Women CEO & Founder Series Part 2: Network your way to the boardroom (never eat alone) with Mini Suri, CEO at Velmeni

In the second part of our Women CEOs: Lessons from life science leaders series, Proclinical Executive Senior Partner, Claire Perry, speaks to another inspiring female leader, Mini Suri who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Velmeni. In their discussion, Claire and Mini talked about importance of networking in becoming a board member, and how to prepare to become a CEO.
 
Mini Suri, a brilliant contributor to the tech industry, is an innovative trailblazer in AI/ML/NLP Automation and an advocate for the betterment of others. Mini’s deep experience and creative inspiration have led Velmeni to the forefront of AI healthcare, through predictive and analytical artificial intelligence in dentistry. Velmeni’s platform is evolving as the standard-bearer for dental practices. 

Mini has acted as Chief Customer Officer at KORE.ai, Head of Intelligent Automation for Uber, and Senior Vice President at Citi. With an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School, she provides VELMENI with deep-tech strategy, financial skills, and hands-on operational management. A doer and problem-solver, Mini leads product development, raises capital, fosters a high-performance culture, and is building the most talented team in the industry. 

As a Board Member at TiE Silicon Valley and throughout her career, Mini has brought big-picture thinking to foster technology entrepreneurship, youth engagement, and women’s leadership initiatives—including The Hunger Project to eradicate world hunger and establish women as a force for change-making. This includes establishing first robotics and STEM education for girls. 

 Topics covered:

• How to overcome challenges as a woman in the workplace
• Looking for new roles
• Gaining and highlighting IPO experience
• Preparing to become a board member
• Advice for first time CEOs
• Implementing women empowerment programmes
• Empowering the next generation

Contact the host and guest: 

Get in touch with Claire Perry:
Email: c.perry@proclinical.com
Connect with Claire on LinkedIn

Get in touch with Mini Suri:
Email: mini@velmeni.ai
Connect with Mini on LinkedIn

More information:

At Proclinical, our global workforce solutions help individuals, teams and whole organizations grow in the life sciences industry. For more information about how Proclinical Executive can support your board level and leadership hires, visit proclinical.com/executive

Transcript

[Unknown19]: 0:01

hi i'm claire im senior partner at pro clinical executive search pro clinical or one of the biggest global search firms in life sciences i'm honored to be joined here today by mini sri mini is the ceo and co founder of val man she's a brilliant contributor to the tech industry is an innovative trailblazer in a i m l n lp automation and an advocate for the betterment of others mini's deep experience and creative inspiration have led vel many to the forefront of ai health care through predictive and analytical artificial intelligence in dentistry val man's platform is evolving as a standard bearer for dental practices mini has acted as chief customer officer at core ai head of ia for uber and senior vice president at city with an mba from mit sloan school she provides beell many with deep tech strategy financial skills and hands on operational management a doer and problem solver mini leads product development raises capital fosters high performance culture and is building the most talented team in the industry

[Unknown18]: 1:10

yeah

[Unknown19]: 1:11

as a board member at thai silicon valley and throughout her career many has b big picture thinking to foster technology entrepreneurship youth engagement and women's leadership initiatives including the hunger project to eradicate world hunger and establish women as a force for change

[Unknown18]: 1:27

yeah

[Unknown19]: 1:28

making this includes establishing first robotics and stem education for gs

[Unknown18]: 1:32

yeah

[Unknown19]: 1:33

mini thanks for joining me for international women's day i know many women will very much appreciate you taking the time to share your experience and expertise with us

[Unknown18]: 1:44

thank you claire for having me

[Unknown19]: 1:45

what

[Unknown18]: 1:46

um i must say international women's day always holds a big pressure for me because i am a big component or big opponent for women and women leadership so really excited to spend this time with you and then talking about the challenges that we women face and how we have been a trailed laser and taken all these obstacles that come our way and

[Unknown19]: 2:13

you

[Unknown18]: 2:14

sort of pave a way through that so really excited to spend this next thirty minutes with you

[Unknown19]: 2:20

wonderful um you've been an advocate for women during your entire career and as a chair of women's leadership at city you launch various women's empowerment programs were there any patterns you noticed or what did you discover about the common challenges that women face in the workplace

[Unknown18]: 2:40

so when i was when i was at city or when i joined city this i would say would be in ninety seconds or late 'ninety seconds there were very few women in financial services including myself i was in engineering role and i felt there was a dire need to have a strong women's support and some of our senior leadership at city had started thinking about that and they had formed something called city's leadership council and i actually led a branch of that in one of our locations in new jersey and we termed it as women of warren there was really a need for women's voice a support system for women and and whereas we actually built a lot of workshops leadership programs and built very strong network of women to help women of warren which is part of the entire city's women's leadership team but there were a lot of challenges that we noticed and especially um you know like working or having a very less representation women came with their own challenges for for for most of their family there was a very uh misunderstood you know when women wanted to take care of their family it's not that they were taking time off they would always compensate that you know working before and after we always felt women were very hard working very diligent workers however they had their needs to suffice the other challenge that i faced when i worked very closely with women was they actually you know they were not able to present themselves especially at the review sessions we used to have yearly review media reviews they did a lot but they were not able to present or articulate their work and usually that would be overlooked they were afraid to speak for themselves there's always self doubt you know we we want to be perfectionist however that was not what was required so we really wanted to make sure that they understood how to how they could present themselves before before their reviews before their senior leadership and be able to take full credit of their work so these were the things that we felt we could really build by bringing that confidence helping them feel there was a support system if they had any doubts they could talk to the women around them and then also be more aware of other team members around themselves and often we also found that because women didn't speak they were not uh they were not able to get the right kind of salaries or the pays or their compensation they always lagged behind so again these were some of the challenges that we felt that we needed to help our women be able to surmount

[Unknown19]: 5:49

thanks minnie okay so learning how to to balance family and work learning how to present ourselves in the best possible light taking credit for our work and negotiating there are really great tips and good things for us to to be aware of and what are some of the tools and techniques that women can use to overcome these challenges

[Unknown18]: 6:13

so of the things that we our women you know or we educated them is really build a strong network do not eat alone you know it's always good to go and mingle and network and meet other folks that was very important we yourself make yourself be more aware see what other teams are doing you know like and the other other important thing that we always emphasized was set clear goals and expectations with your management so when the time comes for the review you can measure these outcomes more objectively you know right it it it it doesn't it should be very well articulated between both the sides what your managers expected if you did all the five things were you on the top level of reading or if you just did three things where would you rate and it was it was a very clear conversation at that point so be accountable for your action behavior performance and decisions because accountability is also linked to an increase in commitment to work and employees morale right which leads to very high performance the other thing is we also explained them if they did not have very supportive management or managers please it's it's time to move on because what we have seen is good managers who are at your back can either make your break you so there's there is you know if you feel that having that dialogue or conversation did not really help and it's okay to move to another team because we had really lot of strong mobility programs in place and the mobility can only help if you actually looked around talked to the hr understood what was going on and that's where we wanted our women to be a lot more uh open about what was going around themselves and that's why these women leadership programs their aim was to get them connected to the ecosystem so that women can actually leverage and then take advantage of that and that is something that we find or was really missing and these were some of the tools and tips that we wanted to bring to them so that they could leverage and use them to their advantage and we did see there was a huge difference once that was you know once the women looked around and they saw other women in the same boat and doing something it it really encouraged motivated them and i've taken a lot of challenges myself where i used to mentor women you know especially when they would be going through tough challenges my doors were always open so that i could talk to them or lead them or help them in in any which way so that you know these women could really be to shine in whatever they were doing

[Unknown19]: 9:23

thanks thanks mini that's really helpful i love what you said about never eat alone and you know that's really important to create that network and that that support and then i know it's easy to operate in the gray area so having the clear goals and expectations and even setting those yourself as and presenting them to your manager sounds like a great idea in twenty eighteen you joined uber as the head of center of excellence for intelligent automation after twenty one years at city i imagine this was a big move why did you choose to join uber and what was the key criteria you were looking for in a new roller company

[Unknown18]: 10:02

that's a great question claire and i'll tell you uh this this consequence i got and i must say is because of my mp at mit mit makes you very unsettled and that was good it made me question whether i was really learning something outside did i really am i challenging myself enough so when uber came by it was a very brave decision we were very well settled with my family with my husband in new jersey and i had never ever thought that things could shake up that much but i had to make my decisions in matter of days and and hold behold my husband was traveling in spite of that i had to make my decision and i knew if i did it if i did it this time i could get and challenge myself or do something that i have never done in my past twenty one years or i would stick to what i was doing so i took the challenge and i'm glad i took the challenge because um city gave me a lot of learning i i must say it was an academia for me i i felt that was my world and it was truly i i sat in a very good organization where all the technologies were at a footstep however what uber gave me was really the punch um it actually um i i was completely in a very traditional hundred year old bank and now i was in a startup with young very young talent and it was the gift of taste of speed and agility and go to market activities total different culture and and basically i learned quite a bit from from uber's culture however i was able to provide a lot of my experience that apply from from a very matured organization to build very scalable secured products and platforms so the things you know it it was a very good learning that i got from me and what i learned at uber and and i i must say that just that you know just challenging yourself and never settling into that role of what you've been doing was phenomenal and i do recommend i took twenty years or twenty one years to make that move but i do recommend women to really take that bold move because it's not that scary we we are very smart we get used to it yes for first few years were extremely hard you really have to reinvent but but if you don't reinvent you do not know you do not progress so for me that challenge after that there was no looking back because i knew i could take next level of challenges you know as it would come because you know you you you're not always prepared for anything but you know your your your strengths and you also know your weaknesses and as long as you're strong enough you know you can you can reinvent you are willing to learn i think it's it's it only helps you grow it only helps you to stretch so that's what they say right the elastic band when stretched does not come back to its own position same thing it happens to you as a human human brain once you stretched you don't come back to what you are and these this east coast to west coast journey was something which i think was phenomenal for me

[Unknown19]: 13:50

well yeah congratulations on you know preparing yourself with mit having the courage to take the leap and you know extending the metaphor you know you leaped and the the net appeared it sounds like with uber you also saw uber through their highly publicized ipo do you have any advice for people who want to get ipo experience what skills should they highlight during an interview or what can they do in the meantime to gain these skills

[Unknown18]: 14:24

i have to tell you ipo is a tremendous experience it's when the entire company comes together and it is a dream um that is in the making on day one when you start a company and it takes years of toil and hard work it's not just one the entire different teams working together so so for me that was a moment that i will always remember ah it it was it was that day when we all cried with joy and we hugged each other because it was something incredible i i cannot even explain in my words that how beautiful that moment was however i would say that if you really need to be part of an ipo obviously you need to do a research on which kind of companies that you want to be there are all kinds of in all sizes of companies right that you see and especially ipos are happening a lot more faster in what we've seen in recent years so if you think of high growth companies that have really good focus and are have a fast trajectory maybe that's the company that you want to look at and then you know and the thing is not every company is taking as an ipo they either get acquired uh you know there are different kinds of ipos packs coming out too so it all depends on um you know if you really want to be in an ipo trajectory then you need to know if this company is where you want to be look when you're thinking of a company like that then be ready because a company going towards an ipo is super focused in achieving their goals because obviously there's a fund to get to an ipo but post ipo is another set of challenges that the company faces so again it's something that i would suggest you guys to do your research you know if that's the that's the part that you want to take is obviously and i would and what i would suggest is there is a lot more opportunity nowadays to look into those kind of companies who are you know like a year away into ios it takes especially when you're nearing the ipo it takes a lot of prep work before a company is ready to go into ip and that's a fun time too because you sort of like super organize yourself you want to make sure all your all your things up in in much more organized way it's not just you know like a startup going in all different directions but i think it's a great learning so that's where i would say um you know um it is it's a journey i but obviously do your research because there and there's a lot of opportunities nowadays

[Unknown19]: 17:28

okay thanks mesa be prepared do our research okay good to know and and then you're a board member at thai silicon valley many women i speak to are looking for the first board position what advice do you have for them is there anything they can be doing to prepare certain types of people they should reach out to or how to really present their experience in a way that says they'd make a good board member

[Unknown18]: 17:53

eight so thai silicon valley was literally a love at first sight for me um i knew that was my calling i always wanted to do something for entrepreneurs as well as this community added that launch back for me and also i caught a chance to meet some brilliant and dedicated bins ti silicon valley's a thirty year old organization started when you know the representation for indian community obviously was very slim especially in the in the silicon valley but it's different now however our charter is to really promote women youth and entrepreneurs in any which way we can help them and shape them their journey so what i've seen thai silicon valley is one of the boards that i have and i'm an other non for profit boats however i would say it's

[Unknown19]: 18:55

cool

[Unknown18]: 18:55

very important that you understand what motivates you because if your heart is in you will do a good work you will add value it's not just adding or being on a board it's the board that you can make a difference you need to really identify your proposition you need to know what is your what is the need for that particular boat position that you're looking for the most important is to write your boat cb you should be able to articulate so well because when you're applying for a board position you need to be talking about who you are and how you think you can fit into the board and be in control of the you know the activity or the part of the responsibility because once you're the board you come with with with responsibility you've got to be working for the board to help take the board achieve its goals and then i would say the most important thing to get into the good boards is obviously networking networking networking networking most of the board members or board positions do get filled um by people who are known to the prior board members because it's very important you want to build the credibility and you want to build the right people on the board so i would say that it's very exciting to be part of um or be a board member because it does give you opportunity to look into how that particular organization is being run you bring your own qualities you bring your own capabilities and your experience as a board member and you get to interact with some phenomenal brains i would say phenomenal team members who working with you on that particular port so i would say again look into your passion uh find where your heart is and then try to start networking with people out there and see if there are friends and families who can connect you to the prior board members or existing board members so that you get a little bit more out of it before you get into that position

[Unknown19]: 21:09

wonderful thanks minie and you're you're the co founder and ceo at val mannie os any principles that you live by or words of wisdom that have helped you become successful

[Unknown18]: 21:26

so claire i have to tell you this story i've always jumped into a frying pan life has never been very smooth and simple for me and every time i find myself in a frank fan putting off the fire that's what i've done in all my positions so getting onto a ceo role was very interesting i actually learned being a ceo as a ceo however i got a very good advice from one of my mentors is that first thing i should do is to really set up time with the other ceos and silicon silicon valley was a great uh support system for me because there were so many ceos there that i actually took advantage where i took thirty minutes into their calendar talking to them there is so much and and and you know like one thing i would say just learning from them how they' managed their journey what were their challenges how did they overcome their challenges that was very important to know what are the things that one should be careful or not be careful you know it it's always good to have a sounding board or mentors to be built and eventually you will find who are the people you can really go and rely on it's a lonely position because there are a lot of things that comes on your shoulder right so somebody even advised me that i need to build a good support system and which is so true whether it could be my you know be a spouse or a friend or someone you feel very close because it's actually a roller coaster to ride there are very very good days and there are not so good days but you need to keep your calm because it does get past you know it it will get over so uh again it needs a lot of reinventing i had to really do sole searching i don't think so i would have ever spent so much time with myself as i have been a c o however i've also would recommend

[Unknown19]: 23:37

that

[Unknown18]: 23:38

invest in your physical and mental health um you know exercise yoga meditation whatever makes you happy makes you hiking whatever gives you that time me time is super super critical as the first time not even first time i've talked to so many ceos most of them do take time they shut off from their from their email frenzies and they do take time because they need time to think and that is very important um you have to learn to delegate if you have if you try to take too much control you're not building a great team to build that culture culture is so important the day one you step in that's where the culture starts what you are is what your company and what your company's culture's going to be so that's what they say you know you can eat culture for breakfast lunch and dinner right so you have to pay very

[Unknown19]: 24:41

what

[Unknown18]: 24:42

close attention your employees they're your assets that's where your your company is and especially a very small startup you know you start with your first employee employee number one and then it grows to employee number five and ten you know these are the moments you basically sort of enjoy and celebrate every day when you do even a small win it's like a bore moment for all of us so the thing is coming from very very large organization where i was a team player to now managing a company where i have a team that i have to really look take care of them and manage as a family is really amazing however i feel and i encourage more and more women to get into the ceo position because i just feel it is an experience um you know being an entrepreneur teaches you so many skills especially you you are the face of the company so it is challenging it is tough but it's rewarding and you have to have patience ultimately things fall in place uh and i think you've become better in managing all these kind of tough situations and it only makes you stretch and think and sort of like feel that yes i we could do it

[Unknown19]: 26:12

that so inspiring and and so helpful so helpful especially i'm glad you brought out balance and you know creating time to give yourself space to be able to then come back fully to the job and culture and delegating all s so much great information thanks mini what advice do you have for companies looking to implement effective women's empowerment programs

[Unknown18]: 26:42

so what i feel is um you know i've always believed in gender parity and this is interesting well winnie i am striving for gender parity right from day one um i was i have women on my advisory board i got a gender parity on my board which is really good i got invested by a lot of women's funds i am super excited about that i just feel that uh you know having a balance and especially diversity balance not just women but diversity of minds is very important i've worked with people with different mindsets and i've seen the diverse diverse team usually do a lot better and i used to be i used to have that even in the city even at uber and also where i am where i try to have different kind of people from different backgrounds now what kind of support or program that one can put in place obviously i feel that you know there is there is if if your sculpture is built in such a way that you understand everybody's needs there is no special program that you need to put in place because if you if women for example have a family and let's say she needs let's say five to you know from five pm to eight pm is her family time and after that and before time she's available that should be built in part of your your your culture or part of your the way you operate and that's it you know because the work will get it done so the thing is what i feel in this company vm where everybody has their own needs and requirements it should not be separate however we need to be respectful we need to be very open about each other's requirements and be able to build it second is you have to give a chance you have to give proper encouragement um mentorship you know being non judgmental because as i have seen uh women need little bit more nurturing sometimes they need a little bit more encouragement they need a little bit more time because once they are confident they will perform so what i i feel that it should become po it i it it should be part of your cult it should not be just having a program in place program in place happens only when you know things are not being done the right way in in in my case i feel it should be the way how we we operate and how we do the business and if it is all well understood with your employees i i think everybody can really coexist in a very very seamless fashion and and i think the company can really do very well

[Unknown19]: 29:56

thanks vince

[Unknown18]: 29:57

so that's that's what i would say

[Unknown19]: 29:59

yeah that's that sounds like a very holistic approach that's filtering through the whole organization rather than just like a a program it's more of an approach so thank thanks so much many and then and then finally what can we do as executive level women in the workplace to support the next generation of female leaders

[Unknown18]: 30:22

so you know uh as time member or ti board we are constantly looking how to promote young women for example my team is very young women um i am always looking how to give or be a mentor for young women i think encouragement giving them right guidance giving them a chance also connecting them to the right folks is very key and especially encouraging them to be young ceos you know it's like that's where my charter at at t is why not you know uh thirty under thirty we do more thirty under thirty more forties under forty seconds and then giving them the right tools guidance is very very important and i think that that relationship that i have is really helping me in my company as well i i am very bold in hiring twenty four years old and twenty five years old a very young talent because a they come within energy with some guidance with some focus i think they could be a very very good workforce within within your within your organization so i just feel that they have different challenges if they are taken care of um they they can really be a long run an asset to a company so i as i said for me you know working at uber working at core working with thai has given that open minded it's not just only the experience of fifteen years or twenty years they it definitely has a place but having a balance between the experience and the energy the freshness the openness i think both both can coexist so it's it's important that i think organizations should look into both the aspect and see where the you know like where each category needs a little help because no category is perfect it's the balance that we try to achieve with different i would say different kind of levels of workforce and experiences that we have so as young women definitely we would like them to be more supported especially more supportive especially you know i would say and i can see myself in initial time when i was starting as ceo i had some amazing mentors who really helped me so much that um i i i don't think so i could have been where i am without their help so it's always they say right there's a successful women behind her so there's a woman behind a successful man i would say i have many men behind me to help me to where i am so so i i must say that my message to the young women please surround yourself to the two mentors who can really guide you look for sponsors sponsors are very important too people who can speak when you're not in the room who can take you to places it's very important and i have been very privileged and fortunate right from city um to core to uber i i've had various various matters and i i still continue to build my mentors as i go along because different people can help in different ways and that and you'll be astonished how how easy they can make things for you and it's just one conversation that can just change your mind and and thinking so that's where i would sort of guide our young women uh to really look and be open and network linkedin is another great way of networking with people join other women forums look for other boot positions look for other ceos and i'm sure a lot of ceos are very open it's you know they're open to even meet for fifteen twenty minutes because even they're looking to meet other people too so don't think that the ceos don't want to meet you it's there open and i on my weekends i actually do a lot of virtual coffee chats i'm always talking to people on the weekends so yeah take time and talk to people

[Unknown19]: 35:01

thank you so much mini i mean and thank you for giving us such a fresh perspective and opening you know our minds to all of these different approaches and techniques and uh we really appreciate your time and guidance and expertise for international women's day

[Unknown18]: 35:21

and happy international day to you claire and hope this was a great session and i really enjoyed every bit of it and we wish the same to all our women leaderships and women entrepreneurs and all the striving women very happy women's international women's day