IIM Bangalore Announces Distinguished Alumni Awards 2024

This year, the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) has announced the recipients of its Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2024, honoring four outstanding alumni: Hemant K Bhargava (PGP 1986), T Koshy (PGP 1989), Prabha Narasimhan (PGP 1997), and Praveen Sood (PGPPM 2005). Instituted in 2007, these awards recognize alumni who have achieved exceptional success and made significant contributions in various fields such as industry, management, entrepreneurship, research, academia, and social service.

The selection process for the Distinguished Alumni Awards involved a thorough review by a committee comprising the Director of IIMB, the Dean of Alumni Relations and Development, esteemed faculty members, the President of the IIMB Alumni Association, and previous DAA recipients. Criteria for selection included a distinguished career trajectory, exemplary leadership qualities, significant impact on their respective industries or fields, and contributions to societal welfare.

Hemant K Bhargava (PGP 1986)

Hemant Bhargava is Distinguished Professor at the University of California Davis. An academic leader in decision analytics and economic modelling of technology-driven markets, he co-founded and was the first Academic Director of the UC Davis Master of Science in Business Analytics and served as Associate Dean at the Graduate School of Management. He holds the Jerome and Elsie Suran Chair Professorship in Technology Management and directs the Center for Analytics and Technology in Society. He received a BS Honors in Mathematics from Delhi University, an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, and MS and PhD in Decision Sciences from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Hemant has been on the faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA and The Pennsylvania State University, has had Visiting Faculty positions at Carnegie Mellon University and Alexander Humboldt University, and has been a Visiting Scholar at Goethe University Frankfurt, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, University of Passau and Indian School of Business. While in Monterey, Hemant served as a docent in the Point Sur Lighthouse. He is an avid tennis player, an enthusiastic fan of music, and an ardent reader of history, politics and personalities. He loves the outdoors, eating and making good food, and spending time with his family. 

Hemant studies how distinctive characteristics of technology goods influence operations, marketing, competitive strategy and policy. The focal industries include platform businesses, computing and telecommunications, healthcare, media and entertainment, and electric vehicles. He has published extensively, in Management Science, Operations Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Information Systems Research, INFORMS Journal on Computing, and Production and Operations Management. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the INFORMS Information Systems Society and is Department Editor (Information Systems) at INFORMS’ flagship journal Management Science. He co-founded the annual Theory in Economics of Information Systems workshop. He was listed among the Global 100 Top Academic Data Leaders by Chief Data Officer magazine in 2020. His research awards include the INFORMS Journal on Computing ‘Test of Time’ award for his 2007 paper on search engines, a Best Paper Award at INFORMS CIST 2021 for revenue-sharing in platforms, and a Research Excellence Gift by Google in 2017-18.

Honored to receive the DAA from IIMB, Hemant says that IIM Bangalore is not only the Number One management school in India, but an institution that has played a vital part in his professional life, giving him lifelong genius friends. “IIMB has added to my toolbox of Mathematics, an introduction to analytics and computing in business, the core playfield of my professional life. I owe this award to all the teachers, mentors and colleagues who have shaped my intellectual contributions, my friends who have provided a good balance outside of work, and to my family for empowering me to have such a great time while doing what I enjoy. I hope this award serves as a catalyst for new collaborations and creates new opportunities for contributing to fruitful use of technology in India, and towards education and business”.

T Koshy (PGP 1989)

After completing his graduation, T Koshy subsequently joined the industry and in 1996, he became part of the start-up team which established National Securities Depository Limited (NSDL), the first depository in India which led to the transformation of capital markets, and played a critical role in this transformation as the Executive Director. Building on the disruption, Koshy played key roles in multiple national digital transformation projects, including the Tax Information Network, online payment for direct and indirect taxes, the Central Record Keeping Agency for pension, automation of SEZs, helping in the design of the GST, among many others. He also served on many crucial committees established by the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and RBI. Subsequently, he joined EY as a Partner, shaping the firm’s and the country’s digital transformation through many key projects including the implementation of UIDAI, implementation of the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) and subsequently CoWIN, the GST network and the Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA).

He worked with social protection and identity programs for multilateral organizations like the World Bank and ADB in many countries across the globe, and along with eminent leaders like Nandan Nilekani and Dr. R S Sharma. Most recently, he was part of the team which conceptualized the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), and then took over as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, leading the charge for its rapid growth and development.

Koshy also plays a leadership role in a not-for-profit institution, MJC, for the empowerment and upliftment of underprivileged girls and women that has so far supported thousands of women.

Humbled at receiving the DAA, Koshy says that the foundation that he received at IIMB, along with the guidance the faculty and colleagues provided and continue to provide, have shaped his journey. “This award is also an expression of the belief of the institute and the alumni network in the idea of ONDC and its potential to transform, and our team will continue to strive tirelessly to bring it to fruition. These achievements of the alumni of our alma mater will continue to be an inspiration for the current and future students of IIMB“.

Prabha Narasimhan (PGP 1997)

Prabha Narasimhan, the Managing Director of Colgate-Palmolive India since September 2022, is a seasoned leader with a proven track record in the consumer goods industry. Over the years, she has demonstrated strategic prowess and a deep understanding of market dynamics, driving growth and innovation across various categories.

During her long tenure at Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), she led the skincare division to remarkable market-beating growth, earning accolades for her broad-based performance delivery across brands and sub-segments. She also oversaw the homecare business across many countries.

Since her appointment as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Colgate-Palmolive India in 2022, she has been driving transformative changes and propelling the company towards further success. Her focus on science based innovation, digitization and brand-building initiatives is reshaping the company’s trajectory in the market.

Known for her collaborative approach and customer-centric strategies, she is committed to driving sustainable business practices. Her passion for excellence and dedication to improving consumer health and well-being underscore her leadership at Colgate-Palmolive India.

A proud alumna of IIM Bangalore and Melbourne Business School, she was recently recognized as one of the distinguished women achievers at Business Today’s ‘Most Powerful Women in Business’ of 2023.

Prabha says that she is honored to receive this recognition, and adds, “Getting an award is always special but getting an award from such a prestigious institution, one that has been foundational to who you are, is even more special.”

Praveen Sood (PGPPM 2005)

Praveen Sood, Director of Central Bureau of Investigation, Government of India, joined Indian Police Service in 1986 and was allotted Karnataka Cadre. He is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Delhi (1985) and did his postgraduation in Public Policy and Management from IIM Bangalore (2005).

Praveen Sood has been heading India’s premier investigating Agency, CBI, since May 2023. He has held several positions of responsibility in Karnataka, including Chief of the Police Force Karnataka from January 2020 till May 2023, and was responsible for administering a force of 1.2 lakh personnel and law and order situation in the state; Chief of Traffic Police in Bangalore City (2008-11); Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru (2017); Commissioner of Police, Mysuru (2004-2007), and Managing Director of Karnataka State Police Housing and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited during 2013-14. As Principal Secretary, Home Department in 2014, he was involved in policy formulation. He has also gained international experience working as Adviser to the Government of Mauritius during 1999-2002 and was instrumental in implementing Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) and Scene of Mauritius.

A strong believer of leveraging technology in policing to tackle emerging challenges, he was instrumental in launching Blackberry assisted traffic enforcement (2008), state-of-art traffic management centre (TMC – 2011), technology-driven delivery of police services as part of rights of guarantee of services to citizens in a time-bound manner (2012), Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS – 2013), Centre for Cybercrime Investigation Training and Research (2018) and Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) as part of forensic investigation (2022). He introduced Namma 100 (now Dial 112) in Bangalore City (2017) and subsequently launched it statewide in 2020.

Over the years, his relentless efforts have been recognized with various accolades including President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2011, President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002, Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for Excellence in Service in 1996 and National e-Governance Gold Award for Most Innovative Use of Technology for Traffic Management in 2001.

Delighted at receiving the DAA from IIMB and thanking the institute for the valuable takeaways, Praveen Sood says, “My mid-career engagement at lIMB through postgraduation in Public Policy and Management provided me a new perspective of challenges faced by citizens and enabled me to tackle them differently using out-of-box solutions and leveraging technology.”