A media professional & entrepreneur with 18 years of multifunctional experience working across digital, television and ad/ media technology. He is one of the few privileged media professional with varied experiences and exposure within the industry working with some of the finest media companies and evolving into an entrepreneurial role. Vikas started his media career at STAR India working directly with Raj Nayak on Sales and Marketing strategies for STAR Network of channels. Partnered with him to set up NDTV Media Ltd, the commercial arm for NDTV and drove phenomenal growth for the company creating a benchmark within the news genre and leading the category. The news landscape continued to change and fragment whilst they continued to build the brand and innovate on monetisation. The journey with Raj continued to set up an independent Media Services business at AIDEM and then an opportunity to captain the ship through some rough weather as an entrepreneur to safer waters. They managed to build a technology media services business from scratch to the leading player within the digital delivery of ad commercials, a non existent market until eBus. They also managed a successful and valuable exit from the JV to the global player IMD and retain the business as an exclusive service provider for sales and support. They took some of their digital publishers partnership to build a new company called Zirca DIgital which is already a well recognized Digital services player on the supply side working with some of the finest global publishers, tools and technology.

Vikas teamed up with Arnab Goswami to launch Republic English and their digital business. The channel launched with a smashing 52% market share in its maiden week and it continues to lead within the English News genre. After the commercial success of English, the team is working towards launch of Republic Bharat their foray into Hindi language which is the largest regional language business. The team aspires to be a leading News content platform within the country and has plans to look at a global news platform from India.

He has experiences and in depth understanding within Television, Digital and Media Technology. He feels that the the future of media is convergence and the ability to monetise the audiences across multiple platforms with data and technology as a great enabler. His biggest positive is that he is extremely driven, self-motivated and loves new experiences.

VIKAS GUPTA is an Indian television show producer, writer, creative director, reality TV star, host and an entrepreneur. He owns a production company LOST BOY Media Productions Pvt. Ltd. and a talent management company by the name of LOST and FOUND Talent Management & Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Company. A firm believer of hard work and talent, he started working at a very young age of 17 in his career. Regarded as one of the very few youth orientated show makers of India, his shows have carved a niche for themselves in people’s heart. Blessed with a keen eye for talent, he has scouted, groomed and developed talents and has produced major youth icons and influencers of the country.
Vikas Gupta began his career as an intern at Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms for some time and later went on to become the creative head at Balaji for the biggest TV shows that the production house made which include Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Mahabharat and Kis Desh Mein Hain Mera Dil. He then later started his own production house called The Lost Boy Productions. It made popular TV shows like Gumrah and The Serial for Channel V, Yeh Hai Aashiqui for Bindass, MTV Webbed, Warrior High, Splitsvilla (S8), Big F for MTV, Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, Bad Company for Zing, Talaash- Code Red for Colors and Class of 2017, hindi web series for Ekta Kapoor’s video on demand platform ALTBalaji. He is also the youngest programming head of MTV India.
In October 2017, Gupta participated in Colors TV’s popular show Bigg Boss in its eleventh season and became the 2nd runner up. In October 2017, Gupta participated in Colors TV’s popular show Bigg Boss in its eleventh season and became the 2nd runner up. On 8th February, 2018 , Vikas Gupta delivered his first ever Ted talk at TEDxSPIT event in Mumbai focusing on the importance of pushing oneself for finding one’s true self.
On January 25, 2018, he won a ‘TV Personality of the Year’ award at the Lions Gold Awards.On 28 February, He was awarded ‘Most Enterprising Brands and Leaders of Asia 2018’ award.
He received ‘Break through Artist Of The Year’ award at the ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2018’ held in Mumbai on April 20, 2018.
He has also acted as a host in IIFA Buzz for International Indian Film Academy Awards 2018.
In month of July 2018, He shot for Colors TV’s Khatron Ke Khiladi 9 in Argentina
Special Entry in Big Boss Season 12 {Khulaase Ki Raat}.
He is currently doing Ace of Space, a reality show as a celebrity host. As the show reached to its zenith the show got extended for 1 more month.
After becoming the second runner-up in Bigg Boss (S11), Vikas Gupta has attended various events as a celebrity speaker. He has been doing numerous brand collaborations with the brands of national repute since then. As a producer, his next web series, Puncch Beat, is being shot which will be released on ALTBalaji. He is also working on the next season of Class Of 2017.

Partho Dasgupta is the Chief Executive Officer of BARC India, the largest television audience measurement system in the world. Under his guidance, BARC India was set up with State of the Art technology in a record time of 20 months.

A general management professional with diverse experience in consumer goods industries and in media, across print, television and out-of-home, Partho has led start-up and management teams for Times Now, Future Media, The Economic Times and Times Multimedia.

He is a keen observer of consumer and media trends and is committed to introducing path breaking innovations and international best practices to the science of audience measurement in India.

A prodigious leader and turnaround expert – Nina Elavia Jaipuria has played a decisive role in scripting the future growth story of the kids’ category in India. An illustrious career spanning over 2 decades across FMCG, telecom, broadcast and advertising, Nina has spearheaded the launch of numerous landmark brand campaigns and strategic business innovations and initiatives.
After completing her Master’s in Business Administration from the reputed Sydenham Institute of Management, Nina started her journey in advertising with the iconic launch of Surf Excel that emerged as a game changer for HUL in India. She moved on to Colgate to look after their Cibaca toothbrush portfolio. Ever enthusiastic for honing her business development skills, Nina shifted gears to move to BPL Cellular to work on its customer acquisition strategy, at the most decisive phase of the booming telecom industry in India. She started her stint in the broadcast industry with Sony Entertainment Television where she launched landmark brand campaigns for shows like Jassi Jaisi Koi Nahi and Indian Idol. These shows, popularized through ground-breaking above and below the line platforms, quickly became a case study in television content marketing.

Nina’s journey at Viacom18 began in 2006 when she joined as Business Head of Nickelodeon. Since then she has launched 3 more channels, numerous local IPs and made Nickelodeon number one in the kids’ category. Nina’s exceptional understanding of the media and entertainment, and allied ecosystems enables her to create win-win propositions for all involved stakeholders, thus making the Kids’ cluster one of the network’s more profitable business units. To leverage Nina’s business acumen, in September 2018, she was entrusted with the additional responsibility of leading Viacom18’s Hindi Mass Entertainment play, thus bringing COLORS, Rishtey and Rishtey Cineplex under her purview.

Today, as Head – Hindi and Kids TV Network, Nina now leads two of the company’s foremost broadcast ventures. Nina also spearheads the performance management and development initiatives at Viacom18, in addition to the change process and behavioural fair practice initiatives.
Nina has also been voted one of IMPACT’s “50 Most Influential Women in Indian Media, Marketing & Advertising” for 6 years. A remarkable people’s person, Nina leads an inspired team and is reckoned for her ability to attract, grow and nurture talent. A passionate business leader, Nina is also a committed social worker, dedicated to imparting education to the underprivileged. Nina also loves to travel and soak in world cultures.

Ashish Sehgal has been associated with ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. since January 2006. As the Chief Growth Officer – Advertisement Revenue, he plays a strategic role of synergizing the network assets of the media & entertainment powerhouse, to generate revenue and enhance the value of the organization. Leveraging the experience of over 20 years in creating value for the overall media & entertainment industry, he conceptualized and implemented a unified revenue generating vertical in ZEE, with a pure focus on customer and imbibed a platform agnostic approach leading to enhanced revenue generation opportunity for every entertainment or information platform of the Company.
Ashish was previously associated with Star India Pvt. Ltd. at a National Head Level, before managing the overall network’s sales. Prior to that, Ashish has worked at Buena Vista TV. He started his career with Times Group in 1994, where he contributed to the launch of country’s first FM channel. Ashish is a Commerce Graduate from Delhi University with a Specialised Degree in LLB from Symbiosis and has done a Programme for Strategy & Growth from IIM Ahmedabad.

Business Head, Sony Marathi
Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN)

Having been with Sony Pictures Networks India since 2014, Ajay Bhalwankar is heading SPN’s
Marathi Channel. Ajay has also served as Chief Creative Director for SPN’s flagship GEC,
Sony Entertainment Television (SET).

Prior to joining SPNI, Ajay worked in various capacities across broadcasters and channels like
Zee TV, Music Asia amongst others where he launched Marathi & Hindi channels besides
producing Marathi films and setting up a film production studio. At Zee Network he was content
head – Hindi GECs and had been instrumental in delivering quality content with exceptionally
popular shows and remarkable characters across a bouquet of genres. He has also worked as
a journalist with Mumbai’s leading Marathi newspaper ‘Aapla Mahanagar’ and fortnightly sports
magazine ‘Ekach Shatkar’.

Ajay has an M.A. in French Literature from the University of Mumbai and a management degree
from MICA, Ahmedabad. An ardent movie buff, he loves watching films in different genres,
besides reading books on history, poetry, and philosophy. During the weekends he loves to
spend quality time with his family and go on road trips with them.