Rick has more than 30 years of automotive new product development experience in North America, South America and Asia. He started his career with the Ford Motor Company in 1981 after graduating from the University of Michigan with a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Following a series of developmental assignments and receiving an MBA from the University of Michigan, Rick worked in Japan with Mazda and in Brazil with the Ford South America Organization before returning to the US in 2006. In 2009, Rick joined the Tesla organization as an engineering director for the Tesla Model S premium EV. Departing Silicon Valley in 2011, Rick joined Mahindra & Mahindra in India as Senior VP of Product Development before returning to Detroit in 2013 to start up the Mahindra North American Technical Center located in Troy.

Learning and improving every day, having an intense passion and focus for the industry, and fostering a climate of respect and teamwork describe Rick’s key core values. He grew up in Detroit— fascinated by the autmotive industry and encouraged by an uncle who guided him into the local car culture as a pre-teen.

A lifelong automotive enthusiast and hobbyist, Rick started rebuilding and restoring classic cars in the mid-1970’s as a teen, and continues to enjoy this pastime today. He spent 20 years working as a volunteer for the Detroit Grand Prix Association, managing traffic flow, bus shuttles and parking logistics for this annual event.

Lakshmanan Chidambaram (CTL) heads Tech Mahindra’s Core Business Verticals comprising Banking & Financial Services, Insurance, Manufacturing, Retail/ CPG, Travel, Aerospace & Defense, Healthcare Life sciences and Transportation, Logistics and Hospitality.

CTL provides strategic insights and drives the vertical centric go-to-market differentiated solutions to enable Tech Mahindra to realize the stretched growth objectives. He serves on the board of Tech Mahindra America & Citisoft. He represents Tech Mahindra as a Strategy Officer in the World Economic Forum pre summits and G100 group meetings.

CTL has more than two decades of varied global outsourcing business experience development. Prior to joining Tech Mahindra, he was a key member of Syntel’s leadership team responsible for charting its growth in North America.

Manish Vyas is the President, Communications Business at Tech Mahindra. An accomplished leader with extensive expertise and experience across global markets, Manish has led large and diverse global programs and initiatives during his 20 year career. He is known for his ability to build high performance teams, drive profitability and growth through innovative solutions and create robust sales and go-to-market strategies.

Viren Popli, President & CEO of Mahindra Ag North America, is responsible for business operations in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Brazil for Mahindra Group's Ag Sector initiatives in these countries since 2018. Mr. Popli joined the Mahindra Group in 2009 and has served the company in a variety of leadership roles in marketing, strategic planning, business development and operations including the Chief Operating Officer of the Swaraj Division of Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, India. His experience includes leadership positions in Mahindra & Mahindra's corporate strategy office & Mahindra Two Wheelers. Mr. Popli also served as a board member on Gromax Agri Equipment, India.

Mr. Popli serves on the Association of Equipment Manufacturers Board of Directors as a member of the Ag Sector Board. In the past he has held leadership roles in various professional bodies including:

• Vice Chairman, Confederation of Indian Industry (Punjab Council)
• Chairman, CSR Committee, Confederation of Indian Industry (Northern Region)
• Chairman, Marketing Committee, of Tractor and Mechanisation Association of India
• Member, Governing Council of Tractor and Mechanisation Association of India

Prior to his time at Mahindra, Mr. Popli spent 10 years at Star TV India Limited (a part of News Corporation and Twenty-First Century Fox). He also spent six years at the pharmaceutical company, Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited as Country Manager. Popli earned an MBA in Marketing from S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research and a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from Nagpur University. Mr. Popli also attended the Mahindra Universe program at Harvard Business School.

Ridhika Batra is the Vice President- Corporate Affairs, Americas for the Mahindra group. Ridhika Batra, Vice President, Corporate Affairs joined Mahindra Group - Americas in January 2020 and is based in Washington DC.

She is responsible for group public policy for all of Mahindra group companies in North and south America. Mahindra group is an Indian multinational conglomerate with operations in over 100 countries. With leadership in utility vehicles – the group has presence in agribusiness, automotive, components, construction equipment, defense, energy, farm equipment, finance and insurance, information technology, leisure and hospitality etc.

Ridhika is also on the board of Bristlecone – a San Jose HQ supply chain consultancy with presence in over 10 countries. She is also a senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic council in Washington DC where she contributes towards international trade, global finance and India trade relations with the world.

Previously she was the Country head and Director for Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry in the USA, based in Washington DC since 2014. Prior to that, she served as the country head for UK and France from 2007 till 2013 for FICCI. She has a Masters’ degree from University of Sussex, UK and has specialized in international law and global finance.

Ridhika's expertise is in public diplomacy, trade negotiations, government relations, foreign policy and economic diplomacy between India - USA, India – UK and India – France. For the past 7 years, Ridhika has been working extensively on India-USA bilateral trade and investment matters. She has worked closely with the administration and industry in India to ensure their USA, UK & France agendas are aligned well with their counterparts in the 3 countries. She frequently undertakes public speaking on behalf of Indian industry to promote trade and investment. In the past, Ridhika has also undertaken guest lectures for MBA students at Georgetown university and Maryland university on international trade negotiations.

Claudio Da Soller oversees operations, commercial strategy, and marketing activities for Pininfarina of America with activities across North and South America.

Claudio has spent over 15 years in the business sector having worked for large companies such as Philips and General Electric. His focus has been in international business development and marketing across Europe and the United States, specifically in the consumer goods market. Prior to joining Pininfarina, Claudio was the Head of Marketing for the GE home appliances business in the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region.

In his free time, you can find Claudio playing or coaching soccer to kids, volunteering in non-profit organizations (even founding two!) or reading the latest Malcolm Gladwell books. Since a young age Claudio’s experience as the department leader in the Italian military police specialized for international peacekeeping operations gave him a strong and disciplined foundation that he translates into his day-to-day. Claudio enjoys finding creative solutions and believes that creativity and innovation combined with practicality result in solid execution plans. Favorite motto: “Carpe Diem”.

Nirav Patel, a technology veteran, has more than two decades of experience in building, operating and scaling multibillion-dollar businesses. Most recently, Patel was Senior Vice President and Global Markets Leader of Cognizant’s Communications, Media and Technology business and a member of its Executive Leadership Team. In this role, he led a strategic review and shift of Cognizant’s core businesses across the Telecom, Media, Entertainment and Technology sectors to pivot them to digital, and to put the company on an accelerated growth path, scaling them to over $2 billion in annual revenue globally.

Patel previously served as Head of Global Delivery managing industry practices such as Retail, CPG, Manufacturing, Logistics and Transportation for Cognizant. He has extensive experience servicing clients across North America, Europe and Asia.

Binoj Mathai is responsible for operational & financial performance of the company, including expansion & diversification plans in the Americas. Mahindra Finance USA is a joint venture between De Lage Landen, subsidiary of Rabobank & Mahindra Finance, India. The organization is licensed in all 50 US states and has a combined portfolio valued over $1b assets under management.

Binoj has been instrumental in setting up & launching operations of Mahindra Finance USA as a captive finance arm for M&M group of companies since 2008. He has been with the Mahindra Group for more than 23 years in various levels and responsibilities, in areas of Corporate Growth Strategy, Profit Center Management, launching & heading National Operations for Car Loans also Marketing, Credit & Collections for Retail Assets as a Regional Head.

He was also member of "M&M Group Young Leaders Forum", representing Mahindra Finance to M&M Group. He had served on the "Steering Committee", reviewing every activity of the organization, and providing solutions for variance to ensure steady growth. He was a member of M&M Group's "Shadow Board", presenting Strategic & Operational issues to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Binoj Mathai has done Executive Management Program from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) & Master of Business Administration in Marketing & Finance from Bharathiar University. His executive education focus & specialization has been in Strategy Models & Execution, Globalization, Joint ventures, Mergers & Acquisitions. As a part of his specialization he has completed projects in countries like Austria, Germany, Mexico, and Turkey.