CDI Global Members

Ardeshir Contractor

Senior Advisor

Contact

ardeshir@cdiglobal.com

Experience & Qualifications

Ardeshir holds a B.Tech. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and a M.S. from Ohio State University. Ardeshir is currently a Clinical Professor at Ohio State University with a joint appointment in Engineering and Business, and as Director of the Frontier Research Center.  Previously, he was the key founder of Kiran Energy, which he led from 2010-2018 to be the largest solar firm in 2014 and a pioneer in technology, operations and project finance, with a successful exit in 2018. Ardeshir has been a serial entrepreneur founding ventures in hotels deployment, legal services and investment banking. Before his years as an entrepreneur, Ardeshir was Vice President at Lazard, the Managing Director of KPMG India Financial Advisory Services, where he has a very successful track record of leading KPMG to place in the top 3 in deal value league tables.  

Ardeshir has served as Director on several Boards including Transportation Research Center and Nature, India, and chaired several committees for solar and innovation. He had the opportunity to address the United Nations at the Paris COP21 in 2015, and was deeply involved with the UNEP Enquiry on designing a global sustainable financial system.  He is a recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Bombay and from Ohio State University. Ardeshir specializes in Energy, Advanced Materials, Power Systems, Electric Mobility and Sustainable Finance.