About The Founders

Dr. Ananth Rao
Co-Founder & Partner

Dr. Ananth Rao is an Emeritus Professor of Finance, former Dean of Dubai Business School and former Chief Academic Officer (Provost) at University of Dubai (UD). Dr. Rao obtained his PhD in Applied Economics-Banking from University of Minnesota (USA) in 1991, and MS in the same subject from Purdue University (USA) in 1985. Prior to joining academics in 1997, Dr. Rao served State Bank of India – a premiere commercial bank in India in various Managerial roles for 15 + years. He is an active professional member of Financial Management Association (FMA) International – USA and Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) – USA. Dr. Rao is an active researcher in the areas of Enterprise Risk Management, Investments, Bank Management, Assets and Liabilities Management, Corporate Finance, Stability of Emerging Financial Markets, Derivatives, Efficiency of Financial Services Firms, and Artificial Intelligence in Public Health related areas. More details of his 50+ peer reviewed publications can be accessed via

https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/1459197/publications;

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8110-5423

Dr. Rao was instrumental in leading the business school team for earning the coveted AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) international accreditation to UD business school in 2009, subsequently maintaining it in 2014, and 2019. As a AACSB official volunteer, he served as PRT member on visits to many business schools in India, Moscow, Kuwait, and the UAE for AACSB initial accreditation of the schools, besides serving mentor of few schools.

Dr. Rao has executed several consultancy projects for Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry, more than 6 Companies in Dubai and UAE, besides USAID projects for capacity building of two business schools in Iraq. He was instrumental in building research capacity of HEIs in India via international collaborations through competitive bidding of research projects through USAID /NIH/CDC/EU grants in Data Analysis, Finance, Health, Supply Chain & Logistics and ICT domains. a Dr. Rao is currently freelance consultant advising Nitte Education Trust and Ramaiah Group of Institutions in Bangalore (India) in building research capacity through international collaborations.

He assisted EMNormandy Dubai campus in earning initial licensure and initial program accreditation of its program from the UAE-CAA in 2022. He is currently assisting BITS Dubai campus in earning initial licensure and initial program accreditations from the UAE-CAA followed by ABET and AACSB international accreditations.

Momohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG) – Dubai has appointed him as a non-resident research fellow (NRF) in Health Finance since May 2022. He is also a Partner in newly formed Prismatic Consulting Company in the UAE.

Dr.Arunprasad P
( Founder & CEO)

More than two decades of Professional Experience, of which 14+ years of Corporate and consulting work experience in Banking, Manufacturing, Retail, Financial and IT/ITES sectors and 8+ years of leadership position in academic, research and teaching.

Dr.Arunprasad obtained his PhD from Indian Insitiute of Technology Madras (2007) Prior to that he got his M.tech in HRD and B.E. in Civil Engg from University of Madras.

  1. Formerly, the Director- Centre for Business Research and Consulting (CBRC) & Associate. CBRC is a complete industry outreach consulting initiative by University of Dubai. CBRC is envisioned by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Dubai.  Proficient in leading Business Research and possess Consulting Acumen of projects in varied business functions, technology application, innovation and organization transformation projects across public and private sectors involving complete consulting architecture (RFP-Client Pitch-Project Management-Execution).
  2. Actively involved and active member for AACSB (The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business) accreditation maintenance in terms of maintaining their business standards as per the Eligibility Procedures and Accreditation Standards for Business School Accreditation. Responsible for accreditation standards as per the Ministry of Health, Education, Scientific and Research (MOHESR), Dubai, UAE. Core team member involved in AACSB accreditation maintenance and involved in faculty task allocation (Engagement, Innovation and Impact)

Research Grants (Applied with team of Subject matter experts from UD and collaborative partners)

  • Recently (June 2022) won the UD- Research grant of AED 350,000 as part of the Pedagogy Research Group to conduct research on “Learning Assessment and its effectiveness in Higher Education institutions in UAE”
  • Higher Education for Leadership, Innovation, and Exchange (HELIX)- USAID Project (3.24 ml)
  • Harnessing Data Science for Health Discovery and Innovation in Africa (DS-I Africa) Research Hubs DS-I Africa Research Hubs Project through National Institute of Health (NIH)-USA-Project Title: Africa Center for Health Data Science Research – CHESS Africa (USD 1.25 ml)
  • Promoting Internationalization of Indian Universities Through collaborations- USAID Project (USD 100K)
  • Enhancing Global Health Security: Strengthening Public Health Surveillance Systems and Preparedness Globally –Center for Disease Control-USA (USD 6 mil)

Prior to this, he served in the corporate world in MNCs in Human Resource Management & Organizational Development Domain, worked in Geographies like Europe, US, UK, Middle East and India. Companies includes Landmark Group (Middle East), EDS, MphasiS (an HP company) -EMEA Region based out of Netherlands, Deloitte Touche and Tohmatsu & Bank of America (US & India). He held lead positions spanning across Total Rewards, Talent Management, Talent Acquisition, Learning &; Development, HRIS, HR Business Partnering ; HR Operations domain.

Simultaneously, he served in academics and conducted research at the capacity of Visiting/Guest Faculty Positions at IIT Madras, XLRI-AIMS (Dubai), IMT Dubai and IIT Kharagpur. During his corporate and academic career, he was also involved in Consulting assignments in the area of Organization Development Interventions/Change Management, HR Practice Integration during M&A, Organization Restructuring, Total Rewards, Compensation Benchmarking, Talent Management and Competency Assessment Centers catering to  clientele base from Manufacturing, Automobile, Retail, Dairy, Pharma, Education, IT /ITES & Banking Sectors. An ambassador of change, with experience in implementing OD interventions like creation of leadership development centres, and effective career management for personal development of employees