The ICC is led by co-chairs who support and guide the work of the council through the application of their strategic leadership, diplomacy, and relationship-building skills.
Janaki Gadiyaram, Wabtec Corporation
Business Program Manager – Engineering Operations and LEAD Program
Janaki Gadiyaram is Business Program Manager – Engineering Operations and LEAD Program at Wabtec Corporation, a leading global provider of equipment, locomotives, systems, digital solutions and services for heavy haul and passenger rail transport. Today, she drives growth and development for fifty engineers participating in the Leadership, Expertise and Accelerated Development Program (LEAD) covering various business segments of Wabtec. In addition, she is responsible for Engineering Operations for the Freight Equipment, Services and Transit organizations in India.
Janaki began her career in 2001 as a mechanical engineer for Polytech Inc in USA and since then has gained eighteen years of diverse engineering experience, working in varied disciplines of engineering. She took a career break for six years to become a fulltime mother after her first child and returned to the workforce in 2010, joining GE Global Research through a dedicated restart program.
Ashwini Shingote, Whirlpool
Vice President of Global IT
Ashwini Shingote is an accomplished leader with 25 years of experience across the Healthcare, Home Appliances, and Aerospace industries. She has held roles in Manufacturing, Service, Quality, Marketing, and R&D. Ashwini has a strong background in Information Technology, Electronics System Design, & End to End Product Development.
Currently, Ashwini serves as the Vice President of Global IT at Whirlpool, responsible for driving IT strategy across Global Product Development (GPO), Global Strategic Sourcing (GSS), & Sustainability. Additionally, she oversees IoT Product Development, Data Analytics, Predictive Service, Digital Twin Modeling, and Generative AI (GenAI) projects. She plays a key role in Innovation & Process transformation using Agile methodologies, DevSecOps, and automation, managing a global team across the USA, Europe, and India.
Before Whirlpool, Ashwini held several leadership positions at Philips Medical Systems and Eaton Aerospace, where she led high-impact global initiatives. Her international career includes assignments in Malaysia, Singapore, China, the USA, Italy, Sweden, and the Netherlands.
Ashwini holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and a Post Graduation in Business Administration from Symbiosis. She is PMP certified by PMI-USA, a Design Thinking graduate from MIT-USA, a Lean Continuous Improvement expert, and a Master-level VE & DfX Expert from the Philips Continuous improvement & Value Engineering Program.
Ashwini is actively involved in Diversity and Inclusion initiatives at Org level including hiring, retention and engagement of diverse workforce. She is serving on the POSH committee for WH India/Pune site. Represents as Women Leader on Employee Resource groups, Diversity forums, training programs and mentoring the diverse talent. She is at the forefront of and led multiple events on women’s day, Organization Engagement events, Men’s day, Quality Mindset, Innovation challenges, intra-org Ted Talks. Responsible for creating a safe workplace for all generations to work in collaboration.
