Keynote Speaker

Shaku Selvakuma

Shaku Selvakumar

Founder and CEO
ActivaTeen

Shaku Selvakumar is a marketing innovation leader with multi-country, multinational and start-up experience having worked for Fortune 500 companies like IBM, Shell, and fast growth companies and fast growth startups. She is also a speaker and prolific writer; her articles have appeared in various publications globally.

Currently she is the founder and ceo of Activateen, a collaborative program for teenagers that combines technology understanding with emotional wellness. She also serves as the Community Impact Advisor at CognitiveScale, a fast growth enterprise AI company.

Prior to this, she was the Vice President, Marketing for CognitiveScale. Here she led the company’s marketing strategy and execution from its inception and was instrumental in positioning it as one of the leading core artificial intelligence startups garnering awards, influencer endorsement, and driving demand with Fortune 500 customers and partners.

Previously, Shaku was the Customer Advocacy Leader for Social Business. Before this, she was the lead social and content strategist for IBM WebSphere.

Before IBM, Shaku managed the marketing and communications for Webify Solutions and played a key role in building awareness and demand leading to its acquisition in August 2006. She also worked as a brand and corporate communications strategist for Shell in Dubai.

Her work has won various awards including Forrester Groundswell, Hermes, and SIA. Shaku was recognized by IBM as top talent and is an alumni of the company’s Leadership Development Program. Most recently she was named Volunteer of the Year for Innovation by the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

Shaku holds Bachelor’s in Arts in Literature and Sociology, a Post Graduate degree in Mass Communications and a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Bradford.

She serves on board of Communities in Schools, Central Texas and is a member of Austin Chamber of Commerce’s Programs and Partnership Council. She is a certified yoga teacher and an avid hiker. Her poetry is often inspired by the trails of Central Texas.