IIM Bangalore confers 2026 Distinguished Alumni Awards on Arun Pai, Rashmi Mohanty, Manish Tiwary, Karthik Reddy, and Dipesh Shah for exceptional achievements in Civic Service, Finance, Corporate Leadership, Venture Capital, and Technology respectively.
IIM Bangalore Honours Five Exceptional Alumni for 2026
Indian Institute of Management Bangalore announced the recipients of its Distinguished Alumni Awards for 2026 on June 1, 2026. The institute instituted the Distinguished Alumni Awards (DAA) in 2007 to recognise alumni who achieve exceptional merit and excellence in their chosen fields, whether industry, corporate, entrepreneurship, or social service. Each awardee receives a citation, and the institute engraves their name on the Wall of Fame.
The institute will present the awards on June 14, 2026, during the reorientation program of the Post Graduate Programme in Management (PGP) and the Post Graduate Programme in Business Analytics (PGPBA) batch of 2025-2027. This year, five alumni – Arun Pai (PGP 1993), Rashmi Mohanty (PGP 1995), Manish Tiwary (PGP 1995), Karthik Reddy (PGP 1996), and Dipesh Shah (PGSEM 2002) – receive the coveted honour.
Arun Pai: The ‘Footpath Mayor’ Transforming Bengaluru’s Urban Spaces
Arun Pai (PGP 1993), a Bengaluru-based civic leader and urban innovation practitioner, founded several citizen-led initiatives focused on improving walkability, public spaces, and urban infrastructure. Widely known as the “Footpath Mayor of Bengaluru,” he leads community-driven efforts that bring together citizens, government agencies, institutions, and volunteers to create practical and scalable urban improvement initiatives.
Arun completed his Mechanical Engineering degree from IIT Madras before beginning his entrepreneurial and civic journey. He founded Bangalore Walks in 2005, which has conducted over 1,500 heritage and city walks across Bengaluru, and later established India Rising Trust in 2014 to promote walkability, public space improvement, and citizen participation.
Arun closely associates with The Ugly Indian, the nationally recognised civic movement known for transforming neglected public spaces through direct citizen action. His TEDx Bangalore talk, ‘Why is India so Filthy?’, received global attention, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi appreciated the movement. Through Project Walkaluru and the Indian Pedestrian League, Arun leads large-scale citizen engagement efforts focused on improving urban mobility and footpath infrastructure.
He received the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Award instituted by BBMP, and his work features in leading global media including BBC, The Wall Street Journal, and The Guardian. Prime Minister’s Mann Ki Baat program recognised his civic innovation efforts in 2026. Arun says, “I am really touched that IIMB has recognized the work that I have done – ‘in Bengaluru, for Bengaluru’.”
Rashmi Mohanty: Leading Women CFO Breaks Barriers in Finance
Rashmi Mohanty (PGP 1995) serves as Chief Financial Officer of SBI Cards and Payment Services Limited. A Computer Science graduate from Delhi Institute of Technology, she brings over three decades of leadership experience across global banking, treasury, corporate finance, and financial strategy.
Rashmi began her career with Deutsche Bank’s Global Markets Division before moving into corporate treasury leadership at GE Capital. She held senior leadership roles at Religare Enterprises, Vedanta Limited, and Clix Capital, where she shaped treasury and finance functions for large and listed organizations. During the COVID-19 period, she served as both CFO and Interim CEO of a lending company.
Rashmi ranks among the few women CFOs of listed entities in India and advocates strongly for women in finance. She speaks regularly at industry forums, mentors fintech entrepreneurs through NSRCEL at IIM Bangalore, serves on the Industry Advisory Board of IIM Sambalpur, and BusinessWorld recognised her among the Most Influential Women in Finance 2026.
Beyond her corporate career, Rashmi stands as one of India’s early women ultramarathon runners, completing endurance events across the world including the Comrades Marathon and Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc. She actively supports grassroots initiatives focused on education and economic empowerment for women and girls in rural India. She shares, “This recognition celebrates excellence across all dimensions of life – not confining it just to careers.”
Manish Tiwary: Driving Growth at Nestlé India After Amazon and HUL
Manish Tiwary (PGP 1995) serves as Chairman and Managing Director of Nestlé India, with additional responsibility for Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. He focuses on driving growth through strong brands, technology, artificial intelligence, and consumer-centric innovation while building an agile and future-ready organization guided by the principles of being “Fast, Focused, and Flexible.”
Before joining Nestlé India, Manish spent nine years at Amazon, including four years as Country Head for Amazon India, where he played a key role in transforming online shopping in India. Prior to that, he spent two decades at Hindustan Unilever Limited across sales, marketing, and technology leadership roles, leading brands such as Axe, Rexona, Vaseline, and Sunsilk, and later serving as Sales Head for South Asia and Managing Director for the MENA region.
Manish knows for his people-focused leadership style and commitment to diversity, integrity, and social responsibility. Originally from Jamshedpur, he passions about golf, travel, and running. He shares, “To receive this Distinguished Alumni Award from my alma mater is a deeply moving honor, and I accept it with a heart full of nostalgic memories.”
Karthik Reddy: Building India’s Foremost Venture Capital Firm
Karthik Reddy (PGP 1996) co-founded and serves as Managing Partner at Blume Ventures, one of India’s leading early-stage venture funds with over US$900 million in AUM. Blume invests in emerging tech and tech-led innovation from Seed to Series A and supports standout portfolio companies through growth rounds. Over the past 15 years, Blume has backed over 175 startups across four core funds and currently deploys from its new Fund V.
Karthik led investments in and serves on the boards of several top portfolio companies including Smallcase, Servify, Ultrahuman, LeverageEdu, Niqo Robotics, Unacademy, GreyOrange, Stage, Exotel, and IDfy. He served as Chairperson of the Executive Committee (2022–24) and Vice Chair (2020–22) at IVCA, and remains a member of SEBI’s AIPAC and the National Startup Advisory Council.
Karthik brings diverse experience in financial markets, technology, and media across the US and India through prior roles at American Express Bank, Instinet, and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. He says, “IIM Bangalore provided such a rich experience that prepared me for the next three decades and will serve me throughout the rest of my career.”
Dipesh Shah: Building World-Class Technology Capabilities from India
Dipesh Shah (PGSEM 2002), a technologist and institution-builder with over three decades of experience across R&D, consumer technology, and innovation leadership, helps build world-class technology capabilities from India. As the first employee and later the first Indian Managing Director of Samsung R&D Institute Bangalore, he helped build a team of over 15,000 engineers and transformed SRIB into one of India’s leading Global Capability Centers.
Under Dipesh’s leadership, the organization delivered several global innovations including the world’s first 4G Voice over LTE solution and advanced “Nightography” camera technology while becoming one of the country’s top patent creators. He currently serves as Executive President and Chief Technology Officer at Havells India Limited, where he focuses on advancing indigenous technology capabilities and enabling Indian engineers to compete globally through AI, IoT, and semiconductor innovation.
Dipesh credits IIM Bangalore for helping him bridge technology with business and consumer insight. He says, “Do not settle for ‘Me Too’ solutions, strive for the ‘Me Only’ innovations that only you can offer the world.”
#IIMBangalore #DistinguishedAlumniAwards #ArunPai #RashmiMohanty #ManishTiwary #KarthikReddy #DipeshShah #Leadership #Entrepreneurship #AlumniExcellence
Disclaimer
The information in this article is based on available public sources and official statements as of the time of publication. While we aim for accuracy, we do not guarantee completeness or correctness. We advise readers to verify key details from official sources before making any decisions. The website (iitiimsamvaad.com) is not liable for any loss or damage arising from the use of this content. The authors are also not responsible for any such loss or damage.