AMCHAM’s Defense Committee members convened in a hybrid fashion on May 25th to discuss the activities in the sector. This was the first committee meeting after constitution of the committee leadership for 2022-2023. Ms. Udaya Arun, Director – Aerospace & Defense, AMCHAM opened up the meeting and welcomed the new leadership to the committee: Mr. William L. Blair, Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Vice President and Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin India, Mr. Ravi Nirgudkar, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, BAE Systems India Services (Pvt.) Limited, Mr. Surendra Ahuja, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Boeing Defense India and Mr. Gaurav Mehndiratta, Co-Chairman – Defense Committee, AMCHAM and Partner and Head – Aerospace & Defence, KPMG India. Members also welcomed CAPT Michael Farmer, Chief, Office of Defense Cooperation (ODC), U.S. Embassy. Mr. William Blair quickly shared a brief on AMCHAM’s Defense Delegation to DC in September/October 2021 and members were updated on the upcoming Door Knock Delegation 2022. Members deliberated on the key asks that the delegation should bring to the forefront during the discussions in Washington DC and the level of engagements and officials that the group should call upon.

AMCHAM’s Karnataka Chapter hosted an event in partnership with the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) on May 25th on the topic of ‘Unleashing the Power of Data in Business Decision Making’ over breakfast in Bengaluru. The session focused on real life case studies of how data powered decision making can change the paradigm of the role of finance followed by interactive Q&A with the audience. The speaker, Ms. Sandhya J., Group Chief Financial Officer, Narayana Health, gave attendees an exclusive peak into a data democratization journey at Narayana Health using Medha Analytics®, an inhouse tool developed by Narayana Health. Participants gained a greater understanding of how data can unleash real value that finance leaders can create in steering business outcomes. The event was attended by AMCHAM members such as Hewlett Packard, Johnson Controls, Timken, Herbalife, Texas Instruments, 3M and more.

AMCHAM’s Cyber Security Committee held the first meeting for 2022-23 on May 19th virtually under the leadership of Mr. Bikram Bedi, Chairman – Cyber Security Committee, AMCHAM and Managing Director, Google Cloud, Mr. Ripu Bajwa, Co-Chairman – Cyber Security Committee, AMCHAM and Director & General Manager, Dell Technologies, Mr. Amrit Deo Singh, Co-Chairman – Cyber Security Committee, AMCHAM and Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting. Ms. Ranjana Khanna, Director General CEO, AMCHAM welcomed participants and cited that India is the second-fastest digital adopter among the world’s 17 most digital economies, though with rapid digitization comes the challenges and risks posed by technology. Mr. Bikram Bedi delivered opening remarks and invited Ms. Ann Mason, Trade and Technology Unit Chief, Economic, Energy, Science, and Technology Section, U.S. Embassy to share her perspectives on the topic. Deliberations were made upon CERT-In Directions 2022, Trusted Security Directives, security processes, security regulation, skilling and many more.