Achievements:

CEO, 7Avenues Private Equity and MyOrbit Online
Europe Business Manager, Infosys
Business Planning Manager, Infosys
Product Manager, Infosys

Interview:

Shankar, can you share with us the learning from your career?

I am passionate about seeking new opportunities and challenges, and I guess that reflects in my career decisions, right from the time I interned at ABB for my engineering summers in 1994-95 at their Industrial Motors Factory in Faridabad. There, I saw first business both at shop floor level and P&L level. At each level, I wanted to know why a particular process was followed and how it could be improved. It was the first time I was working with a multi-national team and I wanted to deliver to justify the faith of my selectors.

A year later, I was offered a job in ABB’s Power Business in Delhi, from where I took opportunities to learn business contracts, power project financing, and even fought a court case for the company. I am grateful to my managers for their faith in me, who sent me into all kinds of discussions with senior executives, government officials, bankers and lawyers. After graduating from IIML, I worked with Infosys which was a great place too, with lots of opportunities to take and deliver.


In that context, how did you face the obstacles in your path?

Over the years, I have learned that courage to challenge oneself while maintaining conviction in goals is necessary to face serious obstacles. For example, when you take up something new, many people will come and say that they have seen it all and it can’t be done, or there’s too much risk, etc. Often they are voicing their limits. You just say okay politely, and move on with your plan.


Looking back at your career, what were some of the ways in which IIM-L contributed to your career?

In terms of academic learning, the major tangible learning for me was in the area of finance. Having seen basics of project finance, business contracts, and legal disputes even before coming to IIML, I was keen to learn as much as possible in business financing, contracts, business valuation and M&A were among my favorite subjects.

Read the complete interview here