Information technology (IT) industry body, Nasscom on Thursday said it has appointed Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder and Group Chief Executive of Fractal, as its Chairperson, succeeding Sindhu Gangadharan, Managing Director, SAP Labs India, who completes a distinguished term as Chairperson in April.
Alongside this, the Nasscom Executive Council has also elected Kishor Patil, Co- Founder, CEO and Managing Director at KPIT, as the new Vice Chairperson.
Kishor Patil
Velamakanni assumes the role after serving as Vice-Chairperson of Nasscom and as an Executive Council member for over six years. As co-founder of one of India’s earliest and most prominent AI-first enterprises, he brings deep expertise in enterprise AI, analytics, responsible technology, and global go-to-market to the role, at a defining moment for the industry.
Working closely with Rajesh Nambiar, President, Nasscom, and the Executive Council, he will steer the industry’s agenda across a set of interconnected priorities that reflect where the global technology landscape is headed, the industry body said.
“AI progress is unlocking unprecedented opportunities for enterprises, large and small, to reimagine their businesses. India will play a pivotal role in this AI-led transformation. Over the coming year, our focus will be to drive the next cycle of AI-powered growth across services and products and prepare our workforce to lead with AI,” Velamakanni said.
Nasscom’s focus will be on accelerating services transformation with AI while simultaneously catalysing product innovation and Agentic AI to position India as a leading source of autonomous, multi-agent systems and vertical AI products for global markets.
Equally central will be strengthening IP-led DeepTech innovation across AI infrastructure, semiconductors, Frontier and advanced engineering; scaling talent and skilling initiatives to prepare the workforce for emerging Human + AI roles; and embedding Responsible AI and governance through industry-led standards that cements India as a trusted hub for responsible AI, Nasscom said.
A distinctly accomplished thought leader, Velamakanni has been a prominent voice of India’s AI efforts and an outspoken proponent of the need for sovereign AI technologies. He has been an active participant in government advisory roles regarding AI policy and national security.
An alumnus of IIT-Delhi and IIM-Ahmedabad, he has been widely recognised for his contributions to entrepreneurship. In addition to his leadership at Nasscom and Fractal, he is a founder and trustee member of Plaksha University in Punjab.
“Srikanth brings a rare combination of entrepreneurial drive and AI depth to this role. Under his leadership, and with the collective strength of our Executive Council, we will continue to position the tech industry as the world’s most trusted AI-led transformation partner,” Rajesh Nambiar, President Nasscom, said.
Published on April 23, 2026