A Writer and a Researcher Who Made It To The List Of Top 100 Digital Influencers in India, Nisha Holla

Nisha Holla is a writer, researcher, and engineer who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and a Technology Fellow at the Bengaluru-based Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms.

She writes about ideas and shifts at the nexus of technology, economics, and politics for ORF as a computational physicist and researcher. She studies the impact of technology on democratizing socioeconomic development, the relevance of establishing strategic technology moats, and the policy frameworks needed to support indigenous technology development in India.

Nisha, a 2013 Carnegie Mellon University graduate, worked as a product development engineer for Applied Materials, the world’s largest semiconductor equipment maker, in the Bay Area, where she advised on hardware design and process improvements. She has worked as a consulting editor for YourStory Media since 2018 and has written articles about the Indian economy and technology. In fact, she was the driving force behind the creation of an in-depth report on India’s deep science ecosystem, which included profiles of the country’s most innovative firms. Nisha became a Technology Fellow at Bengaluru’s Center for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) in 2019.

Nisha has co-authored a number of articles on India’s human capital development, comparative studies of Indian states’ economic and demographic growth, India’s technological readiness in various aspects, and India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her work has featured in a variety of publications, including The Financial Express, The Indian Express, The Sunday Guardian, and YourStory.

Nisha has co-authored several key reports as part of her independent research work, including FICCI’s Human Capital Development of India, India’s Response to COVID-19, Maharashtra 2025-Road to USD One Trillion, and Uttar Pradesh 2030 – An Accelerated Economic Vision. She played an important role in the Bengaluru Innovation Report 2019.