Previous Occupation: Private Equity and Investment Banking
Present Occupation: Corporate Strategy and M&A, Zensar Technologies
Sector: IT
Work Experience: 5 years
Interests – Professional/Personal:
Professional: Investing, M&A, and strategy.
Personal: Trekking and exploring new cuisines.

Can you tell us a little about your family background/ history?
I have been married for four years and my wife and I had a baby girl three months back (incidentally, she was born while I was still studying at the ISB!). My father is a retired professional in the pharmaceutical sector and mother works at Vijaya Bank. I also have a little sister who is currently pursuing an MBA in Pune.

Briefly describe your personal and professional achievements (including recent awards/special projects).
Professional Achievements:

• Worked on over US$500 million of private equity investments in the infrastructure sector, including investment in the Indian power sector.
• Developed a unique transaction structure which became the repatriation standard for Morgan Stanley in its road investments in India.

Personal Achievements:

• Received the ISB Torchbearer Award for making a significant contribution to the School’s activities.
• Moderated the Private Equity Panel of ISB’s Finance Conclave, which included senior- level executives from Blackstone, GVK and CARE Hospitals, among others.
• Developed a case study that has been accepted for publication through the ISB-Darden MoU.

Tell us about your profile pre-ISB, and recap your professional life after ISB, including your career progression. 
Pre-ISB, I had five years of experience in the Investment Banking and Private Equity sector, most of these with Morgan Stanley (MS). I was part of MS’s offshore team covering Media and Telecoms, and after that, I was a part of MS’s India investment team in its Private Equity Fund responsible for Indian investments. I graduated from ISB this year (CO 2013) and have joined Zensar Technologies, a mid-sized IT firm, in their Corporate Strategy and M&A Department where I will be working with the Head of Strategy and senior management to identify acquisitions to execute Zensar’s strategy.

Describe your fondest memory of ISB.
Undoubtedly, it has to be the birth of my baby girl in February and the time spent with my core group – Vinayak, Karthik, Supreet, Vivek and Raj – and the Finance Club core team. Apart from that, organising the Finance Conclave, moderating the Private Equity panel and receiving the Torchbearer award are among my favourite memories.

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 think the ISB tenure has helped me to think through many things and refine my approach (although I am not a great believer in standard consulting frameworks!). ISB has definitely inspired an entrepreneurial mindset in my professional life. The lasting impression, ultimately, has been created by the huge circle of friends and networks that I have built at the ISB, which is something that will be of increasing importance as I progress in my career.

How do you think ISB has contributed to your career growth?
I think the benefits of ISB are realised over time and not necessarily as soon as you step out of the School. Having said that, I do feel that due to ISB, a wide variety of firms were willing to consider my profile, and that ISB has helped me work directly with people at the seniormost management levels, as is demonstrated by my current stint at Zensar.

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

What was the highlight of your programme at the ISB?
Participating in flagship B-School competitions, developing a case for study by students and participating heavily in all the Finance Club activities.

Word of advice for the current class?
Be aware of the current happenings in the world of business – read about and discuss different businesses and industries, so that you are able to carry on an hour’s conversation about any relevant event. Participate in and organise conclaves, speaker sessions, etc. Even your attendance at such events gives you the opportunity to meet with some of the most important people in business circles – and that’s where your knowledge and ability to strike up a conversation with any leader comes in handy; so, as stated earlier, be very, very aware about any events taking place. Remember, this is far more important than your regular mid-terms and end-terms and grades, because people will evaluate you on your conversations, not your grades!

What was your favourite course/class at ISB and why?
“Capital Raising Strategies in Corporations” by Simi Kedia and Nikunj Kapadia, because of the breadth of the course and the quality of teaching. That said, I feel it would be great if we could have some teaching on Indian Regulations in this 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.
I don’t think there was any specific mentor I can point to. But I learnt a lot from my core group of friends – Vinayak, Karthik, Supreet, Vivek Sah, Raj, Vivek Tulshyan and Piyush – this, for me, more than compensated for the lack of mentorship.

What are the areas in which you can contribute to ISB?
I would love to stay involved with the School in all areas that alums can help out, particularly admissions and briefing students about careers in Investing and Banking.

What do you enjoy most about your current career position?
I have been in my current position for only a week, but the exposure I am getting to areas that are critical to Zensar with regard to strategy is something that I enjoy greatly.

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