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Performance and Potential Areas

Board Member

CEO/CIDO/CISO

Technology & Business Leader

P&L Owner | Incubator / Start Ups

Tech Researcher

Rahul brings a rare combination of CEO-level digital business scaling experience, global tech consulting and services leadership, and multi-role industry CXO exposure (CIO, CDO, CTO, CISO).

This enables him to contribute effectively at the intersection of strategy, execution, people management, risk oversight, and emerging technology-led growth. He has experience of engaging diverse internal & external stakeholders towards digital value pitch / case / scaling, differentiation, and investor value creation.

In the tech industry, his expertise areas span across the Core IT Services & ITeS/GCC, PLM, E&DS, Digital platforms, eCommerce, Data Sciences, Analytics & Machine learning / Artificial Intelligence.

Out of 33+ years of experience, 18+ years he worked at CxO levels across India’s 05 leading industrial conglomerates – Tata, Mahindra, Essar, Welspun and GMR managing large Opex/Capex budgets, investments in JV and M&A.

Had earlier worked extensively with global clients as consultant to a principal during the 12 years of working with Tata Technologies.

He led/incubated twice in corporate setup–Mahindra eMarkets Ltd (Mahindra group) and Gramax Cybertech Ltd (GMR group). Handling business cases, investments, pitches, talent / team building and stakeholder’s interests. This brings in his ability to combine skills around strategic thought leadership, emerging technologies, delivery execution, talent/team building, consumer obsession mindset, and financial discipline to build scalable, high-growth digital businesses.

In addition to his operating roles, Rahul is a recognized thought leader in Artificial Intelligence, named among the Top 100 AI Thought Leaders (2023) in India and a recognised speaker at global forums.

He is an IITian from Roorkee and is well published in international journals including a PhD in tech mgmt., further strengthening his perspective on the evolving intersection of technology, human behavior, and enterprise value creation. He has a book published over Amazon / Kindle on the subject of “How Digital Savvy Are You - Digital Quotient & ME”.

The Tenure

Three decades of Youthful leadership Area

A wider canvas of navigating digital transformation, organisation digital psychology, business outcomes, technological complexity, cyber resilience and organizational friction across industries and geographies.

01 / Enterprise Technology Leadership & Digital Transformation Governance

02 / Tech Enabled Business Leadership & P&L Accountability.

03 / Product Engineering IT & Digital Solutions.

Held conglomerate leadership roles as Group CIO, CISO, and CDO driving enterprise-wide digital transformation journey. Accountable for vision-setting, strategy formulation, stakeholder engagement and execution governance in close alignment with business leadership. Led programs across SAP ECC & S/4 Hana, HRM, SCM, CRM, Manufacturing, E&D, PLM and MES (Manufacturing Automation & Execution Systems). Managed annual Opex/capex investments of USD 75–100 Mn, with organizational oversight of 400–700 resources (hybrid model: in-house + partners).

Consulted and serviced transformational journey on the discreet engineering product lifecycle management.

Tech platform deployment for CAD, CAM, CAE and PLM. Facilitated KBE (Knowledge based engineering) helped templatise the end-to-end engineering process. (Spot templates or process augmentation templates or process integration/knowledge libraries leveraging past work done on similar grounds).

As CEO @ eCommerce company in a conglomerate, led a high-impact turnaround and scale-up of an eCommerce venture: GMV growth: ₹9 Cr → ₹1,800+ Cr within 24 months, Achieved EBITDA positivity within 2 years.

As Head Global Services – Asia Pacific @ ITS and Engineering Services company, led the APAC ITS business with full P&L ownership. Prior to this role led the global enterprise technology practice globally.

04 / Data Sciences, Machine Learning & AI-led Innovation

Established IIC – Information Insights Centre and scaled it to deliver 25+ advanced analytics initiatives; annually covering 1,000+ man-months of work. Deployment of AI/ML, Deep Learning, and advanced statistical models. Conceptualized and implemented a unified CDP/CRM platform across $10Bn+ multi-business units, enabling integrated customer intelligence. Set up the digital twin / situation awareness platform for insighting covering 24x7 operations and cyber resilience.

05 / Cybersecurity & Digital Resilience

Designed and incubated an Integrated Cyber Defense Centre (ICDC): 24x7 AI-enabled monitoring / simulation platform across IT, Digital, and OT environments. Real-time tracking of millions of events, with proactive threat detection and response. Strengthened enterprise resilience through cyber intelligence, incident response frameworks, and predictive threat analytics.

06 / Industry 4.0/5.0 & Technology Modernisation

Architected and deployed Industry 4.0 frameworks across manufacturing operations enabling better throughput and smart factory capabilities driving efficiency and scalability. Designed & built templates which could be leveraged by shop floors in terms of data traceability, productivity analytics, manufacturing BoM, quality assurance and material flow optimisation.

07 / Global Programs & Strategic Consulting Engagements

Led and delivered large-scale, cross-border transformation programs, including: Connected Vehicle Program for a leading automotive OEM in India. Throughput Optimization Program for a top-5 global automotive OEM (USA). Supply Chain Transformation Program across South Africa (countrywide deployment). Served as Principal Consultant on strategic IT and digital transformation programs for: Global Automotive OEMs. Global Energy sector organizations. Delivered Global Delivery Models, Application Management Programs, and ICT Joint Venture incubation (>$1Bn investment scale).

08 / Shared Services and GCC

Provided thought leadership in transforming IT into a shared services /GCC model for various conglomerates. Built scalable operating models integrating technology, process, and governance frameworks across enterprises.

09 / Ecosystem Engagement & Alliances, Partnerships

Collaborated extensively with MBB and Big 4 Consulting Firms, Global IT/ITES Service Providers (Top 10), Leading Tech products Firms (Top 15).