Experience

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  Ntpc

  Jan 1990 - Jan 1995

  Senior finance officer

  As Senior Finance Officer, I instituted processes for inventory management, budgeting and commercial-related systems and processes built from scratch.

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  Government of india

  Jan 1995 - Jan 1997

  Indian civil services probation

  I was 1 of 600 selected from a pool of ~500,000 candidates for the prestigious Indian Civil Services. I spent this time in a 2-year probationary training with the Indian Government Institutions before taking on the subsequent assignments with the Government of India and its Corporations.

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  Mtnl

  Jan 1997 - Jan 2002

  Deputy general manager (finance) | chief financial officer of sbu | chief accounts officer

  I selected and trained a team to focus on reducing debtors ~10% and restructuring our revenue collection processes and issues around strategic tie-ups. Thus, I helped establish the first MTNL pension processes and systems.

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  Department of telecom, government of india

  Feb 2002 - Jun 2005

  Director – licensing | director – wireless planning

  Within the Department of Telecom, Government of India, I strove for liberalization of the Indian telecom sector and establishment of the Universal Service Obligation Fund to fund telecom in rural areas. I selected and motivated my team to achieve regulatory goals, including establishment of License Fee & Spectrum Charges as Revenue share, which increased from 0 to INR 65 billion in 2004. I am proud to have received written appreciation from Secretary, Department of Telecom & Chairman, Telecom Commission, for my significant contributions. Show less

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  Ministry of defence, government of india

  Jul 2005 - Dec 2005

  Deputy secretary

  With the Ministry of Defence, prepared and introduced the Cantonments Bill, 2003 into the Parliament of India, which ultimately was enacted as Cantonments, Act 2006 and which replaced the Cantonments, Act 1924. In this role, I demonstrated strategic influence, working with politicians in Parliament and diverse stakeholders closely to produce sustainable change.

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  Mtnl

  Jan 2006 - Nov 2006

  Head- revenue assurance & investor relations

  With comprehensive knowledge of telecom industry, formulated IT strategy and implemented plans for a convergent billing and CRM system that supplanted legacy IT system.

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  Aircel

  Dec 2006 - Jul 2008

  Head- business strategy & planning

  With no market precedent for strategic partnerships of this nature, we developed relationships for non-core activities such as end to end IT and tower infrastructure both for efficient operations and cost optimization, so that the company could focus on market share growth. As such, designed and negotiated and Project Managed a comprehensive IT outsourcing partnership with revenue share / pay as you grow model and 8 long term partnerships for leasing of tower infrastructure, both resulting in significant drop in CAPEX and overall costs. Show less

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  Telenor asa

  Aug 2008 - Mar 2017

  Most recently, I led a broader rollout of the “Cluster Way of Work” strategic transformation program successfully deployed in the India market. The Telenor Top Management chose me to bring this program to Norway and to each of Telenor’s 13 countries to inculcate a more pervasive performance culture by collaboration and efficiency while minimizing costs.Interestingly, the program demanded a culture shift, the value of which the country CEOs immediately understood. So we translated the program from the Indian model to Europe / other Asian countries in the following ways, knowing that our work will always be ongoing, and we will shift our goals as market demands change:* First, we narrowed down our strategic goals and attendant KPIs and translated these very few, specific goals down to every level, from corporate to retail. * Then, established a competitive environment in which resources were allocated to the business units achieving the corporate mission in the most productive, successful ways.* The most successful plans also became models for the other 12 regions to adopt.Of course, with both short- and long-term goal focuses, we strictly evaluated our KPIs and changed them quickly as necessary, but with strong communication to every level.This deceptively simple model ensured that all company employees knew exactly what the company’s Strategy and goals were and how they fit into it. So the culture shift has involved strong communications while feeding teams’ natural drive to compete for resources and accolades—all while building a creative and enjoyable corporate environment in which employees enjoyed working. Again, we continued to re-target our top-level KPIs to adjust to market conditions, and our initial programs have been quite promising.I Project Managed the embedding of this way of work into each of the 13 Business Units of Telenor ASA. Show less In the early to mid-2010s, India’s telecom market was strikingly competitive with 14 market participants. Uninor was earning some market penetration, but its experience was far from the expectation of shareholders. To gain market share and become profitable in this fiercely competitive market, Uninor had to challenge the efficiency norms of the industry, optimize costs, maximize growth, and achieve unprecedented trajectory towards profitability. Simply stated, we were handed an impossible task: Grow Uninor’s market penetration and cut its production costs wildly below those of its competitors. Nobody thought it was possible, so we stepped up and create a new business model for the industry. Thus was born the “Cluster Way of Work,” a model that institutionalized internal competition and best practices across India’s 6 regions to develop the most efficient business methods and plans the Indian telecom market had ever seen.The results were frankly astounding. Uninor, now Telenor India, earned #4 of 14 for market share and cut cost of production to more than 35% below its Indian competitors while reaching 11% market share in 4 years of operations and EBIDTA breakeven within 3.5 years. Show less

  • Group Head - Dynamic Performance Management

    May 2014 - Mar 2017

  • Chief Financial Officer

    Jan 2013 - May 2014

  • Head - Business Strategy & Performance Management

    Jan 2011 - Dec 2012

  • Chief Financial Officer

    Jun 2010 - Dec 2010

  • Head - Business Strategy & Planning

    Aug 2008 - Jun 2010
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  Wave money (a unit of telenor asa)

  Apr 2017 - Jul 2021

  Deputy chief executive officer & cfo

  After having successfully embedded “Cluster Way of Work” in the 13 Telecom Markets of Telenor which is yielding results, I was presented with an opportunity to join an early stage company in the emerging FINTECH space in the frontier market of Myanmar. I joined this early stage company not only because of it being in a sun-rise sector but also to re-live the agile way of working and faster decision making. Instituted the “Cluster Way of Work” in the company which has yielded results by way of consistently delivering strong growth since May 2017. While the company has been expanding its footprint in Myanmar at a significant pace, cost optimization efforts have kept Opex controlled despite growth and expansion. With such consistent performance & building of a passionate & winning culture, Wave achieved Cash-flow Break Even in Sep 2018, within 2 years of start of operations – the fastest in the Industry. Within 3 years of operations, Wave Money is delivering better EBITDA margins as compared to global benchmarks of mature payment companies by GSMA. In May 2020, secured an investment ($73.5Mn) from Ant Financials (the biggest Fintech of the world) for a significant minority stake within just 3.5 years of launch of services. Currently Wave is enhancing its customer application towards being a digital lifestyle app by adding new use-cases and expanding partnerships in the digital ecosystem.By building a passionate & winning culture, Wave Money is by far the No 1 Mobile Money Brand in Myanmar. Show less

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  Telenor

  Jul 2021 - now

  Head investment management thailand

  Board Member: True Corporation, ThailandBoard Member: Carousell, SingaporeAudit Committee Member: Carousell, SingaporeErstwhile Board Member & Audit Committee Chair: Wave Money, Myanmar