AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter hosted a session on ‘Gearing Up for the Future of Work – The Workplace, Workforce and Leadership Imperatives’ on November 17th over Webex. With expert speakers from industry and corporate real estate advisory, the session focused on helping business leaders evaluate what the future of work will look like. The session was in a panel discussion format followed by Q&A. The discussion covered how the future of work is different from 2 years back, how workplaces can add value differently, workforce deciding workplace and how the role and contribution of leadership has been changing. The speakers for the session were Ms. Deepika Banerjee, Co-Head HR, Goldman Sachs, Bengaluru, Mr. Khurshed Gandhi, Managing Director, Consulting Services, Cushman & Wakefield, moderated by Ms. Chaitali Mukherjee, Partner and Leader: People & Organization, PwC India. The session was well attended by AMCHAM member companies like Inteva Products, Morgan Stanley, First American and more.

AMCHAM was an Association Partner of the Bengaluru Tech Summit from November 17th – 19th. Asia’s largest technology event, Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS) was organized by the Department of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Government of Karnataka and Co-Hosted by STPI. BTS 2021, in its 24th edition, over 3 days gave audiences access to the best innovations, new products and cutting-edge ideas for building a collaborative, global tech community. BTS positioned itself as the place of convergence for the leading cross-sector tech companies to start-ups, technocrats to young innovators, policymakers to investors, researchers to academia, facilitating dialogue and collaborations.

Some of the topics covered were creative disruption – impact of emerging technologies on the creative economy, EV ecosystem, innovations in healthcare technologies spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic, anywhere operations – rebooting the digital workspace, historical perspectives on mRNA and more. The event was very well organized and attended with expert speakers from academia, government and industry.

On November 13th, senior AMCHAM members in defense, healthcare and tech sectors met with a high power U.S. Congressional Delegation led by Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus. Other members of the U.S. government delegation included Senator Michael Crapo (R-ID), Senator Michael Lee (R-UT), Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Representative Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23) and Representative Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6). Other important staffers from the Senators’ offices and Senate liaisons were present. AMCHAM members briefed the delegation on the ground reality of U.S. companies in India accentuating and advancing on positive aspects of the U.S.-India strategic bilateral relationship and also briefly highlighted the challenges and issues while seeking support from the U.S. government in highlighting the same with their counterparts in the Indian government. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM welcomed the delegation and invited members to share their sectors briefings. Mr. Salil Gupte, Chairman, AMCHAM and President, Boeing India and Mr. William Blair, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India shared the defense sector overview while seeking support on the impending CAATSA sanctions looming over India. Mr. Atul Dhawan, Honorary Treasurer and Secretary, AMCHAM and Chairman, Deloitte India gave a complete overview of U.S. industry in India. Other members discussed their sectoral issues in healthcare and tech. Senator Cornyn and delegates debriefed the team about their past Indian government engagements with assurance of taking up the challenges highlighted to them with their counterparts at the upcoming G2G meetings.

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter held a meeting of the Executive Committee on November 12th virtually. The discussion included membership, potential resumption of in person meetings in Bengaluru, participation at the Bengaluru Tech Summit and the upcoming AMCHAM Golf Tournament 2021. The meeting was attended by members of the Karnataka Chapter Executive Committee.

Through his special address, Mr. David J. Ranz, Consul General, U.S. Consulate General Mumbai briefed members on key developments in the U.S. administration and touched upon U.S.-India economic and trade relations. The newly appointed special invitees to the Western Region Committee – Ms. Tamarind Murrietta, Commercial Counselor, U.S. Consulate General Mumbai and Mr. Christopher J. Brown, Consul for Political and Economic Affairs, U.S. Consulate General Mumbai were warmly welcomed by the committee. Through their remarks, Ms. Murrietta and Mr. Brown shared brief insights on the focus areas and upcoming initiatives of the U.S. Consulate General Mumbai. As part of the agenda, the committee ideated and identified next steps for the Western Region signature event. The meeting closed with warm wishes for Diwali and a prosperous new year.

On November 8th, a few AMCHAM members in agriculture, defense, healthcare and tech sectors interacted with U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) over a networking reception held at Roosevelt House, U.S. Embassy. In his remarks, the Senator touched upon several important areas of opportunity including building a strong innovation ecosystem in both countries, while reaffirming the strong and growing bilateral relationship.