TiE Women Global Pitch Competition

Karunjit Kumar Dhir is Executive Vice President - APAC & ANZ at AIONOS, where he leads the expansion of enterprise AI platforms across Australia, ASEAN, and the Asia-Pacific region. Over two decades, he has built and scaled technology-driven organizations across multiple markets, with experience in aviation, telecommunications, financial services, logistics, healthcare, and hospitality sectors. His work focuses on enterprise operating models, AI-native platforms, and regulated industry implementation across the Asia-Pacific region.

Mohit Sharma is founder and executive chairman of Mindfields Consulting. With 25 years of experience at Deloitte, PwC, and Ernst & Young in Sydney, he has worked on strategy, corporate finance, and risk management projects for major Australian and global financial services companies, as well as mining and other industries. His expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, business process reengineering, transformation initiatives, and knowledge process outsourcing, and he contributed to a KPMG global report on financial services knowledge-process outsourcing.

Nandan Thakar is co-founder and CEO of Optimizer365, a cloud optimization platform serving Azure, AWS, and Microsoft 365 environments. He has founded or co-founded three companies spanning cloud operations, construction technology, and AI consulting, and serves as an advisor to organizations implementing cloud, AI, and security initiatives. His work focuses on infrastructure lifecycle management, cloud cost reduction, security improvement, and translating operational complexity into actionable decisions for CIOs and leadership teams.

Neil Saligrama is founder and CEO of Compare & Connect, an Australian comparison and connection platform established in 2014 that serves residential and small-to-medium enterprise customers across energy, broadband, life insurance, and health insurance sectors. Under his leadership, the company has raised over $20 million in funding, grown to approximately 200 employees at its Melbourne headquarters, and expanded into New Zealand through the acquisition of Fast Connect. Saligrama holds a Master's degree in Electronics Engineering from RMIT University and is a member of the Young Presidents Organisation; he currently serves as a board member at Amsterdam Flames.

Prakash Gupta is founder and CEO of TechnoSource Australia, which provides barcode, RFID, IoT, and asset tracking solutions to businesses in Australia and New Zealand. With over 40 years of technology and business operations experience, he advises clients on digital transformation initiatives aimed at reducing costs and automating workflows. Gupta serves as treasurer of the Australia India Business Council Victoria Chapter and as a board member of TiE Melbourne, where he engages in mentorship and cross-border business development activities.

Sandeep Khurana is the founder and director of 3i Strategy. He has experience developing go-to-market strategies across multiple geographies and building profitable operations at companies ranging from startups to global enterprises. He has also led large-scale transformation programs focused on digital and operational optimization.

Third-generation entrepreneur and former corporate leader at ANZ, EY, and Lufthansa who has supported over 600 early-stage founders including 250+ women across Australia and Asia. She lectures at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Business School and authored Start Right.

Serial tech entrepreneur who has co-founded six ventures since 2000, four of which were acquired by major Australian healthcare companies, and is a published author and advocate of conscious entrepreneurship.

Sharbani Dhar is the Founder and CEO of DotInfinity, a firm focused on assisting organizations with growth across Australia and Asia through product strategy, AI-enabled innovation, and market commercialization. She leads cross-border initiatives including India–Australia delegations, manufacturing transformation programs, and the Australia–India Innovation Corridor, working with universities, corporates, and startups on market entry and ecosystem development. Previously, Dhar led Design Operations at Australia Post, where she oversaw national customer experience programs in accessibility, parcel tracking, and service innovation.

Founder and CEO of Aurora Early Education and President of TiE Melbourne with more than 25 years of senior financial and business advisory experience at Time Warner, IBM, and HCL Technology.

Som Ganchoudhuri is Co-founder and CEO of AI Palette, a Singapore-headquartered artificial intelligence startup that applies AI technology to the consumer packaged goods and food and beverage industries to deliver market insights and product development support. Under his leadership, AI Palette scaled to over 100 employees, expanded operations across five continents, and partnered with Fortune 500 companies before a successful acquisition. Prior to founding AI Palette, Ganchoudhuri spent over a decade in sales and strategy roles with major FMCG brands, and has co-authored a book on new product development for the food industry; he is a frequent speaker at international food technology and business conferences.

Stephan Kantharajah is a dentist and multi-site practice owner who co-founded Restocq, a procurement platform serving dental practices in Australia and the US. Restocq consolidates purchasing across 30+ suppliers and over 585,000 products, addressing fragmentation that practice owners typically manage through multiple vendor relationships and spreadsheets. Kantharajah continues to practice dentistry and operate practices alongside his role leading the company.

Suchin Venkataram is an AI Strategy & Platform GTM leader for APJ at Boomi with over 20 years of experience across AWS, Workday, Oracle, and Infosias, as well as founder of stratnxt. He advises executives and boards on AI strategy, enterprise value creation, and large-scale transformation programs, with a track record of delivering over $800M in business impact.

Sud Setia is the founder and investor of FUTURX Investment Group, which assists professionals in building property portfolios and acquiring businesses to generate passive income. Through FUTURX, he has helped over 90 families purchase multiple properties across Australia and achieve approximately $17 million in equity growth over a 20-month period. Prior to founding FUTURX in 2024, Setia spent 17 years in corporate roles with major Australian banks, mining, and technology firms across multiple countries, and has over 15 years of personal property investment experience, currently holding seven residential properties worth $8.2 million.

Alok Kulkarni is Chairman and Co-Founder of Cyara, a contact centre software company. He has held roles across research engineering, consulting, professional services, pre-sales, sales, and executive leadership. His experience spans innovation, commercialization, new venture creation, and software engineering across the telecommunications, software, and IT sectors.

Ashutosh Raina is CEO of KPPro, an IT and digital services firm specializing in web and mobile applications for small and medium businesses, and serves as a trustee at Samarth and founder of Jivah and Kenocx. With a computer science degree and approximately 20 years of industry experience across the USA, Czech Republic, UK, ASEAN, and Australia, he has held roles in business operations, account management, project management, and global client relations. His background includes establishing offshore software development operations for multinational organizations and managing various engagement models across multiple geographies.

Bipin Manuel is Managing Director at SV BNE Studio & Labs, a corporate venture studio with engineering capabilities aligned with an investment company in Australia and partnerships in the US. He has held roles as counsel, operating manager, and founder across multiple venture cycles. The studio commercializes and accelerates technology ventures through cohort-based programs, corporate partnerships, and a dedicated corporate venture capital entity focused on pre-seed and seed-stage Australian technology companies across sectors including semiconductors, software, communications, healthcare, and infrastructure.

Chandan Miskin is founder and CEO of Alphaleo, an enterprise consulting firm specializing in Salesforce CRM, Vlocity, and data and AI solutions across Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. With over 24 years of CRM consulting experience and approximately 20 years in the Salesforce ecosystem, he has held roles spanning strategy, practice building, sales, and account management. Prior to founding Alphaleo, he served as Head of the Salesforce practice for the Asia-Pacific region at Infosys, where he led sales, practice development, and partnerships with Salesforce and its ISV ecosystem.

Executive Director of TiE Melbourne with experience across SaaS, health and wellness, agriculture, logistics, and recruitment, holding an MBA and a Master of Applied Linguistics, who runs the chapter's programs and events.

Gurpal Singh is a principal and director at Saundh, Singh & Smith Lawyers, a firm with over 17 years of experience providing legal services in corporate law, commercial litigation, family law, insolvency and bankruptcy, and private international law. The firm specializes in serving non-resident Indians and handles complex litigation, due diligence, and cross-border transactions.

Mouli Ganguly is a director and principal at Ganguly & Associates with experience spanning film, theater, and business advisory. He has worked with major Australian and international corporations and technology companies in areas including AI and data transformation, and has been involved in theatrical productions across 40 plays. He directed and produced "My Melbourne," an anthology released in Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji, with distribution in India.

Dr. Namita Gupta is an implant and cosmetic surgeon with over 21 years of dental industry experience who co-founded Restocq, a dental procurement and practice operations platform. She owns multiple dental practices and serves as an examiner and lecturer for implant dentistry programs at the University of Sydney and The Implant Institute in Perth. Gupta holds board positions with the Desai Foundation and serves as Vice President of TiE Melbourne.

Dr. Peter Kambouris holds a Ph.D. in Astrochemistry/Organic Chemistry from the University of Queensland and brings over 20 years of experience in research commercialization and innovation strategy. He currently serves as Director of Investment and Technology Scouting at Element Zeta and holds non-executive positions including founder of First Market, with expertise spanning biotechnology, technology transfer, and research-to-market acceleration. His work includes involvement with CSIRO initiatives such as the Lean LaunchPad framework and the Australian Vaccine Pipeline, and he serves as an industry advisor at the University of Queensland and Griffith University.

Rahul Kumar is founder and principal of Allied Legal, a Melbourne-based legal practice serving startups, SMEs, and corporates. The firm provides legal services across commercial contracts, business law, corporate governance, M&A, intellectual property, fundraising, and dispute resolution, among other areas, with a focus on transparent and flexible fee arrangements. Allied Legal serves clients across professional services, technology, e-commerce, renewable energy, construction, and other industries.

Rajiv Dhar is a Director at Joyce Foam Pty Ltd with engineering credentials from IIT Kanpur and an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. He has held senior leadership roles across multiple continents, including Chief Executive of a Hong Kong trading company, and has directed business units in sales, marketing, and software for technology and engineering firms. His experience encompasses business creation, international acquisitions, and expansion into new markets across Asia, Africa, and the United States.

Russell Merz is an industry executive and engineering consultant with over 35 years of experience across mining, oil & gas, land development, and infrastructure sectors. He has led technical organizations in water engineering, environmental consulting, and mining services across North America and Asia. His background includes managing international multidisciplinary teams on sustainable engineering solutions, implementing organizational change initiatives, and serving as a subject matter expert on independent technical review panels.

Saby Bhattacharya is Group CEO and Director of GiF Group of Companies, which includes Get it Fast, M3 Logistics, GIF Marketing Solutions, and Onetracket Technologies. He has established and managed supply chain and operations across multiple regions including Australia, USA, New Zealand, and several Asian markets, with expertise spanning sourcing, logistics, inventory management, trade compliance, and technology implementation. His background includes work across B2B retail, B2C retail, and e-commerce sectors, with focus on strategic planning and operational leadership.

Shailesh Panday is Enterprise Lead at NCS Group Australia, overseeing operations across the Financial Services, Health, Transport, Industrial, and Consumer sectors. He brings over 25 years of experience in IT services, with background spanning Financial Services, Telecom, and Resources industries, managing service portfolios, consulting engagements, systems integration, and outsourcing contracts. His focus centers on developing competitive positioning in the Australian IT services market and client value delivery.

Shaishav Patel is Founder and Director of Capital Intellect Services, a technology consulting and corporate advisory firm that works with tech-driven businesses. He serves as an Advisory Board Member at TechnoSmart AI and has over 25 years of experience in investing, mergers and acquisitions, IT consulting, enterprise architecture, and systems engineering.

Swaroop Kaushik is Chief Executive Officer of JAGA WORKSPACES, a provider of customizable office solutions. He holds a background in business management and hospitality management, with education from the London School of E-Commerce. Kaushik also serves as President of the Australia India Business Council's Canberra Chapter.

Vikas Parakh is a Managing Director at Deloitte with over 12 years of experience leading transformation projects across Financial Services, Technology, Government, Telecom, and Utilities sectors. His expertise spans business and operating model strategy, customer journey design, agile and waterfall delivery methodologies, product management, and open banking solutions. He has built high-performing teams and delivered solutions to complex business and technology challenges within large matrix organizations.