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NAIFA-Chicagoland 

AI Council

Ani Banerjee

Managing Director

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Managing Director

Ani Banerjee

EY

155 N Wacker Dr #200

Chicago, IL 60606

224-523-2878

anibanerji@gmail.com

Ani is an Insurance Technology & Digital Transformation Leader with 14+ years driving digital change for Fortune 500 P&C insurers. Expert in Guidewire implementations, AI/ML underwriting automation, and cloud strategy—delivering measurable gains in speed-to-market, risk accuracy, and operational efficiency. Trusted advisor blending deep insurance domain expertise with emerging tech innovation, leading global teams to design scalable, future-ready solutions.

Designed, developed, and launched the North American Bengali Conference (NABC Chicago 2024) app for Web, iOS, and Android, achieving $2M+ in transactions, 5,000+ downloads, and seamless performance for 3,000+ concurrent users. Led product vision, architecture, UX, data strategy, and publishing to streamline logistics and celebrate the community’s historic return after 30 years.”

 

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Souma Basu

AI Council President

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AI Council President

Souma Basu

The Capital Markets Company

141 W Jackson Blvd Suite 2100

Chicago, IL 60604

925-364-1295

basusouma@gmail.com

Souma Basu is a trusted leader in the financial services and insurance sector, dedicated to advancing the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence across insurance advisory and banking ecosystems. With a proven record of guiding complex transformation programs, he shapes technology strategy in ways that balance innovation with regulatory, ethical, and client-centric standards.

Souma is known for turning emerging technologies into practical, scalable solutions that empower advisors and elevate the client experience. His work spans digital modernization, data enablement, and enterprise AI strategy.

Colleagues and partners consistently value Souma’s steady leadership, collaborative style, and strategic insight. He brings together technical fluency and business acumen to ensure AI initiatives drive sustainable growth, strengthen compliance and risk frameworks, and preserve the human relationships at the heart of the profession.

As a thoughtful voice on the future of AI, Souma champions innovation that is ethical, transparent, and aligned with the real needs of advisors, clients, and the broader financial services community.

Sanket Das

AI Council Chair

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AI Council Chair

Sanket Das

EY

155 N Wacker Dr #2000

Chicago, IL 60606

847-208-4214

sanket.das.nmims@gmail.com

 

Anshul Kaushik

Vice Chairman

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Vice Chairman

Anshul Kaushik

EY

155 N Wacker Dr #2000

Chicago, IL 60606

850-449-3679

itsak005@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

Anshul Kaushik is a global technology leader whose career has been defined by bold,
enterprise-scale transformation across the life insurance, retirement, and annuities
industries. At EY, Anshul drives innovation in technology, data, and AI products, helping
organizations harness trusted data, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence to
transform at scale — unlocking new avenues of growth and resilience.

Throughout his career, Anshul has led sweeping modernization programs that have
redefined how insurers and financial institutions operate. His initiatives include:
Modernizing core life policy administration systems through AI-driven automation
Re-engineering underwriting and claims with NLP-enabled capabilities
Migrating retirement and annuity platforms onto modern cloud ecosystems infused
with predictive analytics and insights.

With deep expertise in data management, governance, and commercialization, Anshul
has built AI-ready data foundations that balance innovation with privacy, security, and
regulatory integrity. Widely recognized as an influential voice in the global data and AI
community, Anshul’s work demonstrates how disciplined execution and next-generation
technologies can help life insurers and retirement providers not just navigate
complexity — but emerge stronger, more resilient, and future-ready.

Anokh Kihore

AI Council Executive Director

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AI Council Executive Director

Anokh Kihore

Akuna Capital

2963 Francis Ct

Aurora, IL 60503

312-927-5917

anokhkishore@gmail.com

Anokh Kishore is a Senior Software Engineer at Akuna Capital, a leading options market maker, where he develops the firm’s ultra-low-latency market data platform powering real-time trading decisions. With over 14 years of experience across C++ systems engineering, distributed infrastructure, and applied AI, he specializes in building high-performance data systems that deliver intelligence at microsecond scale.

Before joining Akuna, Anokh worked at Microsoft, where he led initiatives in distributed systems and network automation within Azure — his services were part of the decision-making pipeline driving billions of dollars in network optimization and capacity planning. Earlier in his career, he contributed to Citadel and Chicago Trading Company (CTC), developing performance-critical trading infrastructure used in live production environments.

Anokh is passionate about scalable architecture design, intelligent automation, and the intersection of AI and low-latency systems — blending deep technical execution with data-driven strategy to push the boundaries of performance, reliability, and intelligence.

 

Pankaj Pant

Managing Director

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Managing Director

Pankaj Pant

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)

One N Wacker Dr

Chicago, IL 60606

312-802-9178

pp.nwu8@gmail.com

 

 

Debmalya Ghosh

AI Council Executive Director

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AI Council Executive Director

Debmalya Ghosh

Srikanth

AI Council Secretary

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AI Council Secretary

Srikanth

Aparna Bhat

AI Council Vice President

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AI Council Vice President

Aparna Bhat

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