Technology Board Advisory Service

#

Boards do not need another slide on “what is generative AI.” They need clear oversight of how technology choices create risk, cost, speed, and reputation—and whether management’s plans are credible, measurable, and governable.

Dr. Hari Thapliyal works with founders, investors, and directors who want a technology-literate independent voice in the room: India-focused and global-facing, from growth-stage startups to established enterprises.

Board-level value (what you get)

#

• AI and data systems framed as business and regulatory exposure, not as a lab experiment—scope, controls, evaluation, and vendor dependence.
• Delivery and architecture judgment from decades of shipping and governing complex software (analytics, search, enterprise integrations, multilingual NLP).
• Program and portfolio discipline (PMO, PMBOK, agile at scale, estimation, audits) so roadmaps connect to capacity, capital, and accountability.
• Crisis and change readiness—helping boards ask the right questions before incidents, procurements, or reorganizations harden the wrong path.
• Volunteer governance (PMI): Chair, Conflict of Interest Committee (PMI Mumbai Chapter) and VP Volunteer Development (PMI Mumbai and PMI Chennai Chapters). That experience informs how I think about surfacing conflicts, disclosure and recusal, and broadening participation so more relevant perspectives reach decision-makers.

Background

#

• 30+ years across software engineering, solution architecture, delivery leadership, PMO setup, and AI/NLP consulting.
• Founder, Dasarpai (2019–present): AI/ML training and consulting; long-form public writing on AI, MLOps, explainability, and responsible deployment.
• Founder, Vedavit Project Solutions (2010–2020): PMP and agile certification training at scale; PMO and process consulting across corporates and NGOs.
• Earlier delivery leadership: Vice President – Delivery, Solution Architect, Delivery Manager and driving Microsoft Gold certification for organization, CMMI, ISO, and ISMS exposure; prior roles across consulting, logistics, Industrial Engineering, NGOs, and BFSI systems (including legacy banking modernization and broker-investor reporting products in the 1990s stack).
• Education: Doctorate in Business Administration (AI/NLP), Swiss School of Business and Management Geneva; MSc, Artificial Intelligence (Data Science), Liverpool John Moores University; postgraduate work at IIIT Bangalore; MBA and MCA, IGNOU.

Full chronological detail: CV on About Me (embedded PDF and downloads).

Recent proof point: document intelligence (BFSI)

#

Context: Alternative investment banking—an internal document intelligence platform used in regulated, high-stakes operational workflows. Implementation, repositories, and deployment details are confidential; a high-level walkthrough is available to qualified counterparties under NDA when appropriate.

Role: Principal engineer and architect, with end-to-end ownership from architecture through production: modular services, APIs, data layer, ML-assisted classification and extraction, and web-based operator tools. Emphasis on accuracy, auditability, configurability, and safe handling of sensitive data.

What shipped

• Service-oriented backend with clear boundaries between ingestion, classification, structured extraction, search and embeddings, and configuration and master data.
• API-first integrations so downstream systems consume validated structured outputs rather than raw documents.
• ML-assisted pipelines for document- and page-level understanding, with measurement, versioning, and controlled rollout.
• LLM-assisted extraction with schemas, validation, and human-in-the-loop patterns where appropriate.
• Relational data modeling, performance-aware access patterns, and operational reliability (connections, concurrency, recovery).
• Internal web applications for configuration, review, and monitoring, with a consistent UX for power users.
• Engineering practice: configuration management, conventions for APIs and data, and testing and evaluation harnesses for extraction quality.

For build-level AI engagements (evaluation, architecture, launch readiness), see AI Solution Consulting.

Roles I am open to

#

• Independent director or non-executive director (subject to fit, jurisdiction, and conflict checks).
• Board advisor or advisory board member where a formal independent seat is not yet the right shape.
• Technology or risk committee contribution when the charter matches the experience above.

Geography: India (Bengaluru & Dehradun) as a base; remote or hybrid participation for global boards when time zones and travel are workable.

Fit and misfit

#

Strong fit: boards or investors who need technology and AI governance, vendor and architecture risk, delivery credibility, or document-heavy logistic, financial and legal workflows modernized with controls.

Weak fit: day-to-day engineering management, pure sales-led “AI transformation” theater, or engagements that require full-time executive operating inside the company.

How to start a conversation

#

Send a short note: company stage, sector, what the board is wrestling with (AI, cyber, major vendor bet, delivery crisis, M&A technical diligence), and whether you seek a formal seat or advisory role. Include any timeline and geography constraints.

Email: hari@dasarpai.com
WhatsApp: +91 9 5 3 5 9 9 9 3 3 6
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harithapliyal

Disclaimer

#

Board-related conversations are not legal, tax, securities, or investment advice. Any appointment depends on due diligence, charters, regulatory requirements, and a mutual conflict-of-interest review from both the sides. This page describes experience and intent; it is not an offer of a fiduciary role in any jurisdiction.