Ajay Kumar

Ajay Kumar retired after an illustrious career in the Indian government that included serving as the Director General of the National Informatics Center, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Defense Production Secretary and finally serving as the Defense Secretary of India.  His notable contributions include setting up the Biometric Attendance System, which is one of world’s largest system, leading the implementation of myGov, one of world’s largest social media platform related to governance, leading efforts in developing a National Policy on Electronics, facilitating the launch of Digital India, world’s largest digital literacy campaign, laying the foundation for Atma Nirbhar Bharat in Defense, the indigenization of the Indian defense sector, and leading efforts to restructure the top level defense management in India.

Dr. Kumar has received multiple recognitions, including the fellowship of the Indian National Academy of Engineers, and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, where he currently serves as a Distinguished Visiting Professor.

Dr Kumar earned a M.S. in Applied Economics, and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota.  He also received a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur.