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Himanshu Gulliani
Class of 2008
Chief Manager, ICICI Bank Ltd
Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
My father is a lawyer & mother is a retired government servant. I am married to
an HR consultant and blessed with two kids. I also have a sister who has earned
her Ph.D and she is married to a bureaucrat.
Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including
recent awards/ special projects).
Being able to spend time with my family and pursue my interests of
reading/gaming/watching movies alongside all this while working long hours at
work and contribute to work community by taking various non-work related
responsibilities.
Professional- consistently top rated at places of work. Awarded appreciation
certificates by senior management at places of work
Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after
ISB, including your career progression.
I had accumulated around six years of work experience with various banks before
joining ISB. During placements in 2008, I got placed with one of the well-known
investment banks at an international location. However, due to the on-going
recession, I had to return to India in 2009. After coming back to India, I
co-founded a corporate finance and investment advisory firm.
In 2010, I joined an Indian bank’s infrastructure financing team and
subsequently, have been part of various big ticket infrastructure deals in
India. Presently I am managing a team of relationship managers overseeing bank’s
infrastructure sector’s assets and managing relationships with large corporates.
Describe your fondest memory at ISB.
Although I cherished every single moment while at ISB, my fondest memory in ISB
would definitely be that of performing salsa on stage with my wife on ISB’s
annual day
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?
In my personal life post ISB, I have become better at managing work/life
priorities and I now have a more balanced approach towards living life.
Exposures which I got at ISB as a student and as an ISB community member have
helped me in refining my perspective towards various aspects of life.
Professionally, ISB prepared me to be a better contributor in team based work
environments and also helped me to refine my capability of taking immense
pressure at work and this has helped me achieving professional and
organisational goals as desired. Further, ISB’s education honed my skills as a
finance professional.
How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
ISB has definitely contributed in my career growth. It gave me the opportunity
to join an investment bank at an international location and get cross cultural
experience in financial sector. In my other jobs post ISB, as highlighted above,
professional skills acquired at ISB have held in good stead as a contributor to
organizational goals.
If you have to sum up ISB in one word:
Enriching
What was the main highlight of your programme at the ISB?
Exposure to wonderful faculty and great education. Chance to interact with
leaders from various streams of life. And all this while, pursuit of various
other personal interests like Spanish, swimming, salsa etc. made my stay at ISB
extra special.
Word of advice for the current class?
Cherish every day at ISB and keep yourself busy with all things you would want
to do and as well as those which you love doing. Do not go with the hordes;
pursue your own dreams whether personal or professional. Do not get bogged down
by the challenges you face at ISB. Life at ISB will appear to be hard and it
will be hard but it will be worth it many times over.
In one year aim to live five years of life!! Have the time of your life!
What was your favourite course/ class at ISB and why?
My favourite course at ISB was financial engineering taken by Prof. George
Chacko who is outstanding in his area of expertise. I was able to further
understand and pursue topics of my interest related to exotic financial
instruments.
Also, I really enjoyed Prof. Rajeshwar Upadhyay’s course on leadership lessons
from world literature. It is definitely one of the best courses I have ever
pursued due to wide coverage, exceptional course delivery and various
philosophical takeaways from the course.
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.
Various people helped me while I was at ISB in refining my approach towards
attainment of my goals at ISB. Arun Dhar and Shreyansh Daga from Class of 2007
in particular helped in refining my strategy towards placements. Various other
seniors guided me at different points in time whenever I needed them.
What are the areas in which can contribute to ISB?
By being active in the local alumni chapter and by providing guidance to
students
What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I enjoy being part of a small team which undertakes few of the biggest deals in
Indian infrastructure space. The pressure, the hustle bustle, hard fought
negotiations, stringent deadlines and the kick of making money for the bank: I
like them all.
What is the next new thing in the industry or vertical you are working in? Any
trends that you see?
Indian infrastructure sector is poised for a take-off after a clear mandate
to the new government and its focus on development of this sector as a
facilitator of India’s growth aspirations. Infrastructure sector over the last
few years has witnessed inordinate delays in implementation of projects due to
various reasons ranging from delay in grant of clearances to problems in land
acquisition. Consequently, it is of utmost importance that that this sector
expands rapidly by
up-gradation of existing projects and by fresh green-field
setups to build up and improve supply side efficiencies in Indian economy. It is
expected that sub-sectors namely energy (renewable), roads and ports shall
witness tremendous growth based on fresh expansion. Further, governmental
initiatives, along with financial sector reforms targeted at facilitation of
infrastructure sector’s capital raising requirements is also expected to reshape
and improve India’s banking and financial sector. Indian infrastructure sector’s
expansion is expected to have cascading positive effects on various other
segments of Indian economy in the coming years.