About the Chapter

Vijay Narayanan, is a senior IT professional with over 24 years of work experience. He has considerable knowledge in digital transformation and building IT solutions for investments and asset management. Vijay currently works as a senior manager of Engineering at M&G Investments where he focusses on areas of integration, Azure cloud, data science, automation and application security.

Vijay is a computer engineer and a data scientist. He has a MBA from Brookes University, Oxford, UK and a MSc in Data Science from Liverpool’s John Moores University, Liverpool, UK. He is an executive alumni of IIM Lucknow, Kelley School of Business, Indiana, USA and IIIT, Bangalore. He is an evangelist of data science and other masters programs with Upgrad online education.

Vijay obtained his PMP certification in 2015 and has since been a member and volunteer of PMI. He is currently the secretary of PMI Chennai chapter and has been in the chapter board since 2019.

Vijay Mohan Gandhi is a senior IT professional with over 25 years of rich and diverse experience in the IT industry. He specializes in program management, with a strategic outlook and deep expertise in planning, risk management, and delivering high-impact results.

In his current role at Ericsson, Vijay serves as the Domain Head, leading software development and operations teams across three business units. He oversees teams across multiple geographies, ensuring the delivery of high-quality outcomes, SLA compliance, and the consistent achievement of KPIs.

Vijay holds a degree in Engineering and is certified in PMP, PRINCE2, ITIL V3, CSM, SAFe, and L3 Gift Work Manager.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Vijay is a PMI member from 2011 and has been an active volunteer since 2016, serving as a PMI Chennai Chapter volunteer. He has played a key role in driving membership initiatives, enhancing volunteer engagement, and establishing strong governance within the board.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaymohangandhi/

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijaymohangandhi/

Haribabuji Harikrishnan has been active volunteer since 2017 at PMI Chennai Chapter and volunteered for #TNPMCONF18, #PMNC17 and various other events conducted by PMI Chennai Chapter. Haribabuji has 15+ years for professional experience in Technical Support, Manufacturing Engineering and Project Management, Certified PMP, ITIL (V3), Six Sigma Green Belt Professional and Internal auditor for ISO9001 &14001:2015. He is currently working with NCR Corporation India Pvt. Ltd as a Project Manager.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haribabujikh/

Sundaram Muthukumarasamy has been an active volunteer with PMI Chennai chapter since 2017 supporting Chapter’s Knowledge Sharing Session, State Conference and other chapter events. He is passionate about leadership building and volunteering to make a better world for current and future generations. He has 20+ years of embedded software development experience in Telecom, Datacom, Consumer electronics,  Energy sector and Automotive products in waterfall and agile methodology. Certified PMP with Embedded Software experience. He is currently working with Renault Nissan as a Technical Project Manager.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amkrsundar/

Dr. Dinesh Babu Thavamani, PMP, PMI-ACP, TOGAF, Ph.D.., has been an active member and  volunteer of PMI Chennai Chapter since 2011.  He has been serving the PMI Chennai Chapter Board since 2021, leading Programs and Marketing and Communications (M&C) portfolios. He has been leading the PMI South Asia (R11) Social Media Task Force (SMTF) since Nov 2024.

Dr. Dinesh was the Project Director for SANGAMAM24, (PMI Chennai Chapter’s flagship conference) one of the largest Project Management Conferences in India.  He was also the Project Co-Director for Project Management South Asia Conference 2023 (PMSAC23) and being integral part of various project management conferences, and events organized by PMI Chennai Chapter and PMI South Asia.

He has around 20 years of Project Management experience. Dr. Dinesh holds a doctorate in Management Studies, while he got his MBA (Finance) and Bachelor of Engineering (CS) degrees. He is currently working with HP as an M&A Integration Program Manager.

To know more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dineshbabuthavamani/

Dr. B. Shyam Sundar is a Mechanical Engineer, specialized in Production Engineering, Industrial Engineering with Master’s in Business Administration(MBA) and Doctorate in Business Management(Ph.D). He holds International certifications on Project Management (PMP), Disciplined Agile, Lean and Scrum (DALSM),Disciplined Agile and Scrum (DASSM) from PMI, USA. He is a certified Strategy deployment coach, OKR Professional(C-OKRP) & Strategic Planning Expert. He is a certified chartered Engineer (C.Eng.) and recently awarded fellowship in Industrial Engineering (FIIE)  by the Indian Institute of Industrial Engineering for the significant contributions rendered to the profession. He is a certified Corporate Director and Certified Board room professional by the ministry of corporate affairs and Directors Institute.

Dr. B. Shyam Sundar is an active volunteer of PMI Chennai Chapter since 2017 and his recent contributions to the chapter are Social Media Task Force Lead and Associate Vice President-Academia. He was instrumental in building Project Management awareness, student relationships and students engagement across various Institutions in and around Coimbatore for Sangamam 20 & 21 conference events.  He was a Senior champion for PMI South Asia.

Dr. B. Shyam Sundar has served 20+ years across various manufacturing Industry segments right from Machine tools, Automotive, Oil&Gas/Power, Aerospace, Motors/Pumps, Electrical & Electronics -across  various domain area’s such as Manufacturing Engg, Industrial Engg, Manufacturing Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Planning, R&D, Continuous Improvement(Lean,Six Sigma,TQM), Project, Program & Portfolio Management, PMO, Strategic Planning & Management. His last assignment was Chief Operating Officer(COO) for an Electrical &Electronics product Manufacturing Organization. He is currently serving as a Director of  Corporate Strategic Management, Global Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC)  as part of CEO office for Service Global,Inc (California based  IT/ITeS firm) and he is currently based out of Coimbatore. To know more, https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-b-shyam-sundar

Ms. Jahnavi Thirumalasetty, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® and dedicated volunteer at the PMI Chennai Chapter since 2017, previously served as Associate Vice President, Volunteer Development. Her tenure as Associate Vice President, Volunteer Development underscores her proactive engagement within the project management community, where she played an integral role in orchestrating pivotal events such as PMSAC23, Women Greet n Meet, and the esteemed “SANGAMAM” gathering.

She is currently working with Caterpillar Inc. as a Program Coordinator. She has got over 13 years of extensive expertise in Product and Quality Management across diverse industries encompassing manufacturing, automobile, production, and supply. Her robust analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills have consistently contributed to fostering organizational excellence and driving operational efficiency throughout her distinguished career.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jahnavitirumalasetty/

Ms. Swetha Surendran graduated in Computer Science Engineering with Master’s in Operations Research. Having professional certifications of CSM® and PMP®. She is an active member of PMI Chennai Chapter from 2013 and passionately volunteered for various chapter events.

She is currently working with Acentra Health India Pvt Ltd. as Associate General Manager. She has around 18 years of experience in the IT industry cutting across multiple domains and technologies in Project and Product development. Managing distributed teams and achieving goals in collaboration with stakeholders across the globe.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swetha-surendran-csm%C2%AE-pmp%C2%AE-065ba66/

Arumugam Mariappan an Authentic leader demonstrates Resilience and Understanding, Motivates his team, fosters Unity, encourages Growth, Adapts to change, and provides Mentorship.

He has been an active PMI Chennai Chapter member since 2013 and volunteered for various chapter events. He has 24+ years of experience in Project/Program and Transition management in infrastructure, Security and cloud domains. Certified PMI PMP, ACP, CISM and ITIL(v3). He is currently working with Unisys as Sr. Program Manager.

To know more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arumugam-mariappan-b-e-mba-pmp-pmi-acp-cism-7626711a/

Muthukumaran is an active member of the PMI Chennai chapter since 2013. He is having 16 years of experience in the Industry and he has got an optimum level of technical knowledge combined with sound business vision and project management skills. He did his B.E (Electronic and Instrumentation Engineering) from Annamalai University.

He has got various certifications like PMP, CSM, SMAC, and SAFe 5.0 Agilist. He has managed various IT projects for Government and Fortune 500 clients like Royal Bank of Scotland, Lincoln Finance Group, Santander Bank, & Saudi Aramco). He is currently working for Wells Fargo as a Senior Project Manager.

Vickram S K has been an active member and dedicated volunteer of the PMI Chennai Chapter for over a decade. A PMP-certified professional, he brings over 22 years of experience in managing and delivering complex Product Development Programs and Projects across diverse domains, including Defense and Aerospace, Automotive, and Telecom industries.

He currently serves as a Senior Project Manager at Capgemini, Chennai, where he continues to lead high-impact initiatives and foster innovation. His contributions to the field were nationally recognized when he received the Best Innovation Award from His Excellency Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam in 2013—a moment of great honour and distinction in his professional journey.

In addition to his corporate role, Vickram is the Co-Founder of Aarti Shikshati Training and Consultancy, an initiative focused on providing a lifelong learning platform to empower individuals through continuous education and skill development.

To know more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickram-s-k-39064b27/

Krishnakumar Kesavan (KK) is a Project/Program Management professional holding a Bachelor’s Degree(B.sc) in Computer Science and Masters’s in Computer Applications (MCA). 

Krishnakumar has been a PMI member since 2015, obtained his Project Management Professional (PMP) certification in May 2017. 

KK has more than twenty years of experience in the IT industry cutting across multiple domains and technologies in Project and Product development. He has handled various Application Development, Infrastructure Support and digital transformation projects for Banking, Healthcare and Telecom domains. Possess 3 years of onsite experience in the USA (Apr’15 Jun’18) as an Onsite Project Manager and supported Healthcare clients.

Krishnakumar awarded 2 LinkedIn Top Voice badges (Software Project Management, Agile Methodologies) for his highest contributions in the field of Project Management and Agile.

Krishnakumar is also a Mentor at ADPlist(adplist.org), mentored several professionals to attain the PMP and other technical certifications, helped mentees for their career aspirations. 

To know more,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishkum-k/

Krishnakumar holds multiple Management and Technical certifications such as below:

Management:

1. 1. Project Management Professional (PMP) from PMI USA
   2. Generative AI for Digital Marketers from PMI USA
   3. Talking to AI: Prompt Engineering for Project Managers from PMI USA
   4. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) from Scrum Alliance, USA
   5. Certified SAFe® 5 Agilist from Scaled Agile, Inc. USA
   6. ITIL 4 Foundation from AXELOS.

Technical:

1. 1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate
   2. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner
   3. AWS Academy Graduate – AWS Academy Cloud Architecting
   4. Associate Cloud Engineer – Google Cloud
   5. Professional Cloud Architect, Google Cloud
   6. Certified Chaos Engineering Professional – GCCEPro

and several other Devops, Artificial Intelligence (AI) certifications.

On a voluntary basis, Krishnakumar has been working for the PMI & PMI Chennai Chapter and he was elevated as Associate Vice President (AVP) – Programs from March 2023. His responsibilities include planning and supervising preparation for monthly PMI membership meetings, Trainings &Workshops, Communication and Collaborations with Project Management Professionals, PMI Chapters.

Ruby S, is a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering with additional qualification in Marine Engineering. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 11 years of diverse industry experience spanned across sectors including Academics, Manufacturing, Engineering and IT/ITES. She is very passionate on adopting a holistic approach to every project, delivering tangible value and fostering seamless collaboration across global teams. With expertise in stakeholder management, data analytics, and software platforms. 

She is a member of PMI since 2019 and a dedicated volunteer of the Chennai chapter since 2022, Her recent volunteering contributions include Project Puthri – Coimbatore events, Academia support, PMSAC23 conference, Sangamam24 and Kovai Sangamam 2025. Her recent volunteering contribution to the chapter is AVP Technology Operations. She is passionately committed to advancing the project management profession and the initiatives aimed at empowering and educating young women.

Beyond her profession, she is fueled by a deep-seated passion for exploration. Whether traversing city streets or venturing into remote landscapes, she finds inspiration in the diversity of cultures and landscapes our world offers. Her journey is a fusion of professional excellence and personal discovery, where each project and adventure fuel her drive to push boundaries and embrace the unknown.

For more details: www.linkedin.com/in/ruby-sakthivel

Vijayakumar VK brings over 19 years of industry experience to his role as an Engagement Manager at a leading multinational corporation, where he manages several strategic accounts. As the Associate Vice President of Technology for the PMI Chennai Chapter, Vijay leverages his extensive technical and managerial expertise to drive the chapter’s technological initiatives.

Vijay is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and holds multiple Microsoft certifications, including Azure Cloud, Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP), and Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE). His proficiency in stakeholder and people management has been instrumental in his professional success.

Since joining the PMI Chennai Chapter in 2018, Vijay has played a crucial role in coordinating with vendors to develop the chapter’s portal. He has also streamlined various processes for publishing new posts, events, and pages based on recommendations from other portfolios. One of his key responsibilities includes conducting ongoing analyses and recommending new tools to enhance the chapter’s operations.

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkvijayakumar/

For more details: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkvijayakumar/

Volunteering is a passion for Vijay. He has actively participated in numerous initiatives aimed at rural development, focusing on education, career growth, healthcare, and basic sanitation facilities. His commitment to these causes reflects his dedication to making a positive impact on society.

Through his role at the PMI Chennai Chapter, Vijay continues to contribute significantly to the chapter’s growth and success, ensuring it remains at the forefront of technological advancements in project management.

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Project and Operations Leader with over 11+ years of experience delivering complex engineering and infrastructure programs across wind energy, power generation, power transmission, and consulting environments.

Volunteering brings a lot of opportunities to explore for learning, contributing, networking, and, finally, fun.

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Ms. Radha Somasundaram is a seasoned Program Manager with over 19+ years of experience in the automotive embedded software domain. A PMP®‑certified professional, she specializes in leading complex global programs, driving Agile adoption, and ensuring delivery excellence in ADAS systems.

SANKAR GANESH S, With nearly 17 years of expertise in software and mobile application development, Sankar Ganesh S  has transitioned from a university-topper engineer to the Technical Director at UTH India, an ISO-certified firm serving a global clientele. A PMP-certified professional who achieved “Above Target” ratings across all domains, he excels in overseeing the entire project lifecycle with precision.

Currently, Sankar is bridging the gap between industry and academia as a PhD candidate, researching the applications of AI, Blockchain, and Big Data within Industry 6.0. His global impact and vision have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the ‘Outstanding Leadership Award’ (Dubai, 2024) and the ‘Trendsetter to Watch’ award (Las Vegas, 2026).

Sankar is a highly active and dedicated volunteer with the PMI Chennai Chapter. Throughout 2025, he provided vital support for numerous chapter initiatives, most notably contributing to the success of the Sangamam Conference.

His commitment to fostering the project management community and supporting peer development earned him the ‘Syed Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award’ from PMI Chennai in December 2025. He remains deeply committed to leveraging his leadership skills to support the chapter’s growth and the professional advancement of its members.

Sridhar Thanikachalam, Director Delivery Management with 23+ years of experience driving large-scale program delivery across the Financial Services and Life Sciences domain. Proven expertise in leading enterprise data and digital transformation initiatives, including CRM, customer data platforms, and cloud-enabled solutions. Strong background in Agile delivery, stakeholder management, and building high performing global teams.

As a volunteer with PMICC for about 3 + years now, participated in the PMI Chennai chapter events. Always actively contributed to Sangamam conferences and KSS sessions. Recently, as an AVP of KSS, helped in the KSS – GCOP sessions , encouraging and mentoring other enthusiastic volunteers to work as a TEAM to achieve MORE.