Pankaj Sood brings over two decades of experience in the fields of Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions. He is currently serving as the Managing Director & Head of Direct Investments for India and Africa at GIC - Private Equity. Prior to this role, Pankaj held the position of Senior Vice President at Kotak Investment Bank. He also has significant experience from his time as a Senior Associate at Ernst & Young and as a Manager at SBI Capital Markets Ltd. Pankaj's educational background includes an MBA in Finance from the renowned Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, and a B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He began his academic journey at Summer Fields.