“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” – John F. Kennedy
At CACTUS, we are on an eternal quest for learning – about the life transforming discoveries and innovations, the people who make them, the ecosystem that nurtures them, and the world they impact. Our leadership team is the torchbearer of this quest that propels us to excel.
Meet our leaders
After a chance encounter with a Japanese professor who needed support in editing his research paper, Abhishek co-founded Cactus Communications (CACTUS) in 2002. Today he continues to build, develop, and scale the organization. CACTUS has grown into a global scientific communications company that collaborates with researchers, universities, publishers, societies, and life science organizations to accelerate research publishing and impact.
A recipient of Ascent Foundation’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award in 2017, Abhishek’s role has been instrumental in establishing, developing, and scaling up the organization. Before founding CACTUS, Abhishek was a part of the international non-profit organization AIESEC in various leadership roles. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Mumbai and possesses a deep understanding of customer experience, commitment to innovation, and entrepreneurial vision, and is dedicated to serving CACTUS customers.
Under his guidance and inclusive leadership, CACTUS has won recognition like being featured among the Best Companies for Millennials, Top 20 Companies for Remote Jobs, and Best Organization for Women Empowerment/Women Talent Development. In his capacity as Chief Mentor, Abhishek reinforces his enduring commitment to CACTUS by transitioning his focus from operational execution to nurturing a strong cultural framework that underpins the organization’s growth.
Chief Executive Officer
As a business leader and technologist, Akhilesh is responsible for setting the strategy, managing the P&L, driving global expansion, operations, and driving overall business performance. He oversees a diverse international team dedicated to delivering research solutions that empower customers and make a positive impact.
Before joining CACTUS, Akhilesh was Executive Vice President & Head of Data, Analytics, AI & Research (Triange) business unit at WNS where he successfully transformed the business unit by adopting a differentiated go-to-market strategy, re-imagining the product-service mix, building a best-in-class operational ecosystem, and bringing in industry-leading people practices that helped achieve stellar results.
He also played a key role in the business unit’s M&A strategy, leading successful acquisitions and integrations. Prior to this, he played the role of CMO for WNS and held multiple leadership positions in GE and Crisil amongst others. Akhilesh comes with over 25 years of leadership experience in running global businesses, managing clients, and running transformation programs across a range of industry verticals, products, and services.
Senior Vice President, Customer Experience
Basil oversees the client servicing function. In his previous role, he largely worked with universities and academia to address challenges faced by South Korean authors in their publication journey.
Basil has worked with Seoul National University, Yonsei University, Korea University, Hanyang University, KAIST, and UNIST, among others, to train young researchers on navigating the complex publication journey. He is currently President of the Council of Asian Science Editors (CASE) and a special member of the Korea Council of Science Editors (KCSE).
He has a master’s degree in Nuclear Physics and has authored two published articles on science communication and dissemination. He has also been interviewed by Science Editor and featured on CNBC Korea for his views on academia.
Chief Financial Officer
Dinesh brings with him rich, hands-on experience of over 20 years across various domains like corporate finance, planning and budgeting, strategy, operations management, fundraising, IT, and M&A.
He has worked extensively in the United States of America as well as in India in multiple organizations such as BearingPoint, M. C. Dean, Eros International Media, WNS, Prana Studios, and Modiguard. Having engaged with a range of different business houses, he has helped streamline finance and operational processes, enhancing efficiency and bottom line.
A qualified Chartered Accountant and a Certified Public Accountant (USA), Dinesh brings a healthy mix of knowledge and hands-on skills. Combined with a strong business acumen and an entrepreneurial approach, he possesses exceptional leadership skills. Enthusiastic about life, Dinesh enjoys the process of meeting and discussing new approaches and mentoring people who have ideas and strategies to share.
Chief Growth Officer, Research Solutions
Makoto oversees business development for the academia unit at CACTUS. Prior to this, Makoto oversaw business development in Japan for several years and more recently for South Korea as well.
Armed with a law degree from Nihon University, Japan, he took a detour into the world of marketing and sales. Since 2013, he has served as the Vice President of the executive committee of ScienceTalks, CACTUS’s initiative to build an interactive platform to enable authors and researchers to connect and exchange ideas.
Makoto has a deep understanding of cross-cultural business differences after having lived in Japan, India, and the UK, and he uses this understanding to engage stakeholders and expand CACTUS’s work and imprint.
President, Global Academic & Publisher Relations
Nikesh drives partnerships with publishers, technology companies, universities, academic societies, trade associations, professional membership organizations, and funding bodies largely in the US and Europe.
He has spearheaded partnerships with leading scholarly publishers such as Elsevier, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, Wolters Kluwer, and Frontiers. His mission is to facilitate the communication and dissemination of research and foster public engagement with science. He is the host of Insights Xchange (formerly All Things SciComm), a podcast where he invites opinion leaders from academia to discuss hot topics in academia.
With over 20 years of experience in operations management, scaling up businesses, strategic partnerships, and driving B2B sales and marketing, the London-based MBA graduate from Warwick Business School brings a wealth of expertise to the scholarly publishing and financial services industries.
Chief Technology Officer and Business Head,
AI Products
Nishchay heads CACTUS’s AI-powered products business consisting of products like Paperpal, Paperpal Preflight, R Discovery, and Mind the Graph and oversees technology and innovation across all products and brands.
Experienced in managing product development, customer experience, outsourcing, and global technology recruitment, Nishchay manages a large department with over 300 experts working in product management and software development, digital innovation, and machine learning.
Nishchay focuses on creating, translating, and mobilizing big-picture visions downstream. Nishchay has over 18 years of experience in product development and technology and strives to stay on the bleeding edge of innovation.
Senior Vice President, Operations (Research Solutions)
Prabh currently leads our operations teams, focusing on research solutions that include editorial, translation, publication support, and research communication services.
He is dedicated to scaling operations and implementing lean, technology-driven processes, including cutting-edge AI-based automation. With over 24 years of experience across industries and countries, including India, South Africa, and the Philippines, Prabh has held pivotal roles in operations, encompassing diverse industry verticals like IT, utilities, retail, travel, banking and financial services, and mergers and acquisitions.
He holds certifications in Finance for Business Managers (XLRI) and Operations Management (Harvard Business Review).
Chief Human Resources Officer
Yashmi entered the field of HR after spending a decade in marketing. With over 15 years at CACTUS, she has played multiple roles in Human Resources and Organization Development and has led initiatives spanning organizational culture, values, talent, performance, reward, and leadership development.
She has been instrumental in shaping a unique culture at CACTUS and played an important role in conceptualizing and implementing its people policies, which has brought recognition to the organization through awards like Great Place to Work (ranked #1 among Mid-sized Organizations in 2017), Best Organization for Women Empowerment, among the Top 10 Safe Places to Work, and among the Best Companies for Millennials in 2019.
