Namaskara Bengaluru! We’ve reached the final day of the 17th edition of TechSparks, and ‘The New Tech Order’ has saved some of its biggest conversations for last. On October 15, the day opens with a conversation on the trust economy. Revant Himatsingka, better known as Food Pharmer and now Founder of Only What’s Needed, built his influence by questioning what food brands tell consumers. Now, as a founder himself, he has to build under the same scrutiny. In conversation with Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory and The Bharat Project, he will discuss whether trust earned through advocacy can turn into products people will pay for, and what happens when transparency, credibility and commercial ambition have to coexist. This will be followed by an official product launch by WOI India, after which Kim McGuinness, North East Mayor, will share how regions can turn their local strengths into globally relevant technology ecosystems. Next, Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Institute Professor at IIT Madras and Chairman of IIIT Hyderabad and the ITEL Foundation, will make a provocative case: throw out half the engineering syllabus, and India may build better engineers. Naren Shaam, Founder and CEO, Omio Group, will then explore what it takes to build for the world from day one. In the afternoon, Sushma Boppana, CEO, Sri Chaitanya Group of Institutions, and Santhosh Viswanathan, Vice President and Managing Director, APJ Region, Intel, will discuss building a future-ready generation and what the Indian school will look like in 2035. Actor, director and screenwriter Prakash Belawadi will reflect on the last human advantage, and what AI cannot replace. In a panel discussion, Dr Angela Honegger (Switzerland), Jaap Veerman (The Netherlands) and Peter Winther-Schmidt (Denmark) will explore new tech alliances, and why the world’s startups need India and India needs the world. Don’t miss Ashutosh Sharma, Head – Investments and M&A, India, Prosus, and Keshav Reddy, Founder and CEO, Equal AI, as they decode India’s $100 billion AI opportunity. TechSparks 2026 closes with a fireside chat between stand-up comedian and writer Zakir Khan and Shradha Sharma, Founder and CEO, YourStory. On the Focus Stage, investors from IIMA Ventures, Oister Global and VU Venture Partners will unpack the new VC rules. Shreya Mishra (SolarSquare), Vikas Brahmavar (Boson Whitewater) and Angad Daryani (Praan) will discuss rebuilding India’s energy, water and clean air systems. Other speakers for the day include Saurabh Pandey, Founder and CEO, Eloelo Group; Vijeth Pandit, Chief Product Officer, Pine Labs Payment; Sagar Kumar, VP of Engineering, PayU; Dale Vaz, Co-founder and CEO, Sahi; Vijay Subramaniam, Founder and Group CEO, Collective Artists Network; Priya Narasimhan, CBO, Indus Appstore; and Sneha Roy, Co-founder, Murf AI, among others. The day also features masterclasses by Attero, Google Cloud and Murf AI, and an executive roundtable with Commvault. So let’s make the final day count!