Alan is the co-founder of HBM Advisory, which partners with news providers to help them maximise the value of their digital content. He advises publishers and other subscription businesses on aligning their content and product strategies for growth, paywall modelling, customer journeys, data insights and revenue development.
Clients have included The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, the Indian Express, The Scotsman and the Royal Opera House.
Avinash Mudaliar is the Co-Founder and CEO of HT Labs, a digital innovation hub driving product development across content, tech, and consumer experiences. Since 2020, he has led HT Labs in launching platforms like OTTplay, Slurrp, HT School, Mint Genie, and Upublish, covering sectors from OTT and FoodTech to FinTech and digital publishing.
Akanksha Saxena is an editor with Deutsche Welle’s Asia Desk and a roving storyteller with 15 years of journalism experience. From major international newsrooms—the BBC to TRT World, and now DW—she has brought powerful narratives to global screens, whether through longform documentaries or sharp investigative reports.
Chitranshu Tewari is the Product and Revenue Director at Newslaundry. Over the
organisation’s 13-year journey to disrupt the news media landscape, he has driven its growth from zero to a community of over 70,000 paying readers.
Christian Haneborg is responsible for Schibsted’s advertising revenues across channels and brands, while also overseeing VG’s affiliate strategy. This strategy represents the fastest-growing revenue stream for several European media houses today.
Chul Hong is VP of Supply and Enterprise Sales, APAC at Dailymotion, leading strategic growth across key markets in Asia-Pacific. With 7+ years in digital media and video ad tech, he helps publishers and platforms scale through innovation, partnerships, and monetization strategies.
Devika Mehta is a Deputy Editor at Jagran New Media, the digital arm of Dainik Jagran. With over 17 years of cross-platform experience in media across India and the US, Devika is working in the field of AI, media literacy and fact-checking. She has empowered over 5000 individuals, from journalists to citizens, to navigate evolving technology and combat online misinformation. A PhD candidate at Amity University, her research focuses on the crucial intersection of AI and Indian journalism, exploring how technology can bridge the existing skill gap.
Dr. Nishant, Product Head at Times Internet, India’s largest media conglomerate, is a trailblazer in the digital landscape. In his leadership, Times Internet developed first of its kind AI powered Content Management System Powering the largest newsroom across the globe which led Times Internet to be a World Class Newsroom.
Jai is a seasoned IT leader with a strong background in digital transformation, cloud strategy, cybersecurity, and IT operations across industries like BFSI, Healthcare, and Online Classifieds. He specialises in multi-hybrid cloud, AI/ML infrastructure, and security & compliance.
Janardan Pandey is the Resident Editor – Digital at PK Digital (Prabhat Khabar), where he plays a central role in shaping the company’s digital transformation. With over 14 years of experience in digital journalism, Janardan has been at the forefront of innovation in India’s media landscape.
Krishnamurthy Ramasubbu, Associate Editor, Dinamalar, has over 18 years of experience in the media industry. He has been primarily involved with print media. Currently he is involved in seed stage digital SBU initiatives for Dinamalar.
Louis Dreyfus is the CEO and Publisher of the French Groupe Le Monde. He is also President of Huffington Post France and leads the board of directors of weekly magazines Télérama and Courrier International. He is a board member of Agence France-Presse (AFP) and chairman of the supervisory board of news publisher Groupe Nouvel Observateur.
Mariam Mammen Mathew is the Chief Executive Officer of Manorama Online, the digital media operations of the Malayala Manorama company.
Established in 1888, Malayala Manorama has a daily circulation of 2.31 million and publishes over 40 publications. The group also runs Manorama News, a 24-hour news channel, Manorama Max, an entertainment channel, and Radio Mango, FM stations in Kerala.
Michael is a Marketing and Customer Strategist, NED and Board Advisor. He was previously Managing Director of Times Newspapers Ltd, responsible for the financial performance of The Times and The Sunday Times, and for defining and implementing brand strategies for long-term multi-platform growth.
Prior to running The Times and The Sunday Times, Michael was publisher and chief operating officer of The Economist. He joined the Economist Group in 2006 and has held a number of senior positions, including marketing director and managing director of circulation.
Mukesh Sharma has more than twenty years of rich and diverse experience as a journalist. Most of his career has been spent at BBC News, where he held various key roles that showcased his versatility and expertise. He has an impressive track record of delivering impactful journalism across different platforms and languages. As the India Digital Editor, Mukesh led digital content strategy and execution ensuring the expansion of the BBC’s digital presence in India into a high-performing and impactful operation.
Mr. Navaneeth, worked in Mindshare, Jakarta, Indonesia as leader of trading between March 2016 and May 2019 before coming back home to The Hindu Group as CEO from June 2019. For him, this represents homecoming: he served this organisation between 1998 and 2006 in a senior position in Advertising and Marketing.
Nirupama Subramanian is an independent journalist with over 36 years of experience in print media. She spent most of her career at two of India’s leading newspapers – The Indian Express and The Hindu. Today, she continues her work as a columnist for The Tribune, Deccan Herald, and Newslaundry, focusing mainly on South Asian affairs.
Pradeep Gairola is VP & Business Head for The Hindu Group. He has over 25 yrs of rich experience wherein he has been mostly associated with News and EdTech. Before joining The Hindu, he had worked on building subscription business for EdTech start-ups for about six years.
Pradyuman Maheshwari is a senior media professional with nearly 40 years of experience. He has held key roles at Mid-Day (as Editor and Head of Interactive Services), the Sakal group, DNA (as Senior Editor and Editorial Board member), Dainik Bhaskar online and The Indian Express amongst others. He is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of MxMIndia.com and is also Editor of SeniorsToday.in, a platform for senior citizens. He teaches journalism and communications.
Mr. Sriram is focused on creating high-impact digital products across the education, skill development and media sectors. In his role as the Chief Product Officer at The Hindu Group, he is also responsible for driving growth and engagement across the group’s products and for leading the transformation of the group into its digital-first future.
With over 16 years of experience in web and mobile application development, he brings deep expertise across a wide range of technologies and platforms. His skill set includes development on both Windows and Linux environments, with proficiency in PHP, MySQL, MongoDB, and Apache. He has strong front-end capabilities using HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Angular, and React, and extensive backend experience with Node.js and Redux.
Ram Ranjan Adhikari is a seasoned technology leader with over 27 years of experience at Neutral Publishing House Ltd (Prabhat Khabar). Beginning his career as a Computer Programmer, he has steadily grown to lead the IT and Production functions across the organization’s Print, Digital, and FM verticals. Under his leadership, the organization has undergone a significant technological transformation—from DOS-based systems to the integration of cutting-edge solutions, including Generative AI.
Rupa Jha is a highly driven media executive and editorial leader with over 20 years of experience at the BBC, in India, The UK and Nigeria. In April 2024, she co-founded Collective Newsroom alongside approximately 200 colleagues from the BBC, demonstrating her commitment to innovation and excellence in the media industry.
Sachin Kalbag is Editor-in-Chief of Mid-Day and is in charge of the organisation’s editorial strategy for print, online and social media. In his 31 years as a journalist, he has worked for The Hindu, Hindustan Times and the India Today Group in senior editorial roles. In the mid-2000s, he was stationed in Washington DC as foreign correspondent for Daily News & Analysis (DNA).
Sanjay Sindhwani, CEO, Indian Express Online Media Services, has over 29 years in the Media Industry primarily across Digital with earlier stints in Print and Television. At IEOMSL, Sanjay is responsible for driving business growth and strategy. He is leading the diversification of revenue streams by creating new SBUs like Subscriptions, Events and Digital TV for Indian Express, besides leading its expansion in new geographies with regional local language editions.
Santhosh George Jacob is the Coordinating Editor of Manorama Online, leading its content team with nearly three decades of experience in the digital space. A pioneer in digital journalism, he played a key role in establishing Manorama Online as one of India’s leading news websites, earning several international accolades, including the WAN-IFRA award for Best Newspaper Website.
A commerce graduate from Shri Ram College of Commerce Srini has been an integral part of the century-old Ananda Vikatan since 1990, a name synonymous with Tamil media. He is a dedicated fitness enthusiast and equally passionate on the tennis court and the 10K track.
Shelly Walia has been a journalist for more than 13 years – out of which nine have been spent in newsrooms of digital media companies. She’s currently the Executive Editor at the Indian digital-first media company, The Quint, where she closely interfaces with editors and reporters as well as the marketing team to strategise and execute successful membership campaigns, including daily and special newsletters. She’s keen to learn and understand ways to practise sustainable journalism in the digital era where editorial and product viability find the perfect balance.
Siddharth Varadarajan is Founder-Editor of The Wire. Founded in 2015, The Wire is India’s largest independent digital news and analysis platform with a reputation for investigative reporting and incisive coverage of events in India. He was earlier Editor of The Hindu, a multi-edition newspaper that has the second-highest circulation among India’s English dailies.
As Sales Director – Enterprise and Supply at Dailymotion, Shikha drives strategic growth and publisher partnerships in the Indian market. With over 10 years of experience in ad tech and the publisher ecosystem, she leads sales initiatives and manages key relationships with broadcasters and digital platforms. Her background in business consulting and team leadership empowers her to scale operations through innovation and collaboration.
With more than 10 years of experience in the online media publishing industry and digital marketing, Swapnil is responsible for spearheading the digital transformations of all digital content publishing properties at Sakal Media. He is an industry leader with knowledge and experience in the fields of digital transformation, digital content-based product development, digital product monetization, and digital marketing.
Subhamoy Chakraborti is the Chief Technology Officer at ABP Pvt Ltd. He is responsible for the overall IT strategy including Digital, Analytics, SAP, Infrastructure, and Information Security. Prior to ABP, Subhamoy worked with Magma Fincorp, Oracle, Wipro, Cognizant. He has consulted multiple Fortune 100 companies in his career of 20 years. Subhamoy has a keen interest in digital transformation programs, analytics, product engineering and cyber security. Subhamoy is a Senior Member of IEEE and is presently the Chairman of IEEE Communications Society Kolkata Chapter, and Chairman of IEEE Kolkata Industry Academia collaboration committee. Subhamoy is also associated with CII CDT and part of NASSCOM Security SIG.
Subhamoy completed BE from Jadavpur University and MTech (Computer Science) from Indian Statistical Institute. He has also attended Executive Education from Harvard Business School.
Suresh Sambandam is the Founder and CEO of Kissflow, a global SaaS leader with 10,000+ customers across 160 countries. Under his leadership, Kissflow has become a go-to platform for enterprises seeking to simplify work and fast-track their digital transformation through an intuitive blend of collaboration, coordination, and control.
Tarun Jain is a Product Head at The Quint, driving AI-led innovation across the newsroom. Spearheading the development of cutting-edge AI products that enhance user engagement, streamline content workflows, and power interactive journalism experiences.
