SpeakIn recognises excellence in speech and thought, we look back at our top trending thought leaders for the month of March. It’s a first-rate line-up of entrepreneurs, domain experts, media personalities, ed-tech experts, and more.
“There’s growing interest in learning from accomplished individuals and their stories,” says Deepshikha Kumar, Founder, SpeakIn. “Any random search on the net gets you tonnes of information. What it doesn’t offer you is perspective. Learners want to know the stories of these leaders and how they succeeded. They want to take those life lessons are learn from them. It’s not a surprise that these Top 10 Trending Experts are not just thought leaders but also exceptional storytellers.”
Taimur Baig
Managing Director and Chief Economist at DBS Bank
“Inflation, not the pandemic, is the biggest worry for equity investors”
Taimur Baig, Ph.D., heads economics as well as fixed income and currency research at DBS Bank. Prior to joining DBS, Taimur was a Principal Economist in the Economic Policy Group, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). He had previously spent nearly a decade at Deutsche Bank’s Singapore office, where his last position was Managing Director and Chief Economist, Asia.
Gaur Gopal Das
International Life Coach, Wellness Advisor, Author & Motivational Strategist
“Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold.”
Practicing monk for twenty-three years, a storyteller, life coach, author and a filmmaker with a reach over 500 million views and are all focused on one thing: Making a difference!
Chetna Gala Sinha
Founder, Mann Deshi Foundation and Mann Deshi Mahila Bank
“ In every situation, women come up with the solutions but the real change will come when we will take their suggestions and put them in action.”
Chetna Sinha has been awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, India’s highest civilian award for women who work in the area of women’s empowerment. She has served as a Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum in Davos (2018), Switzerland and as a Co-Chair of Financial Inclusion at the W20 Summit (2018) in Argentina. Today, the Mann Deshi Bank has 100,000 account holders, has loaned over $50 million and regularly creates new financial products to support the needs of female micro-entrepreneurs. To date, it has supported nearly half a million women.
General Bikram Singh
24th Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army
“There is nothing wrong in oversmartness, if it is done for great consequences.”
General Bikram Singh, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, SM, VSM, ADC is an alumnus of Punjab Public School, Nabha. He was commissioned into The Sikh Light Infantry in March 1972. During his military career spanning over forty years, the General has held various high profile Command and Staff appointments. He has commanded an Infantry Battalion in the North East and on the Line of Control in J&K, a RR Sector and an Infantry Division in Northern Command. He has commanded 15 Corps and Eastern Command. He has served in three UN Peace Keeping Missions.
Upasana Taku
Co-founder, MobiKwik
“Kick up a storm or die trying.”
Upasana Taku is a Co-Founder at MobiKwik. Her mission is to simplify payment acceptance for retailers in India. Upasana comes with a strong background in payments as a senior product manager with PayPal in the Silicon Valley and prior to that with HSBC in San Diego, US.
In early 2009, Upasana decided to return to India and contribute to the ecosystem back home. Soon, she joined MobiKwik as its cofounder. Upasana has been focused on the goal of making MobiKwik payments ubiquitous in India. Acknowledging her achievements in the tech startup ecosystem of India she was featured by Forbes under "Asia's Women to Watch in 2016
Rakesh Sood
Former Indian Diplomat, Columnist and Writer
“ Be down-to-earth, be open, be receptive to what others say give them the respect you expect from them.”
Ambassador Rakesh Sood is a Distinguished Fellow at ORF. He has over 38 years of experience in the field of foreign affairs, economic diplomacy and international security issues. Ambassador Sood was in charge of multilateral disarmament negotiations, bilateral dialogues with Pakistan, strategic dialogues with other countries, including the US, UK, France and Israel (especially after the nuclear tests in 1998), and dealt with India’s role in the ASEAN Regional Forum, as part of the 'Look East' policy. Since his retirement, he has been writing and commenting regularly in both print and audio visual media on India’s foreign policy, its economic dimensions and regional and international security issues. He is a frequent speaker and contributor at various policy planning groups and reputed think tanks in India and overseas.
Dr. Susmita Mohanty
Spaceship designer, space entrepreneur and climate action advocate
“My vision is to transform India from being an accomplished government space program into a serious contender in the international space marketplace.”
Dr. Susmita Mohanty is a spaceship designer and the only space entrepreneur in the world to have started companies on 3 different continents. She is the CEO of EARTH2ORBIT, India’s first private start-up (2009-ongoing). She has co-founded two other companies, MOONFRONT in San Francisco (2001-07) and LIQUIFER in Vienna (2004-ongoing). Prior to turning entrepreneur, she worked for the International Space Station Program at Boeing in California and did a short stint at NASA Johnson. In 2017, she was featured on cover of Fortune Magazine. In 2012, she was voted into Financial Times’ list of “25 Indians to Watch
Prafull Billore
Founder of MBA Chai Walar
“If something is not working out, don’t get stuck with it for too long, just move on to your next gig!”
Prafull Billore, also known as MBA Chai Wala is mostly known by his YouTube Videos. But what many might not know about him is that he is a very tenacious businessman. And he has built himself a quite successful tea business. While doing his bachelor’s degree he was actually having trouble studying; so he thought of starting his own business. He wanted to go for further studies and get an MBA but he could not get a seat in any colleges. At the age of 20, he was devastated because of his CAT exam results. This failure only made his goal of owning his own business stronger.
Sairee Chahal
Founder, Sheroes
“I never sought permission. If it felt right, I just went ahead and did it”
Sairee Chahal is the Founder, CEO - an online career destination for women. Sairee is India’s foremost women at work evangelist and earlier co-founded Fleximoms. She is also the Convener, The SHEROES Summit and has been instrumental in bringing businesses and women professionals on a common platform. Nominated for the Editor’s choice for L’oreal Femina Women’s Award, she is also a Cartier Women’s Award Initiative for 2012 alumni, a TED speaker, Business Today, Most Powerful Women in Indian Business 2012 and has been featured on shows like Young Turks, Pioneering Spirit and What Women Want. Sairee has been nominated and accepted as an Aspen Fellow – a global leadership fellowship.
Anshul Rustaggi
Founder, Totality Corp and Zionverse
“Doing something you love makes you understand it even better. Isn't it?”
Anshul Rustaggi is the Founder of Totality Corp. He is an alumnus of IIT Delhi, IIM Bangalore and LSE (London School of Economics). Anshul will soon be unveiling a gaming metaverse based on Indian mythology powered with playable NFTs through this current venture Totality Corp, a Web3 Gaming company. Anshul has been a pioneer in mobile gaming with his Mobile Gaming Premier League (MGPL) which garnered 2.2 Mn users.