Reimagining Global Capability Centres as Engines of Innovation

Mr. Thangam Thennarasu, hon’ble minister for industries, Tamil Nadu, was born in Mallankinaru village of Virudhunagar district. He earned his bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering. As a graduate engineer, he worked with SPIC (Southern Petrochemical Industries Corporation Ltd.) for about 10 years before his political plunge. Mr. Thennarasu has more than two decades of legislative experience. He was elected to the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly five times starting with his first electoral victory from the Aruppukottai constituency in the 1997 by-election. In 2006, he became the Minister for School Education, Sports & Youth Welfare, and Archaeology.

Now, as the Minister for Industries, his ambition is to make Tamil Nadu the leading destination for industrial investments in South Asia. He was lauded for handling the oxygen demand during the COVID crisis in the state. He is a voracious reader and a good orator. His interests include archaeology, ornithology, wildlife, numismatics, and Tamil literature.

Mr. S. Krishnan is currently the Additional Chief Secretary, Industries Department, Government of Tamil Nadu. With a service record of more than 30 years, Mr. Krishnan holds many accomplishments, such as serving as Additional Chief Secretary, Finance to the Government of Tamil Nadu, the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Executive Director for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bhutan of IMF, representing Government of India in the G20 Expert Groups on International Financial Architecture and Global Financial Safety Nets, and assisting in preparing the Union Budget as well as the Tamil Nadu State Budget during multiple years, to name a few.

Through his multiple roles as a public administrator, Mr. Krishnan has demonstrated expertise in aspects of policy-making, public finance, and socio-economic development issues. He holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and a Master of Arts in Economics from Annamalai University.

Raghuram Rajan is the Katherine Dusak Miller Distinguished Service Professor of Finance at Chicago Booth. He was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India between September 2013 and September 2016. Between 2003 and 2006, Dr. Rajan was the Chief Economist and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund.

Dr. Rajan’s research interests are in banking, corporate finance, and economic development. The books he has written include The Third Pillar: How the State and Markets hold the Community Behind 2019 which was a finalist for the Financial Times Business Book of the Year prize and Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy, for which he was awarded the Financial Times prize for Business Book of the Year in 2010.

Dr. Rajan is a member of the Group of Thirty. He was the President of the American Finance Association in 2011 and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In January 2003, the American Finance Association awarded Dr. Rajan the inaugural Fischer Black Prize for the best finance researcher under the age of 40. The other awards he has received include the Infosys prize for the Economic Sciences in 2012, the Deutsche Bank Prize for Financial Economics in 2013, Euromoney Central Banker Governor of the Year 2014, and Banker Magazine (FT Group) Central Bank Governor of the Year 2016.

Recent publications include “The Decline of Secured Debt”, with Efraim Benmelech and Nitish Kumar, forthcoming, Journal of Finance; “Secured Credit Spreads”, with Efraim Benmelech and Nitish Kumar, forthcoming, Journal of Financial Economics; “The Relationship Dilemma: Organizational Culture and the Adoption of New Technology in Indian Banking”, with Prachi Mishra and R. Prabhala, Review of Financial Studies, June 2022; “Going the Extra Mile: Distant Lending and Credit Cycles”, with Joao Granja and Christian Leuz, Journal of Finance, Apr 2022; “Liquidity, Pledgeability, and the Nature of Lending”, with Douglas Diamond and Yunzhi Hu, Journal of Financial Economics, Mar 2022; “Communities, the State, and Markets: The Case for Inclusive Localism”, Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 2021.

Sam Balaji is the Deloitte Global Business Leader for Consulting. He has three decades of experience spanning client, practice, and global leadership roles. In his former role, he served as the Global Business Leader for Financial Advisory and Risk Advisory. He has served many of Deloitte’s largest clients in the technology, telecommunications, media and entertainment industries driving large, complex business transformations resulting from mergers, acquisitions, and innovation. He has previously served on the Global Board of Directors and is currently a Vice Chair on the US Board of Directors. Sam has lived and worked in the US, Europe, and Asia during his career.

Barbara Karuth-Zelle is the current Chief Operating Officer at Allianz. Barbara has over 25 years of experience in the healthcare indus.

Barbara began their career as a health economist at the Institut für Gesundheitsökonomik in 1993. Barbara consulted for Ministries of Health in Germany and Eastern Europe on hospital reimbursement, private and national health insurance. In 1998, they joined KfH Kuratorium für Dialyse und Nierentransplantation e.V. as a health economist. Barbara remained there until 2000 when they accepted their current position at Allianz.

At Allianz, Barbara is responsible for leading and managing the company’s operations worldwide. Under their leadership, Allianz has become one of the world’s largest financial services providers.

Barbara Karuth-Zelle has a Ph.D. in Economics from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Barbara specializes in business administration and economics.

Their manager is Oliver Bäte, Chairman & CEO. Barbara Karuth-Zelle works with Giulio Terzariol - CFO, Finance, Controlling, Risk, Joachim Müller - CEO, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty.

Experienced Director with a demonstrated history of working in the outsourcing/offshoring industry. Skilled in Service Delivery, Banking, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Business Process Improvement and deploying large scale Agile ways of working across geographies and Eco system.