9.30 am to 10.00 am

Registration and Networking

10.00 am to 10.10 am

Welcome

V Raghunathan, Prolific Author, Chair, BizLitFest Bangalore

10.10 am to 10.45 am

Unravelling India’s Rich Ancient Commercial History

Gurcharan Das, Curator, Editor of The Stories of Indian Business Series

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

The True 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, Co-founder, CEO, Unboxing BLR Foundation

Host - Benedict Paramanand, Festival Curator, Co-founder, BizLitFest, Founder, Greenlitfest

12.00 pm to 12.45 pm

Founder Stories - Books and Writers Who Influenced and Shaped Their Journey

Shashi Kumar, Co-founder, CEO, Akshayakalpa Organic

Amritha Mani, Founder, Amylo, Sustainable Packaging

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

Vinay Prashanth, Co-founder, Tamaala Art Merchandise

Host - Shrabonti Bagchi, Writes on Business, Culture and Society for Mint

12.45 pm to 1.05 pm

Personal Branding Insights and Tools for Startups and Growth-stage Founders

Prof Surjyabrat Buragohain, Associate Dean, IBS Business School

1.05 pm to 1.20 pm

Founders - How to Have Law on Your Side

Stephen Mathias, Chairman, Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Partner, Kochhar & Co.

1.20 pm to 2.00 pm - Networking Lunch

2.00 pm to 2.30 pm

A Phenomenal Textile to Tech Journey - The Sona Story

C. Valliappa, Chairman, The Sona Group

Chocko Valliappa, CEO, MD, Vee Technologies

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

2.30 pm to 3.00 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

3.00 pm to 3.30 pm

Understanding New-age Business Models

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, ICFAI Group

3.30 pm to 3.45 pm - Networking Break

3.45 pm to 4.30 pm

India’s Deep-Tech Playbook

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

Anil Ananthaswamy, Author, Why Machines Learn, Award-Winning Science Journalist

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

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

4.30 pm to 5:15 pm

BizLitFest CK Prahalad Best Business Book Award 2025

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

Award Sponsor - Madan Padaki, TiE Global Trustee, CEO and MD of Head Held High Services

Award Curator - ​Benedict Paramanand, Co-founder, BizLitFest, Founder, Greenlitfest

Jury’s Insights

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 Bangalore

5.15 pm to 6.00 pm

Rapid 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, 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

Prosper: The AI Edge for Financial Advisors and Wealth Managers

Author, Kashyap Kompella, Prolific Author, Columnist and Educator, CEO, RPA2AI Research

The Power of Emotional Marketing - Brands That Resonate

Author, Bhuvana Subramanyan, Chief Marketing Officer, Strategic Marketing Communications and New Media

Host - J Shiruti, Content Support, BizLitFest Bangalore

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Townhall / Workshops

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

Workshops

12.00 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 3.15 pm (Paid - Rs.499)

This 1-hour workshop explores how AI is reshaping the workflows of business writers, journalists, data journalists, and non-fiction authors. It focuses on non-technical, practical applications of AI in research, writing, editing, and multimedia content production, with attention to editorial integrity.

Designed for professionals in content, editorial, and newsroom environments, the session delivers focused demonstrations that can be immediately applied. No technical expertise is required.

Topics covered include using AI as a research assistant using AI for image/audio/video content generation, and a briefing on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) in response to declining search traffic. The session ends with a live Q&A.

AI For Writers and Journalists

​Kashyap Kompella, Author, A Short & Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers, Columnist and Educator, CEO, RPA2AI Research

3.15 pm to 4.15 pm (Paid - Rs.499)

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 (Free to Attend)

Townhall - Ask me Anything

Gurcharan Das is one of India's most celebrated authors and thinkers. He is best known for two iconic, best-selling books: India Unbound offers a personal account of India’s economic rise. The second, The Difficulty of Being Good, illuminates our day-to-day moral dilemmas.