The fifth edition of the Young Alumni Achiever’s Award was organised on July 16, 2019 in the campus. The award recognises the promising IIMA Alumni who are under 40 years of age and have achieved exceptional success in their chosen career, simultaneously showing potential for further success in future. The award not only highlights the impact that young achievers have made in the respective fields, but enhances the Alumni-student relationship. The event also gives a platform to the incoming batch to interact with the awardees, drawing inspiration and exploring the immense career opportunities based on interest. This year, the Young Alumni Achiever’s Award was given in three categories – Corporate Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Academics.
THE YOUNG ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEES 2019
Mr. Pranay Agarwal (PGP 1998)
Co-Founder & CEO, Fractal Analytics
YAAA 2019 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Mr. Pranay has led Fractal Analytics in powering every human decision in the enterprise through data and analytics. He has led Fractal to be one of the most respected analytics company in the world. In the current times, Fractal is a leading provider of AI and analytics to the most admired Fortune 500 companies globally. Fractal was founded in the year 2000 and has a presence in 16 countries across the globe including US, UK, Australia, The Netherlands, India, Singapore, Ukraine, and Canada with a team of 1300+ professionals distributed globally.
Mr. Agrawal is a Member of the founding team at Fractal and is in charge of US operations. He has earlier worked in the India consulting arm of Fractal where he was responsible for complete customer project deliveries. Mr. Agrawal has led several engagements with clients such as ICICI Bank, IDBI, Citibank, HLL. His involvement with the consumer banking and consumer products industry has been primarily in the areas of marketing intelligence and risk management. Prior to joining Fractal, Mr. Agrawal worked in the fixed income analytics division of the treasury at ICICI Bank. While at ICICI, he was part of the team responsible for generating India’s first collateralized bond obligation. He was also part of the core team instrumental in getting ICICI listed on NYSE. He is a certified Financial Risk Manager from GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals).
Mr. Srikanth Velamakanni, PGP 1998
Co-founder, Group Chief Executive & Executive Vice-Chairman, Fractal Analytics
YAAA 2019 – ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Srikanth Velamakanni, is the Co-founder and CEO of Fractal Analytics, one of the world’s most respected pure play Analytics companies. A former investment banker, he co-founded Fractal more than 14 years ago in February 2000. Srikanth’s passion for analytics makes him a thought leader in the space, an active public speaker and evangelist at large. He has been identified as one of the Top analytics leaders in India 3 times in the previous 4 years by Analytics India Magazine and sought by multiple global and national forums for his perspectives on implementation and impact of AI across industries.
At Fractal Analytics, Mr. Velamakanni leads Fractal’s India consulting practice. He is responsible for setting the direction and developing new business opportunities for the organisation. Mr. Velamakanni has led several engagements at Fractal helping leading banks like ICICI Bank, Citibank, HDFC Bank and IDBI Bank in designing, implementing and improving data-driven Cross Sell Programs and Retention Programs. He has also been instrumental in building significant knowledge base at Fractal and includes developing intellectual property on areas such as Scorecards and Analysis Modelling for the Financial sector.
Prior to Fractal, he worked on structured debt transactions and collateralized bond obligations at ANZ Investment Bank and ICICI. At ANZ, he worked with the Global Structured Finance team and worked on several Eurocurrency Structured Syndicated loan mandates including Industrial Development Bank of India and Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd. At ICICI Bank’s Structured Products Group, he served as part of the team which launched India’s first Collateralized Bond Obligation.
Mr. Suchitra Sebastian (PGP 1997)
Condensed Matter Physicist at Cavendish Laboratory and University Reader in Physics, University of Cambridge
YAAA 2019 – ACADEMICS
She holds an MS and PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University, USA (2006). She moved to the University of Cambridge as a Junior Research Fellow in Physics at Trinity College. After a period as a Royal Society University Research Fellow and University Lecturer in Physics at the Cavendish Laboratory, she is currently a University Reader in Physics. She has a total of 63 publications and is an Associate Editor of various journals.
Ms. Suchitra Sebastian is known for her work in quantum materials. In particular, she is known for the discovery of insulating materials which display simultaneous conduction-like behaviour under high magnetic fields. Ms. Suchitra creates and studies interesting quantum materials – often under extreme conditions such as very high magnetic fields, enormous pressures, and very low temperatures – with a view to discovering unusual phases of matter. Materials that she studies include novel magnets and unconventional temperature superconductors – which have the exciting property of transporting electricity with no energy loss. She has been awarded multiple awards and grants for her research in various areas of Physics.
Ms. Sebastian was named as one of thirty ‘Exceptional Young Scientists’ by the World Economic Forum in 2013 and one of the top ten ‘Next big names in Physics’ by the Financial Times. She received the L’Oreal-UNESCO Fellowship for Women in Science in 2013, among other awards including the Lee Osheroff Richardson North American Science Prize (2007); Young Scientist Medal in Magnetism (2012); Moseley Medal (2012); Philip Leverhulme Prize (2015); and Brian Pippard Prize (2015). She has also delivered speeches at World Economic Forum, Davos and various other major forums.
Mr. Sumit Jalan, PGP 2002
MD and Co- Head of Investment Banking and Capital Markets, Credit Suisse India
YAAA 2019 – CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
Over the two decades, as a Banker, Mr Sumit Jalan has been so far involved in 200+ transactions, involving US$ 100 bn+ of deal making.
As an Investor, he has been involved in building credit book from $250 MM to $2.1 bn+ in 3 years, and private equity book from scratch to $50 MM.
As a Corporate Leader, he has been amongst the final shortlist of ET 40 under Forty: Celebrating Young Leaders, received Deals of the Year Awards, and is an active member of YPO.
As an Entrepreneur, pre-MBA he started an Education Company, IIPS, wherein he did JV with Career Launcher and sold stake to the partner.
As an Angel Investor, he has been active in last 20 years with successful investments in Holachef (acquired by OLA), Teabox (Accel-backed), YSG Cabs (up 9X in 1.5 years), and more.
What does the YAAA and recognition mean to you? This award means a life to me. It’s a recognition of the collective journey of my family, friends, teachers, alma mater, colleagues, well wishers and organizations, I have worked for. To come from the alma mater and from a pool of such extraordinary talent pool of IIMA alumni, makes me elated, and a feeling that I know will last for eternity.
With an industry experience lasting more than a decade, how has your journey been? How do you want to inspire others through it? Investment Banking is a great industry. You deal with the best, and hence it trains you to match or better, which creates a treadmill of lifelong learning and relationship building. In my journey, I have taken each day as my first day as well as my last day, which keeps the creative juices, fun and hunger high everyday, pretty much a pre-requisite for the job. My only advise is that while you work for the institution, work towards being an institution, and focus on a day at a time, in the long run it all adds up.
What according to you are the investment themes for 2019? Infra revival, digital application tech, larger group backed lenders, business services, concept stocks and yieldcos.
Being an active investor in startups and early-stage growth companies, what are your views on entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship? India has world class entereprenurial talent, which needs capital support and some assistance, and magic can be created. Early stage ecosystem has developed well in a short time frame of last 5-7 years. Entrepreneurs are problem identifiers and solvers, and new age entrepreneurs are driving the merit driven ecosystem aggressively, through innovation, hustle and creativity. Ecosystem needs to play just a catalyst role.
How has your tenure and association with IIMA helped you in pursuing your dreams? Coming from a family of stock brokers, I dreamt of being a leading banker. IIMA not only turbo charged me on intricacies of finance and investment banking, but also through it’s unique pedagogy style of case studies and peer-to-peer learning, trained me nunaces of several soft skills and leadership concepts, which were crucial in climbing each step of the ladder all the way to the Top.
Apart from many aspects of corporate leadership, what interests you the most? I am a family man and a sports and car enthusiast. Besides these, reading and writing on trends and new concepts fascinates me.
In the current role at Credit Suisse India, what drives you towards success? I see myself as an entrepreneur in an employment structure. So success gets driven by business and client needs. Constantly retooling and reinventing oneself is critical in our industry, which makes the job exciting. Also, the diversity of industries and clients keep the newness alive even after nearly 2 decades of finance. To me, that’s the mantra to success.
What are your fondest campus memories? Are you excited to be back on the golden hinges? To choose one memory, out of so many fond ones is hard. Right from first week experience to the night canteen maggie, to eclectic fourth dimension concepts being thrown in a normal chat, to running for WAC submissions, to standing in the well first time, presenting a case study that one hadn’t even read!!, It’s a long list. Super excited to be back here.
Ms. Vaishali Rastogi (Walimbe), PGP 1997
Senior Partner & Managing Director, Head of BCG, Southeast Asia
YAAA 2019 – CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
Vaishali Rastogi is the head of The Boston Consulting Group in Southeast Asia and is the leader for the Marketing, Sales & Pricing practice in Asia-Pacific. She also leads BCG’s Center for Customer Insight for Southeast Asia, which develops proprietary insights, data, and methodologies for understanding consumers in SEA. She has also previously served as a member of BCG’s Executive Committee. Since joining BCG in 1997, she has worked in the firm’s Singapore and India offices and gained 20 years of experience in the emerging markets consumer industry, as well as in go-to-market strategies and execution. In her client work, she has led assignments covering strategy, business development in the new digital space, and large-scale transformations. She is experienced in segmentation, retail excellence, marketing effectiveness, and organization.
What does the YAAA and recognition mean to you?
I am very honoured to receive the YAAA. IIMA played a formative role in shaping my career and the recognition by IIMA and my peers means a lot to me. It’s a very special feeling to come back to the institute where many of my dreams and hopes began. I hope the award will inspire many more young leaders from IIMA to reach for the stars in whatever they aspire to, be it business, education, social or entrepreneurship.
With an industry experience lasting more than two decades, how has your journey been?
As the quote goes, the journey is more important than the destination. And it’s been an incredibly rewarding and enriching journey so far for me.
Post campus, I joined The Boston Consulting Group in India. I was BCG’s first female recruit from campus in India and for the initial years the only one (a huge change from today where our team is very diverse with a large share of women and growing!). I started my career in a relatively small team which meant everyone had to play one or two roles up. Both those elements taught me a lot – tenacity, a belief in my own capabilities, accelerated learning and to focus on what I enjoyed, no matter whether it was the ‘safe’ path or not. I moved to Singapore in 2000, where I had to learn quickly to work across six major countries across ASEAN with multiple cultures, a wide range of clients, and very diverse teams. For example, we have over 40 nationalities in our team! Given the dotcom bubble, SARS crisis, and other challenges, it was not an easy macro time either. I truly believe that those formative years in India helped me navigate this period successfully. The diversity of experience I gained here in ASEAN, then provided me a platform for numerous leadership roles at BCG, for example, to serve as the first Indian woman on our global Executive Committee, or lead different business verticals in Asia.
How would you define the role of women in the corporate world? How do you want to inspire others through it?
Women represent a significant source of talent and are an important segment of the workforce, both in the economy and the corporate world. Many studies have talked about the link between diversity and better performance and I do believe there is greater focus by many corporates on gender diversity and retention of women. However, I think the leadership potential of women is often not fully tapped and this change requires intervention. Inspiration and mentorship is clearly one component through making roles models visible and accessible, but corporates also need to think through structural interventions like supporting women in their moments of truth or creating environments where leadership is enjoyable and achievable
As I’ve progressed in my career, I firmly believe that together we can create a multiplier effect – helping many more women realise they are not alone in their leadership journey and how they can continue to build on their success. Hopefully as the first partner/senior partner & MD of Indian origin at BCG, or the first Indian woman to lead one of the geographies and now business verticals within BCG, my small contribution will serve to inspire many more women to be pioneers, to do whatever they would like to achieve – and as I often say, there are no ceilings except those that you define in your mind!
What are your views on the ‘Go To Market Strategy and Transformation’ for any company in the current scenario?
Go To Market Transformation is increasingly important today for any company. The rapid shifts in both consumer behaviour and channels, the role of digital and analytics, requires a fundamental reset of GTM. Consumers are increasingly digital if not in their purchase but as a key source of information that shapes preferences in the purchase funnel. The number of channels to manage today span the spectrum from traditional, modern, own digital and third-party digital. Sales is becoming far more data driven. Digital tools and advanced analytics are transforming both internal and external operating models. For example, how one can micro target traditional mom and pop outlets re-assortment and promotions through geo-mapping and advanced analytics, but also how to dramatically optimize cost to serve given new data visibility, as well as how to train large, dispersed sales team in an innovative way. New types of distributors and wholesale platforms are emerging requiring a rethinking of legacy structures. We call it the Go to Market revolution given the rapid and fundamental shifts occurring.
How has your tenure and association with IIMA helped you in pursuing your dreams?
As I reflect back, the two years at IIMA were absolutely pivotal in shaping my thinking and my career. And fast forward two decades later, I firmly believe this was the very best opportunity I could have had as a young professional. The IIMA stint enabled me to gain incredible exposure, built my confidence and helped provide a foundation, that has stayed with me till today.
The exposure and confidence you get is unprecedented given the talent in the IIMA community, both from the very accomplished faculty, the way of learning and also through the peer group which are India’s top talent. I still remember the innumerable debates with fellow students that really pushes your critical thinking, being forced to come out of my shell and learn to atleast cope (if not enjoy) class participation, and honing my teaming skills on how to work with all sorts of teams and team members to deliver significant project work. The foundation that IIMA provides is second to none, be it in creating a network that stays with you for support or guidance, or the opportunities it provides access to, as you set the foundations of your career. I am still with the same firm I joined post IIMA (i.e. the Boston Consulting Group), twenty-two years later!
Apart from many aspects of corporate leadership, what interests you the most?
Mentoring younger colleagues, particularly women, both at BCG and outside is something I am very passionate about. The joy to see someone grow, to become successful gives me renewed energy to keep doing what I am doing. Education is another space that I am very passionate about – and hopefully this is something for me to do later in my life. And last, just spending quality time with my family, to recharge and re-energize.
In the current role at The Boston Consulting Group, what drives you towards success?
On a personal front, by nature, I am an explorer and a builder. When I moved to BCG in South East Asia (covers ASEAN countries) in the 2000s, I decided to do what I truly enjoyed rather than join existing businesses that were large, even though I knew that was inherently a more risky pathway. I took the opportunity to build our consumer and then our TMT (technology, media, telecom) business in SE Asia. Rewrite the rules, and take charge of your own destiny, you need to shape things actively for yourself.
On the business front, in my current role as Managing Partner of BCG SE Asia, it’s all about building the foundations and capabilities for future success – I am passionate about building strong teams and new businesses. Some examples include bringing in deeper expertise and managing this talent shift, being focused on new delivery models of value generated for clients, and growing significantly our capabilities in advanced analytics and digital transformation.
What are your fondest campus memories? Are you excited to be back on the golden hinges?
Too many to even pen down! And with social media enabling both small and large groups, groups of different cohorts and geographic locations, these memories are often recalled far more than you would ever expect. There were plenty of great memories, the time spent on LKP (not sure what this is now called), walks outside to Dairy Den for meals, the dedication of the professors no matter what happened, the group work among much chatting and laughter. And ones that I’m glad I got over with, be it the WAC runs, the dreaded post-lunch quizzes, walking to town to make long distance phone calls and water dunking when we least expected it!
Mr. Viraj Sawhney, PGP 2000
Managing Director, Warburg Pincus India
YAAA 2019 – CORPORATE LEADERSHIP
Mr. Sawhney has led/co-led investments of >$1.5 billion in India and has been responsible for 10+ investments and exits in the last 14 years. He also helped position Warburg as a leading investor in the Indian logistics industry with over $0.5 billion committed capital since 2015, with investments in companies like Ecom Express ($140mn), Rivigo ($120mn), Embassy Industrial Parks ($250mn). In the past, he has made significant investments in the Technology and Telecom Infra space including Bharti Airtel DTH ($300mn), Airtel Africa (lead investor in $1.25bn fund raise) and companies involved in BPO and Data Centre Management.
Mr. Sawhney joined Warburg Pincus in 2005 and was a Principal. He evaluates opportunities in technology, media and telecommunications, industrial, business services, energy and consumer sectors in India. Previously, he spent five years at McKinsey & Co, serving clients in the industrial and financial services sectors across India, South East Asia and across Asia and Australia and was most recently, an Engagement Manager.
Mr. Sawhney has been Nominee Director of Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Ltd. since August 27, 2014. He serves as a Director of Continental Warehousing Corporation (Nhava Seva) Limited, Bharti Telemedia Limited, Princeton Digital Services (Singapore), Ecom Express, Rivigo Services, Stellar Value Chain Solutions, Embassy Industrial Parks, AVTEC Limited and AVTEC India Limited. He served as a Non-Executive Director at Moser-Baer India Ltd. from March 2009 to October 17, 2011.
What does the YAAA and recognition mean to you? I am deeply grateful to the Institute for this award. While we all get consumed with looking ahead in our careers, YAAA allows one the opportunity to reflect and look back at how far one has come, and to just enjoy that moment! It’s wonderful when you are nominated by peers- it makes the recognition truly special. Finally, the award for me reinforces that good mentors and teachers can lead to very positive outcomes, and it casts an obligation on me to play a similar role in the lives of younger people going forward.
With an industry experience lasting more than a decade, how has your journey been? How do you want to inspire others through it? It’s almost two decades since I graduated from IIM-A, and have been in two careers – business consulting and private equity during that time Everyone will chart their own journey and gets inspired or not by different things but a few things I would point out in my journey. First, I had the choice at numerous stages in my life to work or study outside India. Without exception, I always chose to be here, but by working with global organisations, did not miss out on the global exposure. India is in early stages of what I hope is a multi-decade growth run and young graduating students should realise how privileged they are to have an opportunity to build their careers here. Second, when I joined IIM-A, I was overwhelmed and did not start out well. But what matters most for true success over a long career is not your relative grade on IIM tests, but dogged persistence and being able to connect well with people. Finally, I have learned a tremendous lot from inspiring people I worked for, and I got the opportunity to work for them because I worked with firms that hired high-quality talent. I learned via osmosis and these people also took a risk on me. Surrounding yourself with inspiring people is a no-regret move!
How do you see the growth investment trends changing in 2019 and beyond? There’s a lot to be optimistic about India. We are one of the very few, if only, countries in the world, growing at 6-8% per annum, at scale. There are multiple themes that are interesting – (a) the rising middle class which creates opportunities across consumer, financial services and real estate; (b) the need for creation of enabling infrastructure to support our growth, including logistics and supply chain and technology infrastructure like data centers, and (c) export of technology and other services leveraging the skilled Indian talent base.
While new investment asset classes are emerging, my focus has been on growth equity investing. Within that space, there is an increasing prevalence of buyout opportunities as conglomerates shed non-core businesses and second and third generation entrepreneurs exit businesses they believe belong to a different owner. Simultaneously, there is an increasing base of high-quality professionals that one can back to buy businesses and build platforms. While you always have to be careful with picking the right “micro” bets and there are certainly near term challenges in the economy, this is truly an exciting time to be investing in India.
What are your views on India getting an investment czar to deal with stressed investments? The bankruptcy laws, while work in process, are a very significant step forward towards cleaning up the system and creating a culture going forward where companies and entrepreneurs respect borrowed capital. We must have patience and recognise that the maturation of these laws and the attitude change will take time. The government has also more generally made significant progress in easing foreign investment across sectors. It is not clear to me that we need a separate czar for stressed investments.
How has your tenure and association with IIMA helped you in pursuing your dreams? IIM-A provided me a platform to meet and learn from high-quality peers, and create lasting friendships. These friendships are the single biggest asset I took away from IIM-A. The institute, for me, was the springboard to McKinsey, a firm I truly respect and where I learnt the art of structured business problem solving, and a successful stint at McKinsey, in turn, was key in allowing me to pursue a career in investing. I owe a lot to the school.
Finally, the intangible learnings at IIM-A were priceless. What I mean by that is that we all come to IIM-A having strong academic track records, but it is here that you learn humility (being exposed to much smarter people!), the value of working in teams (rather than trying to be an individual star) and realise that nothing is insurmountable (I vividly remember how much was thrown at us in year 1 but we all survived!)
Apart from many aspects of corporate leadership, what interests you the most? The best advice I got early in my career was that to be truly successful at work, something outside work must mean a lot to you. It keeps you balanced, allows you not to get carried away by your successes or be too hard on yourself when things do not go your way. For me, those things are traveling, playing tennis and spending time with my young kids. I love animals and also support a leading animal charity in setting up new infrastructure and hospitals and becoming more institutionalised.
In the current role at Warburg Pincus India, what drives you towards success? I think that we are driven by different things at different points in our career and not all of those things (such as the need to get the next promotion or achieve financial security) can drive you forever. I have realized that what gives me the ultimate kick is to help and enable entrepreneurs in India to succeed. You do this not just by providing capital, but by being an unbiased sounding board to them, giving them positive reassurance when they grapple with decisions or asking the right questions to help them arrive at the right answer. Warburg Pincus, one of India’s leading private equity firms, has placed a lot of faith in me and provides me the right platform to work closely with entrepreneurs that I am inspired by.
What are your fondest campus memories? Are you excited to be back on the golden hinges? My fondest memories of campus are the weekend ramp parties, night-outs where I would pass out only to be woken up by dorm-mates who were concerned that I’d never get my assignments done on time, and “Harvard Dinners” (elsewhere in the world referred to as continental food). I have a vivid memory of my entire dorm running to towards me to inform me of my selection at McKinsey and then celebrating as if it was their own success!
I have never been happier to be back. I was delighted to have the opportunity to address the incoming PGP batch at the YAAA ceremony. If someone told me twenty years ago that I’d attend a PGP orientation twice in my life, I would have been very worried! I could not have imagined this, but it was a wonderful occasion where I was joined by my family and also had a chance to speak with a number of young students.
