Network Capital

Key insights and mental models:
1. Pivoting to unconventional and unchartered career paths
2. Understanding the governance consulting models and landscape in India
3. Unit and scale of change in the context of governance in India

Gaurav Goel is the Founder & CEO of Samagra | Transforming Governance, a mission-driven governance consulting firm. Gaurav holds a dual degree in Computer Science & Engineering from IIT Delhi and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. After graduating from IIM Calcutta, he joined McKinsey & Company as a Management Consultant where he worked across sectors and geographies, solving diverse corporate problem statements. While he was enjoying his stint at McKinsey, he knew that eventually he wanted to use his skills towards improving the lives of Indian citizens by engaging with the governance process. In 2012, he set up Samagra so that he could translate his passion into reality and create impact at scale. Samagra is currently driving 9 state-wide transformations across diverse domains, while also working with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and NITI Aayog at the Centre. Through its engagements, Samagra is impacting the lives of more than 65 million citizens. Gaurav's path-breaking efforts to tackle intractable governance challenges led him to be recognized in BusinessWorld’s 40 Under 40 list of changemakers in India in 2019.

Key insights and mental models:
1. The power of being an outsider
2. Balancing between being liked and being a contrarian
3. The process of research, story-building and writing
4. Making your weirdness work for you

Olga Khazan is a staff writer for The Atlantic, covering health, gender, and science. Prior to that, she was The Atlantic’s Global editor. She has also written for the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post, Forbes, and other publications. She is a two-time recipient of the International Reporting Project’s Journalism Fellowship and winner of the 2017 National Headliner Awards for Magazine Online Writing.

In this podcast you will learn -
1. Defying social and gender norms to build a deep-tech company.
2. Humanising technology through Artificial Emotional Intelligence and ethical AI.
3. Importance of data diversity and ethics for building inclusive technology.
4. Negotiating with criticism and failure to augment long term success.

Rana el Kaliouby, PhD, is co-founder and CEO of Affectiva, and author of the forthcoming book Girl Decoded, which is available for pre-order now. Rana is the pioneer of artificial emotional intelligence—Emotion AI. The next frontier of Artificial Intelligence, Emotion AI is projected to become a multi-billion dollar industry. Rana led the innovation of the company’s award winning technology, which uses deep learning and massive amounts of data to analyze complex and nuanced emotions and cognitive states from face and voice. And, she raised over $50 million in venture capital for Affectiva.

Rana’s PhD research at the University of Cambridge developed one of the earliest prototypes of facial emotion recognition technology. Later, as a research scientist at MIT Media Lab, she spearheaded the applications of emotion recognition technology in a variety of fields, including mental health and autism research.

Rana holds a BSc and MSc in Computer Science from the American University in Cairo, a PhD from the Computer Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and a Post Doctorate at MIT.

Rana is one of few women leading a disruptive AI company. A Muslim-American and passionate advocate, she frequently speaks in press and on stage, about innovation, women in technology, ethics in AI and leadership. Forbes recently included Rana in their list of America’s Top 50 Women In Tech, and Fortune Magazine included her in their 40 under 40, 2018 edition. She is also a Young Global Leader in the World Economic Forum.

In this episode you will learn the following:
1. Leveraging diplomacy to navigate through high-pressure scenarios.
2. The importance of maintaining diverse networks and nurturing old relationships.
3. Nuances of negotiating the non-negotiable.
4. Role of ingenuity, trust and commitment in politics.

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation.

In this episode you will learn the following:

1. The art of contextually relevant learning and unlearning

2. Evolution of social responsibility, sustainability and governance in Indian corporates

3. Principles of negotiating the non-negotiable

Dr. Mukund Rajan, is the Chairman of ECube Investment Advisors Private Limited, which focusses on Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) issues in India. ECube announced a partnership in 2019 with Quantum Advisors to invest in the mid-market space in the Indian public markets.

Prior to ECube, Dr. Rajan served for 23 years with the Tata group, where he held a number of senior executive positions. These included the first Brand Custodian of the Tata group, Chief Ethics Officer of the group, Chair of the Tata Global Sustainability Council, Member of the Group Executive Council at Tata Sons Limited, Head of Private Equity at Tata Capital, Founding Managing Partner of the Tata Opportunities Fund, and Managing Director of one of the group's listed telecom businesses, Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Limited. He served on the boards of various Tata companies including Tata Teleservices, Tata Communications, Roots Corporation, Piem Hotels, Tata SIA Airlines, Tata AIG, and the TCS Foundation.

Dr Rajan serves as the Chairperson of the Environment Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He has also served as the Chair of the India@75 Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Chair of the CII Core Group on China.

In 2007, the World Economic Forum honoured Dr. Rajan as a Young Global Leader.

Dr. Rajan graduated from the Bachelor of Technology program at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1989. He received a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford University, where he completed a Masters and Doctorate in International Relations. His doctoral dissertation titled "Global Environmental Politics - India and the North-South Politics of Global Environmental Issues" was published by Oxford University Press in 1996. His second book, "The Brand Custodian", was published by HarperCollins in 2019.

In this episode you will learn the following:
1. Building transferable skills - lessons from an author, diplomat and politican
2. Peacekeepking and negotiations in the Cold War era
3. The mental models required to work in an international, multi-cultural and complex environment like the UN.

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan’s leadership of the organisation.

In his second episode of the exclusive multi-part Network Capital podcast, Dr. Tharoor reflects on his days in the UN. He shares anecdotes and learnings from his career as an international diplomat.

In this podcast you will learn –
1. How AI and facial recognition technologies are changing how students learn
2. The role of poets in a world obsessed with quants
3. Practical ways of augmenting learning by combining deep tech and teacher training
4. Specific interventions by different counties such as Finland, China, South Korea to make students ready for the 21st century

Alex has worked in education for a decade. After starting out as an English teacher in a London comprehensive, he completed his MA at the Institute of Education before joining Teach For All, a growing global network of organizations working to ensure that the next generation fulfil their potential. He is fortunate to spend his time travelling the world in search of the practices that will shape the future of learning and has written about his experiences for the Guardian, Financial Times, Evening Standard, Independent and Wired. His book Natural Born Learners is a user's guide to transforming learning in the twenty-first century, taking readers on a dazzling global tour into the future of education, from Silicon Valley to Seoul, Helsinki to Hounslow.

In this episode you will learn the following:

1. The importance of conducting micro-experiments towards shaping a meaningful career

2. The art of being a contrarian

3. The power of multi-disciplinary learning and clear thinking

An author, politician, and former international civil servant, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience. Currently a third-term Lok Sabha MP representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency and Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, he has previously served as Minister of State for Human Resource Development and Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. During his nearly three-decade long prior career at the United Nations, he served as a peacekeeper, refugee worker, and administrator at the highest levels, serving as Under-Secretary General during Kofi Annan's leadership of the organisation.

In the first episode of this exclusive multi-part Network Capital podcast, Dr. Tharoor shares how he followed his curiosity, defied conventional norms and chose to pursue a career in international relations.

In this podcast you will learn -
1. How to choose a career in social sciences?
2. What might politics without politicians look like
3. Practical ways to make democracy more inclusive

Hélène Landemore is Associate Professor of Political Science, with Tenure. Her research and teaching interests include democratic theory, political epistemology, theories of justice, the philosophy of social sciences (particularly economics), constitutional processes and theories, and workplace democracy.

Her first book (in French) Hume. Probabilité et Choix Raisonnable (PUF: 2004) was a philosophical investigation of David Hume’s theory of decision-making. Her second book (in English) Democratic Reason won the Montreal Manuscript Workshop Award in 2011; the Elaine and David Spitz Prize in 2015; and the 2018 APSA “Ideas, Knowledge, and Politics” section book award. Hélène’s third book–Open Democracy: Reinventing Popular Rule for the 21st Century (under contract with Princeton University Press)–develops a new paradigm of democracy in which the exercise of power is as little gated as possible, even as it depends on representative structures to make it possible. In this version of popular rule, power is equally open to all, as opposed to just those who happen to stand out in the eyes of others (as in electoral democracies). The book centrally defends the use of non-electoral yet democratic forms of representation, including “lottocratic,” “self-selected,” and “liquid” representation.

Hélène is also co-editor with Jon Elster of Collective Wisdom: Principles and Mechanisms (Cambridge University Press 2012), and is currently working on a new edited volume project on Digital Technology and Democratic Theory, together with Rob Reich and Lucy Bernholz at Stanford.

In this podcast you will learn:
1. How to understand education inequity in India from a holistic lens
2. How to work with different stakeholders in the education space
3. How to carve out a meaningful career doing something you truly care about

As the Adhyayan Foundation CEO and founding team member, Anushri is responsible for creating the strategic vision for the organization, developing and overseeing implementation of programmes across 827 government schools in Goa and 5000+ schools in Delhi, building relationships with potential donors and partners, and overseeing the overall functioning of the organization.

She has been an educator for the past 10 years. Having completed a Master’s in Education from Columbia University, she has a wide range of experience in education. She developed and headed the education program at Sanctuary for Families in New York, working with the New York City Government on supporting survivors of gender violence become economically independent.

Having a keen interest in education in the context of violence, she has worked with refugees populations as well as students in areas of violence through her work with the International Rescue Committee and Global Nomads Group in New York. Anushri also coordinated the Working Group on Peace, Conflict and Education, an interdisciplinary research consortium at Columbia University in New York. She worked as a Teach for India Fellow in 2010, teaching grades 3 and 4 in an underserved community in Pune.

Anushri has been a Co-Chair for Human Rights and Education Colloquium: A collaborative project connecting scholars from Columbia University and New York University.
She is the Co-Founder of Burma Connect, an Independent Student Group now known as Connecting Myanmar at the University of Hong Kong.