Office of Industry Partnerships > Kaushik Pillalamarri

Kaushik Pillalamarri

Executive Fellow and Chief Strategist

Kaushik Pillalamarri is a global strategist, two-time CEO, entrepreneur, and technology executive with a record of commercializing novel ideas, building ventures and growth engines, leading major M&A, and forging alliances with Big Tech, Fortune 500 companies, and the United Nations. Known for integrity, trust-building, and results, he has advanced innovation, profitability, customer experience, and societal impact across multinational, mid-sized, and startup companies. 

With experience across six continents, he has built high-performing teams and led multi-billion-dollar initiatives across technology, telecom, manufacturing, finance, transportation, agribusiness, consumer goods, retail, education, and government markets. As CEO of Smartiply, he sold the startup to Wistron, later serving as Wistron’s Chief Product Officer and Strategy Advisor. As Group CEO of Universal Industries, he led a major agribusiness turnaround and launched two nutritional food businesses. 

As SVP and inaugural Head of Wireless Data & Devices at Reliance in India, he expanded mobility, machine-to-machine, and cloud solutions. During 13 years at Verizon, he led large-enterprise complex markets, built its largest telecom e-business ecosystem, modernized network infrastructure, and executed significant M&A transactions. 

He provides strategic leadership within Purdue University’s Office of Industry Partnerships (OIP), which serves as a coordinated front door for companies seeking to partner with Purdue University, while proactively identifying and developing new partnership opportunities and expanding existing industry relationships. It connects industry with the university’s capabilities in research, talent, education, technology, innovation, and facilities. Working across Purdue’s colleges and units, OIP builds strategic, multidimensional relationships that turn opportunities into sustained partnerships, advance research and innovation, develop talent, accelerate commercialization, attract industry investment, and drive economic growth. Key areas of focus include AI, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, agriculture, life sciences, space and aerospace, mobility, energy, and defense-related technologies. 

At Purdue, he serves on the Advisory Council of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy, advancing trusted technology adoption across government, business, and civil society. He also serves as a Strategic Advisor to Purdue University, supporting strategic partnerships, growth opportunities, and commercialization of Purdue innovations. 

Kaushik holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from SMU Cox School of Business; MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from Kansas State University; and executive certifications from MIT, Harvard, Wharton, Cornell, and Kellogg in strategy, disruptive technologies, growth engines, and leadership. 

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