Neelam Dhawan is an iconic figure and mentor in the tech world, renowned for her over three decades of experience in the global IT industry. Her expertise is defined by successfully managing complex technology businesses in highly matrixed organizations, having held senior executive and Managing Director roles at industry giants including HCL, IBM, Microsoft, and Hewlett Packard.
Dhawan spent eleven years leading the country businesses for Microsoft and Hewlett Packard in India, where she spearheaded revenue, profitability, and employee satisfaction across all business entities in the geography. This tenure included navigating the company through several mergers and acquisitions, providing her with a unique, high-level perspective on managing and growing businesses during periods of rapid change. Her career spanned the industry’s major milestones, allowing her to work alongside the key architects of the sector in India.
Her commitment to shaping the IT industry in India is extensive. She served on the NASSCOM Executive Council from 2009 to 2017, making significant contributions to the industry strategy and public policy frameworks. She is a passionate advocate for encouraging diversity at work and women in technology, actively working on various initiatives to encourage STEM education for girls. Her accomplishments have been widely recognized by leading business journals such as Fortune and Forbes as one of the Most Powerful Women in Business.
Currently, Dhawan is a highly sought-after advisor and mentor on business transformation, serving as a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of major companies, including ICICI Bank Limited, Capita PLC, and Fractal Analytics. Her keynotes help organizations understand and thrive with the “new reality” of technology, offering crucial insights on the role of the CEO in managing and growing businesses, and the disruptive impact of IT on sectors like healthcare.
