Deepak Bagla is a global investment and policy leader with 30+ years of experience across the World Bank, Citibank, private equity, and government. As former MD & CEO of Invest India, he led national initiatives including Startup India and managed multi-billion-dollar funds for startups and MSMEs. Former President of WAIPA, representing 100+ countries, he has shaped global investment promotion and fintech innovation strategies. Recognised internationally, including with Italy’s “Grande Ufficiale” honour, Deepak brings deep insight into public–private collaboration and nation-building through investment.
Invite Deepak Bagla to speak on: Investment promotion, startup ecosystems, public–private partnerships, fintech innovation, and economic development.
Ajay Desai is a fintech and financial inclusion speaker specialising in frugal innovation and inclusive growth. Chief Growth Catalyst at Saakav Solutions, with over 27 years of experience across banking, fintech, and development finance. Ajay delivers keynote sessions on financial inclusion, fintech innovation, and scalable impact models for corporate and leadership audiences. Invite Ajay Desai for conferences, leadership summits, and corporate events in India.
Ashneer Grover is a fintech innovator, entrepreneur, and technology strategist recognised for reshaping digital payments and driving large-scale business disruption in India. As the Co-founder and former Managing Director of BharatPe, Ashneer Grover pioneered merchant-first fintech solutions that accelerated digital adoption, unlocked access to credit, and pushed India toward a cash-light economy. His sharp operational instincts and product-led thinking helped BharatPe become one of India’s fastest-growing unicorns.
With deep expertise across AI in fintech, startup growth, capital allocation, and scaling high-velocity teams, Ashneer has held leadership roles at Kotak Investment Banking, American Express, and Grofers (Blinkit). Today, he is widely sought for his insights on entrepreneurship, disruption, AI-enabled financial innovation, and the future of India’s startup ecosystem.
A bestselling author of Doglapan, Ashneer continues to mentor founders, invest in emerging ventures, and speak globally on growth strategy, digital finance, and building resilient companies.
Gurmit Singh, currently the General Manager of Quora for APAC + MEA, is an accomplished professional in Internet & Media. Formerly the India VP & Managing Director of Yahoo and CEO of Forbes India, he brings leadership experience from Marico and entrepreneurial insights from his inactive edtech startup, edpurple. Gurmit, with a Udemy course on 'Product Management,' shares expertise in Digital Transformation, elevated leadership strategies, Start-up Business, Sales, and Digital Marketing. His extensive background includes roles in Consumer Product and Internet companies like Quora and Yahoo, where he played a key role in setting up Quora's business in India. Recognized for his Leadership in the Internet – Mobile – Video space, Gurmit holds an Honorary Doctorate for outstanding contributions in Internet & Media.
Monica, a seasoned global product management expert, has 20+ years of experience across four continents, excelling in prioritizing consumer needs with strong commercial and technological skills. Her impactful product launches have made her a recognized thought leader and speaker at international fintech and product management conferences. Leading cross-functional teams for Fortune 500 and emerging startups, Monica manages areas such as Product Management, Business Development, UX Design, Engineering, Marketing, Legal, and Operations. Holding degrees in mathematics and computer science, she passionately advocates for workplace diversity, supporting causes like #WomenAtWork, #Girls4Tech, and STEM. Globally recognized as a top influencer, Monica holds positions in the Onalytica Top 50 Fintech Influencers List, Women in Finance Power 100, and Fintech Finance GOLD Power List. Her accolades include being named among the "Top 50 coolest women in Product" by Inc42, one of the Top 3 Fintech Influencers in Asia, and a Yourstory 100 Digital Influencer (2020).
Anil Joshi, Managing Partner at Unicorn India Ventures, leads a SEBI-approved venture fund that invests across India's incubation, accelerator, seed, start-up, early-stage, and growth-stage segments. Focusing on Social Media, Mobile, Analytics & Cloud (SMAC), IoT, and Fintech, the fund has a strategic vision. Formerly, he managed operations at Mumbai Angels and Bangalore Angels, prominent angel investment forums in India. Anil's extensive background encompasses corporate management, startup investments, project management, joint ventures, and business development. He steered Century Rayon's branch office and worked with Business Access India Pvt. Ltd. and Transasia Biomedical Ltd. With involvement in 60+ startup deals, over INR 100 crore investments, board roles, and mentorships, Anil deeply engages in the startup ecosystem. Guiding startups, advising government bodies, and contributing to incubation centers underline his dedication to fostering growth.
Anirudh comes with almost 2 decades experience in B2B Technology Sales across Cloud Computing, Analytics and Networking. Currently Anirudh handles GTM engagements with ISVs across APAC.
In the past, he founded Tensult, a Cloud services startup based in Bangalore. He has also worked at AWS, Tata Communications, Cognizant and Sify Technologies.
Arvind Gupta is the Head and Co-Founder of Digital India Foundation, a policy think tank working in areas of Digital Inclusion, Smart Cities, Internet Governance, Data Privacy and Cyber Security, Electronics Manufacturing, and strategies for Digital India. He is an Adjunct Professor at IIT-BHU and has over 30 years of industry experience, having worked in diverse sectors in India and Silicon Valley, USA. Arvind has been on the Global FinTech Top100 list of Influencers and also the Member of World Economic Forum’s Global Futures Council on Digital Economy & Society, OECD Expert Member of Global Value Chains. His innovations haven't gone unnoticed; he's a recipient of the Eisenhower Global Fellowship for Innovation for the year 2014, the DataQuest Pathbreaker of the Year award, and the Distinguished Centenary Alumni award from IIT-BHU. His leadership was particularly impactful as the CEO of MyGov, a forum promoting digital inclusion through participative governance.
Biren Parekh holds the position of the Director at CRISIL Ltd and is a top-performing, high-integrity, energetic technology professional with extensive global and rich experience managing complex banking programs and delivering tangible results against challenging risks and targets. He is an IT Executive with Notable Credits and awards. He has been rated as Top 25 Global Thought Leaders in Fintech (October 2021) and Project Management (Apr 2022) as per Thinkers360.com.
Biren is found to be a senior IT Professional with a proven ability to lead and motivate teams to produce exceptional value. Biren promises the consistent delivery of solid business outcomes on large-scale programs and comes with a proven track record of getting things done in a matrix organization.
Nishant Dash is a product and technology leader who has managed programmes with budgets of USD 10 million+ across fintech and payments platforms. He has led 0-to-1 product development, system design, data analytics, and risk monitoring initiatives at organisations including Paytm, Novopay, and PhonePe. Nishant built anti-fraud systems that reduced chargebacks from INR 38.8 million to zero, led AEPS fraud mitigation programmes, implemented ONDC buyer app capabilities, and drove offline payments integration for an OTT platform powered by Microsoft.
Invite Nishant Dash for fintech leadership conferences, product management forums, digital payments summits, and technology risk events.
Deepak Anniyappa is the General Manager and Global Head of Product Design at Balancehero India, with over 16 years of experience in building and leading high-performing design teams. He currently oversees a global, multidisciplinary design organization, shaping product direction and ensuring alignment between design, business goals, and engineering execution. His expertise lies in driving design-led product strategy, building scalable design systems, and delivering user-centric digital experiences.
Previously, Deepak played a pivotal role at Freecharge, where he helped scale the platform into a full-stack fintech ecosystem, including neo-banking and payment gateway solutions. He also led design initiatives at Rooter Sports Technologies, a platform used by over 10 million sports fans in India. Beyond his corporate roles, Deepak actively mentors designers and product managers, supporting career growth and capability building.
Invite Deepak for conferences, leadership summits, executive offsites, and curated forums.
Manish is a Senior Software Engineer with 17+ years of expertise in SWIFT, cross-border payments, and low-value payments, with deep proficiency in ISO 20022, SEPA, and digital transformation. He has excelled in roles such as Solution Designer, Business Analyst, and Subject Matter Expert, driving impactful projects like Lloyds Banking Group's migration to a strategic payment engine and UniCredit's Global Payments System rollout. Manish has partnered with leading financial institutions, including Lloyds, UniCredit, Swedbank, Citibank, and Barclays, delivering cutting-edge payment solutions that optimize efficiency and reduce costs. His accomplishments include leading SEPA Credit Transfer implementations across Central Eastern Europe and HVPS+ migrations at Mizuho Bank. With a Lean Six Sigma-driven approach to process improvement, Manish has achieved significant gains in workflow efficiency and cost reduction. Passionate about fintech innovation, he seeks to connect with peers to drive transformative change.
Neelesh Gupta is a Product and Payments professional with over seven years of experience in banking and financial services. Currently a Senior Product Manager in Digital Banking, he specializes in credit cards, payments banks, digital journeys, and subscription-based financial products.
Neelesh has led innovative consumer propositions across lending, wealth, and payments portfolios, driving revenue growth and customer engagement. His expertise spans credit cards, Digigold, CASA portfolio management, app and web redirection journeys, and flagship subscription offerings.
Known for his structured approach and portfolio optimization skills, Neelesh consistently delivers scalable, user-centric solutions in complex banking environments. His work continues to shape the evolution of digital banking and financial platforms.
Invite Neelesh Gupta for sessions on digital banking innovation, payments strategy, and product-led growth.
There are so many enticing Fintech speakers just waiting to speak at your next event. Bringing a top speaker or expert to your event can be a game changer. Whether it is inspiring, engaging life stories or driving change within your organisation or institution. Connect with Best Fintech speakers & leaders through Indian Speaker Bureau; a platform where leading organisations partner for their business conferences and events – via keynote presentations, cross-industry interactions, inspirational and leadership sessions.
