10.10 am to 10.45 am

Unravelling India’s Rich Ancient Commercial History

Gurcharan Das, Curator, Editor of the Penguin Series of Indian Business History

Host - Raman Mahadevan, Author, Fortune Seekers: A Business History of the Nattukottai Chettiars

10.45 am to 11.15 am

India’s Economy - What’s the Real Story?

Arun Maira, Former Member, Planning Commission, Author, Reimagining India’s Economy: The Road to a More Equitable Society

Host - Rishikesha Krishnan, Professor of Strategy, Former Director, IIMB

11.15 am to 11.30 am - Networking Tea

11.30 am to 12.00 pm

Bharat Talkies - A Peek into Rural Indian Stories 

Subroto Bagchi, Co-founder, Mindtree Technologies, Author, The Day the Chariot Moved: How India Grows at the Grassroots; Stories of Governance, Public Policy, Skill Development & Social Impact

Host - V. Raghunathan, Prolific Author, Chair, BizLitFest Bangalore, Former CEO, GMR Varalakshmi Foundation

12.00 pm to 12.45 pm

India’s Deep-Tech Playbook 

Nitin Seth, Author, Human Edge In The AI Age, Co-founder, Incedo Technologies

Aayushi Singh, Co-founder, Chief Product Officer, Magicroll.ai 

Host - Arvind Saraf, Computer Scientist, Engineering Leader, Entrepreneur 

12.45 pm to 1.15 pm

A Remarkable Textile to Tech Journey 

C. Valliappa and Chocko Valliappa, The Sona Story

Host - Murali Sunderraghavan, Founding Director, CEO of Klib Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

1.15 pm to 2.00 pm - Networking Lunch

2.00 pm to 2.30 pm

The Real Face of Bengaluru and What Big Data Reveals about the City

Roopa Pai, Author, Becoming Bangalore - Stories That Shaped A Home Town

Malini Goyal, Co-author, UnBoxing Bengaluru: The City of New Beginnings, CEO, Co-Producer, Bengaluru Rising - A Data Book

2.30 pm to 3.00 pm

How to Build and Successfully Exit Unicorns  

K Ganesh, Author, Mastering Disruption: A Practical Guide to Understanding New Age Business Models, Serial Entrepreneur, Co-Founder, Big Basket, Bluestone, Portea, HomeLane, Freshmenu, HungerBox

Host - Sudhakar Rao, Director Branding, ICFAI Group

3.00 pm to 3.30 pm

The Truth About E-commerce We Know So Little About

Vandana Vasudevan, Author, OTP Please! Online Buyers, Sellers and Gig Workers in South Asia 

Host - Malavika Harita, Passionate about mentoring Startups and Women Entrepreneurs, Communication Evangelist, Brand Strategist, Teacher, Independent Director

3.30 pm to 3.45 pm - Networking Break

3.45 pm to 4.30 pm

Book Launches

First. Forever. NJ Yasaswy: They Don’t Make Them Like Him Anymore

Biography of the ICFAI Founder

Co-Authors V Pattabhi Ram and Sudhakar Rao, Director of Branding, ICFAI Group

Diviseema Business Fables

Co-Authors Sudhakar Rao and Hari Paruchuri

The Responsible Manager: Building Blocks of an ESG Perspective

Author, Meena Raghunathan, Impact Professional / Consultant

Host - J Shiruti, Content Support, BizLitFest

4.30 pm to 5.15 pm

Founder Stories - Books that Influenced and Shaped their Businesses 

Shashi Kumar, Co-Founder, CEO, Akshayakalpa Organic

Amritha Mani, Founder, Amlyo, Sustainable Packaging 

Swaroop Madhavan, Founder, Parentof, an AI-based Cognitive Intelligence Platform

Vinay Prashanth, Co-founder, Tamaala Art Merchandise

Host - Benedict Paramanand, Festival Curator

5.15 pm to 6.00 pm

2025 BizLitFest CK Prahalad Best Business Book Award

Guest of Honour - Arun Maira, Former Member, Planning Commission, Author, Reimagining India’s Economy: The Road to a More Equitable Society

Benedict Paramanand, Award Curator

Debarati Ghosh, Co-Award Curator

The Eminent Jury

Rishikesha Krishnan, Professor of Strategy, Former Director, IIMB

Hema Ravichandar, Former Global Head of HR, Infosys

Malini Goyal, Co-author, UnBoxing Bengaluru: The City of New Beginnings, CEO, Co-Producer of Bengaluru Rising - A Data Book

Award Winner's Acceptance Speech

Host - Reena Pereira, Author Management, BizLitFest

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Townhall / Workshops

Venue - 91Springboard, MG Road (Adjacent to WeWork Galaxy)

Workshops

11.30 pm to 1.00 pm

Dream Big. Pitch Bigger: Impactful Storytelling and Pitchdecks for Startups

This interactive workshop shows founders how to connect personal and profession narratives for effective pitches. Tools and frameworks will be shared for entrepreneurs to present their journey in a captivating story, which can effectively frame their business achievements and goals.

Founders will practice how to tell their stories in a compelling manner to stakeholders, and benefit from subsequent opportunities for ecosystem engagement.

Madanmohan Rao and Vinay Dora, Co-founders, MXR World 

2.15 pm to 3.00 pm

How to Write a Book While Holding a Busy Job

Many have good ideas and stories they are keen to write about but, even after years, they don’t manage to do it. It is not as difficult as it appears. V Raghunathan wrote 10 books while holding leadership and academic roles and 5 more after that. Come and learn his secrets. He will also share the art of authorship. His book Games Indians Play: The Way We Are was a bestseller. Check out his other books here

4.30 pm to 5.15 pm

Townhall - Ask me Anything

Gurcharan Das, Curator, Editor of the Penguin Series of Indian Business History

Host - Kashyap Kompella, Author, A Short & Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, Columnist and Educator