Dilipkumar Khandelwal
PGPMAX Class of 2013
Managing Director, SAP Labs India and Senior Vice President, Suite Engineering, SAP
 


Present Occupation: Managing Director, SAP Labs India and Senior Vice President, Suite Engineering, SAP (The Suite Engineering organisation focuses on developing and supporting applications in SAP Business Suite and Strategic Industries)
Sector: Information Technology, Business Software
Work Experience: 14 years
Interests – Professional/ Personal: Spending time with friends, watching soccer and Formula One (F1) 

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I come from a business family that is originally from Rajasthan. I am the oldest of four brothers and I was the first in the family to challenge the status quo, tread into uncharted territory and break out of the traditional family business to pursue an industry role. After I earned my engineering degree, I started my career in the IT department of a large Indian manufacturing company. During my association with this company, I had the opportunity to work with some of its leaders. Those experiences were influential in shaping my perspective and making me understand the need to have a clear purpose in everything I do.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/ special projects).
Personally, my biggest strength is my upbringing and the importance my parents placed on family values. I try and instil the same values in my children. Watching them evolve into little personalities learning the concept of right and wrong, I am reminded every day of the importance of being aware of my actions and keeping myself in check because I see how much influence I have on them. I have to mention how strong a support my wife has always been throughout my journey. I have also had the privilege of working for those in need over the years, and with my recent appointment to the advisory board of the HOPE Foundation, I look forward to more opportunities to give back in my own little way.
Right from the very beginning of my career, I have always been able to work closely with customers, something I value even today. This has strongly inscribed customer centricity into my working style and philosophy. Here at SAP, I have had the chance to work with some of the most innovative minds in the business over the years. I was awarded the “SAP Leader of the Year 2011” and was recently appointed the Managing Director of SAP Labs India. To see people put their trust and confidence in me is a strong affirmation of the value of my learnings thus far.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression.
Starting off as a technology consultant, I had the opportunity to learn about customers and their businesses early on in my career. I was able to understand how large customers realise their business through intelligent IT investments. This gave me the much needed traction for my growth. I went on to drive the set-up of a quality governance and production team in India. After seven years with this team, I joined my current team where I am now the global head of Suite Engineering. We develop and support solutions around our on-premise business solutions. It was in my role as the Senior Vice President of this team that I had the opportunity to enrol in the PGPMAX course at ISB. We have seen our organisation grow steadily in its portfolio over the last few years. And now, stepping into the role of the MD for Labs India, I see most of my learnings being put to use and contribute to my decision making capabilities.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
ISB brought my college days back to memory and gave me an opportunity to relive them again. Working on late night assignments and then going out with friends for street food was such an amazing experience. We had a fantastic time together, and some of our families were able join us and be a part of the experience. We lived and breathed with our teammates. We developed a strong bond with people we had never met before, establishing a strong network that we could leverage in the future. It was really about plugging into a new community.

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?

I see my association with ISB as an honour and a point of great pride for me. Though I had to do a lot of balancing and negotiation (in terms of my schedule) in order to attend the programme at ISB, my primary focus was on how I could leverage the programme to deliver increased value to my company as well as my customers. The takeaways from the people, professors and network you build at ISB are truly remarkable. The experience creates and nurtures a spirit of studentship in all of us, which will last a lifetime. The thorough yet simplified structure of the course made it possible for us to manage our businesses even while we were away learning. I also believe that the opportunities to learn from peers who were at similar points in their careers also greatly benefitted us.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
Going back to school after, say, 10 odd years of working, is a whole new level of getting in touch with your inner self. It makes you more agile and a better multi-tasker. The programme has enhanced my ability to better structure my thoughts and priorities.

If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Enriching.

What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
It was a rewarding experience on the whole. ISB extended an opportunity to connect with a set of great minds from academia as well as industry. To meet senior industry executives outside of work, in a classroom environment, creates a special kind of learning opportunity indeed for all of us.

Word of advice for the current class?
We all arrive expecting to be buried in books and case discussions for most of the year, but I would advise you to start your year remembering to make the most of your time at ISB. Each person in your class comes with a treasure trove of experience and learning, and I would personally recommend building strong bonds with them and making the most of this rock-solid network of peers, friends and faculty. This course provides you many avenues to better your stand in every area and aspect of knowledge and you really can get there with ISB’s help and the right focus.

What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
The courses are designed keeping the executives at the centre of the learning and making sure that it is teamwork that results in learning for all of us. I really enjoyed the case discussions, which threw up different perspectives from people from very diverse environments, with our professors acting as enablers who nurtured the collective wisdom of the group.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
As an alumnus, I am happy to support ISB wherever I can. I believe thought leadership is one area where I can put my experience to use. Guest lectures, understanding the research offerings, etc., are some avenues I find interesting.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I do spend a significant amount of my time travelling as part of my job and enjoy the various aspects of it. I get to see a lot of cross-cultural talent and it helps that I am a people-person at heart.

What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any trends that you can see?
We are witnessing an amazing transformation around us. Things that were touted as impossible in the past have become possible in the present with the emergence of new services and products. In the 1990s, we saw the emergence of the Internet, which redefined the way people consume and contribute to applications, while in the 2000s, we are seeing how a simplified user experience can do wonders in terms of making application consumption easier. In the next decade, we will see the power of the cloud and in-memory computing and how a network of devices will further transform everyday life and make it smarter by establishing an intelligent web of processes, objects, information and people. The future of work backed up by strong SAP cloud solutions will definitely set new milestones for the industry.
As change agents, companies must look beyond what they are good at today to create a platform to leverage the power of networked devices. This paradigm brings in a truly powerful world of integrated people and possibilities.
 

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