Maj Gen (Dr) Pawan Anand, AVSM (Retd) was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers, earning prestigious accolades during his training. He was awarded the President’s Gold Medal at the National Defence Academy (NDA) for being First in Order of Merit and later received the Sword of Honour at the Indian Military Academy (IMA). Over an illustrious career, General Anand commanded an Armoured Engineer Regiment, an Engineer Brigade in a Strike Corps, and served as the Chief Engineer of the South Western Command. During the Kargil War, he controlled operations as the Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade and later served as a principal staff officer in a Counter-Insurgency Force. His instructional tenures include assignments at the IMA and the College of Military Engineering. General Anand was selected for several prestigious professional courses, including the Defence Services Staff Course (DSSC), the Higher Defence Management Course (HDMC), and the National Defence College (NDC). He has extensive experience in domestic and foreign defence procurement, holding three key appointments in this domain, and has represented India in numerous international delegations and defence cooperation conferences, engaging with 17 countries. Academically, he is a Mechanical Engineer, holds a Master’s degree in Strategic Studies and Defence Management, and earned a Doctorate in General Management, focusing on the indigenisation of the defence industry. Post-retirement, General Anand served as the Secretary General of the Highway Operators Association in the private sector. Currently, he is a Professor (PhD) and Mentor at the National Defence College, and as Director of the Centre for Emerging Technologies for Atma Nirbhar Bharat (USI-CETANB), he works at the intersection of geopolitics and emerging technologies, driving initiatives to promote self-reliance in the defence sector.

Brig Vivek Verma is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Pune and Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Brigadier Vivek Verma (Retd) was commissioned in the Regiment of Artillery in 1989. He has over three decades of active service experience across all terrain and operations. He commanded an artillery regiment along Northern Borders and commanded a Divisional and Corps Artillery Brigades along active LC and Counter-Terrorism environment in J&K. He was a Brigade Major of an Infantry Brigade during Operation Parakram and was Colonel General Staff of Operations of an Infantry Division. He has been an Artillery Advisor to the Botswana Defence Forces as part of the Indian Army Training Team. He was closely associated with youth affairs as Group Commander of NCC. He superannuated as Deputy Managing Director (Administration) at the Army Welfare Housing Organisation in 2024. A keen China observer, he holds two Master's degrees- Weapons Technology from Pune University and Defence and Strategic Studies from Madras University, Chennai. He completed a Master of Philosophy from Panjab University, Chandigarh and is currently pursuing his doctorate from Amity University, Noida, Uttar Pradesh, on Non-Contact Warfare. He completed his National Development Course at the National Defence University, Beidou, Taiwan. He had been closely associated with the reports on issues of strategic significance as the Deputy Director at the Indian Army Think Tank, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New Delhi and Director of Land Warfare Systems at the Perspective Planning Branch of the Indian Army Headquarters.

He has authored a book titled “Non-Contact Warfare—An Appraisal of China’s Military Capabilities,” which explores China's military capabilities to deal with the new paradigm of Non-Contact Warfare. He has also published scores of researched articles related to Non-Contact Warfare and Emerging Technologies with various think tanks. Brigadier Vivek Verma is currently the Senior Research Fellow at the United Services Institute of India and is associated with Non-Contact Warfare and Emerging Technologies study at the Centre of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.

Col Vivek Nautiyal (Retd) is a Senior Research Fellow at the United Service Institution (USI) of India, serving in the Centre for Emerging Technology for Atma Nirbhar Bharat.  A second-generation Army officer, he was commissioned into the Corps of Signals in 1991 and brings over 32 years of distinguished service in Cybersecurity, Information Technology and Telecommunications within the Indian Army.

An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Indian Military Academy, Military College of Telecommunication Engineering and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, Col Nautiyal has held several key leadership and operational roles in both strategic and tactical domains. His career includes vital appointments such as Director (Project) at Air Headquarters, Deputy Commander of the Army Centre for Electromagnetics (ACE), Deputy Chief Signal Officer, Director Information Systems, and Commanding Officer of a frontline ICT unit in Srinagar (J&K), where he ensured secure, fail-safe communications for both military and civil administration, and delivered cybersecurity awareness training to more than 25,000 military personnel.

Notably, Col Nautiyal has six years of specialised experience in the cyber domain during his tenure with Signal Intelligence Directorate at the Integrated Headquarters of the Ministry of Defence (Army), where he was involved in cyber related projects. He was involved in conducting red teaming, penetration testing, and cybersecurity audits, significantly enhancing the organisation’s cyber posture.

His technical expertise is underpinned by a strong academic foundation, holding an M.Tech in Computer & Information Technology from IIT Kharagpur, and a B.Tech in Electronics & Communication Engineering from MCTE, Mhow. He has also received professional training in Network Security from Learning Tree International, USA, and was awarded a Gold Medal in the Automated Data Processing (SAP) course at MCTE, Mhow (MP).

For his exemplary service in Signal Intelligence Directorate at IHQ of MoD (Army), Col Nautiyal was awarded the Chief of Army Staff Commendation Card in 2005.

At USI, Col Nautiyal focuses on research in emerging technologies with strategic implications for national security and self-reliance, drawing upon his extensive operational, technical, and leadership experience in defence communications and cybersecurity, and is also deeply involved in spreading Cybersecurity Awareness amongst all people.