Shoba Purushothaman is an entrepreneur on her third start-up, Hardskills, a B2B immersive workforce development platform training hard-to-teach ‘human skills’ so employees stay relevant in the age of AI and digital transformation. Used by Fortune 500 clients Accenture, PwC, Deloitte, SAP, HCLTech, Nestlé, DB Schenker, Singtel, Hardskills’ 100% digital solution trains teams in durable skills that drive improved productivity, collaboration and innovation. Skills such as critical thinking, collaboration, how to influence, be creative, inclusive & empathetic, develop an agile mindset, etc. As co-founder, Shoba leads the Customer Experience team at Hardskills and has first-hand insights on how the world’s most important brands. 

Prior to entrepreneurship, Shoba was a financial journalist (WSJ/Dow Jones) in NY and London. Her last start-up, The NewsMarket, was backed by Tier 1 VCs including Apax, Battery Ventures, Hearst & Softbank Capital and created the world’s first B2B video marketplace. The first, Bulletin International, grew out of P&L and exited to an LSE-listed company. She is an award-winning entrepreneur & regular speaker and moderator at international events on digital disruption, innovation, human capital trends and entrepreneurship.

Awards & Accolades include:
• Finalist in EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year for NY
• Deloitte’s Fast 50, NY
• Top 50 Asian Americans in Business (U.S.)
• Springboard Enterprises North Star (U.S.)
• On-the-the Board fellow, International Women’s Forum (U.S.)

Speaking Experience:
Moderator, speaker, panelist over 50 times including events by Financial Times, Global Entrepreneurs Program (U.S. Govt), World Economic Forum, International Women’s Forum, Dell Women Entrepreneurs Network, Springboard Enterprises, National Association of Broadcasters, Newsworld, PR Week, Bengaluru Tech Summit, Machine Intelligence Summit Berlin, Asia Berlin Summit, Q Summit, SAP Customer & Partner Conferences, Microsoft AI showcase, The Conference Board Learning & Development forums, etc. 

Topics/areas of expertise:
• Global entrepreneurship
• Human Capital in the age of AI
• Talent-powered Digital Transformation
• Skilling as Strategy
• The Power of Learning data
• People driven-Change Management
• Developing leaders at Scale
• Fortune 500 learning strategies that Scale

Shoba Purushothaman is a financial journalist turned entrepreneur on her third start-up, Hardskills, a B2B immersive workforce development platform training hard-to-teach human skills so employees stay relevant in the age of AI & digital transformation. Accenture, PwC, Deloitte, SAP, Nestlé, DB Schenker, Singtel, etc. use Hardskills’ platform to train teams in critical thinking, collaboration, how to influence, be more creative, inclusive, develop an agile mindset, etc. Shoba’s track record in innovation in the digital economy includes building 2 previous start-ups from concept to exit. She began as a financial journalist (WSJ/Dow Jones) in NY & London before discovering entrepreneurship. Of Sri Lankan heritage, she was born and raised in Malaysia, has lived in 7 countries and now shuttles between Berlin and Asia, building out Hardskills’ global ambitions.