Tech and Product Enthusiast, Warsaw, Poland
I spend a lot of time trying to understand why people do what they do. I build mental models the way some people take notes: compulsively, and because I cannot think clearly without them. I also go down rabbit holes I did not intend to enter, which is usually where the interesting things are.
Leading product strategy and roadmap for an EdTech platform as a fractional engagement.
Investor and product advisor to an early-stage startup gaining active traction.
Ideated and taken to production. A consumer marketplace app exploring peer-to-peer exchange.
Member of SEEK's product leadership team, responsible for AI-led matching across an $800M marketplace with 42M+ jobseekers and 1.35M+ employers in 8 APAC markets. Led a team of SPMs, PMs and APMs across Talent Search, Candidate Management and Role Requirements products.
APAC Marketplace AIEarly product hire at a Temasek-owned venture building digital credential infrastructure. Led product for a COVID verification solution adopted by 20+ governments and airlines. Oversaw rules engine and analytics product teams.
B2B SaaS 0 to 1 BlockchainResponsible for Cleartrip's Middle East product and marketing strategy. Grew regional market share to over 60% through localisation, strategic partnerships and payment expansion. Led a team of PMs and analysts across product and growth initiatives.
Middle East OTA GrowthSet up the retail analytics function for a value fashion brand with 200+ stores across 7 countries. Led store feasibility analysis, promotion optimisation and strategic initiative tracking.
Retail AnalyticsDrove expansion and cost optimisation initiatives for India's largest retail group. Conceptualised and executed a standalone pharmacy model that reached EBITDA break-even within 3 quarters.
India Retail StrategyI spend a lot of time trying to understand why people do what they do. Not in a clinical way, but because human behaviour tends to be the most important variable in any system, and also the one most people design around rather than for. I build mental models the way some people take notes: compulsively, and because I cannot think clearly without them.
I read about the history of science and philosophy. This's because the history of how humans arrived at ideas is usually more useful than the ideas themselves. Maxwell did not discover electromagnetism in a vacuum. Einstein discovered axioms that change the way we think about reality but rejected the Big Bang theory because it sounded too religious. The context is the point.
I try to make my life both fun and meaningful. I am aware those two things are not always in sync, but I try to notice when I am optimising for one at the expense of the other. Life, for me, is about finding the right balance between the two.
I also write, occasionally. My writing tends to start with something I found confusing and end with an explanation I wish had existed when I started. I do not think that is a coincidence.
I have blind spots. I look for structural fixes over organizational ones. I prepare well and improvise less well, which I know about myself and work on. I trust logic over instinct in situations where instinct is probably the right tool. I am getting better at this, slowly.
I have spent the last decade helping build products used by tens of millions of people across Asia, the Middle East, and now Europe. I graduated from IIT Kharagpur (Aerospace Engineering) and IIM Ahmedabad (MBA). Currently based in Warsaw, Poland.
Asimov for the logic. Cixin Liu for the scale. Tolkien for the world-building. I am most drawn to fiction that takes an idea seriously and follows it to its conclusion, however uncomfortable.
Tintin taught me that adventure is a matter of attitude. Asterix taught me that underdogs win on wit. Sandman and Watchmen taught me that the medium can carry as much weight as any novel. XKCD taught me that nerds are funny.
I am endlessly fascinated by how much of the world can be described by a handful of elegant equations. Maxwell's equations. Einstein's field equations. The kind of ideas that make you feel the universe is showing off.
The best stories are told by data, but they need to be drawn out carefully. I am fascinated by how the same dataset can be used to argue opposite conclusions and what it takes to get to the honest version.
I used to struggle with imposter syndrome. Then I found the Dunning-Kruger curve and made peace with the valley of despair. Knowing that the slope of enlightenment exists is enough to keep going.
I headed quiz clubs at both IIT Kharagpur and IIM Ahmedabad. Trivia is how I process curiosity. Most topics are more interesting than they appear from the outside and a good question is the best way to find out.
I write occasionally about product, technology, data and whatever else is occupying too much mental space. I try to make technical ideas readable without dumbing them down. Published in Forbes Middle East. Past writing on this site covers NFTs, smart contracts, verifiable credentials and the underlying mechanics of things that everyone talks about and few bother to understand.