Rikesh is recognised as a thought leader and speaker on public sector innovation with his practical and academic experience at leading organisations and institutions.

Rikesh is the Head of the Innovation Procurement Empowerment Centre on parttime basis — a UK government-funded initiative to stimulate more market innovation to create more value from the £400Bn spent each year by shaping new markets.

Rikesh also provides independent consulting services on transport, innovation and technology and data through Innovate Today to cities and organisations across the world focusing on strategy, assurance, stakeholder engagement, scrutiny, change management and governance. He is a Special Advisor for leading start-ups in the climate tech space including Lime Bikes, See.Sense and Hayden AI.

Previously Rikesh led Transport for London’s award-winning innovation team to create new value through advances in new technology for London by working with start-ups, corporates, academia, accelerators and venture capitalists. He was responsible for creating TfL’s first Innovation Hub which has delivered some pioneering projects on areas such as air quality, road safety, active travel, enhancing customer experiences to retail and property development. The Hub set out the organisation’s key challenges and problem statements, bringing in the best innovators from across the world, piloting and scaling innovative solutions with the potential to commercialise, as well as establishing the right culture and procurement processes in the company focusing on agility and design thinking to work with market innovators by doing things better, quicker or cheaper.

Rikesh was also responsible for TfL’s leading open data programme which has seen 700 apps powered by TfL data used by 42% of Londoners which is worth £130m per annum. He also was actively in involved during the 2012 Olympic Games and TfL’s response to COVID-19.

After TfL, Rikesh worked for PA Consulting to advise public and private sectors in transport and aviation on open innovation and open data.

Most recently, Rikesh has been recognised in the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech in 2019 - 2023, being named one of the top five for sustainability in 2019. He was also recognised in the Top 100 Influencers for the Drum Digirati in 2018.

Rikesh sits on the London Transport Museum Board as a Non-Executive Director, as well as the Global Urban Mobility Director (Non-Executive Director) at Cities Today, the global public innovation think tank. He has also been an Ambassador for London Tech Week between 2020 and 2024. He is currently advising the UNDP on the future of cities through innovation.

In academia, he is a Guest Lecturer on Open Innovation at the Royal College of Arts, Harvard University and The Engineering and Design Institute. Previously, he lectured at the University of Oxford, and he co-chaired the Data and Digital Board at the Institute of Civil Engineering.

Rikesh also served on the Mayor of London’s Smart London Board from 2016 to 2023.