Aarav Deshmukh
Chief Information Officer
Woodgrove Bank
Core bankingCloud
Mumbai · BankingLeagueFounding
CXO Lounge presents · CIO Lounge
Where India's technology leaders meet as peers, not prospects.
A premium platform for CIOs, CTOs and CISOs: curated roundtables, learning with top institutions, veteran CIO advisory and India's premier pickleball league for IT leaders.
Flagship · India Tour opener
CIO Pickleball League: Mumbai
First week of November 2026 · Saturday or Sunday
64 players · 8 teams
--
Days
--
Hours
--
Minutes
View the league
- cities on the India Tour
- 5–7
- cities on the India Tour
- enterprise decision-makers
- 250–400
- enterprise decision-makers
- CIOs, CTOs and CISOs
- CXO-only
- CIOs, CTOs and CISOs
- commission on partner deals
- 0%
- commission on partner deals
What's on
Events we're hosting
From the India Tour to curated roundtables, every event is built for decision-makers, not headcount.
OCT02
Coaching camp
Registration open
Pre-season coaching camps: Mumbai
Weekly professional coaching under certified pickleball coaches, practice matches and team selection, so every player arrives match-ready.
Mumbai
Open to all 64 registered players
October 2026 · every Friday to Sunday
DATE
TBA
TBA
Networking
Announced
CIO Pickleball League: Media Launch
The official launch of the India Tour: the brand ambassador, the partners, the kit and the city calendar, unveiled together.
Mumbai
Members, partners and media
October 2026 · date to be announced
DATE
TBA
TBA
Pickleball League
Dates to be announced
CIO Pickleball League: Delhi
The India Tour arrives in Delhi. Every city crowns its own champion before the National Grand Finale.
Delhi
64–80 technology leaders
2026–27 · dates to be announced
Why CIO Lounge
CIO engagement has become a commodity.
Cocktails, dinner, and the engagement ends. Partners see little lasting impact, and CIOs' presence is commoditised by agencies. We built CIO Lounge to change that.
~125
CIO forums, media platforms and agencies competing for the same leaders in India
₹15L
a typical agency quote for a single 15-person CIO roundtable
~35
genuine buyers at a typical 140-CIO flagship event, pursued by 89 sponsors
One company, three platforms
The CXO Lounge ecosystem
01
CIO Lounge
The community
A multi-platform ecosystem for CIOs and technology leaders: professional engagements, learning, advisory, sport and lifestyle.
Learn more 02CIO Studio
Where CIOs speak. Technology connects.
The voice of the community: perspectives, conversations and case notes from the people who run India's technology.
Learn more 03CIO Foundation
Future social-impact initiative
The giving-back dimension of CIO Lounge, funded by 2% of CIO-vertical revenue.
Learn moreOur model
How CXO Lounge is different
No conflict of interest: partners are our customers, CIOs are our peers.
Partners are customers. CIOs are peers.
Vendors and system integrators sponsor the platform; CIOs are members of the community. The two roles never blur.
No commissions, ever
We earn from sponsorships and memberships, never from the deals partners close with our members.
Nothing is free
Every member invests in the platform. It keeps the room serious and the conversations real.
Sponsors and delegates, side by side
No wall between the two. Partners take part on the same footing as CIOs, so networking is genuine.
The CIO Lounge roundtable
- 01
Brief
You share your product literature. We match it to about 15 targeted CIOs or CISOs.
- 02
Prepare
Leaders study it in advance and come with their pros and cons.
- 03
Present
A 15–25 minute product capsule from your product head. Never longer.
- 04
Brainstorm
A member CIO moderates an open discussion of real pain points.
- 05
Commit
Leaders who share the pain point step forward for a proof of concept.
Flagship property
CIO Pickleball League · India Tour
India's first multi-city pickleball championship exclusively for technology leaders, designed to become the IPL of corporate pickleball.
- teams × players
- 8 × 8
- teams × players
- per city league
- 1 day
- per city league
- kit per player
- ₹25–30K
- kit per player
Membership
Benefits that go beyond the event
Professional, personal and family: rolled out across the year.
Professional engagements
Curated roundtables where you shape products, not sit through pitches.
Learning with top institutions
Residential programmes designed with faculty, subsidised by partners.
Sports
The CIO Pickleball League India Tour, coaching and member tournaments.
Health and wellness
Wellness zones, fitness sessions and health programmes.
Lifestyle
Hospitality with ITC and Taj, and experiences worth your weekend.
Family and wealth programmes
Family days, kids' activities and wealth sessions.
Premium concierge
A dedicated desk for event logistics and member requests.
Travel perks
Destination events, starting with the National Grand Finale.
Recreation and entertainment
Live entertainment, celebrations and member evenings.
Veteran CIO advisory
Access to a panel of retired CIOs for independent counsel.
The community
Who you'll meet
CIOs, CTOs, CISOs and CDOs: the top layer only, not one level below.
Meera Iyer
Chief Information Security Officer
Contoso Insurance
Zero trustDPDP compliance
Mumbai · InsuranceLeagueFounding
Rohan Kulkarni
Chief Technology Officer
Proseware Capital
Low-latency tradingAI
Mumbai · CapitalLeague
Ananya Rao
Chief Digital Officer
Adventure Works Retail
Customer dataCommerce platforms
Bangalore · Retail
Profiles shown are sample data for design purposes.
For OEMs, SIs and institutions
Reach decision-makers the right way
Sponsorship-led, commission-free. Every tier includes branding, networking and engagement.
One for the entire tour
Title
₹5 lakh× number of cities
One per city
Platinum
₹4 lakhper city
Eight per city
Team Partner
₹3 lakhper city
Eight per city
Associate Partner
₹1 lakhper city
CIO Studio
Where CIOs speak. Technology connects.
Perspective
Why CIO events stopped working, and what comes next
A roundtable that ends with the dinner is not engagement. It is hospitality.
4 min read
PlaybookThe roundtable that ends in a proof of concept
Pre-read, a 15-minute capsule, a CIO in the chair, and a room that owns the problem.
3 min read
LeagueWhy pickleball, and why now
Leaders come to play, not for the cocktail dinner. That changes the conversation.
3 min read
CIO Foundation
2% of CIO-vertical revenue goes back to the families of our community.
Join the community
Built by a CIO, for CIOs.
Membership is by application and reserved for enterprise technology leaders.