Ease of use and interoperability have made homegrown instant payment systems the preferred mode of transactions for payments for millions of Indians who are becoming more digitally savvy and evolving commerce locally. Now, the United Payments Interface (UPI) is trying to recreate its success abroad.
Dr. Vidhu Shekhar is a faculty member in the Finance & Economics area at SPJIMR, India. With a PhD in Economics from IIM Calcutta, an MBA from IIM Calcutta, and a B.Tech from IIT, Kharagpur, he has extensively worked in the financial services industry in various roles across leading Indian and global investment banks and private equity firms.
He also co-founded the business-to-business (B2B) software as a service (SaaS) fintech firm Vitt.ai and specialises in finance and economics, behavioral economics, data analysis, AI/ML, blockchain, and crypto. Dr. Shekhar has a strong ability to translate complex data into actionable intelligence and critical insights that drive strategic decisions.
Kshitij Awasthi is an associate professor of the strategic management area at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Lucknow. He has an FPM (Corporate Strategy and Policy) degree from the IIM, Bangalore. He has consulted in areas like innovation management, innovation culture, and public-private partnerships.
Manoj Kumar Pant is an associate professor of marketing and retail at the Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH).
Arnika Thakur is a New Delhi-based independent journalist. She has written about businesses across sectors like finance, hospitality, start-ups, and technology. She has worked at Reuters and was previously the digital editor of Fortune India. Her stories have explored the intersection of technology and society, latest developments in fintech, role of women in business, and issues of sustainability. She has a master's degree in English literature and has occasionally written about fashion, books, art, and culture. She is also the co-founder and editor of women's health and wellness platform Femoai.com.
