Meet the Panelists
Dr. Pravati Swain
Associate Professor, NIT Goa | AI/ML for Communication Networks
Dr. Swain is an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Engineering at NIT Goa. She holds a PhD from IIT Guwahati and was a research associate at the University of Missouri Kansas City, USA. Her research focuses on AI/ML for communication networks, including federated learning, B5G/6G, and IoT-Edge-Cloud systems. She has supervised 2 completed and 4 ongoing PhD scholars, and is part of an ANRF project worth 6 crores on AI/ML applications in data centers.
Dr. Shalini Menezes
Founder, Menezes Gaonkar LLP & Patented Network
Dr. Menezes is an intellectual property strategist, patent valuer, and technology commercialization expert with a cross-disciplinary background in physics, IP law, and finance. A Fulbright Scholar with a PhD in Finance specializing in patent valuation, she works at the intersection of innovation, markets, and regulation. She advises startups, research institutions, and industry on patent strategy, IP valuation, and commercialization, focusing on translating emerging technologies including AI into defensible, monetizable assets, while engaging with the ethical and economic implications of innovation.
Nandini Ray
Product Leader & AI-for-Good Strategist
Nandini is a product leader with 11+ years of experience building technology solutions across public health, education, and governance. As Senior Product Manager at Girl Effect, they led AI and NLP-driven platforms focused on sexual and reproductive health, mental well-being, and addressing tech-facilitated gender-based violence. Their work focuses on responsible innovation, advocating for ethical AI systems with strong guardrails, especially in high-impact domains. Currently, they work across business consulting and creative technology with Inki and Minus Equals Plus.
Oindrilla Chatterjee
AI & Digitalization Lead, Adage Automation | Founder, Women In Tech Goa
Oindrilla leads AI and analytics integration at Adage Automation in Goa. She holds a Master's in Computer Science from Boston University and spent seven years in Boston driving research in ML and AI. As Principal Data Scientist at Red Hat's Office of the CTO, she led key AI initiatives shaping the company's open-source AI strategy. She also taught a graduate-level Machine Learning course at Boston University and co-founded a startup in Boston. A passionate advocate for open-source AI, she has spoken at over 40 technical conferences worldwide. Now based in Goa, she founded Women in Tech Goa, a community bringing together women founders, industry leaders, academics, researchers, creatives and students to make STEM careers more visible and supported for women across the state.
