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Our People

The people behind every OCN partnership

Founders, advisors, and the operations team running the OCN partnership day to day.

Founders

Built by people who know
this institution from the inside

Reetesh Chandra
Reetesh Chandra
Co-Founder & CEO

Spent a decade at upGrad scaling education platforms from startup to institution, then moved into IIT Kharagpur's Director's Office. He brings the commercial instincts of a scaled EdTech operator and the institutional fluency to execute inside a high-scrutiny, reputation-sensitive system.

IIT KGP · Integrated M.Sc, Statistics & Informatics
Abhrajit Saha
Abhrajit Saha
Co-Founder & COO

At IIT Kharagpur's Director's Office, he drives governance and strategic initiatives. Earlier, a key member of the team that launched a first-of-its-kind School of the Future in partnership with Google and IBM; and a Product Manager at AB InBev, building global products, systems, and process controls.

IIT KGP · Integrated M.Sc, Economics

One architects platforms. The other creates markets. Together, they carry the institutional fluency to operate the OCN with the discipline IIT Kharagpur's brand deserves.

Advisory Board

Guided by leaders who shaped
India's technology landscape

Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti
Prof. Partha Pratim Chakrabarti
Strategic Advisor · Academic Architecture

Former Director, IIT Kharagpur. Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Engineering. A pioneer of formal methods and AI research in India, with over three decades of scholarship and institutional leadership.

IIT Kharagpur
Arjun Malhotra
Arjun Malhotra
Strategic Advisor · Industry & Entrepreneurship

Co-founder of HCL Technologies. One of India's most celebrated technology entrepreneurs, with over four decades building and scaling technology enterprises. A defining figure in the story of Indian technology.

HCL Technologies · Co-founder
Operations Team

The people who make delivery
happen every week

Phanendra Verma
Phanendra Verma
Delivery Lead

Turns a signed partnership into a running cohort. Previously Associate Director at upGrad, where he led delivery for large-scale learner cohorts — now applied to getting every OCN micro-specialisation from onboarding to a faculty-led classroom, on schedule.

BITS Pilani, CSE · Ex-Associate Director, upGrad
Aditi Suvarna
Aditi Suvarna
Operations Lead

Sixteen years of keeping complex programmes on schedule. She runs the operational rhythm of the OCN's partner cohorts — onboarding, scheduling, and the discipline that keeps a multi-institution programme on track.

University of Mumbai · 16 years in Operations
Rahul Vijayvargia
Rahul Vijayvargia
Finance Lead

Manages the financial engine that powers the OCN's partner cohorts. Brings rigorous oversight to budgeting, forecasting, and revenue operations — ensuring that every multi-institution programme is built on a sustainable and scalable financial foundation.

Chartered Accountant (CA)
Aditya Singh
Aditya Singh
Operations and Automation Associate

Builds the systems so the team doesn't have to do it twice. Focused on automating the operational backbone of the OCN — onboarding workflows, reporting, and the tooling that lets delivery scale without headcount scaling with it.

BE, Jadavpur University