Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon (Strategy & Finance)

K J Somaiya College of Engineering, Mumbai University (Computer Engineering)

Mithibai College

I.E.S

Building udaan @ Team Lifestyle (Fashion, Footwear, Accessories) at udaan.com

KeMaNeXA is a "Startup / Brand Accelerator" to help BUILD from 0 or SCALE from X to 10X.

Specific focus on early stage (pre-seed / seed) startups + Family offices across India + MENA region.

Sectors of interest:
- Consumer / Affordable Luxury Brands (Fashion / Apparel / Beauty & Personal Care)
- Health & Wellness (Nutrition / Healthcare)
- SaaS Solutions

Service focus only on:
- Market Assessment
- Growth / Business Strategy
- B-Plan / Investment proposals
- Fund Raise
- GTM roll-out
- Talent Spotting + Grooming

KeMaNeXA Consulting LLP

Founder & Managing Partner

After 14 straight years of non-stop ride with fast paced growth, excellence in roles, and exposure spanning across multi-sectors / disciplines / geographies and dealing with the associated stresses and the toll it takes, decided to press the "PAUSE" button and prfioritize personal health - family - friends.

Took  a mini break to rejuvenate and recharge for the next phase of life. Went ahead with long pending tryst with Vipassana Meditation and kick start the journey on Gautam Buddha's path to "Nirvana" + Travelled around to connect with close friends and family.

Aligning thoughts and evaluating ideas / opportunities to BUILD from 0 or SCALE from X to 10X.

Career Break

Health and well-being

udaan is about making business easy in India.
udaan is about making B2B commerce convenient and efficient. We believe B2B is the new B2C in India.
India has 50m+ SMBs, who form core of Indian economy and society. They are the entrepreneurial pulse of India.
We believe internet is a great equalizing platform. We want to bring our energies together in bringing power of Internet to these millions of entrepreneurs. This is the mission of udaan!

As a member of the core team for the Lifestyle business (apparel, footwear, accessories) @ udaan, I am leading the charter for building a durable Footwear B2B e-commerce business.

#udaanForBharat #hardukaanudaan #KholoMunaafeKaShutter

udaan.com

Business Head (Growth, Revenue et al) | Footwear (Lifestyle)

As a member of the core team for the Lifestyle business (apparel, footwear, accessories) @ udaan, led multiple charters covering demand (NSM), buyer experience (loyalty / retention programs), category marketing and merchandising.

Head | Demand gen, Retention, Buyer Experience, Marketing (Lifestyle)

SHUKRAN is GCC's largest Retail loyalty programme (15M+ total members, 9M+ active, 65% of Landmark group revenue tagged to Shukran members). 

Led a team of 20+ to pivot Shukran as a next-gen profit accretive loyalty coalition, with focus on delivering “convenient, rewarding, and engaging” customer experience in an omni-channel context, driving higher share of wallet, and improving customer retention.

Key interventions made / outcomes achieved:
1. Pivoted the program to a "Card-less" future to drive friction-less customer experience in-store
2. Launch of the new Shukran Digital assets (iOS, Android, Mobile Web)
3. Expansion of Coalition ecosystem with addition of ~10+ new partners (and growing)
4. Launch of Landmark Group Gift Card to tap the B2B, B2B2C, and B2C gifting market
5. Program level member engagement push (Shukran 8th Anniv. campaign across markets, Monthly emailers)
6. Launched “ISIC-Shukran Student & Youth Card” - structured tieup to engage ~7M GCC students
7. Launched first of its kind “Shukran Ramadan” campaign in partnership with leading charity organizations across 7 markets, allowing members to donate “Shukrans” towards social causes – engaged ~900K members, raised USD 640K+ in donations
8. Revamped Digital Marketing to drive superior member engagement across Push, Email, Facebook, Instagram et al
9. Data integrity across CRM (SIEBEL), Marketing comms. (Responsys), and Digital platforms

....and there was lot more underway!

Landmark Group

Head - Shukran ( Loyalty & Customer Experience )

As a core member of Corporate Strategy team, I led strategy development and large scale business transformation programs with direct P&L impact, across businesses and geographies for Landmark Group. I also supported the future growth agenda for the group (new markets / categories / businesses / channels).

I also helped drive the recruitment and training agenda, with the goal of building a robust team of strategy professionals - serving as talent pipeline of next-gen business leaders for the group.

Managed the following key strategic projects/priorities:
1. E-commerce / Omni-channel strategy to drive ~4X increase in online revenue by 2020 for LMG’s core brands (Centrepoint, Babyshop, Homecentre, Max)
2. Translated the E-commerce 8Q plans into product feature requirements prioritized basis supporting business case into 18-19 digital roadmap; led to launch of key enterprise-wide transformation projects 
3. Listing of growth brands on E-commerce Marketplaces in GCC (Souq, Noon, Namshi, Sivvi, NissNass, MarkaVIP et al) - goal to drive 2-5% revenue from online by 2020
4. Loyalty program revamp (incl. double hatting as Head of Shukran - regions largest Retail loyalty program)

Deputy General Manager - Corporate Strategy (Chairwoman & CEO's Office)

Key strategic projects managed:
1. Program management of a enterprise wide cost reduction program for KSA the largest territory operation, achieving operating cost savings of ~USD 95M+; direct measurable accrual to net profit

2. Org. restructuring for the largest territory operations with special focus on building an effective service delivery organization, targeting potential annual staff cost savings of ~13%

3. Governance framework design for overall business management and Brand-Territory alignment

4. Business development - evaluation of ideas for new business / markets

Senior Manager (2) - Corporate Strategy

Key strategic projects delivered:
1. Strategy workshops for the groups broad portfolio of Hospitality Business ranging across Hotel properties, F&B outlets, Gaming & Entertainment, Fitness chain, and Healthcare

2. Led comprehensive business diagnostic, turnaround plan design and execution for Emax (USD 500M Electronics retail business) 
– presented to Board a business case for turnaround, outlining initiatives with total benefits impact of USD 27M+, and store closure plan to arrest profit leakage
– Designed and launched “EW MAX” to drive 30%+ uplift in contribution of margin driver (Warranty) through sales gamification
– Appointed by Emax Board to own the KSA territory (USD 140M revenue) P&L for ~5 mths (Mar-Jul’16) with a core team of 5
– Buy Right Sell Fast”: disciplined merchandizing decisions with automated dashboards led to improved teaming (Buyers, Planners, Retailers), ~33% Inventory reduction (USD 13M+), arresting YoY sales decline to -0.9% (vs. -13% for Jul’15-Feb’16), at better GM%
– Increased Emax KSA sales per day run-rate by ~15-20% by rejuvenating key Vendor relationships and Retail workforce, and launch of high impact customer engagement initiatives e.g. “Perfect Price Promise”, real-time automated cross category coupons

Senior Manager (1) - Corporate Strategy

As part of Corp. Strategy team incubated in the Chairwoman's office, I served as a strategy consultant for the organization, leading the design and delivery of key strategy & transformation programs across businesses and geographies for Landmark Group.

Key strategic projects delivered:
1. Organization restructuring and transformation program management for the Group's largest territory i.e. KSA - a ~USD 2.5B+ business with ~850+ stores across ~40+ cities, and impacting ~15K+ staff; led to support functions cost savings of USD 20M+
2. Facilities management transformation - vendor consolidation, resource optimization, and ticketing system automation to deliver ~USD 10M+ annual savings
3. Strategy roadmap for Shukran - the largest Retail Loyalty program in the MENA region
4. 5 year strategy roadmap for the groups Electronic business

Manager - Corporate Strategy

Member of the Strategy consulting practice at KPMG, based in Riyadh KSA. Led the delivery of 2 engagements and assisted the Practice head in business development – managed scoping discussions, pitch presentations and proposals to close 3 new project opportunities worth USD 1M+ billing.

Pure-play strategy engagements
• Led strategy formulation and policy drafting for KSA Economic Offset Program; presented to H.E. The Minister of Economy & Planning
• Feasibility study for Vaccines and Medical devices manufacturing in KSA, for investment by PIF and Ministry of Health

KPMG

Manager / Project Lead (Strategy, Transactions & Restructuring)

Excelled on 10+ strategy and transformation engagements for marquee companies across sectors (automotive, farm equipment, industrial, consumer goods, TMT), and 3 markets (India, UK, Hong Kong); managed teams of 2-3 consultants.

Customer experience strategy design
• Led an extensive “voice of customer” program to map the opportunity in pre-owned/refurbished bikes segment, and design a customer engagement strategy for Royal Enfield (USD 800M revenue, oldest global motorcycle brand in continuous production)
• Led a pan-India “voice of customers and channel partners” program to design a customer engagement strategy for improving “bottom of the pyramid” farmers access to pre-owned/refurbished TAFE tractors (USD 1B revenue, world’s 3rd largest OEM)

Business turnaround and P&L ownership
• Comprehensive Manufacturing and Sales transformation program design and roll-out to turnaround the loss-making Foods business vertical of the largest Retail chain (Saravana Stores Ltd) in South India – achieved cash profitability in 6 months

Pure-play strategy engagements
• Portfolio strategy (products-markets-customers) to drive 3X revenue growth in 5 yrs for a USD 300M Indian Auto-component player
• Created a blueprint to diversify into defense component manufacturing for Sundaram Clayton (part of USD 7B+ TVS group)
• 5-year b-plan to drive 3X revenue growth for a leading corrosion inhibition products manufacturer and service provider (TVS group)

Large-scale transformation programs
• Managed the PMO in UK on behalf of Tech Mahindra (leading Indian ITeS company) for the managed services transformation of Three UK (leading UK telco) involving multiple vendors (Tech Mahindra, Huawei, Wipro)

Business development and thought leadership
• Generated leads, played a key role in assisting the Partner to close new project opportunities worth USD 200K+
• Co-authored a report on “Ice-cream Market in India – The Inside Scoop” published in widely circulated EY’s RETAILER magazine

Ernst & Young

Senior Consultant (Strategy Advisory)

Led key work-streams on 4+ consulting engagements, across 3 sectors (Ecommerce, financial services, consumer goods).

Pure-play strategy engagements
• Market entry strategy for Cleartrip (leading Indian OTA) for a B2B offering (eventually led to USD 50M+ investment by Concur)

Large-scale transformation programs
• Business diagnostic & operating model design for India’s 3rd largest home finance co., to drive 3X growth in loan portfolio
• Sales & Planning Transformation for Eureka Forbes (USD 500M water purifiers leader) to drive 2X growth in direct sales & modern trade channel sales while maintaining optimal inventory of raw materials to finished goods across the supply chain

IBM - Business Consulting Services

Consultant (Strategy & Transformation)

Assisted the National Manager (Supply Chain) in devising an auto-replenishment model for Renal supplies to improve stock availability by 10% across key supply chain nodes.

Baxter Healthcare

Management Intern (Supply Chain)

Designed a web-based platform for monitoring movement of Renault-Nissan cars/parts shipped from Factories to end Markets.

ATOS ORIGIN India Pvt. Ltd

Systems Analyst

Fastest to grow from a fresh graduate engineer to Team Lead in the Hitachi account (stints in India and Japan) with top ratings, fast track promotions, multiple individual & team awards.

• Led a team of ~5-10 engineers across multiple green-field product developments with 100% on-time, ‘0’ defect delivery record
• Managed the entire product development lifecycle (customer journey design, user stories, UI/UX prototyping, engineering design, coding – JAVA/JavaScript, QA, release) for key modules (address book, mail) of Hitachi’s web-based collaboration product suite
• Awarded the prestigious “HITACHI Award” by Hitachi Ltd, Japan for excellence as engineer and team lead across multiple projects
• Received multiple awards from Patni management – “Valuable Contribution Award” (twice), “Best Project Team” (twice), “Letter of Appreciation”, “Special Appreciation Award for contribution to SEI-CMMI Level 5 assessment”

Ram Sharma