Chief Executive Officer

Kumar Rajagopalan is the CEO of Retailers Association of India (RAI). In his role at RAI, Kumar focusses on creating a positive trade environment for modern retail in India.

Over the recent years, Kumar has represented RAI as the voice of retailers in India, working with all levels of government and other industry stakeholders.

Kumar is also a Director with Retailers Association's Skill Council of India (RASCI), a member of the ONDC Advisory Committee and an Independent Director on Board with Aeon Credit Service India Private Limited.

Kumar brings with him over 30 years of profound knowledge and business experience, having worked as the Country Head - Retail Solutions at IBM. His responsibility included leading the business and solution development functions as well as closely working across the brand teams of IBM to define and execute the overall sales and thought leadership strategy for IBM India.

Kumar has also worked as the Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of 'Crossword Book Stores'. He started his career in retail with Shoppers Stop Ltd, where he worked for 13 years. During his tenure at Shoppers Stop, he shouldered varied responsibilities including: Head of Finance and Systems, Head of Operations, Head of Buying and Merchandising for Non-apparels, Head of Concessions, and Head of a venture called 'Bargains'.

Kumar is associated with various organisations and industry bodies that help and promote retail. He is also a visiting faculty at various business institutes and a sought-after contributor to leading magazines and newspapers as an authority on all things retail.

A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Kumar has specialised in management consulting, taxation, audit and corporate matters at the start of his career

Over the years, he has witnessed success by taking up functions that require start-up or turn-around skills.

VM Head
Akash is an award-winning designer and a seasoned retail professional with 15 years of experience in merchandising, buying, visual merchandising and store design. A graduate from NIFT, he went on to study business from IIM Kozhikode. With Landmark group he has worked closely on the brand imagery of licensed and private label brands. And now oversees the visual merchandising and store experience of the fashion department format – Lifestyle.

In the year 2019 – he was Awarded Designer Dozen, and recognized as a retail revolutionary by VMSD/ ST media during International Retail Design Conference (IRDC) in Boston. The first such recipient of the award of Indian nationality. Amongst others he was also recognized as the Leader of the Year at Lifestyle in 2020. Which speaks of the way he has developed, enabled and empowered the team working with him.

He is currently working on innovate projects and infusing digital/ interactive elements to enhance customer experience.

Project Director- EuroShop & EuroCIS

Digital Marketing Specialist

Creative Director- Retail & Brand Experience
An alumnus of Rachna Sansad, Gerry flagged off his career with prestigious spatial design assignments in Oman and successfully launched an independent Design Consultancy before aligning with Elephant – India’s premier design agency.

As Creative Director, he leads a bubbly squad of Environment Designers who excel in pushing the envelope to conceptualize and flawlessly deliver customer-happy brand and retail experiences.

Transforming diverse environments for independent and established brands like Mahindra Classic Legends, HCCB, Axis Bank, Amazon, Titan, Uber, Suzlon, Firefox, IBO, among others, has inspired and augmented the team’s versatility to adapt to mercurial scenarios, with adrenaline highs, and a few noteworthy awards along the way.

For Gerry, designing is much like an adventure trip. A designer needs to plan but embrace the unexpected, tread the road less travelled, listen, with purpose and empathy to gather new stories along the way, unpack the undesirable and go the extra mile. Then, sit back and enjoy the view, till the next design adventure begins.

Group CEO
Rajiv Nair is the Group CEO of Kaya Limited which has over 100 dermatology clinics in India & the Middle East. Kaya is India's best & largest Dermatology Chain & is promoted by Mr. Harsh Mariwala (Chairman of Marico & Kaya Limited). Kaya also retails its range of Expert Skin Care and Hair Care products through its Clinics & Ecommerce Channels like Nykaa, Amazon and Flipkart. Kaya Clinics are State of the Art Dermatology centres with over 100 Qualified Dermatologists and Global US FDA approved Technology in Dermatology. Kaya also have an AI powered D2C website through which we sell our products and provide expert skin analysis.

Rajiv's growth story in retail started as a Retail Management Trainee at Shopper Stop Limited learning the ropes of managing a store from the shop floor & the back office. He spent over 18 years in the Shoppers Stop Group in various leadership positions. He has played multiple leadership roles in Buying & Merchandising, Retail Operations, Brand Management, Private labels development. His last role at the Shoppers Stop was as the as Business Head (Trading Head) for Women’s & Kidswear. He launched the brand Mothercare in India which is UK's largest brand for Babies & Mothers- to- be & oversaw its initial years of expansion. He moved on from the Department store business to the Hypermarket brand Hypercity (also then part of Shoppers Stop Limited), where he was the Business Head for General Merchandise & Apparel.

After a long stint in large format Department stores & Big box Hypermarkets, Rajiv assumed the role of CEO of the brand Celi, which is the largest brand of menswear in France. He led the expansion of this brand in India for 5 years & worked closely with the parent company in France.

Rajiv is an active participant in Industry bodies like the RAI and is the Co-Chair for Beauty & Wellness at FICCI. He is also in the Retail committee of CII along with other leaders of the Industry which works for advocacy with the state and central government.

Rajiv has a Master’s degree in Management from NMIMS (University of Mumbai). He also has a PGPMAX degree (EMBA) from the Indian School of Business.

Sr Consultant Retail Experience | Lead Strategy & Development,
4Dimensions Retail Design
Experience of over 2 decades in Retail Strategy, Experience Design, Store Planning & Design, Marketing, Visual Merchandising, Phy-gital Engagement Design, Coaching, Writing and Speaking at national and international events. Held senior positions as Executive Vice President Brand Experience, Marketing, Store design, VM & Rollout at leading retailers/brands like Shoppers Stop, Reliance Retail and Mahindra Retail.

Business Head
Anuradha has over 20 years of experience in CX, Customer Relationship Management, Omni channel retail operations and designing experience for retail spaces.

She is currently heading the Modular Kitchen Business, Trade marketing and consumer insights for IFB Industries. In her earlier roles she has worked with Future Group, Revlon, Timex and Shoppers Stop.

 

She is an economics graduate from Delhi University and later went to NIFT New Delhi to get a design qualification.

She firmly believes that CX is not just science, it is art and science both.

General Manager & Head- Retail Marketing & Visual Merchandising Raymond Ltd
Shradha is the General Manager & Head- Retail Marketing & VM at Raymond. She has an experience of over 18+ years, in the field of retail marketing and visual merchandising. She has worked in major brands such as Aditya Birla Retail Ltd., Future Group, Shopper’s Stop and Opus Planet. She has received various prestigious accolades over the years. She also serves as a Mentor with Light House, a Akanksha based NGO, since 2016.

Head- Experience Design

Business Director- India & Middle East
Meenaz heads Business Development at SGK for India and Middle East region. With 16 years of progressive experience she is responsible for SGK’s growth in India and Middle East through its brand experience and packaging solutions. In the past she has been associated with KineticWW and Meru Cabs. From smaller organisations, to enterprises, she has the experience of working with clients across various verticals throughout her career. Leveraging her experiences she brings solutions from diverse perspectives, rather than just identifying problems.

Business Director- EIMEA & Managing Director

CEO
“Mahesh is a retail professional who has nearly 3 decades of rich experience in shouldering various leadership roles with the KK Birla group, Future group and Blowplast (DG Piramal group).His profile covers home retailing and workspace improvement, product to project management, destination marketing and brand launches. Mahesh works closely with over a hundred national and international brands and collaborates with design-led thinkers with a firm belief that Indian consumers are aspirational and progressive yet mindful and diligent. Mahesh has numerous accomplishments to his credit, ranging from launching modular kitchens in modern and organized chain retail to creating India’s first ‘fully multi-branded’ home retail concept driven by design and rolling out India’s first organized souk for home lifestyle products. He has been actively working with several design and retail institutions and is an invited speaker at various retail fora and institutions. He was recognised as one among India’s 50 most influential shopping center professionals in 2017. He is an avid researcher in the area of omnichannel retailing and holds a PhD in Marketing with his thesis centred on omnichannel retailing in India. He has also recently led the compilation of a thought-provoking ebook ‘#futureofhomes with insights from Industry captains on real-time strategies in handling the new normal. He firmly believes that the true vision of creating a home solutions destination is an evolving journey that will inspire the joy of creation to all customers being served.
His work mantra is ‘’chat, collaborate and co-create’’

Partner
Rajat has over 28 years of experience in CPG & Consulting. Prior to Deloitte, Rajat has worked with global consulting and CPG companies at senior management positions –KPMG India (S&O Practice, EMA Consumer Business Head, and India Head Consumer, Retail and Agrisectors), Indeed Strategy Consulting India (MD), Faces Cosmetics, Canada & India (COO & International President), Revlon Cosmetics, London (General Manager & EMA Head) and ITC Moscow (Sales Head).
His areas of specialization include Corporate Strategy, Route to Market and Entry strategy, Sales & Trade Marketing, Distributor Management, Shopper insights, Sales Force Effectivity & SFA.

Director Account Management
With over 15 years of experience in Finance, Technology and Education, Rashoo Kame, has been the Co-Founder of two startups and headed a SAAS Platform as Director India and Middle East for Customer Success.

A pioneer at incubating new ideas and businesses, Rashoo has been a key contributor to the growth of companies like ICICI Bank, Aditya Birla Money, Wooqer, Valyu.ai and CityBookLeaders. Having led an entrepreneurial stint she decided to foray back in the SAAS Industry, rejoining Wooqer to take on the odyssey to the next level.

She has been an Evangelist and Thought leader for Retailers across India and Middle East for enabling their businesses through DIY Technology. Having driven entrenched relationships with the likes of Adidas, Walmart, Westside, Majjaid-Al-Futtaim, HDFC Bank and many more she is a warehouse of best practices and case studies on how technology can become the backbone for Retailers. Customers adore her for the invaluable insights she brings to Simplifying and scaling work through digitization.

An MBA graduate in Marketing and Finance from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and a B.Tech graduate from Bharati Vidyapeeth. Her hobbies include Kathak, Classical Music, Fitness and Cooking. She thrives on exploring new things and books.

Creative Director
With over 20 years of industry experience, Kurnal began his career by co-founding Grandmother India – a pioneering move to start a branding and design agency at a time when the Indian market was cluttered with advertising houses.

From start-ups to corporates, Kurnal has successfully worked across a wide portfolio of industries - Aviation, Banking, Consumer Goods, Fashion & Lifestyle, Hospitality, Experience Centers & Workplace Design, Sports and Government initiatives.

Before returning to India in 2015 to join Landor, Mumbai, he had worked with StartJG and BrashBrands based in Dubai. Kurnal has worked with both - Landor and Fitch individually before the merger and is now the Creative Director for Landor & Fitch, India.

Creative Director
Arnab has 16+ years of experience in design and advertising across SEA and India – skilled in brand identity development, communication design, graphic design, packaging, art direction and strategic concept development.

Arnab is a multiple award winner at Indian & International award shows like Kyoorius, Abbys & One Show. He has been engaged in leadership roles in top-agency networks including Mcbarrybowen (Dentsu), Ogilvy, JWT, Brand Union and independent agencies working across clients such as Airtel, Coca Cola, Motorola, cure.fit, OLX, Netflix, Bacardi, Pernod Ricard, Pepsi, MAC Cosmetics, Kokuyo Camlin, TATA and Unilever.

His last stint before joining us was with Dragon Rouge in Singapore where he worked as Creative Director, with clients across the SEA region.

Founder & Managing Director
Niladri Mukherjee is a Product Design Entrepreneur from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.

Over the last three decades Niladri and Glue Design the company that he founded, has helped over 250 companies in India and abroad, in developing their Products and helping their Brands go-to-market.

His experience in Multi-branded FMCG and Lifestyle Retail has helped many companies gain substantial market share within a short period of time post launch.

He is serial innovator having developed complete product systems from the ground–up and has multiple Patents to his credit.

He is passionate about using creativity and design methods to address the unique and challenging needs of a young emerging economy like India. Over the last 8 years he has focused on the small independent retailer (unorganized Kiranas and Chemists) which is above 90% of the market, and created solutions to help them face challenges from on-line as well as offline organized retail.

He is passionate about using creativity and design methods to address the unique and challenging needs of a young emerging economy like India. Over the last 8 years he has focused on the small independent retailer (unorganized Kiranas and Chemists) which is above 90% of the market, and created solutions to help them face challenges from on-line as well as offline organized retail.

He is on the Board of advisors of several Design institutes and has headed the Delhi chapter of the Association of Designers of India (ADI).

Founder / Director / Principal Designer / Chairman
Hemant Sud is one of India’s leading Interior Designers and Project Management Consultants for the last over three decades (since 1984), based in New Delhi.

Hemant did his schooling from St. Columba’s School, New Delhi & has a B.Com.(Hons) & M.Com. degree from Delhi University. He also holds an LL.B. degree from the Law Faculty, Delhi University. His design skills as well as his services and project management knowledge is self-taught over the last 30 years.

Hemant is currently:
• Founder / Director / Principal Designer - ‘Abraxas Interiors’
• Founder / Director / Principal Designer - ‘Dimension Designers Pvt. Ltd’
• Founder / Chairman - ‘Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIIID-DRC)’

His collaborative, Abraxas Interiors (a unit of Abraxas Lifestyle LLP), is a professionally managed limited liability partnership which has been in the field of Interior Design, Project Management, Consultancy and Turnkey Interior Design Solutions since inception.

Hemant has won several accolades & has been honoured numerous times for his excellent & outstanding work in Interior Design. Hemant has been a Keynote speaker in several national and international seminars and has presented several papers on various topic of Interior Design, in the last over three decades. Hemant is a Guest Faculty / Guest Lecturer / External Jury for several renowned Design educational institutions in Delhi NCR & all over India.

Principal Architect
Upon completion of her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Smith College, USA, Nandini Sampat qualified as a solicitor from the college of Law, London. After working in India as a corporate lawyer, she decided to pursue her passion for design and change professions. She completed her Postgraduate Diploma in Architectural Interior Design from the prestigious Inchbald School of Design, London. Upon returning to Mumbai in 2007 she joined SNK Consultants. Thereafter, she completed her Bachelor of Architecture from Rizvi College of Architecture.

Nandini is involved in all aspects of the design, coordination and execution of projects. She continues to work closely with Brinda Somaya to ensure the continuity of the integrity and high quality of design and services offered by SNK. Her involvement includes master planning of projects ranging from institutional campuses and hotels to detailed design of museums and commercial spaces. Her expertise in research and concept design contributes in the development of original and innovative solutions that had been the hallmark of SNK over the past four decades. The inclusion of local Indian arts and crafts into contemporary works is another important aspect that Nandini continues to support and encourage within the firm. She has also been coordinating varying international collaborations of SNK with reputed foreign firms for various projects and represents the next generation that carries forward the work of SNK into the future.

Nandini had been on several competition and academic juries and panels. She has written for various magazines and journals on architecture and design, use of public spaces and other varied topics. Nandini is the award recipient of the IGEN (Innovation Generation) 50 award in June 2013, that felicitated the top 50 next generation architects and designers. In January 2020 Nandini was invited as a TEDx speaker at SIU Lavale, on the future of workplaces. Nandini is also on the prestigious list of India's Top 30 Architects - The Bold Club 2021, by Forbes India.

Partner
Amit Jadav is partner at Studio dxb with Ar kalhan. Ss well as founding principle of JAD studio.

Dxb is technology driven studio that delivers unique ecosystem of interior design solutions. Amit has successfully completed his education from University of Arts London and has practiced in one of the studios in London to understand the quality of project, work, and management. While he “dares to be different”, he’s absolutely clear on the practicality, feasibility and viability of solution.

Amit is a TEDx speak of Simsree Chapter. He’s being recognized as one of Top 50 Designers by IGen 2018 & Top & Most Creative Interior Design Firm of the year by National Architecture and Interior Design Excellence Award, 2020.

Amit is professionally affiliated with British Institute of Interior Designer as well as Indian institute of interior design.

Chairman-Elect Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) Delhi Regional Chapter;
Rishu did his bachelors in Economics from Delhi University, before realizing that this is not he would want to pursue his whole life. After realizing that he wanted to get into interior design. He did a diploma in Interior design in 2005, did internship for 3 years before starting his venture in partnership with 2 others, “Design Radiance Pvt. Ltd.” Later parted ways starting his solo venture “Twenty North”.

With the total experience of 15 years and numerable awards, Rishu Anand is running a successful practice and is one of the leading designers of the region.

Rishu believes in sustainable design and materials, trends that never go out of style. Since he is an ardent believer of green living, he tries to incorporate green spaces in his projects.

Apart from his design practice, He currently holds the position of Chairman Elect at Delhi Chapter of Institute of Indian Interior Designers.

Founder
Hasmukh Shah founder of the firm “Advance Designs and Lifestyle" ( ADL ) Based in Mumbai. The firm is practicing Architecture and Interior Design for more than 40 years having projects across India and few International projects.

Hasmukh Shah is a Member of Institute of Indian Interior Designers (IIID) for last 37 years. He is serving as a Chairman Mumbai Chapter. Which is the largest Chapter in India.

Founder and Principal Architect
Nishita Kamdar is the founder and principal architect of Studio Nishita Kamdar. After completing her Bachelors in Architecture (B.Arch) from Kamla Raheja Vidhyanidhi School of Architecture and Environmental studies (graduated in 2012), Mumbai she interned at MO-OF in Mumbai, Rast Architekten, Switzerland and as a junior architect at Architecture Brio (2012-2013)) and LAB Architects (2013- 2014) in Mumbai. She is also the Co- founder of POD Pieces of Desire, a bespoke furniture manufacturing company and JAR Designs, a home run bakery.

Managing Director
Subramonian is the Managing Director of Adtech Systems Ltd, headquartered out of Trivandrum. He graduated in Electronics Engineering from Karnataka University in the year 1984. After his graduation he joined a PC Manufacturing Company in Chennai as a trainee in the production of Apple Compatible PCs. In 1987 he joined M/s Transmatic Systems Ltd, Trivandrum as QC Engineer in the manufacturing of Electronic Telex, Hi speed Dot Matrix Printers. In 1991 he co-founded Adtech as a Public Limited Company. Adtech specialises in EAS (Antishop lifting systems), RFID, Display Security, Hi-accuracy Footfall Analytics, IP CCTV, ESL (Electronic Shelf Labelling).

Managing Partner
Adam has over 30 years’ experience within the creative industry as client services director for top UK design agencies, prior to founding The One Off in 2003 which is currently located in London, Derbyshire, and Mumbai. He has worked on global strategies with leading brands Nike, Walmart, Samsung and Frasers Group.

Adam has worked and presented at events with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office on trade missions to Asia and is a guest lecturer at Nottingham Trent University on Brand Communication and Retail.

Creative Director and Partner
Creative Partner focussed on creating global retail solutions that deliver brand engagement, growth, and increased revenue. Used to working across discipline but mainly focussed on 3D and digital design. Founding partner at The One Off and active board member.

Specialties: Branded environments, retail design, corporate interiors, trade exhibitions, events, museum and interactive design, retail graphics.

Studio Director
Rachna has over 22 years of experience and specializes in retail environment design, store planning and visual communication. She has worked on the concept and implementation of new formats for leading Indian retailers like Shoppers Stop, Piramyd Retail and Reliance Retail Ltd.

She has worked on a varied mix of works from airport luxury retailing to rural supermarkets, electronics to departmental stores, public service centre to kiosks, wayfinding for malls to residential complexes to create successful customer experiences.