Suresh Shankar is a second-time entrepreneur, AI and data evangelist, and one of Asia's early pioneers in analytics-driven business transformation. With over three decades of experience spanning banking, advertising, media, marketing, and technology, he has consistently been at the forefront of helping organizations harness data and artificial intelligence to drive innovation, personalization, and business growth.
Suresh began his career in the corporate world, where he spent 15 years as an intrapreneur leading transformational initiatives across global organizations. During the 1990s, he pioneered the adoption of direct marketing in advertising through leadership roles with Citibank and JWT, and later played a key role in launching the media buying revolution alongside Unilever and JWT Fulcrum, the precursor to Mindshare. His early work laid the foundation for data-driven marketing practices that have since become industry standards.
In 2000, Suresh founded RedPill Analytics in Singapore, one of Asia's pioneering analytics firms focused on enabling enterprises to unlock the value of data. Under his leadership, the company became a recognized leader in advanced analytics across Asia and the Middle East before being successfully acquired by IBM in 2009.
Driven by his passion for solving complex business problems through technology, Suresh embarked on his second entrepreneurial journey by founding Crayon Data in 2012. With a mission to simplify the world's choices through artificial intelligence, big data, and digital personalization, Crayon Data developed maya.ai, an AI-powered decisioning platform that enables enterprises to deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences at scale. The company has been at the forefront of helping organizations transform vast volumes of data into actionable insights and meaningful customer engagement.
Beyond entrepreneurship, Suresh is a sought-after thought leader on artificial intelligence, analytics, digital transformation, and the future of personalization. He hosted the podcast Slaves to the Algo, where he engaged with leading experts across industries to explore the growing influence of algorithms on business, technology, and everyday life, examining both how organizations leverage algorithms and how algorithms increasingly shape human decision-making.
Suresh also serves as the President of IIM Alumni Singapore (IIMPACT), where he actively fosters collaboration, leadership, and innovation within the global Indian Institute of Management alumni community.
An advocate for lifelong learning and purposeful innovation, Suresh continues to champion the responsible application of AI and data to solve real-world challenges. Outside of work, he enjoys reading, practicing yoga, and following football, reflecting his belief in maintaining balance between intellectual curiosity, personal well-being, and professional excellence.