brown College, and completed Advanced Revenue Management at Cornell University. His leadership has consistently driven gains in ADR, RevPAR, market performance, and service standards across diverse hospitality environments.

Jarad Gallagher is a Michelin-starred chef and accomplished culinary executive, currently serving as VP of Culinary Operations at Shashi Group. With 12+ consecutive years of Michelin recognition, Jarad earned stars at iconic restaurants including Chez TJ, The Plumed Horse, One Market, and Michael Mina, with his tenure at Chez TJ placing it among the top 50 restaurants in the Bay Area. He leads Shashi’s food and beverage strategy through a transformative phase in hospitality, championing innovative technologies and delivery systems to drive product quality and drive operational efficiency. Previously, as Senior Executive Chef at Restaurant Unlimited, he oversaw 52 restaurants across the U.S., managing $252M+ in annual revenue.

Trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and London, Jarad blends fine-dining excellence with scalable execution, making him a powerful strategic advisor at the intersection of culinary experience and hospitality tech.

As the Chief Commercial Officer, Gautam led Infiniti from inception to one of the fastest growing and most innovative travel technology companies with over 200 employees and $25M in annual revenues. He is a subject matter expert in distribution & revenue management as well as business travel & expense management.

Over the last 15 years he has worked with some of the largest airlines, hotel brands, corporates & travel management companies across the globe. Prior to Infiniti, Gautam worked for Agoda, an online travel agency, as the market manager for India.

Gautam is based in Silicon Valley.

Parijat Sharma is a SaaS and GTM leader with 25+ years of experience helping technology companies accelerate revenue, scale efficiently, and improve customer outcomes. He is currently VP, Global Expert Services at Odaseva, an Enterprise Data Platform supporting 100M+ Salesforce users with complex data challenges. Previously, Parijat built and led Professional Services and Customer Success organizations at Salesforce, Seagate, and KPMG Consulting, driving ARR growth and product adoption. His background spans business transformation, enterprise data management, and security in financial services, public sector, and other regulated industries. As a VC advisor, Parijat partners with founders to design scalable post-sales models, AI-enabled delivery frameworks, and data-driven GTM strategies.

Gunter is currently Chief Revenue Officer at Skorpios Technologies. He brings 25+ years of global leadership experience in scaling businesses in advanced technology domains such as AI, IoT, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity at Ericsson, DZS and A10. Gunter has driven $100M+ in global revenue through bold strategies, innovative branding, and high-impact partnerships.

Gunter is currently Chief Revenue Officer at Skorpios Technologies. He brings 25+ years of global leadership experience in scaling businesses in advanced technology domains such as AI, IoT, cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity at Ericsson, DZS and A10. Gunter has driven $100M+ in global revenue through bold strategies, innovative branding, and high-impact partnerships.

Toolika Kapur is a customer success and transformation executive with 25+ years of experience scaling post‑sales organizations for multi‑billion‑dollar SaaS businesses including LinkedIn, SAP, and Hewlett‑Packard. She most recently served at LinkedIn as Vice President, Scaled Solutions, Members & Customer Success, where she architected the company’s first scaled customer engagement model, combining digital‑first and AI‑driven personalization to drive adoption and higher retention across both B2B and B2C segments. At SAP SuccessFactors, Toolika helped scale the business from roughly $100M to $2B in revenue by leading global customer success, building adoption and empowerment programs, and driving outcome‑based renewals and upsell for a billion‑dollar book of business.

Known for reimagining customer success for the modern enterprise, she has built global Centers of Excellence, led cross‑functional customer lifecycle, health, and engagement programs, and shifted organizations from reactive support to value‑realization engines focused on NRR, adoption, and expansion. A recognized thought leader on AI in customer functions, Toolika has designed AI‑powered, digital engagement models that improve productivity, streamline workflows, and enable predictive, proactive, and personalized customer experiences at scale. She is also deeply committed to inclusive leadership and ecosystem impact, serving as a Limited Partner and Leadership Circle member at the Neythri Futures Fund – an initiative putting South Asian women at the center of venture investing – and mentoring emerging leaders through Neythri’s programs.

Sampada Telang is a product growth and strategic partnerships leader with 20+ years of experience scaling platforms, ecosystems, and monetization across technology, mobile advertising, and enterprise.

She is currently serving as Director, Platforms & Devices (ChromeOS/Android) at Google, where she has built and leads a global organization across Product Strategy & Operations, Technical Program Management, Solutions Engineering, Technical Writing, and Supply Chain Management, managing double-digit millions in non-payroll opex and directly owning revenue targets. Here, she leads high-impact programs including launching a first-of-its-kind direct recurring revenue stream for ChromeOS, defining monetization and business model strategy for direct revenue streams in the triple-digit millions per year, driving ecosystem profitability through lifecycle cost efficiencies for OEM partners, and building a supply chain function that enabled Chromebook production and distribution during and after the pandemic to provide critical access points to millions of students and users globally. Earlier at Google, she led Assistant Distribution Partnerships for IoT/Smarthome – driving “Works With” and “Built-in” Assistant units in the multimillions in under a year and leading the Google Smarthome activation at CES with 100+ partners – as well as Search and Ads partnerships for mobile apps, where she led top mobile apps and gaming partnerships and drove 0→1 mobile revenue.

Before Google, Sampada led Global Strategic Partnerships and Business Development at InMobi, negotiating and implementing deals with large mobile and desktop ecosystem partners at a leading global mobile ad network. Earlier in her career, she has also worked at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Lazard in technology investment banking, and at Boston Consulting Group on strategic projects across several high-growth industries. She holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Neha Bansal currently leads Meta’s Ad Manager Reporting suite, driving approximately 85% of Meta’s revenue. A product leader with 12+ years of experience across Ads, Analytics, and Commerce, she previously led product teams at Google Analytics, Lift Measurement, and B2B Google Shopping. Neha’s global career spans the U.S., Canada, UK, South Africa, and Israel, with prior consulting work in financial services and digital strategy. She is also an angel investor, mentors 20+ consumer tech startups, and founded GuideTheGrad, a career coaching consultancy focused on interview preparation and career growth. Neha holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BA in Economics and Statistics from Lady Shri Ram College, India.

Shobana Sankaran is a business leader with 19+ years of experience driving product strategy and growth in early-stage and mature firms across mobility marketplaces, auto-tech and insurance. Most recently, she drove profitable unit economics as Director of Insurance, Trust & Safety at Avail, a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace incubated within Allstate Corporation. Previously, Shobana was VP Global Insurance at Nauto, an AI-based driver behavior safety system for commercial fleets, where she led development of its risk data-based product offerings and scaled the platform globally. She brings a distinctive combination of deep quantitative rigor and strategic judgment to building resilient, customer‑centric businesses.

Riaz Naqvi is a senior advisor, board leader, and institution builder with over 25 years of experience across central ministries in the Government of India. Appointed by Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to represent India in the U.S., he established and led the India Infotech Centre in California, catalyzing cross-border investment and technology partnerships. Widely recognized as an early architect of India’s IT industry, his efforts helped scale the sector from $60 million to over $60 billion, and the institutions he helped set up contributed to global software growth surpassing $100 billion over several decades. Riaz currently serves as Chairman of Advisory Boards and Board Member for companies across renewable energy, education, hospitality, IT, and technology, promoting entrepreneurship and strategic government relations between global corporations and India. He is based between Silicon Valley and New Delhi.