Dr Ashish Desai 27 years’ spans straddles entrepreneurship, industry, policymaking and academics. He is currently also Associate Professor in the area of Information Management and Analytics at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research ( SPJIMR). He was Director of Monitoring and Evaluation at the Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO), NITI Aayog, responsible for monitoring schemes M&E of all trade finance and commerce ministries. He was responsible for working on the TIME Lab (Technology and Innovation for Monitoring and Evaluation) Lab and training the state government in Monitoring and Evaluation. He has worked across various organizations in various domains, including digital payments, branchless banking, digital lending, and MFI in organizations such as Jumo, Aditya Birla Group, Motorola, First Rand Bank, and Comviva. Ashish Desai’s research interests are firmly rooted in the intersection of technology and financial services. He is particularly interested in digital financial literacy and livelihoods, remote sensing and alternative data for public policy and private goods, digital public infrastructure and its positive externalities, and co-creation and collaborative governance of technology. His academic contributions are recognized through his roles as a senior visiting fellow at the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER).