BCONNECT

Explore 2024

30+ Speakers, 6+ Panel Discussions, 4+ Workshops, Day long Career fair, Networking and much more
– June 27th 2024 , San Jose, CA

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Keynotes & Fireside chat

Panel Speakers

Raj Joshi

Lecturer in Management Stanford University Graduate School of Business

Dilip Chauhan

Deputy Commissioner NYC Mayors Office for International Affairs

Nitin Salunke

President & CEO; Member of the Board of Directors at Supira Medical

Pratik Budhdev

Senior Investment Director at Volvo Cars

Anupama Ambe

Senior Vice President & Managing Partner Kaiser Permanente at Kyndryl

Upendra Mardikar

EVP, Chief Information Security Officer at TIAA. Author, Advisor, Mentor

Manoj Wadekar

AI Systems Technologist, Board Member – JEDEC

Vida Vidyangi Patil

Founder @ Pitch Cafe | PR-Communications Media & Production | Startup Catalyst | 3X Book Author

Saurabh Atre

Chief Business Officer at L&T Technology Services Limited

Shriniwas Kulkarni

Industry Leader Embedded System & Consumer Electronics

Rahul Deshmukh

Senior Technology Strategist, Data center and AI Infrastructure

Shankar Hemmady

Entrepreneur | Fractional CMO | Fractional Chief AI Officer | Author | Inspirer

Sachin Ohal

Chief Architect- Distributed Cloud and Industry Solution at Deloitte

Shalaka Kharche

Founder @BConnect Seattle & Innovation expert at Intelex

Kedar Kulkarni

Delivery Lead/SAFe SASM, CSM, SFC, ITIL,INS, Scrum Master/Digital Transformation Consultant

Workshop Leaders

Ajit Bedekar

Director at V. P. BEDEKAR & SONS PVT. LTD.

Lax Sakalkale

Executive Advisor, Sr. Director/VP Products, Solutions

Dr. Balaji Aglave

First Commercial Mango Grower in the USA

Career Fair Mentors

Ajit Bodas

Airbnb : Head of Global Technical Recruiting

Sunil Phatak

Coupang : Global Recruiting Leader with experience in building holistic recruiting solutions and teams

Leena Berde

Sr Professional Talent Acquisition & Sales

Shriram Gharpure

Coupang : Technical Recruiter

Featured Speakers

Journey of an Entrepreneur

Dive into the captivating narrative of entrepreneurial brilliance with Anand Deshpande as he unfolds the ‘Journey of an Entrepreneur’. Join us for an illuminating speaking session where Dr. Deshpande, the visionary force behind Persistent Systems, shares insights gleaned from decades of trailblazing leadership. Don’t miss this opportunity to glean inspiration and actionable strategies from one of India’s foremost technology luminaries.

What you will get

Listen to Great Speakers

Immerse yourself in insights and inspiration as industry luminaries, including Anand Deshpande, share their transformative journeys and invaluable wisdom.

Grow your Network

Forge meaningful connections with like-minded professionals, entrepreneurs, and visionaries, expanding your network and unlocking new opportunities for collaboration and growth.

Workshops by Experts

Gain practical skills and actionable strategies in hands-on workshops led by industry experts, equipping you with the tools and knowledge to drive innovation and success.

Pitch Ideas to Investors

Seize the opportunity to showcase your startup idea to seasoned investors, garnering valuable mentorship, and propel your ideas to the next level.

“Connect, build and foster the Marathi professional community”

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Conference
Entreprenuership
Grow Professionally
Jobs & Career Fair

08:30 – 09:00

BConnect Opening Ceremony
09:15 – 09:20

Introduction: BConnect Explore 2024 conference and Journey of BConnect

By Viraj Raut Director at Astereae
Welcome Note, Opening Note, Grand Opening and celebrationWhereMain Hall
09:20 – 09:35

Scaling to 78,000 employee enterprise

By Hanmantrao Gaikwad CMD, BVG India Ltd
09:35 – 09:50

Opportunities in Applied AI

By Ramesh Raskar Prof. MIT, C10Labs
09:50 – 10:20

Persistent Expedition: From Startup to Billion Dollar Empire

By Anand Deshpande Founder & Chairman, Persistent Systems, Sameer Ahirrao BConnect Chair and CEO @ Ardent Privacy
10:20 – 10:30

Resilience in entrepreneurship building global ecommerce B2B SaaS company

By Vaibhav Dabhade Founder & CEO Anchanto
10:30 – 10:45

Tea Break I
10:45 – 11:15

Innovation Opportunities in Defense & Government for Global Entrepreneurs

By Vice Admiral SN Ghormade, PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC (Retd) VICE ADMIRAL (Retd), IPS Krishna Prakash IPS, ADGP, Sachin Ohal Chief Architect- Distributed Cloud and Industry Solution at Deloitte
11:15 – 11:45

AI Revolution creating opportunitities

By Ramesh Raskar Prof. MIT, C10Labs, Shirish Sathaye General Partner at Cervin, Manoj Wadekar AI Systems Technologist, Board Member – JEDEC, Milind Bhandarkar Sr Distinguished Technologist, HPE
11:45 – 12:00

Unleashing GenAI Secrets like a Pro

By Vida Vidyangi Patil Founder @ Pitch Cafe | PR-Communications Media & Production | Startup Catalyst | 3X Book Author
12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break
13:30 – 14:00

World of Innovation : Sector wise opportunities for the next deacde

By Raj Joshi Lecturer in Management Stanford University Graduate School of Business, Parimal Kopardekar NASA Director, Nitin Salunke President & CEO; Member of the Board of Directors at Supira Medical, Pratik Budhdev Senior Investment Director at Volvo Cars, Rohan Rasane Engineering Architect at Servicenow
14:00 – 14:15

Health meets tourisum – Ruby Hall Clinic
14:15 – 14.45

Building KPIT journey of grit in conversation with Ravi Pandit

By Ravi Pandit Chairman & Co-Founder of KPIT Technologies Ltd, Prakash Bhalerao Venture Capitalist
14:45 – 15:15

Opportunities and trends in Security, Privacy and AI

By Jay Kulkarni Founder and PE @ NetServ , Vinayak Godse CEO @ Data Security Council of India, Upendra Mardikar EVP, Chief Information Security Officer at TIAA. Author, Advisor, Mentor, Lalit Shinde
15:15 – 15:30

Inspiring Stories of Mahapreneurs

By Indraneel Chitale Partner, Chitale Bandhu, Parikshit Prabhudesai Vice Chairman at Pitambari Innovative Products, Saurabh Gadgil MD & CEO, PNG Jewellers
15:30 – 15:45

Tea Break II
15:45 – 16:00

IBS Fintech solutions for a Turbulant economy
16:00 – 16:30

Exceptional Women in VCs and AI

By Surbhi Rathore Co-founder & CEO Symbl.ai, Sara Deshpande Maven Ventures, General Partner, Sonali Sambhus Board Director/Startup Advisor, Shilpa Kolhatkar Head of Global AI Nations, Nvidia, Sandhya Patil VP of AI at MarketEngine.ai
16:30 – 17:00

Powering Innovation Panel | Semiconductor

By Saurabh Atre Chief Business Officer at L&T Technology Services Limited, Parag Naik CEO at Saankhya Labs Pvt. Ltd., Shriniwas Kulkarni Industry Leader Embedded System & Consumer Electronics, Rahul Deshmukh Senior Technology Strategist, Data center and AI Infrastructure, Lax Sakalkale Executive Advisor, Sr. Director/VP Products, Solutions
17:00 – 17:30

Award & Closing Ceremony
18:00 – 20:00

Happy hour networking + Dinner + Entertainment

10:30 – 10:45

Tea Break I
10:45 – 12:00

Digital Marketing Workshop for Startups and Small Businesses (Session1)

By Naren Patil Founder StartupWind, Lax Sakalkale Executive Advisor, Sr. Director/VP Products, Solutions
Many startups and small businesses struggle to drive demand due to high cost of marketing agencies, lack of marketing skills and limited resources.
In this workshop, you will learn:
How to leverage Digital Marketing to drive demand and pipeline
Best practices for Segmentation, Targeting & Messaging
Blogging, Storytelling & SEO strategies for your business
Effective Email & Social Media Marketing
Join this workshop and get ready to unlock the growth that your business deserves!Workshops
12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:30

Real Estate Investment Workshop

By Santosh Salvi CEO/Founder at UNIQUE System Skills LLC, Jay Kalke Founder / Partner FiCon Capital, Dr. Balaji Aglave First Commercial Mango Grower in the USA, Raghu Reddy CEO, Kalven Financial Group
Understanding the Basics of Real Estate Investment
 Session 1: Introduction to Real Estate Investing
 Basics of real estate investment – types of properties, residential vs.
commercial, etc.
 Finding new properties
 Buying Process
 Benefits of Real Estate Investing
 Session 2: Financing Options for New Investors
 Overview of financing options for real estate investments.
 Tips for securing funding and navigating the mortgage process.
How to invest in Farming Real Estate
 Covers end-to-end process – Identifying land, Purchasing, market demand, tax
benefits, government incentives, etc.
V. Strategies for Success in Real Estate Investing
 Choosing the Right Investment Strategies
 Mitigating Risks and Maximizing ReturnsWorkshops
15:30 – 15:45

Tea Break II
15:45 – 16:30

Digital Marketing Workshop for Startups and Small Businesses (Session2)

By Naren Patil Founder StartupWind, Lax Sakalkale Executive Advisor, Sr. Director/VP Products, Solutions
Many startups and small businesses struggle to drive demand due to high cost of marketing agencies, lack of marketing skills and limited resources.
In this workshop, you will learn:
How to leverage Digital Marketing to drive demand and pipeline
Best practices for Segmentation, Targeting & Messaging
Blogging, Storytelling & SEO strategies for your business
Effective Email & Social Media Marketing
Join this workshop and get ready to unlock the growth that your business deserves!Workshops

10:30 – 10:45

Tea Break I
10:45 – 12:00

Navigating Professional Career Workshop

By Anand Deshpande Founder & Chairman, Persistent Systems
12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:30

Mahapitch Competition

By Shriniwas Kulkarni Industry Leader Embedded System & Consumer Electronics, Aditya Kulkarni Founder Sai Farms & Happy Homes LLC, Nilesh Dixit Founder Zeehub AI
15:30 – 15:45

Tea Break II
15:45 – 16:15

The Women power show

By Shalaka Kharche Founder @BConnect Seattle & Innovation expert at Intelex, Kedar Kulkarni Delivery Lead/SAFe SASM, CSM, SFC, ITIL,INS, Scrum Master/Digital Transformation Consultant, Swati Vora Founder at Returnize
16:15 – 16:45

Round Table with Ajit Bedekar

By Ajit Bedekar Director at V. P. BEDEKAR & SONS PVT. LTD.

09:00 – 10:30

Career Fair – Early morning

By Vidya Bam Nike : Senior Leadership Recruiter, Ajit Bodas Airbnb : Head of Global Technical Recruiting, Sunil Phatak Coupang : Global Recruiting Leader with experience in building holistic recruiting solutions and teams, Vaishali Wagh MatchPoint : Account Director, Leena Berde Sr Professional Talent Acquisition & Sales, Shriram Gharpure Coupang : Technical Recruiter
Grand Career Fair, Lots of opportunitities to network.
Meet top companies that can guide or can be future employers.
Apply for open jobs
Resume help and guidance
Career guidance advice,
Mock Interviews and feedback
Mentors and Mentorship signups,
Connect with Hiring professionalsCareer Advancement
10:30 – 10:45

Tea Break I
10:45 – 12:00

Career Fair – Mid morning

By Vidya Bam Nike : Senior Leadership Recruiter, Ajit Bodas Airbnb : Head of Global Technical Recruiting, Sunil Phatak Coupang : Global Recruiting Leader with experience in building holistic recruiting solutions and teams, Vaishali Wagh MatchPoint : Account Director, Leena Berde Sr Professional Talent Acquisition & Sales, Shriram Gharpure Coupang : Technical Recruiter
Grand Career Fair, Lots of opportunitities to network.
Meet top companies that can guide or can be future employers.
Apply for open jobs
Resume help and guidance
Career guidance advice,
Mock Interviews and feedback
Mentors and Mentorship signups,
Connect with Hiring professionalsCareer Advancement
12:00 – 13:30

Lunch Break
13:30 – 15:30

Career Fair – Afternoon

By Vidya Bam Nike : Senior Leadership Recruiter, Ajit Bodas Airbnb : Head of Global Technical Recruiting, Sunil Phatak Coupang : Global Recruiting Leader with experience in building holistic recruiting solutions and teams, Vaishali Wagh MatchPoint : Account Director, Leena Berde Sr Professional Talent Acquisition & Sales, Shriram Gharpure Coupang : Technical Recruiter
Grand Career Fair, Lots of opportunitities to network.
Meet top companies that can guide or can be future employers.
Apply for open jobs
Resume help and guidance
Career guidance advice,
Mock Interviews and feedback
Mentors and Mentorship signups,
Connect with Hiring professionalsCareer Advancement
15:30 – 15:45

Tea Break II
15:45 – 17:00

Career Fair

By Vidya Bam Nike : Senior Leadership Recruiter, Ajit Bodas Airbnb : Head of Global Technical Recruiting, Sunil Phatak Coupang : Global Recruiting Leader with experience in building holistic recruiting solutions and teams, Vaishali Wagh MatchPoint : Account Director, Leena Berde Sr Professional Talent Acquisition & Sales, Shriram Gharpure Coupang : Technical Recruiter
Grand Career Fair, Lots of opportunitities to network.
Meet top companies that can guide or can be future employers.
Apply for open jobs
Resume help and guidance
Career guidance advice,
Mock Interviews and feedback
Mentors and Mentorship signups,
Connect with Hiring professionalsCareer Advancement