Previous Occupation: YES BANK, Vice President (Corporate Development and Strategy)
Present Occupation: Deutsche Bank, Vice President, Analytics (Strategy and Performance)
Sector: Banking
Work Experience: 10 years
Personal Interests: Paragliding, music, travelling

Tell us about yourself – your profile, your professional life after ISB including your career progression.

My career profile has been full of transitions with only one thing in common - I always worked in roles linked to banking and financial services. Pre-ISB, I had already done my CA and CS and worked as an Assistant Manager in Deloitte, Mumbai managing statutory audits of large private sector / foreign banks.

My objective of joining the ISB was to transition from an accounting/auditor profile to a more strategic consulting profile and accordingly get myself equipped with the right skill sets. I also realised that although sell side and investment banks had its charm, I wasn’t cut out for it. I had a humble beginning post-ISB – through a campus offer, I joined KPMG in their advisory arm providing consulting services to banking clients. After a few years, I joined YES Bank (Corporate development and strategy) as I wanted to move from being an outside consultant to being an internal consultant and ‘execute’ these strategies. A couple of years later, I moved to Deutsche Bank (DB), Mumbai setting up a new analytics division in DB India. After a successful 2 year stint in DB India, I am now moving to DB Singapore in the Global Markets Analytics Asia-pacific team - again a transition from a single country specific exposure to an international exposure supporting the whole of DB Asia-pacific region. The one year that I invested in the ISB helped me immensely in transforming my overall personality and take on such leadership roles in my career.

What was your Key take-away from the ISB?

My biggest takeaway – Knowing how critical it is to have clarity of thought / vision in your life and how critical is the ‘execution phase’ that turns this vision into reality. I could see and feel the clarity of thought in every single student at the ISB (in opinions and views they used to express / their career focus) and also even in the making of this esteemed institution ‘ISB’ (the clarity of thought of the Management team – i.e. Founding members, Board members, Dean and Deputy Dean, ISB staff).

At the ISB, I could actually relate to what true future leaders stand for– exceptional performers in their fields, had a clear focus, believed in their story, very confident and had high aspirations in whatever they wanted to do in life.

The diversity of student’s backgrounds is something that I never got to see post ISB. Adapting to such diverse views, people, culture and management styles, opened my mind and brought a whole new perspective towards looking at things. The ISB experience came in very handy when I transitioned to different jobs / roles post ISB.

Also the interaction with faculty who are amongst the best professors in the world (Wharton, Kellogg, LBS, etc.) providing their insights on real case studies, taught me that the market and environment around us is ever evolving and the need is to keep your mind open and keep learning.

How do you think the ISB has contributed to your career growth?

The one year at the ISB built a lot of confidence in me to take up challenging and leadership roles in my career and to think of this journey as long-term. The curriculum was very practical and did touch upon lot of things that I came across in real life. The ISB also gave me the opportunity to build a huge network of life-time friends spread across sectors and locations, who are eager to help whenever you need them.

What are your achievements at DB?

Within the first year of joining DB India, in 2009, I received the Best CFO award in the Asia-pacific region of DB. Now in the second year, I received the offer to join DB Singapore office in the analytics team supporting Global Markets pan Asia-pacific. It is the first move from India from my division and would hopefully inspire more people to look at such career growth opportunities

What is your vision for the School?

The School should build a very strong research arm and gain the respect and credibility at par with Harvard Business School. It should be able to develop next generation leaders who can reach such senior positions within / outside India that can contribute not only to the India growth story but also make a difference to the world.

What are the strengths that the School can leverage upon and areas it can improve?

The ISB has now got a sizeable alumni strength spread across the globe. There is still an opportunity to tap them to create brand awareness.

“Survival in the next era is not about competition but collaboration,” said Dipak C Jain, Dean, Kellogg University, in one of the lectures this year that I got the opportunity to attend at the ISB. I think there is a need to collaborate frequently with B-Schools internationally. The ISB should explore this option more often to strengthen its brand globally.

Also, a suggestion would be to educate the prospective ISB applicants to look at the ISB as a more long term value-add to their career rather than a mere means to get a high paying job immediately from campus. There is a need to bring the aspirations of prospective students at par to what can be realistically achieved by them.

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