Dr (h.c.) Kumar Visvanathan

Dr (Hc) Kumar Visvanathan is a Leadership Coach and a Human Resources Professional with a Master’s degree in Management. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate for People Management by a New York based University in 2019. He has over 30 years of experience in the HR space in the IT industry. He is a founding member of Conference Board’s Asia Pacific Shared Services Council. In 2016 he was awarded as HR Superstar by HRO magazine, Philadelphia, USA. He is also a member of India’s NASSCOM Steering Committee on Background Checks providing thought leadership and direction. He is a member of the Academic Council at St. Joseph Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Kumar joined Mindtree in November 2013 to setup and run a multi-functional global Shared Services organization that handles processes in HR, Finance and Procurement. After bringing the processes to a steady state, he is currently spearheading Artificial Intelligence (AI) initiatives like Chatbot and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for some of the key internal processes. He conceived an out-of-the-box inclusivity drive that has never been attempted by any Corporate by taking the Shared Services work to Prison inmates in Bangalore Central Prison. This gives hope and is contributing to the much-needed transformation of life for the prison inmates, who are first-time offenders serving life sentences for the crime they committed.

His automaton work in Mindtree is now case study at Harvard University, US. He was recognized for his leadership competency and automation of shared services processes for the purpose of teaching management to MBA students in Harvard. This is his contribution to Management Education to create future Managers based on his work experience.

Kumar has published 2 papers on Work Life Balance in international journals.

His hobbies include Leadership Coaching, Public Speaking, playing Tennis, listening to music, reading books, card tricks and watching documentaries.