Giri Balasubramaniam, better known by his pseudonym Pickbrain, is a noted Quizmaster & Director of Greycaps, Asia’s largest onstage quizzing and knowledge services company. Seen every weekend hosting quiz shows on national television channels in India, he is also the mind behind the Global Awareness Program (GAP), one of India’s first focussed and structured knowledge enhancement programs for school children. He and his team have presented over 2000 shows across 94 destinations of India, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Japan, Kuwait, Oman, UAE, UK and USA to emerge as one of the fastest growing quiz hosts from the region.

Giri has previously worked with The Economic Times, The Walt Disney Company and Indiainfo.com for over a decade before launching Greycaps. He is a regular speaker at conferences and educational institutions. He is a Post Graduate in Media Management, a Masters in Gandhian Philosophy and Thought and is an alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School.

Quiz Shows

• Tata Crucible - India’s biggest business quiz since 2004.
• TCS IT Wiz - India's biggest IT Quiz for school children since 1999.
• RBI Quiz - Across 62 locations of India for school children.
• Thomas Cook’s Travel Quest - An initiative to make children know the world live in better.
• Taking Quizzing to Rural India - Conceptualised and created the world’s first Rural IT quiz in association with Tata Consultancy Services and the Department of Information Technology, Government of Karnataka.
• Redefining Quizzing in Oman - Pickbrain was invited to the Sultanate of Oman to host a mega quiz with 6000 people on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Times of Oman, the leading English daily of that country. It is now an annual quiz keenly witnessed by over 7000 people.
• Introducing Finance Quizzing in Schools- Pickbrain conceptualised and hosted the first major finance quiz for schools with the National Stock Exchange. It has completed several successful seasons on CNBC.

Rewards & Recognition

• Selected by Times of India’s ‘Lead India’ initiative as one of India’s potential future leaders.
• Recipient of seven Limca Records for quizzing achievements.
• Winner of the CM Asia Award 2004 and 2005.
• Nominated to the Global Innovator Award 2005 and 2006 by MIT, USA.
• Internet Oscar 01, at the Asian Internet Awards Singapore.
• Nomination to the Dewang Mehta Award given by the Ministry of Information Technology Govt. of India.

Books & Publications authored by Pickbrain

• Know IT Better - India’s first IT quiz book published by Macmillan India.
• Cricket Trivia – published by Times Books of the Times of India Group.
• Tata Crucible Volume 1 and 2 – published by Tata Sons.
• Football Mania - published by Times Books of the Times of India Group.
• Soccer World Cup Challenge – published by Times of Oman in Oman.
• Think About IT Volume 1 - 7 – a quiz book for rural children on IT in English and Kannada.
• TCS IT Wiz Vol. 1 - 9 – a quiz book for children on IT.
• Get IT Right 1 - 3 - An IT quiz book for children
• Greycaps publications such as Get Curious About, Gaptopedia, Leadership handbook, Pick Your Brain, etc.
• Authors syndicated quiz columns in leading dailies and magazines from time to time.