Page 30 - The Indian EYE 022726

Newsmakers of the Week FEBRUARY 27, 2026 | The Indian Eye 30

NEWSMAKERS OF THE WEEK

Selected stories about Indian diaspora from our website www.theindianeye.com

NIKHIL GUPTA onPhase’s product vision, strategy, and
execution to accelerate innovation,
US sentences Indian for foiled plot deepen customer impact, and support
broad adoption of the company’s uni-
against Pannun fied financial automation platform.
Sudarshan brings more than two
decades of product leadership ex-
perience spanning business spend
management, revenue manage-
ment, financial process automation,
and digital payments, with a proven
track record of building and scal-
ing unified, intelligent, cloud-based
solutions that drive growth, opera-
tional efficiency, and customer value.
Prior to joining onPhase, Sudar-
shan served as Senior Vice President of Product Management and Strategy at
Corcentric, where he built and led a global product organization and drove sig-
nificant revenue growth through both organic innovation and strategic acquisi-
EW YORK: Nikhil Gupta, an Indian man accused of orchestrating a failed tions. He also led the creation of an AI-centric true two-sided trading partner
assassination plot against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a Sikh terrorist in network that fundamentally changes how B2B commerce operates, while unify-
NNew York, pleaded guilty on Friday (local time) and was given a sentence of ing and extending capabilities of the existing portfolio under a modern platform
upto 24 years in prison. he FBI in New York stated that the case highlights the FBI’s architecture.
ongoing commitment to protecting the homeland from threats posed by foreign Earlier in his career, Sudarshan held senior product leadership roles at El-
nationals targeting Americans exercising their constitutionally protected rights. lucian, Rivermine and VeriSign, where he drove Cloud/SaaS transformations,
In a post on X, the FBI said, “Following an investigation by FBI New York, product innovation, and international expansion of enterprise software platforms.
and US Attorney SDNY, Nikhil Gupta pled guilty to plotting to assassinate a “I am thrilled to be joining onPhase at such an exciting time” said Sudar-
U.S. citizen in New York City.” shan. “As AI unlocks new possibilities, the office of the CFO is under increas-
“... NIKHIL GUPTA, a/k/a “Nick,” an Indian national, pled guilty to all ing pressure to drive strategic impact while maintaining control and visibility
three counts contained in the Second Superseding Indictment, charging him across operations. onPhase has built a unified platform that eliminates friction,
with murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to strengthens controls, and gives finance teams the tools they need to operate with
commit money laundering, in connection with his efforts to murder a U.S. citizen confidence. I look forward to working with the talented onPhase team to accel-
in New York City. GUPTA pled guilty today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah erate innovation and bring even greater value to our customers.”
Netburn and is scheduled to be sentenced by US District Judge Victor Marrero “Sudarshan brings deep experience building and scaling products in ac-
on May 29, 2026,” a statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern Dis- counts payable and payments software, reinforcing and accelerating the areas
trict of New York said. “Nikhil Gupta was a key participant in a murder-for-hire where our customers already rely on our team for real and differentiated value,”
plot against a US citizen, a murder that was prevented thanks to the actions of said Robert Michlewicz, Chief Executive Officer of onPhase.
US law enforcement,” said FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky. Sudarshan holds an MBA from the University of Maryland and a Bache-
“The US citizen became a target of transnational repression solely for exer- lor’s in Computer Engineering from the University of Mysore. Sudarshan’s ap-
cising their freedom of speech. The message from the FBI should be clear - no pointment reflects onPhase’s continued investment in product innovation and its
matter where you are located if you try to harm our citizens we will not stop until commitment to delivering solutions that help finance teams operate with greater
you are brought to justice.” confidence, clarity, and impact.
Earlier, on October 17, 2024, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed
that the individual named in the US Justice Department’s indictment case in the MEGHA TOLIA
foiled assassination plot against Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun
was no longer an employee of the government of India. SMU Cox Spears Institute Appoints
According to the allegations levelled earlier, the accused Nikhil Gupta is an
associate of an employee of the Indian government and together they and others new Global Ambassador
helped plot the assassination of Pannun in New York City.

allas, TX: The William S. Spears Institute for Entrepreneurial Leader-
SUDARSHAN RANGANATH ship at the SMU Cox School of Business has appointed former Shonda-
Dland President and Chief Operating Officer Megha Tolia to the newly
onPhase appoints techie as Chief created role of Global Ambassador for the Spears Institute. The role, effective
immediately, is designed to expand the Institute’s international reach and am-
Product Officer plify its mission to empower the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders.
Tolia brings a distinguished career spanning brand leadership, creative strat-
ampa, FL: onPhase, a leading provider of AI-powered financial automa- egy and business innovation. In her new role, she will help the Spears Institute
tion and payments solutions, has announced the appointment of Sudar- forge global partnerships, strengthen mentorship opportunities for students and
Tshan Ranganath as Chief Product Officer. In this role, Sudarshan will lead Continued on next page... >>

www.TheIndianEYE.com