ABOUT
Lakshmi Pratury
Collector and Connector of People
Lakshmi Pratury is a multi-faceted entrepreneur, public speaker, master interviewer, and writer. She is the founder and CEO of INKtalks, a transformative platform and community launched in 2010, where she curates stories and a community of global thought-leaders and game-changers.
Lakshmi is a sought-after public speaker and curator – addressing a wide range of leadership topics, including redefining success, future technologies and their role in shaping the workforce, women's roles in the workplace, and the transformative power of storytelling in business. Alongside her speaking engagements, Lakshmi writes on a range of topics spanning business and life, and has contributed to several leading publications. She is on the board of several startups and initiatives, shaping and guiding teams on scaling globally and building communities.
With over two decades of experience in the United States, Lakshmi held pivotal roles at Intel, where she helped shape the tech giant’s foray into end user marketing and business development. She worked in venture capital with Global Catalyst Partners and drove impactful projects in leadership roles for the non-profit American India Foundation.
Lakshmi is credited for co-hosting TED’s first and only conference in India in 2009 and bringing Singularity University’s international summit to India in 2015. Continuing her mission with INK and the non-profit INK Global Foundation (IGF), Lakshmi is committed to amplifying India's narrative on the global stage, bringing the best of the world to India, and vice versa. She champions the power of interdisciplinary collaboration and storytelling to ignite innovation, foster resilience, and shape our collective destiny. Her journey from mathematics gold medalist to business and theater graduate underscores her multifaceted expertise and passion for driving change.
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Lakshmi's Story
Born to Padma Bhushan pediatrician, Dr Pratury Tirumala Rao, in Hyderabad, Lakshmi is the youngest of 3 sisters. She did her primary schooling in Telugu medium, not learning to speak in English until grade 9th. Excelling at theatre and debating in school she went on to pursue an undergrad in Mathematics, and had her eyes set on America.
1983 Her merit brought her to IIT Bombay, and fate led her to complete 2 MBA degrees from India and US, including one at Portland State University, with a minor in Theatre and Creative Writing. Her dream to be an actress still lives on.
1988 Began her career-defining stint at Intel, where she would get to work with Technology icons of history like Andy Grove and Gordon Moore.
1994-1997 Part of the corporate business development group at Intel that later became Intel Capital. Helped the chip giant built the "Intel Inside" brand, influenced a generation of PC users and propelled industry growth.
Evangelising the tech future that was coming – laptops, e-commerce, PC gaming and more.
1998 At Intel, became a part of the pioneering workstation group responsible for transitioning the entertainment and multimedia industry to move to intel silicon.
2000 Left intel to launch TuriMedia, to create a television series to interview prominent personalities.
1992 Attended her first TED conference in Monterey (Curated by Richard Saul Wurman at that time). Sitting in the second row, in the first hour of the first day of TED, she knew she had found her calling.
2001 Got into Venture Capital to invest in product companies from India.
2002 Co-founded the Digital Equalizer program with American India Foundation which has become a huge program today. Led strategy and fundraising for all of AIF.
2007 Gave a talk at TED2007 on "The lost art of letter-writing", which became a big hit online. Was the first South Asian woman to speak on the TED stage at that time.
2005 Launched "Lakshmi's Lounge" an interview series in the Bay Area. Interviewed a range of known personalities like Andy Grove, Gloria Steinem, Vijay Amritraj, Vikram Chandra and William Dalrymple.
2008 Approached Chris Anderson (TED) with a desire to bring the TED conference to India. Consulted with TED to make it happen. Nandan Nilekani wrote the first cheque to support.
2007, 2008 Created gatherings of thought-leaders and global icons ––"Aamra Grove' in Napa Valley, co-hosted with Arun Kumar and Shashi Tharoor, and "Tamarind Grove" Retreat co-hosted with Anand Mahindra in Catskills.
2009 Moved to India to co-host TEDIndia 2009 in Mysore, the first and only TED conference to have happened in South Asia. Backed by friends like Rajeev and Asha Jadeja Motwani.
2010 Launched the INK Conference, with INK2010 in Lavasa, building India's own platform and stage for global ideas and impact. Backers included Susan Wojcicki, Scott Cook, Google, TED, and many more.
Recognised by Forbes magazine in the 'Women to Watch in Asia' list.
2010 - PRESENT DAY INK is strong and active as ever, with over 15 flagship conferences hosted, 200+ INK Salons hosted, 150+ INK Fellows, and 100 million video views.
Took the INK Conference to Asia in 2015 with conferences in Singapore.
In 2016, brought Singularity University to India, hosting the first SingularityU India Summit in Mumbai.
2020 Co-founded a non-profit, INK Global Foundation (IGF), in the US to support and nurture young trailblazers, empower women business leaders and tell their stories.
