Cristiano Massimo Pasini, was appointed UNIDO Representative in India and Director of the Sub Regional Office for Southern Asia covering Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka as of July 2024. He brings over 20 years of high-level professional experience to his role at UNIDO. His diverse career includes various senior managerial positions related to sustainable industrial development, poverty reduction and post-conflict recovery at national, regional and global level.
Before his assignment for India, he served as the Director of the Division for Industrial Policy Advice and Statistics in Vienna, where he led the team responsible for providing Industrial Policy assistance to UNIDO’s Member States and the flagship publications such as The Industrial Development Report and Statistical Yearbook. Mr. Pasini also held the position of Director of the Regional Office of UNIDO for Mexico and Central America and UNIDO Representative for Colombia, Peru, Guyana and Suriname and UNIDO Representative for Lebanon and Syria (2013-2019), leading strategic and programmatic engagements for the organization in those regions and countries. Between 2011 and 2013, Mr. Pasini served as the UNIDO Country Coordinator for Iraq, overseeing a special program to support the country’s industrial rehabilitation.
Mr. Pasini holds a Doctorate Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Sapienza University in Rome, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the SDA Bocconi School of Management. He is married and has two children.

Nikunj Dang is the Founder and CEO of Yagnum – a new age management consulting firm, on a mission to democratise consulting and training
services for Startups, Fintechs and Educational Institutions, as India rises to become an Innovation Economy and a Developed nation. Prior to this, his last corporate stint was with Accenture as Managing Director – Strategy and Consulting. He is also an angel investor and advisor to young startups. He brings more than 21+ years of advisory and coaching experience at Banks, Fintechs, Corporates, Educational Institutions and Startups in India and across the globe. He brings expertise in the areas of Innovation Advisory, Design Thinking, AI-First Digital Transformation & Operational Excellence, amongst others.

Sandeep Varaganti is the Chief Executive Officer at JioMart – Reliance Retail.

He is a sharp and astute professional with demonstrative experience in scaling up businesses and fostering cross-function orgainsations.

He is dedicated to assisting entrepreneurs and businesses, in particular small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), in experiencing multi-fold growth in the burgeoning e-commerce space.

In the past, Sandeep has worked with companies like Cognizant, Amazon, and Prione. Throughout his career, he has donned numerous hats.

His goal is to create the world’s largest and most trustworthy online marketplace by allowing millions of small and medium businesses to sell their products. At JioMart, he is set out to achieve just that. He aims to make JioMart one of the largest & most preferred indigenous e-marketplaces for buyers as well as the sellers.

He has an MBA from INSEAD, France and has a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad.

Sandeep is a car and bike enthusiast and a sports aficionado – closely following Cricket, Lawn Tennis and Formula One.