H.E. Ambassador Dr Ahmed Al Banna

Former Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to India

Dr Ahmed Al Banna, brings a wealth of experience owing to an illustrious career spanning more than three decades in the private sector.

Having joined the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in 2013, he has held numerous significant positions within the Ministry, notably including that of Director of Department of Economic Affairs (2013-2014), Director of the Department of African Affairs (2014- 2016), and, most recently, Ambassador of the UAE to India (2016-2022). Prior to joining the Ministry, he has held several key positions at the Dubai Quality Group (Chairman), Dubai Chamber of Commerce &   Industry (Deputy Director General), Dubai Expo 2020 and Dubai Rent Committee.

Over the course of his career, Dr AI Banna has developed expertise in two key areas: developing business strategies and international economic affairs. As regards the latter, he has participated in the negotiations of various free trade agreements, notably in the GCC-EU EFTA and was a part of the UAE National Committee for the World Trade Organization. He has also participated in the technical drafting committees on Commercial Law, Intellectual Property law, and Company's Law.

Dr AI Banna uses his superior management skills, economic and soft diplomacy tools adeptly in forging the bilateral relations, acquired through the vast and valuable experience gained in the private sector and quasi government entities.

As for his professional affiliations, he was the Assistant Coordinator General of 2003 Annual Meetings of the Boards of Governors of the World Bank Group, International Monetary Fund, held in Dubai; Board member in the Arab Union for International Exhibition & Conferences (AUIEC} and the Assistant General for Media {1999-present); Member of GCC - EU subcommittee; member of Economic committees of the UAE - Canada and the UAE - Finland; Member and Coordinator of the Trade and Economic Committees of Dubai - UK and Dubai - Iran, to name a few.

Ambassador AI Banna obtained a Doctorate degree in International Economics and WTO Agreements and a Master's in Business Administration Degree from the University of Hull, in Yorkshire, England, after graduating from the American University, in Washington DC, United States of America.

An avid reader and a passionate traveller, he is married with three children.

Nikhil Kamath

Co-Founder & Chief Investment Officer, Zerodha & True Beacon

Nikhil’s career began when he dropped out of school, with a mettle to recreate and disrupt the system, which at that time, looked like selling used mobile phones, not what most 16-year-olds usually did.

At 17, his journey as an equities trader commenced with penny stocks and derivatives, which were seed funded by his call centre job of selling insurance to UK clientele. Following this, he co-founded Kamath Associates with his brother at the age of 19 and thus began their venture into managing High Net Worth Individual portfolios in public markets.

In 2010, the brothers co-founded Zerodha – A Stock Broking platform intended to revolutionize the Indian financial market access by adopting a transparent, ultra-low fee model and a proprietary tech-driven strategy. Soon after, Zerodha garnered 10 million users and now stands as the country’s largest retail brokerage platform – a generous 18% of India’s daily equity volume.  Sown and harvested in Asia’s IT Hub, Namma Bengaluru, this bootstrapped start-up has grown to a current valuation of over 5 billion USD. Zerodha holds NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) status and soon-to-start AMC operations (Asset Management Company) focused on Mutual Funds for the retail audience.

In 2016, Nikhil co-founded Rainmatter, a Bangalore-based incubator for Fintech start-ups (such as Smallcase, Sensibull, Digio etc.), providing them with well-equipped workspaces, mentorship and capital. Through Rainmatter, Nikhil also invests in popular start-ups such as The Whole Truth, CRED, Jupiter, Omnipresent (drone start-up) and more. Through Rainmatter Foundation, he supports fellowships and organizations that work towards climate change, focusing on reforestation, ecological regeneration and livelihoods.

In September 2019, Nikhil co-founded True Beacon, a client-aligned asset management initiative with a disruptive zero-standing-fee model for HNIs/UHNIs. In its first year of operation, the flagship fund, ‘True Beacon One,’ achieved an annualized return of 29.7%, outpacing the Indian stock market benchmark by 26.6%, thereby making its mark-et history.

Nikhil Kamath continues to equip himself as India’s leading change-maker across diverse sectors. He co-founded a new venture in 2020 with Abhijeet Pai – Gruhas, a prop-tech fund aimed at bringing innovation in real estate and carbon.

Owed to his continued efforts to success, Nikhil went on to receive recognition in the form of various awards from leading publishers and platforms. Forbes granted him the title of India’s Youngest Billionaire as a part of the Forbes India Rich List.

Nikhil also carries the distinction of being one of the youngest philanthropists in the country and has pledged a minimum of 25 per cent of his net worth to charity. He works towards this goal by founding and representing as a board member of various charity organizations, like Dasra and YIPP to name a few.

Recently, he was appointed to the board of UVCE (University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering), the oldest government-backed education institute in Karnataka, aiding him to carry out better his plans towards improving basic standard education in the State.

A standing example of perseverance meets progress, Nikhil Kamath has gained and established credibility to inspire and equip the youth and elderly to keep up the spirit of aspiration of a better India.

Zubin Jal Karkaria

Founder & CEO, VFS Global

In 2001, Zubin Jal Karkaria conceptualised and set up VFS Global – as an outstanding example of disruptive innovation – providing outsourced visa and consular services for governments.  He has led the company to become a global leader in its space within 4-5 years of its inception, and today it is the trusted partner of 66 governments whom it serves across 140+ countries. He was also the CEO of the Switzerland-headquartered Kuoni Group (of which VFS Global was a part) globally from 2015 until 2017 when the Group was split-up into stand-alone businesses following its privatisation. VFS Global, a truly ‘made in India’ company, is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland and Dubai, UAE, and is a portfolio company of Blackstone, the world’s largest alternative asset manager.  Zubin has an outstanding record as an entrepreneur and economic value creator.

Eman Abdulrazzaq

Group Chief Human Resource Officer, Emirates NBD

In January 2020, Eman Abdulrazzaq was appointed as the Group Chief Human Resource Officer and member of EXCO of Emirates NBD Group. She also serves on the Board of ENBD Egypt S.A.E. Eman has been instrumental in leading a dynamic and proactive working practice cultural change as well as driving Future Skills development to reskill and build out an agile workforce that can embrace the developing digital landscape.

Prior to joining ENBD, Eman worked at HSBC Bank Middle East Limited as Regional Head of Human Resources, Strategy and Planning and Chief of Staff for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey. She started her career with HSBC originally as a Corporate Banker before moving to Human Resources.  When her role at HSBC expanded to include Chief of Staff and Strategy and Planning, she was leading on the delivery of a number of strategic programs with a focus on growth acceleration to deliver increased business and revenue growth. Globally connected, Eman also worked in close partnership with Senior Management in the HSBC Group to manage M&A transactions in the region as well as successfully drive growth across the region, enhanced by her ability to build strong external stakeholder, customer, and regulatory body relationships.

Eman sits on the board of Emaar Properties PJSC and Dubai Refreshment P.J.S.C. Eman was the Chairperson of the UAE Banks Federation (UBF) HR Committee and has worked closely with regulators and central banks on introducing sound remuneration policies across several markets.

Sunil Kaushal

Regional CEO, Africa & Middle East, Standard Chartered Bank

Sunil Kaushal is the Regional Chief Executive (CEO) of Standard Chartered Bank for Africa & Middle  East (AME). He assumed the leadership of the 25-countries regional business of Standard Chartered  Bank in AME on 1st October 2015.

Sunil is also a member of the Bank’s Management Team, the most senior executive forum of the Bank which drives the strategy and key decision making for the Bank.

Prior to this, he was regional CEO South Asia, responsible for Standard Chartered Bank’s operations in South Asia (which includes India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal).

Sunil has over 34 years of banking experience in diverse markets and has been with the Bank for  approximately 24 years, holding senior roles across the Wholesale and Consumer Bank. He has rich  experience across the Group’s footprint, having served as the Head of Corporate Banking in UAE, Head of Originations and Client Coverage in Singapore, Global Head Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) and New Ventures in Singapore and CEO of SCB (Taiwan) Ltd.

Before joining Standard Chartered in 1998, Sunil held various banking positions at a number of leading international financial institutions.

Sunil holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bombay University, India and qualified as a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Sunil has also attended general management courses at Harvard Business School, INSEAD, Oxford University, and London Business School.

Sunil is a Singapore National of Indian origin and is based in Dubai. He is married with two children.