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Santa Clara, CA
The non-profit organization of entrepreneurs, TiE Silicon Valley, which is the largest and founding chapter of the TiE brand, dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship, has embarked on a new path of diversifying and inclusiveness by focusing on other communities and having women and youths’ greater involvement in its activities.
Anita Manwani, who is the first woman president of TiE Silicon Valley in its more than 32 years of history, believes that the time has come to give it a new direction. A seasoned corporate executive and entrepreneur, Manwani is one of 80 women recognized in the United States for their leadership in technology, and top 100 Women of influence in Silicon Valley.
“This is no longer just an Indus conference. It is an international conference with lots of women who are representing VCs, women speakers, CEOs and founders of AI companies, and many, many different folks. This year actually 39% of our speakers are non-Indus,” Manwani said to PTI on the sidelines of the just concluded TiECon, its annual conference, in Santa Clara, California.
TiEcon 2024 was based on the theme, “AI Ubiquity: Envision the Future”, a visionary concept encapsulating AI’s seamless integration and transformative power across all spheres of human endeavor. TiEcon 2024 proved to a groundbreaking event showcasing artificial intelligence’s profound and pervasive influence in our world. This conference highlighted AI’s transformative role across diverse sectors, from revolutionizing healthcare practices to reshaping the landscape of manufacturing and cross-border B2B transactions.
Founded in 1992 by eminent Indian Americans, TiE Silicon Valley has created and enabled entrepreneurs who have generated over USD 1T in wealth and built successful businesses in technology.
Responding to a question on India, Manwani said that India is becoming such a big force in the explosion and the revolution of AI; both from the semiconductor Renaissance and in terms of Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s focus on supporting so many startups. In fact, at this conference, based on a relationship that TiE Silicon Valley has, TiECon had the participation of 30 Indian startups.
They had an interaction with the top VCs and also had a tour of Meta headquarters. “We have great confidence in these startups. These startups are doing some amazing work both in the area of EV batteries, in the area of education, and also in the area of agritech. So these are some amazing startups,” she said.
