Lalit Sankrani
PGPMAX 2013
India & Global Engineering Leader (Controls & Electrical), GE Oil & Gas
Previous Occupation: India & Global Engineering Leader for GE Oil & Gas for Controls & Electrical.
Present Occupation: India & Global Engineering Leader for GE Oil & Gas for Controls & Electrical.
Sector: Oil & Gas and Energy
Work Experience: 17.5 years
Interests – Professional/Personal:
Professional – Industry insights, market trends and market research, and technology insights.
Personal – Photography.
Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
My grandparents had relocated from Sindh to Gujarat during the partition of India and Pakistan. I was born and brought up in Gujarat and lived there until I completed my B.Tech; later, I moved to the South, where I have been for last 13 years. My parents ran a textile business in Gujarat. I wanted to become a doctor but ended up in an engineering school, and I don’t regret it because I believe destiny brought me to the right place.
Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
My biggest personal achievements are my wonderful wife and two lovely daughters. Apart from that, I have played a key role in supporting some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that are focussed on elderly health care and education to become self-sustainable.
On the professional front, I have received awards from several of GE’s officers (Vice President and above) several times in the last three years for my accomplishments in leadership turnaround and technology leadership.
Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
I am the India leader of the Controls & Electrical business of GE Oil & Gas for India and the globe. I, along with my team, design new products, execute projects and are the face of technology at GE Oil & Gas for the world. Our work involves designing control systems – from systems intended for the most remote parts of the world at a sea depth of 9,000 feet to some of the largest and complex liquefied natural gas (LNG) trains in the world.
Since I graduated from ISB, I have not yet changed in terms of my role, but the lens with which I look at my job has changed and I have transformed from a technology leader into a business leader.
Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
My course required me to come to campus for seven days every six weeks and I always enjoyed being there and learning in that environment. I regarded the Atrium as the “education mandir” (temple). Even now, I get emotional just looking at the Atrium, even from a distance.
In your personal life, how have you changed post-ISB? Do you see yourself doing something differently because you went to ISB? What has left a lasting impression?
My biggest personal change was to start reading beyond technology. I enjoy reading up on market research, financial decisions and the strategic direction of the organization. I with my senior leadership is able to work more strategically on product design & development.
How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
ISB helped me to evolve into an engineer with a business mind-set. I am hoping to capitalise on this for my career growth.
If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Global.
What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
Learning new functional skills at a time in my life when I could practise or understand most of what was being taught. Going back to school gave me academic rigour and the opportunity to meet some of the finest professionals as colleagues and make lasting connections.
Word of advice for the current class?
No system is perfect. You came here to learn and apply the learning − this is the best place to do that ... right here.
What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
Marketing Strategy at Wharton − it was as though the whole MBA programme came together in this course. It gave you a platform to run a company and see the results as an accountant, a finance person, a marketing person, a CEO and also as an investor.
Was there anyone during your time at ISB who acted as a mentor for you? Tell us a little about this relationship and why it was valuable.
Each individual in our class brought significant experience as a functional or enterprise manager to the table. But beyond their functional skills, what amazed me was that quite a lot of people were role models in terms of their personal skills. I definitely saw that as a mentoring opportunity to develop my own skills in that area.
What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I would love to share my knowledge and industry insights on the energy and oil and gas sectors. I am willing to lead this vertical or be a significant contributor.
What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
Working on the world’s most difficult hydrocarbon recovery projects on land or in deep sea; working with the largest oil and gas customers and working with some of the finest business leaders and engineers in the world.
What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
Connecting Minds & Machines: This is the next big change at GE that we are leading to allow large industrial, health care and aviation machines to talk to each other and create value for the customer and our company.
Simplifying Business Operations: Corporations have become very large and complex. The most difficult thing for them is to do things easily or simply. This is an area that GE is working on currently.