Director & CEO
+ Kanishk
Kanishk is widely known as a leading thinker & entrepreneur in the Unmanned Aerial Systems(UAS) space. He is a CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority, Australia) certified Chief UAV Pilot with many years of commercial UAS experience across different industries in multiple geographies.
He is passionate about aviation and building custom unmanned systems from the ground up. His past experience included Consulting & Digital transformation work with Accenture Consulting in the Defence, Aerospace & Energy verticals, Advisory role in the strategy arm of Indian telecommunication giant Airtel and engineering work in the Healthcare sector. Kanishk is an Electronics engineer and holds a Masters degree in Business & Strategy.
ADVISOR
+ Sudhir
Gp Capt Sudhir Varma has vast experience of over 39 years in the Government and private sectors. He served in the Indian Air Force for 29 years as a test and fighter pilot. He took premature retirement as the Chief Test Pilot of the prestigious ASTE (Aircraft Systems & Testing Establishment) where he successfully lead a top-notch IAF team of 25 Test Pilots and 40 test Engineers taking care of most important development projects in the aerospace sector in India.
His previous experience includes business development, marketing, system integration, regulatory, trial evaluation and project management of Manned and Unmanned Aerial Systems across IAF, DRDO, HAL & European private sector OEMs. He is a graduate of the prestigious National Defence Academy (NDA) and holds a Masters in Military Studies.
Director - Business
+ Anant
A management consultant, Anant Dhir has been working with some of
the largest multinational firms to set up their technology centers of
excellence in India. Growing up in an IAF family, Anant has had a
keen interest in and understanding of the Indian aviation sector and is an experienced UAV/Drone pilot. Anant’s decade long experience, at
the cutting edge of the technology sector in India, is backed by
expertise in a multitude of sectors.
Apart from being a mechanical engineer and MBA from the country’s top institutes, Anant has also
worked across the globe in the areas of robotics and interactive
media. All of Anant’s projects meet the highest standards of quality
and operation processes such as Kaizen, Six Sigma and Lean
Manufacturing.
CREATIVE HEAD
+ Vaijayanti
Vaijayanti Varma is a creative powerhouse with more than a decade of experience in the areas of photography and filming. She is also the co-founder and creative director of a successful media house in Bangalore, India. In the past, she has worked in an editorial role at the leading national newspaper The Asian Age as well as news magazine The Sunday Indian.
Her expertise in photography and filming ranges from landscape photography, portrait photography, travel photography and wedding photography to editorials. She holds a Bachelors in Journalism, along with a Diploma in Filmmaking and an International Post Graduate Diploma in Photography.
Vaijayanti believes being curious is what keeps one motivated to do what one loves and that creativity is something that naturally exists within all of us once we learn how to tap into it, after which it’s just another muscle that can be cultivated.
OPERATIONS HEAD- AUSTRALIA
+ Robert
Robert is responsible for managing Operations for Aerial IQ in the
Sydney, Australia office. He has more than 25 years of experience in
operations, including three years in the Unmanned Aerial
Systems(UAS) space. Robert is a CASA certified UAV pilot with an
active Radio Operator's license. In the past, Robert has worked in
construction, building, engineering & utilities companies such as
Sydney Water and multiple government organisations.
At present,
Robert is working on a project testing and building customised drones
to take heavier payloads with special sensors. His work with
insurance companies to identify storm damaged roofs for faster
insurance approvals has been widely appreciated in the industry.