In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Ashoka University
Plot No. 2, Rajiv Gandhi Education City, Kundli, Post Office Rai, Near Rai Police Station, Sonepat, Sonepat, Haryana 131028
Sonepat, Haryana, 131028
India

Arnav Mohan Gupta

If Arnav’s desktop screen is to be believed, he’s an almost writer, a waiting for inspiration painter, a many times nearly out there entrepreneur, a sky pictures only photographer, a still learning coder, a really really hopeful singer, a pretty terrible journalist, a hidden gem in stand up comedy, and only recently, a first time TEDx speaker.

Debayan Gupta

Debayan currently teaches computer science at Ashoka. He also holds visiting faculty and research affiliate positions at MIT and MIT-Sloan. He is a voracious reader, a competent carpenter, and is deeply interested in innovative teaching techniques. Before coming to Ashoka, Debayan held an Extraordinary Faculty position in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT, where he taught courses like 6.042, 6.006, and 6.046. He has a PhD from Yale (under Prof. Joan Feigenbaum), and a bachelor's degree from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata. Debayan's primary areas of interest include secure computation, cryptography, and privacy. He occasionally dabbles in number theory, complexity theory, robotics, and machine learning (and, on rare occasions, economics). Debayan has helped start a number of companies in India and abroad, and as such, holds board positions in various start-ups. He also consults for and advises companies on cybersecurity, helping c-suite individuals understand and mitigate cyber-risk.

Lathika Pai

Lathika is the founder of SonderConnect, an organisation that discovers, empowers and promotes women entrepreneurs looking to scale their business and raise funds through targeted mentoring and a robust, supportive community of executives, leaders and founders. In less than 2 years, SonderConnect has run 4 cohorts, mentoring over 51 Female Founders from India & Sri Lanka, out of which 5 have raised Seed to Series B funding, 12 are in the process of raising funding and 15 are working towards establishing sustainable business models before raising funds. She currently serves as the Managing Director at Microsoft for Startups, based in India, and plays an integral role in the Scaleup Program where she mentors and engages with several powerful tech-based startups through providing sales, marketing, and technical expertise. As a serial entrepreneur herself, Lathika successfully raised capital for her ventures both through equity and debt funding, as well as provided profitable exits to her investors.

Maya Mirchandani

Maya Mirchandani is Assistant Professor of Broadcast Journalism and Media Studies at Ashoka University. For nearly three decades, she was a practicing journalist with NDTV, reporting on Indian foreign policy, conflict and national politics. Maya has won the prestigious Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism twice, the Red Ink Award for reporting on human rights as well as the Exchange for Media Broadcast Journalism Award for best international affairs reporting. More recently, Maya has been involved in research on ‘Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism’ (P/CVE) at the Delhi based think tank, Observer Research Foundation. Her research looks for ways to build counter narratives to prevent radicalization and extremist violence through dialogue and community intervention. The analysis of hate speech and the impact of counter speech messaging on social media is also a core focus of her research. Maya obtained degrees in History from Delhi University and Mass Communications from Sofia’s in Mumbai. She also received a post-graduate Diploma in World Politics from the London School of Economics in order to guide and better inform her international affairs reportage. She continues to be an active journalist and media commentator with regular columns and a weekly video blog called Wide Angle with Maya Mirchandani for TheWire.in where she debates and discusses issues of foreign policy, national security and human rights.

Naman Bhatnagar

What do a garbage disposal crisis in a Haryana village and empathy have in common? Naman Bhatnagar, a psychology student at Ashoka University, believes that empathizing with people is essential to successfully framing and solving problems facing businesses and society today. Naman has experimented with empathy in a variety of situations. As an intern at Fulki Communications, an advertising agency, Naman earned a presenter role in client pitches by being able to get clients and media planners to understand and collaborate with each other. This, combined with his learnings and real-life application of Design Thinking made him adept at working the root of the problem instead of focusing on tried and tested solutions. Outside academics, Naman runs a baking society and likes to swim.

Samir Saraiya

Samir Saraiya is the pioneer of the sexual wellness industry in India. Before launching ThatsPersonal.com, Samir worked with leading companies like Microsoft, Yahoo! and Sumitomo Corporation. He was ranked amongst the Top 25 Most Talented E-commerce Professional in India by CMO Asia, while ThatsPersonal.com received an award for the ‘Most Innovative E-commerce Company’ by E-Tailing India. On the other side, he is also a keen sportsman having represented India in International Rugby tournaments.

Varsha Adusumilli

Varsha Adusumilli is the author of the bestselling book, Wonder Girls, which makes relatable role models accessible to young women in India. She studied Information Systems at BITS, Pilani – Goa, and then immersed herself in the world of start-ups. She was instrumental in setting up India’s pioneering seed fund called Kstart for Kalaari Capital (USD 650 million under management), which focuses on investing in disruptive technology start-ups. She was also one of the founding team members of the leading digital media platform YourStory, where she built and scaled many new initiatives from scratch alongside running client operations and services. Varsha is passionate about women, books, healthcare, and startups.