My Journey
I am a strategic operator with 6+ years of experience of leading digital products and initiatives in consulting, philanthropy and investment banking. A computer science engineer (BITS Pilani) & an MBA (University of Oxford), I am driven by impact and innovation, fascinated by human mind and brain, and passionate about sports and outdoors.
Independent Coach & Consultant
June 2024 - Present
I am providing independent coaching to individual clients while exploring my next full-time opportunity at the intersection of technology and impact.
McKinsey & Company
Product Specialist I, October 2023 - May 2024
Doha, Qatar
Landing a job at McKinsey was a dream come true!
During my stint at McKinsey, I worked on a digital transformation project for a public sector client in the region. I learned about how a consulting project is run, about working with clients, vendors and internal teams, and about the McKinsey approach to problem solving and communication.
McKinsey taught me what it takes to deliver McKinsey level excellence at work, though I didn't see myself in the industry and the region and chose to leave to find out the next.
University of Oxford, Saïd Business School
MBA, September 2022 - September 2023
Oxford, UK
Oxford gave me an opportunity to reconnect with business world and expand my view with an international experience with a truly diverse cohort in a 1000 year old university in the world.
During my MBA, I explored all things finance including Oxford Finance Lab (70-hour of financial modelling via real IB & PE firm cases), MIINT Impact investing competition, Asset management program, Hedge fund program, Entrepreneurial finance course, Fintech in London program.
The best part about MBA was access to amazing people and the university experience beyond MBA school. One of my favorite memories is playing football and winning Silver medal in Women's Football in the MBAT sports tournament at HEC Paris!
Pre-MBA Internship & Adventures
April 2022 - September 2022
India, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal
Internship @Elevar Equity:
I interned at Elevar Equity, an impact investing firm to explore the world of impact and venture capital. I reflected on my 20 years of experience of seeing rural India change and its opportunity for business and impact. Read here.
Freelancing @Antarang Foundation:
I freelanced with Antarang Foundation to compare and recommend a technology stack to suit the business requirements, scalability & cost.
Everest Base Camp trek:
I self-organized and completed a 10-day trek to Everest Base Camp with my dad. Read here.
Cycling through Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam:
My friend & I decided to bicycle through Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam, covering 600 km in 10 days on a trip of 19 days. Read here.
ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes)
Product Owner, April 2021 - March 2022
New Delhi, India
Against the conventional wisdom, I chose to leave philanthropy to join ECHO, a not-for-profit supporting instiutions globally through a trademarked upskilling model in healthcare and education. I wanted hands-on experience of solving a problem at scale and to learn in a team of product managers.
I played dual roles at ECHO; apart from my primary role of Product Owner, I worked with the CEO to shift organizational strategy to a platform based apporach by using my learnings from Societal Platform.
ECHO gave me operator experience in a structured setup and introduced me to one of the most amazing mentors - Joop Varophas. From the opposite side of the world, Joop challenged my world views, strongly advocated for me in my MBA essays, and showed an unimaginable act of generosity and trust. Read about Joop's magic here.
Societal Platform (EkStep Foundation)
Product Manager, January 2020 - March 2021.
Consultant, July 2018 - December 2019.
Bangalore, India
Post YIF, I pivoted to social impact with an opportunity to work in a tech-focused philanthropy.
Joining Societal Platform team at EkStep Foundation as 5th hire, I learned about the development sector and a platform based approach to solve problems at scale.
1. I worked on my first 0 to 1 product, a peer-to-peer digital learning platform for social entrepreneurs. I led it from concept to launch, iterating and conducting experiments to solve for activation and retention of users.
2. I led a cross-functional collaboration with legal, marketing, design, experts, and engineers to create a marketplace prototype aimed at enhancing collaboration for social impact funding. This prototype was showcased to Bill Gates, Reid Hoffman and other donors at the annual Giving Pledge event.
Societal Platform exposed me to the ecosystem of development sector, taught me the values and language of development sector while keeping my focus on the role of technology. I discovered my interest in early stage digital initiatives and my theory of change for impact.
During this time, I also completed Advanced Mountaineering Course, a month-long training from NIM (Nehru Institute of Mountaineering), Uttarkashi with an 'A' grade.
Young India Fellowship (YIF)
July 2017 - June 2018
Sonepat, India
I chose to pursue a 1-year multidisciplinary fellowship in liberal studies with a diverse group of 300 young people.
YIF exposed me to non-engineering subjects and perspectives, delivered by some of the best practitioners from India and around the world. I learned to question, differentiate between summarizing and thinking, and look at an issue from multiple perspectives. I interviewed and trekked with Padma Shri Bachendri Pal Ma'am, taught life-skill classes in the local government school, and met some of the most diverse and achieving people.
Personal Projects
January 2017 - June 2017
Restless and unsure of direction, I left Morgan Stanley to find a path for myself. My curiosity for social impact led me to speak to people pursuing masters in wildlife, civil services, Teach for India and Young India Fellowship.
Key highlights from this time:
1. I read 'In the mind fields' by Casey Schwartz, one of the most influential books that fueled my interest in understanding human mind and brain.
2. I completed Basic Mountaineering Course, a month-long training from HMI (Himalayan Mountaineering Institue), Darjeeling with an 'A' grade.
3. I completed 200-hour yoga teacher training, becoming QCI certified Level-I yoga instructor.
Morgan Stanley
Associate (Tech & Data), August 2015 - December 2016
Mumbai, India
I joined Morgan Stanley with 80 graduates from India with a packed schedule of hands-on trainings from industry practitioners, weekly tests and live projects. After graduating from Technical Analyst Program, I joined the tech team enabling wealth management business.
I worked on the UI for an app store to streamline access to 60+ wealth management apps for 15K financial advisors in the US. I designed and implemented the UI for an internal admin tool to simplify assignment of applications to users.
Morgan Stanley is the place where I learned about software development in an enterprise environment, met some amazing colleagues and a mentor for life.
BITS Pilani
Bachelor in Engineering (Honors) in Computer Science, August 2011 - July 2015
Hyderabad, India
BITS presented freedom to explore the world.
I enjoyed studying computer networks, pursuing network programming as an elective before even studying the foundational course of computer networks, and staying back during summer break to install an anti-hacking tool (a honeypot) in the campus network (LAN). I discovered my passion for long-distance running and came to know about the existence of stock markets. All this while making some friendships for life!
I struggled with the transition from college to work during my internship at Oracle. Thankfully I had people who guided me and it changed with my full-time job.
