LinkedIn unveils India’s 15 most influential voices of 2017

LinkedIn has unveiled its second annual list of 15 Top Voices of India. These 15 most influential voices on the LinkedIn platform have triggered global debates, shaped opinions, and inspired other members to join in the conversation by creating quality, timely, and engaging content. 

Every week, LinkedIn’s diverse network of professionals and students contribute articles to the platform that spark rich conversations, and help make the platform a sought-after place for all topical professional discussions. These 15 Top Voices from diverse industries share thought leadership, analysis, insights, key observations, and trend forecasts on a variety of subjects from economic policy, startup hacks, human resources, leadership and strategy, to work culture and productivity. This year, the Top 5 most popular topics amongst India’s Top Voices are India, Startups, Big Data, Cloud Computing and Finance; the environment is also a hot topic amongst Top Voices in India. 

The engagement numbers on some of the articles authored by the Top Voices are an indication of the influence and reach they exert on the platform. For example, technology editor Muqbil Ahmar’s article, ‘India, China Race to Go Green: World’s Largest Floating Solar Plant Launched’, has got over 118,000 views and more than 42,000 social signals, including Likes, Comments and Shares. Annesha Dutta’s article, ‘Why Leaders Must Be Readers’, has garnered more than 25,000 Likes and over 7,000 Shares. 

India’s Top Voices on average got nearly 98,000 new follows this year, and their content received 54 times more likes and 4 times more comments than other contributors. Overall, 79 per cent of the Indian Top Voices published at least once a month, higher than the global average of 71 per cent. 

In India, the Top Voices belong to the following Top 3 industries: 

• Education Management
• IT & Services
• Financial Services

To put together this list, LinkedIn used a combination of data and editorial signals designed to capture the voices making a mark in their industries, region, and country. This includes engagement (likes, comments and shares across each member’s articles, posts and videos); growth of followers tied to publishing activity; and number of times the writer had been featured in editorial channels, a signal of high-quality content. The list reflects publishing activity over a 12-month period, from November 2016 to November 2017. 

India’s Top Voices of 2017 

Muqbil Ahmar, environmentalist, social entrepreneur, tech evangelist and editor
“Would this make the world a better place?” That’s the first question that Muqbil Ahmar – a tech journalist and self-proclaimed environmentalist – asks himself before drafting an article. And that reflects in his choice of topics: human resources, climate change and social impact, to name a few. 

Shalini Prakash, Venture Partner, 500 startups
An aspiring entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist, Shalini Prakash believes “great things happen when technology and entrepreneurship intersect.” After spending considerable time with accelerators such as INKTalk, she is now the India head of 500 Startups. 

K Yatish Rajawat, CEO, LocalCircles
This journalist-turned-startup-strategist is fascinated by the confluence of policy, economics and technology. From deep- rooted problems in the agriculture sector to how to tackle pollution in Delhi, Rajawat’s well-researched articles struck a chord with many. 

Vartika Kashyap, Marketing Manager, ProofHub
Kashyap, a marketing manager with a tilt towards everything digital, terms success “orchestrated harmony between productivity, team building and work culture.” And that’s why most of her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. 

Parag Kar, Vice President of Government Affairs, India & South Asia, QUALCOMM
Kar watches Indian telecom like a hawk. He prefers to conduct original research on the implications of radio spectrum and licensing regulations on stakeholders. When he’s not poring over policy documents, Kar writes about productivity improvement techniques. 

Prof Dr Ajit Patil , Professor of Marketing, Management & Retailing at Sydenham Institute of Management
This educator and corporate trainer writes on a number of topics that “converge towards a couple of main themes: India (Education and Politics), and Leadership & Management (Public/Private).” 

Hari T.N, Head of HR at Big Basket and Strategic Advisor, The Fundamentum Partnership
Hari TN calls a spade a spade. The IIMC alumni, who currently heads HR at BigBasket, prefers to write about scaling of startups — “a combination of both people issues as well as strategic issues that if not handled well can cause the wheels to come off as a startup scales,” he says.  

Anuja Lath, Co-founder, RedAlkemi and Founder, OnPowerWeb
As the founder of a venture focused on online marketing services for small businesses, this entrepreneur provides her insights on a range of topics, including effective blogging skills, basics of influencer marketing and Twitter hacks for startups. Her work is always accompanied by a simple infographic “to put the message across quickly,” she says. 

Swati Jena, Founder of GhostWritersWorld
This product management expert-turned-entrepreneur writes on a range of topics, from company culture and social issues to artificial intelligence. Her articles, be it on mentorship or the DACA repeal, have resonated with readers, with some terming her pieces “articulate” and “eloquent”. 

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Consulting Editor, Mint
A banking wizard with a penchant for everything finance, Tamal Bandyopadhyay’s articles provide deep insights into macroeconomic realities — from economic policy to currency volatility and banks’ bad assets. Bandyopadhyay weaves in the human angle by articulating how shifts in the finance world affect you. 

Prabal Basu Roy, CEO, Diptish Investment and Fund Advisors Inc
A PE fund manager, Roy’s interest lies at the intersection of current affairs, leadership and strategy. He minces no words in dissecting matters of governance and public policy. Based on years of experience, he analyses hot topics in the corporate world and has written articles on the Infosys saga or job cuts in the IT industry. 

Adhil Shetty, CEO, Bank Bazaar
This financial advisor and entrepreneur writes with an aim of equipping people with “high-quality information to help them save, invest, insure and borrow better.” Not just tips — you will often spot examples from his personal experience in the articles. 

Nirmit Shah, LinkedIn campus editor and student
One of Linkedin India’s first campus editors, Shah gets his writing ideas from classroom discussions and conversations with friends. “I write when I feel enlightened,” he says. 

Procyon Mukherjee, Chief Procurement Officer, LafargeHolcim
Having spent several years in strategic leadership roles, Mukherjee writes mostly on “macroeconomics and topics that are contemporary and relevant for economies struggling to perform,” he tells LinkedIn. 

Annesha Dutta, Founder of @AskAnnie
This entrepreneur-cum-educator, who dropped out of Ph.D (English Lit) because she thought “literary academic research was out of touch with social reality,” not only writes but also posts videos on how to build a stellar video resume, ace interviews and improve communication skills, among others. 

Along with India, the US, UK, France, and Germany have also announced country-specific lists of Top Voices today. Some of the globally recognised LinkedIn Influencers that have made it to these lists include Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, President of France Emmanuel Macaron, English business mogul Richard Branson, President and Founder of Eurasia Group Ian Bremmer, German business tycoon Dieter Zetsche, and Chief Economic Advisor at Allianz Mohamed El-Erian. The Top 5 Global Hashtags among Top Voices are #BigIdeas2017, #Brexit, #ThankYourMentor, #2030NOW, and #BehindTheScenes.