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Roundtable Discussion

L&D in VUCA times: Need for a paradigm shift?

Our Expert Panel:
Dr. Senthil Nathan, Co-founder & GM at Edu Alliance LLC.
Melanie Martinelli, Kirkpatrick Affiliate & Co-Founder at The Learning Gym
Neel S Vaidhyanatha, Head of HR, Learning and Development at Shapoorji Pallonji International
Shahnaz Patel, Head Content Management, Digital Learning at Reliance Industries Limited (HC & Allied Businesses)
Dr. Shwetaleena Bidyadhar, SVP & Global Lead: Learning Design; CHRO at MPS Interactive Systems

L&D in VUCA times: Need for a paradigm shift?

VUCA times, a term coined after the Cold War, was used to denote the volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity of the world back then. Today, the term has been pulled to the forefront again as we draw parallels between the dynamism of the situation then and now. How much of the disruption in today’s business environment will permeate the realm of Learning within organizations and how will this change shape the future of L&D.

MPS Interactive invited experts in the field of L&D to divulge their take on the situation and advise organizations on what strategies will need to be altered in order to Make Learning Smarter. During the course of the roundtable, the experts discussed:

Learning strategies being adopted by organizations to help them navigate challenges posed by volatility and uncertainty
How some of the top Middle Eastern organizations are turning complexity and ambiguity into opportunity
What tools and practices are being employed by the industry in order to boost the productivity of a remote workforce

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MEET OUR EXPERT PANEL

Dr. Senthil Nathan
Co-founder & GM at Edu Alliance LLC.

Dr. Senthil Nathan co-founded and heads Edu Alliance LLC, a boutique management consultancy in the UAE and the USA. In the past 5 years, he has consulted for over 20 universities and investors and helped establish four new universities.

Prior to that, for two decades, he was part of a small leadership team that developed the Higher Colleges of Technology, UAE from a simple beginning to becoming the largest university in the UAE with 24,000 Emirati students and 17 campuses. He served as its Deputy Vice-Chancellor for 8 years. As a Dean, he introduced 30 new degree programs.
He is currently the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Livingstone International University, Uganda.

He has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Rice University-Houston; executive education from Harvard and MIT; teacher training from Cambridge University; M.E. from the Indian Institute of Science and has received numerous awards for academic excellence.

Melanie Martinelli
Kirkpatrick Affiliate & Co-Founder at The Learning Gym

Melanie is the first Kirkpatrick Certified Facilitator in India, which helps her build solid learning experiences linked to performance. Melanie’s experience leads her to believe that customized learning solutions guarantee effective and relevant results. She also believes that learning solutions should be sensitive to organizations’ and nations’ cultures. In the last 10 years, Melanie has delivered programs on a variety of topics across all employee levels and in multiple countries. Known for her passion, expertise, and attention to detail, Melanie is also in demand as a regular speaker at numerous conferences.

Neel S Vaidhyanatha
Head of HR, Learning and Development at Shapoorji Pallonji International

Neel S Vaidhyanatha has over 23 years of leadership in learning, HR, design and technology. He has formulated and implemented people development strategies to optimize organizational and individual performance by creating meaningful and engaging employee experiences.

Having led teams based in the USA, UAE, UK, India and Singapore, Neel’s global experience covers a diverse range of sectors – from aviation, logistics and construction to academics, interactive entertainment and IT.

His expertise lies in driving lean HR and learning operations. These strategic initiatives are driven by design thinking, agile methodologies, digital adoption, business alignment, learning technologies, project management and people leadership skills to deliver measurable results and ROI.

Shahnaz Patel
Head Content Management, Digital Learning at Reliance Industries Limited (HC & Allied Businesses)

Shahnaz Patel, an IIM Ahmedabad Alumna, is a Learning and Development Professional with over 14 years of experience in Learning Design, Development, and Delivery across Future Learning, Tata Interactive Systems, Aditya Birla Capital and Reliance Industries Ltd. She is an Instructional Design expert and is passionate about creating learning experiences that are effective, engaging, and memorable. She takes pride in leading large-scale learning technology implementations and is a huge proponent of digital learning. She is also a Certified Practitioner in DISC.

She completed her graduation in Psychology from Mumbai University and was a rank holder in the National Merit List. She went on to study Human Resource Management at Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS) and also pursued a Diploma in Training & Development from the Indian Society of Training & Development.

Dr. Shwetaleena Bidyadhar
SVP & Global Lead: Learning Design; CHRO at MPS Interactive Systems

Dr. Shwetaleena is a training professional and an instructional designer. She has been at MPSi for 19 years and has 25 years of total work experience. Shwetaleena is a doctorate in Organizational Psychology. She holds certifications in Talent Development Reporting Principles, Accessible Technology, and Learning Disability.

She combines learning consulting acumen with a strong grounding in organizational psychology to design unique, effective competency development and organizational transformation initiatives. Her expertise lies in curriculum design, analyzing content and learner requirements, devising instructional strategy, and designing accessible e-learning. She has worked on several consulting assignments in the areas of L&D Strategy, Training Need Analysis, Digital Roadmaps, etc.