About

Team

Institutional leaders, principal investigator and operating team guiding the Centre across strategy, research, industry partnerships and programme delivery.

Prof. Saji Gopinath

Vice-Chancellor, Digital University Kerala

PhD, Indian Institute of Science; ex-Dean, IIM Kozhikode
Founding CEO era, Kerala Startup Mission — World's #1 Public Business Accelerator (2019)
Built Digital University Kerala from IIITM-K

Role: Institutional and strategic leadership through the implementing agency.

Dr. Asharaf S.

Principal Investigator, IndiaAI CoE, CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Dean (Research & External Linkages) and Professor, DUK; PhD & ME, IISc
Founder Director, Kerala Blockchain Academy; Founding Professor-in-Charge, Maker Village
75+ research papers, 6 books; IVLP Fellow; Gates Foundation grant; IET award

Role: Principal Investigator of the MeitY AI CoE project; State Nodal Officer.

Antony Satyadas

CEO & Co-founder, Innovation Incubator (Industry Partner), Investor & Advisor

40+ years experience Innovation Incubator, IBM, Dell, AT&T, HCL, OMC Computers
37th year in AI. Founder of multiple AI-native ventures, products, Strategy, R&D Brain Mind and Machines
Alumni of University of Alabama, CET Trivandrum, SB College Changnacherry Kerala India
Health care and wellness, Telecom, Real Estate and Mortgage, Automotive, Social Retail, Fashion

Role: Strategy, Ecosystem development, R&D, Acceleration, Co-PI, MeitY IndiaAI CoE project.

Shiv Shankar M S

Officer on Special Duty (OSD), CEO - CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

General Manager, Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd
Founder, Engagespot (Techstars NYC 2024); earlier founded Waybeo (acquired by Carestack)
Serial Entrepreneur from Kerala with multiple Venture Exits, M&A across SaaS infrastructure and applied AI

Role: Operational establishment, startup portfolio, government and industry partnerships, programme execution.

Dr. Sanil J.

Research Scientist (AI), Digital University Kerala, COO - CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Research Scientist (Artificial Intelligence), DUK
Implementing-agency point of contact for the Centre

Role: Research and technical leadership; applied research and startup technical evaluation.

Previn Jacob Varghese

Incubation & founder engagement, CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Incubation Manager, Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd
Serial founder; co-founder / COO, Greenikk (agri-tech). Tata Social Challenge Winner
Ecosystem and go-to-market experience across India and startups

Role: Founder engagement, incubation and portfolio support.

Unnikrishnan G

Program Management, CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Program Director, Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd
Capacity Building with AI Garage
Experience rooms and Industry Corners
Communication and Coordination

Role: Partnerships, Skilling, Courses and Hackathons

Mahesh D R

Business Analyst, CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Business Analyst, Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd
AI driven market research
Evaluation frameworks
Communication and Coordination

Role: Market insights for AI Startup ecosystem development

Viswanath Sreenivasan

Marketing & Growth Strategist, CAIK Thiruvananthapuram

Marketing Strategy & Execution
Brand Positioning & Digital Presence
Content & Campaign Strategy
SEO, AEO & Digital Growth

Role: Search visibility and AI-driven discoverability for digital growth