Jul 2022 – Nov 2023 · 1 yr 4 mos

• Delivering great experiences for Alexa customers.

May 2016 – Jun 2022 · 6 yrs 1 mo

• I delivered in 2 different roles during these 6 years. First, as a technical/program/product manager/business analyst/SQL developer/script writer to significantly reduce cost of returns for Amazon India, deliver great CX by simplifying return policy, improving speed of refunds to customers by 50%+, streamlining processing of returns in Amazon warehouses to realise economies of scale & improved salvage values, reducing policy abuse in consumables, among other things. I was part of a 3 member team (that grew to 7 over 3 years), managing a $500M business, collaborating with virtually every function within Amazon. As expected, it was a wild, wild ride - at one point in time I was leading/contributing to more than a dozen programs!
• I later graduated to a people leadership role in a far more mature business - retail pricing. Started by picking up low hanging fruits in OPEX, and within 3 years my team moved up the value to chain to perform pricing audits, identify significant price drivers, co-create amazing products to reduce pricing errors and improve margins, with a north-star vision to manage all of pricing automatically.

Oct 2011 – Mar 2015 · 3 yrs 5 mos · Melbourne, Victoria, Australia · On-site

• Spent most of my stint at HCL with Coles supermarkets, Australia. Loved the great, green outdoors, and the highly talented, resourceful, and incredibly empathetic colleagues at both HCL and Coles.
• Coles had a hands-off-the-wheel approach to DEVOPS long before DEVOPS became the in-thing. It automated everything starting with building security - took me a few months to get the hang of things, but once I did, there was no going back to old ways again.
• Shoutout to Vikas Jain, Adai Kappan, Rajeev Saharan, Carlen Nin, and Graham Hood for being amazing managers/colleagues- I'd never miss a chance to work with any of you again!

Mar 2011 – Oct 2011 · 7 mos

• A short but memorable stint working on a consulting assignment for Aditya Birla Retail Ltd (ABRL) - I built a replenishment solution for fresh food (fruits and vegetables), rolled it out to 150 stores (out of 400+ active then), reducing wastage by about 30%. I also got an opportunity to present my solution to ABRL's Supply chain head, who appreciated the simplicity and extensive use of Occam's razor in the solution.
• My mental model to most problem-solving has since remained similar, with varying degrees of success.

Sep 2008 – Mar 2011 · 2 yrs 6 mos

• This was an interesting time - my first brush with high ambiguity and lack of clarity in role/responsibility. Cannot say I dealt with it very well, in hindsight, but I did earn my pay putting out a few fires (SEV1/2 issues) across Tesco group countries :)

Jan 2006 – Jan 2008 · 2 yrs

• Tesco gave me several opportunities to learn and explore the world, starting with Japan. I had an incredible time overhauling Tesco Japan's merchandising, supply chain, point-of-sale, and financial systems, working with some of the coolest bosses one could ask for.
• Learnt the true meaning of respect for others, civil discipline, continuous improvement, and holding oneself to the highest standards even when no one's watching, first-hand from the Japanese. Hardly surprising that Japan is my favorite country, decades after I left it.
• I made several friends for life at Tesco - too many to call out. However, it'd be unfair not to mention Amit Daf - one of the coolest bosses ever!

Aug 2005 – Jul 2006 · 11 mos

• My first real job, and the office infrastructure was (still is) out of the world. Infosys was quirky in several ways, including making all its male employees wear ties, twice a week - those who didn't were fined!
• Thoroughly enjoyed working on (by 2005 standards) really large databases, learning both technology and retail business. In particular, Nordstrom's passion for its customers left a lasting impression on me - so much so that the only book I read from Infosys' vast library during my 11-month stint was 'The Nordstrom Way'.
• 2005 was also a time when junior developers could get passwords for production databases, with unlimited access. My memory has failed me several times, but uncannily, I still remember the then password for the production database I worked on!