Vivan steers our advocacy initiatives. Previously, he has served as the CEO of the Global Governance Program at the Observer Research Foundation (ORF). He is a Visiting Fellow at ORF, Advisor to the Esya Centre, and Board Member of several innovation-centric start-ups. He is also the author of "Wonked!: India in Search of an Economic Ideology", published by Bloomsbury in 2019.
Raghav steers our investment mandates. Previously, he served as Director at a merchant bank, handling corporate finance mandates and as a strategic advisor to a large infrastructure firm. Raghav started his career in the financial services industry in Switzerland, and has experience of structuring cross-border investments.
Dr. Gautam steers our economic research. He has extensive research and teaching experience at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Indian Institute of Management, Institute of Capital Markets, and Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.
Nikhil leads our social responsibility initiatives and helps clients tailor CSR projects. Previously, he worked with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, subsequent to garnering experience working with farmer’s organizations in rural Rajasthan.
Aayush is a journalist who has written about India's politics, culture, technology and society for The Guardian, The Indian Express, The South China Morning Post, The Caravan, India Ink-The New York Times etc. He previously served as India correspondent for The Committee to Protect Journalists, an advocacy group that aims to enhance media freedom worldwide.
Aditi leads our legal team. She has degrees in engineering and law. Prior to joining Koan, she worked on tech-policy and governance issues at Software Freedom Law Centre, Centre for Internet and Society, and the United Nations Development Programme.
Sanskriti is an economist who specialises in Natural Resource and Environmental Economics. She previously worked in the field of Health Economics Outcomes Research (HEOR).
Mohit works on several emergent areas at the intersections of technology and law. A law and commerce graduate, his interests include trade and investment, financial markets, and corporate governance.
Priyesh monitors legislative reform and parliamentary activities. He previously served as Legislative Assistant to an Indian Member of Parliament, and drafted India's first comprehensive legislation on Genocide.
Shivangi is an economist with a keen interest in Microeconomics and Behavioural Economics. She enjoys working on issues in healthcare, energy markets, and applied micro-econometrics.
Yamini is an economist who specialises in International Economics. She previously worked at the Department of Economics and Policy Research at the Reserve Bank of India. She handles trade and investment related research.
Akshat's work focuses on internet and technology regulation. As a lawyer, his interests lie in the intersection of technology and Constitutional Law, as well as human rights jurisprudence.
Varun is a lawyer who focuses on regulations relating to information technology. He analyses the role of regulation in fostering the growth of converging digital infrastructure and service industries.
Aman is an economist with keen interest in financial markets and monetary policy. He enjoys analysing macroeconomic trends and running simulations. He previously worked at the Public Policy division of a political party.
Shweta is a legal analyst, interested in the impact of emerging technologies on human rights and public policy. She has experience working with legal policy
think-tanks and academic institutions.
Vijay is an indispensable part of our team, and renders administrative support to various projects and programmes.
Dr. Kumar is Assistant Professor at California State University, San Bernardino. His work has appeared in various academic journals and policy forums such as Economic and Political Weekly, Ideas for India and developingeconomics.org.
Varun is a corporate affairs veteran and a lawyer with over 20 years cross-sectoral and functional experience across marquee MNCs like Tatas, Honeywell, Medtronic, and Gilead Sciences. He is adept at leveraging industry associations and bilateral chambers for complex advocacy campaigns. He is also a life trustee at Sanskriti Foundation and an Asia Society fellow.
For the last twenty years, Narendra has used a unique combination of communication ability, coding skills and strategic thinking to deliver. In his last role as Chief Digital Officer at Xynteo, Narendra led digital transformation for some of the world’s largest companies. He now runs his own data-driven firm which collaborates closely with Koan.
Dr. Saran is President at the Observer Research Foundation and a frequent commentator on issues in Cyber Security and Governance. He chairs ‘CyFy’, India’s dedicated conference on cyber security and internet governance and is Commissioner, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace.
Dr. Rai was a member of the IAS for more than 21 years. He also worked as the National Project Director - UNDP/WIPO; Member Secretary, Foreign Investment Promotion Council; National Negotiator at WTO/WIPO; and Secretary General, Quality Council of India. Subsequently, Dr. Rai worked at the WIPO for 16 years.
Mr. Kher superannuated as Commerce Secretary in 2015 after a career of 35 years in the IAS. He then worked as a Member in the Competition Appellate Tribunal for two years. He is now a Distinguished Fellow at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries.