Keynote Speakers

Sujatha has been instrumental in positioning Wabtec to support India’s dynamic rail industry. She has spearheaded the profitable growth of Wabtec Corporation in India to make it one of the largest rail technology companies in the country with more than $500M in revenue, 2800 employees, and 3 Million Sqft of operational footprint across India. Wabtec today sells diesel Locomotives, brake and power collection systems for electric locomotives, brake systems, couplers, passenger access doors, friction products, etc for passenger coaches in mainline and metro applications.

Sujatha Narayan has received numerous leadership awards within Wabtec and the external rail fraternity. Recently, she was honored with the second annual International Railway Journal (IRJ) Women in Rail Award. The publication recognized her and 15 other remarkable women from across the globe for the significant impact they are making on the railway industry.

In a country where diversity in the rail industry is low, Sujatha is highly respected by customers, suppliers, and employees. As one of a small handful of female industry leaders, Sujatha Narayan inspires women across India. Sujatha is also a flag bearer of philanthropy and continually supports and promotes social causes in her personal and professional capacity.

Dr. Narayan holds a Master's PhD in Polymer Science and engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and a BTech Degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. After a 20-year stint in R&D developing new technology and products, she moved to the business side and has run businesses for the last 10 years.

Irina Ghose is the Managing Director of Microsoft India, with the responsibility to engage with industry verticals across Microsoft’s solution areas, underscored by artificial intelligence. Irina focuses on driving innovation and digital transformation for customers in India to shape market-making engagements, create new engines of growth and deliver on core business outcomes.

A Microsoft veteran of over two decades, Irina has held a variety of Strategy and Sales leadership roles across Enterprise, Solution Sales, Partner Solutions, and Education segments. In her previous role as the Chief Operating Officer of Microsoft India, she was focused on the end-to-end operations, go-to-market strategies and drove one of the largest world-class sales enablement programs.

She is an Electrical Engineer from IIT BHU and an MBA from XLRI. A proponent of Women in Business and Technology, she is a recipient of the ‘Inspirational Women’s Award’ at Microsoft and ‘Distinguished Alumnus Award’ from IIT BHU and XLRI. A marathon runner and a strong champion of Diversity & Inclusion, she is the founder of ‘MyLittleBit’, a philanthropic foundation, focusing on education and jobs for underprivileged girls. She’s actively engaged with ‘Microsoft for Startups’ and as a Trustee of SonderConnect, a foundation for women entrepreneurs.