Technology's Thought Leaders Converge at Avasant's Empowering Beyond Symposium to Discuss Automation, AI, Blockchain and Beyond

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Global management consulting firm Avasant hosts its signature event, Empowering Beyond Symposium, at the National Union Building, Washington DC today. We look forward to engaging and learning from the leaders of the digital transformation revolution. The event will feature a curated selection of keynotes, panels, and fireside chats by:

• Kevin S. Parikh, Global CEO, Avasant: Kevin S. Parikh is a renowned author, speaker, and industry leader. He regularly speaks at numerous economic development and global forums. Social entrepreneurship has been a key tenet for him and a continuing theme throughout his career. Having published numerous white papers and articles, and two books, Parikh is widely acknowledged as a global thought leader, futurist, and expert on digital business strategies, technological solutions, and business transformation. Kevin will present the event's opening keynote, "Dare to Dream: Creating the Enterprise of the Future".
• Anupam Govil – Partner at Avasant and President of AvaSense™: Anupam is a digital transformation and globalization advocate with over 25 years of experience providing sourcing, technology and strategic advisory services to global enterprises and private equity funds. Anupam will moderate the panel, "Leveraging Automation, AI and Blockchain in the Transformation Journey" and host the fireside chat, "Scaling Automation Across a Global Organization" with UiPath and LexisNexis.
• Saeed Elnaj – Vice President of Information Technology and CIO at the National Council on Aging: For more than 25 years, Saeed has provided visionary and transformative IT leadership to global companies including Oracle, Ericsson, AARP, and the Ooredoo Group. He is a thought leader and frequent presenter at industry conferences and contributing writer on innovative technologies on Forbes.com. He holds a PhD in Engineering Management from the George Washington University. Saeed will share his insights on the panel, "Leveraging Automation, AI and Blockchain in the Transformation Journey".
• Deepak Luthra – Head of the Digital Center of Excellence at Bristol-Myers Squibb: Deepak has led high-impact initiatives for Innovation, Growth and Simplification for Financial Services, Healthcare and IT industries. He has been a hands-on operator and team builder spanning Bristol-Myers Squibb, GE Capital, Genpact, Polaris Financial Technology and NASSCOM. Deepak will participate on the panel, "Leveraging Automation, AI and Blockchain in the Transformation Journey".
• Ravi Sarkar – Head of Blockchain and FinTech at Hexaware: Ravi is the head of the Blockchain & FinTech unit at Hexaware. He leads a high performance fintech innovation lab globally and helps fortune 500 firms as well as fintech startups in creating edge products at the nexus of business, experience and technology. As a banking industry veteran he has lead several flagship digital initiatives of tier-1 banks and has architect-ed complex money transaction systems to enable state-of-the-art customer experience (CX). Ravi will be on the panel, "Leveraging Automation, AI and Blockchain in the Transformation Journey".
• Ali Tafreshi – Avasant Fellow and former SVP and CIO at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport: Ali Tafreshi has extensive experience assisting transportation industry clients especially in Airline and Aviation Industry with all aspects of IT strategy development, data management and analytics, financial services and project and portfolio management. He is a hands-on executive with demonstrated success in influencing and leading major change initiatives to pivot with business trends and new models. Ali will discuss his points of view on the panel, "Leveraging Automation, AI and Blockchain in the Transformation Journey".
• Naresh Lachmandas – Former CIO, L3 CSW: Naresh Lachmandas is an accomplished Senior IT Executive with more than 35 years of success in the aerospace, defense, high-tech/consumer electronics, state and local government industries. Naresh has extensive global experience with strategic investments in IT and cyber-related matters, as well as turnaround, growth, and consolidation. He has held leadership positions as the CIO at L3 Communication Systems West, General Atomics and the City of San Diego, and VP of IT at Sony Electronics. Naresh will speak on the topic, "The Role of the New CIO".
• Ajay Jindal – Senior Director of RPA, Continuous Improvement, and Quality at LexisNexis: Ajay possesses over fifteen years of experience as a business process automation and improvement leader. His focus areas include business transformation, robotic process automation, process re-engineering, operational excellence, lean & six sigma training and coaching, quality management, and more. Ajay will share his experiences as part of the fireside chat, "Scaling Automation Across a Global Organization".
• Joseph Santamorena – Vice President of Sales, Northeast Region at UiPath: Joseph brings over 25 years of experience in complex enterprise technology sales in both a selling and team leading capacity. Prior to his roles at UiPath and Bay Dynamics, Joe helped define, shape and live the culture at NetApp for 17 years and was a key contributor to their growth from $300M to $6B+. NetApp earned 13 consecutive years of being named "Best Companies to work for" - Fortune 100. Joseph will be a part of the fireside chat, "Scaling Automation Across a Global Organization".
• Sanjay Gupta, Chief Technology Officer at U.S. Small Business Administration: Sanjay Gupta joined the U.S. Small Business Administration in January 2017 as Chief Technology Officer from the private sector. His experiences as a CIO span Heidrick & Struggles, International Code Council, and the World Book. Throughout his career, Sanjay has led business/IT transformations across industries. He brings extensive global experience across industries in areas such as IT Strategy, Innovation, Digital Transformation, Architecture, Cloud, Mobile, Strategic Sourcing, Vendor Management, Contracting, Cybersecurity, Agile Development and Open Source. Sanjay will deliver the event's closing keynote, "Innovation and Disruption in the Digital Age".

This event, sponsored by Hexaware and UiPath, will be hosted at the National Union Building in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit our event page.

About Avasant
Avasant is a leading management consulting firm focused on translating the power of technology into realizable business strategies for the world's largest corporations. Specializing in digital and IT transformation, sourcing advisory, global strategy, and governance services, Avasant prides itself on delivering high-value engagements through industry-focused innovation and flexible client-based solutions.

Our seasoned professionals have an average of 20 years of industry-honed expertise, having conducted 1000+ engagements in over 50 countries. Avasant's next generation consulting and advisory methods have made it the top-ranked firm in its class, with recognition from numerous organizations, including: Vault, NOA, IAOP, and Wall Street Journal.

For more information, visit https://avasant.com.

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