Dr Kalpana Sastry is an agricultural scientist with more than 30 years experience in ICAR system. Currently she is leading an initiative to establish Centre of Agri innovation and Entrepreneurship at Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, (PJTSAU) Hyderabad. Graduating from the prestigious Indian Agricultural Research Institute with a specialization in Mycology and Plant Pathology, she joined the Agricultural Research Service in 1984. In 1996, she joined as faculty in ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) where she worked in various hierarchical roles and was the Joint Director of the Academy till 2017. Her research areas include agricultural innovations, intellectual property management systems and policy issues in agricultural research management. Associated in technology backstopping activities for a wide range of stakeholders including grassroots innovators, farmers, students, scientists, academia and entrepreneurs, she is engaged in the specific fields of IP informatics, technology management and in upscaling of innovations for agri-rural sectors. Dr Sastry spearheaded the team to establish the Centre for Agri-innovation (CAI) at NAARM which facilitates several opportunities to the entrepreneurs through various initiatives. She was also associated with ideation and launch of the First Food & Agribusiness Accelerator in 2015. Since last four years, she is also a mentor/advisor to several agri-startups across India. She also worked at TISS (November 2017 till May 2020) where she was engaged in taking these activities forward through teaching and research programmes across the agri-rural sectors and catalyze initiatives towards enhancing livelihoods of all stakeholders in agri-rural communities.