Masters of Growth

Arjun is a seasoned Education-Tech Leader, he started his professional career journey with Byju’s, first as a teacher and then moved up the ranks into a leadership role at the company and currently leads India business for upGrad.

He is a gold medalist from IIM Kozhikode, and also had stints at Titan Industries, Tata Motors, Tata Reality and Infrastructure and Sir Dorabji Tata and Allied Trusts before he rejoined EdTech Industry.

In this episode he talks about his learning experience at IIM Kozhikode, early days into his professional career and joining Byju’s. He shares more about education industry, the key challenges faced by the students today and how upGrad is helping millions of students with better education.

He also talks about Covid-19 situation, steps taken to tackle it and how it has worked out for upGrad. 

Satyakam is an automotive industry veteran with diverse international experience, he has spent more than two and half decades working with top automotive companies in different roles and functions.

He took on the role of leading Daimler Trucks operations in India at the end of November 2018 as MD & CEO, under his leadership the company continues to grow as a contender in the domestic market with made for India Commercial vehicle brand ‘BharatBenz’.

In his last role, Satyakam worked as Chairman of the Board for PABCO Ltd, a subsidiary of Japan-based commercial vehicle manufacturer Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation.

In this episode he talks about joining automotive industry, key highlights and experiences from his career journey of two and half decades. He shares more about commercial vehicles industry and its outlook. He talks about Covid-19 situation and its response. He also shares his views about future of work and provides great piece of advice around career progression.

Ramesh is financial services industry veteran and a known face in the Indian Industry, he has been instrumental in building Mahindra Finance since 1994 into one of India’s leading rural finance companies.

He manages the Financial Services Sector of the Mahindra Group which includes Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Mahindra Insurance Brokers, Mahindra Rural Housing Finance, Mahindra Asset Management Company and Mahindra Trustee Company. He also oversees the operations of Mahindra Finance USA.

He has been closely involved in the development of the India's dynamic financial services sector, affecting policy change as the chairman of the Finance Industry Development Council. He is also member of multiple prestigious institutions in India and serves on the boards of multiple institutions and companies including several Mahindra Group entities. He has received numerous awards in his career journey of over four decades. 

In this episode he shares more about his early career journey and how he got into Mahindra Finance. He shares leadership and management lessons learned over the forty years of journey in this industry. He talks about Covid-19 and its response and shares his views around future of work. He also shares great piece of advice around career progression and getting to the top position.

Nilesh is a well known face in the industry and has spent three decades in the capital markets. He is a gold medalist Chartered Accountant by education.

He has a rich and diverse experience of managing funds across equity, fixed income securities and real estate for local and global investors. He has received numerous awards and accolades in his professional career journey. 

Before joining Kotak Mutual Fund he held leadership roles with Axis Capital, ICICI Prudential Asset Management, Franklin Templeton and ICICI Securities.

Nilesh is also the Chairman of Association of Mutual Funds in India, Member of SEBI’s Mutual Fund Advisory Committee and a part time member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister. He was featured in Top 50 People of India, by the India Today for CY 2020.

In this episode Nilesh shares how he got into capital markets, what key changes he has observed over last few decades in the markets. He shares his views around Covid-19, impact on the market. He has a good piece of advice for retail investors around how they should go about investing in the markets. He also shares few really interesting stories from his career and how those stories had deep impact on him.

Dr. Raman Ramachandran is Managing Director and CEO at PI Industries Ltd, a leading and fast growing Agri Sciences company.

He is fondly called as Dr. Raman, he is a leader and veteran of Agriculture Industry. He is a Ph.D from University of Adelaide and an MSc. In Agriculture from the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi.

Before joining PI Industries, he was the Chairman and Managing Director of BASF India and Head of the BASF legal entities in South Asia. In his stint of over three decades, he held many positions of responsibility and led strategic evolution of the company as a leader in the agricultural products business across the Asia Pacific region. He was a member of the company’s executive committee of the global agricultural products division and its global R&D steering committee.

In this episode Dr. Raman shares what led him to pursue education in Agriculture and doing a Ph.D in the same. He shares more details about his early career journey and how he landed in BASF. He talks about spending close to three decades at BASF, and key highlights from this stint that shaped him as a leader. He talks about PI Industries, Covid-19 and Business Growth. The conversation also draws out lot of leadership and management lessons from his rich and successful career journey of over three and half decades.

Dr. Anand Deshpande is Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Persistent Systems since its inception and is responsible of overall leadership, strategy and management of the company. 

He is a true technology visionary, one of the top technology entrepreneur that India has produced. He founded Persistent Systems in 1990 and in this journey of over 30 years, it has become a well known and respected global technology services company with over 11,000 employees and over half a billion in revenue. 

Persistent systems is at the forefront of technology innovation thanks to Anand’s leadership, his strength lies in identifying and investing in next-generation technologies that encourages internal entrepreneurship.

He has been recognised by his alma mater, IIT Kharagpur, as a Distinguished Alumnus in 2012 and by the School of Informatics of Indiana University with the Career Achievement Award in 2007. Prior to founding Persistent Systems, Anand began his professional career at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in Palo Alto, California, where he worked as Member of Technical Staff.

In this episode Anand talks about his days at IIT Kharagpur and his technology exposure then, moving to US for higher studies and completing Ph.D. from Indiana University, stint at Hewlett-Packard Laboratories in US as an employee before founding Persistent Systems. He also shares his thoughts around Covid-19, Business Growth, Road Ahead and Future of Work.

Tarun Katial is CEO of ZEE5. He is considered as one of the most successful executives in the media and entertainment industry and has a rich and diverse experience of more than two decades spanning across major media platforms like Television, Radio and OTT.

He began his career in Advertising by joining Saatchi & Saatchi, he was then part of Enterprise Nexus Lowe and Ogilvy & Mather before Joining Star Network and then Sony Entertainment Television where he was instrumental in  delivering blockbuster shows, some of them being Kaun Banega Crorepati, Fear Factor and Indian Idol.

ZEE5 has seen exponential growth under leadership of Tarun in last couple of years, it has become largest ConTech brand and is inching towards industry leadership position. The Platform hosts 100+ Originals across different genres and languages, it has garnered more than 100Mn+ downloads over google play store.

In this episode Tarun shares his career journey from advertising to television to radio and now OTT. He talks more about ZEE5 business, content strategy, Covid-19 impact, leadership & building businesses.

Vishakha RM has helmed IndiaFirst Life Insurance as its MD & CEO since March 2015. Under her strong leadership, the company has recorded a significant growth rate and steadily risen in industry ranking.

Vishakha has ranked among the Top 50 of Fortune India’s ‘Most Powerful Women’ in business three times in a row. She has also been bestowed with ‘Most Influential Woman’ by the Business World magazine. Vishakha has been enlisted as a trailblazer amongst contemporaries across industries by prestigious publications such as Forbes India and Business Today.

A thought leader, Vishakha co-chairs the Pension and Insurance committee of CII. She is also an esteemed member of National Council on Insurance (ASSOCHAM), a committee member of FICCI, and a Charter Member of Exqualifi by AIWMI. She is an independent Director on the board of NRB Bearings Private Limited. She also has been on the executive committee of Life Insurance Council.

In this episode I talk to Vishakha about her professional journey, getting into Insurance Industry, experiences and challenges of working in an industry typically dominated by males, getting to the top position. We also talk about Covid-19, its impact on the business, the response and leveraging technology to stay ahead. 

She also shares couple of really interesting stories from her career that had deep impact on her as a person.

Rampraveen Swaminathan is the MD & CEO of Mahindra Logistics Ltd, one of India’s largest third party logistics provider in India, it serves over 400 customers across 16,000 pin-codes and operates more than 500 sites all over India.

Mahindra Logistics is a part of Mahindra & Mahindra Group, a USD $20 billion dollar plus diversified Indian conglomerate.

Ram has more than two decades of corporate experience spanning across Logistics, Automotive, Paper and Energy Sectors. He has worked with Tata Group, Cummins, International Paper, Schneider Electric and has served on the boards of Dodla Dairy and International Paper Holdings Asia Singapore Pte Ltd.

In this episode I talk to Ram around his professional journey and working across diverse set of Industries. He shares more details and insights about the Mahindra Logistics business. He talks about Covid-19, challenges faced and how they responded to it as a company. 

He also shares his wisdom acquired over the years in form of leadership and life lessons and has a great piece of advice for entrepreneurs looking to build successful businesses.

Yashish Dahiya is the Group CEO and Co-Founder of Policybazaar.com, he is among the prominent faces in the startup ecosystem in India and has built a huge brand in Policybazaar.com.

In over 12 years, Yashish has grown Policybazaar to become a key influencer in consumer decisions around insurance. He believes death, disease and disability products are the future of the insurance industry, as India strives towards social security. He has worked in the past as Managing Director of Ebookers Plc and prior to that he was a consultant with Bain & Co. at their London office.

In this episode, Yashish talks about running an agile, customer focused company in India in regulated sectors like Insurance and lending. He shares his thoughts around Covid-19 pandemic and the company’s response towards the same.

He shares more about business growth, leveraging technology, future of work and insurance. He has an interesting and powerful advice on starting up and building successful businesses.