Sandeep has been a strategy consultant & industry professional for over 10 years, having worked as Director at PwC, Accenture Strategy, Marico & BCG. As part of his work, he has had short stints across New York, Kuala Lumpur, Manilla & Jakarta. His functional expertise includes Go To Market, Digital transformation & Fit for Future journeys across retail and consumer oriented sectors. After work, he is an avid writer with 3 successful books - 'Hacks for Life and Career: A Millennial's Guide to Making it Big', 'Yours Sarcastically' and 'Satan's Angels'. His books have been featured in Fortune, Times of India, Mint, Deccan Chronicle, Asian Age, Pioneer, Deccan Herald, CNN IBN, Hindu, etc. He has been called one of India's most influential writers by Entprepreneur magazine. He has been invited as a guest speaker at 20+ leading institutes. Some of the institutes Sandeep has also spoken at are NUS Singapore, IIM B, IIM C, IIT Bombay, St. Stephen’s Delhi, IIT Madras, IIM K, FMS Delhi, BITS Pilani, SRCC Delhi, TISS Mumbai, IIT Roorkee, LSR Delhi. He has spoken at leading corporates like Indian Oil, Accenture & PwC.

• Starting with pursuing an MBA from IIM Bangalore to a strategy course holder from INSEAD, and as a strategy consultant for a decade, tell us about your journey so far.

My journey has been an interesting one to be honest. I have had the privilege of attending some of the finest educational institutions, working in India and in South East Asia, at Accenture and PwC in strategy consulting. At work, I have met some of the finest corporate minds who are looking to make a positive impact.

Outside work, life has been kind enough by allowing me to succeed in my alternate career. Over the last decade, I have written three successful books - ‘Yours Sarcastically’, ‘Satan’s Angels’ and ‘Hacks for Life and Career: A Millennial’s Guide to Making it Big’. In addition, I have been invited to leading IITs and IIMs to speak with an aim to positively impact the lives of young millennials.

For young millennials starting out today, they should be cognizant that careers are no longer linear. They are likely to dabble in multiple industries and pursue a secondary career alongside their primary career.

• According to you, what are the major changes that have to happen in the field of business education in India to help our students be at level pegging with their western counterparts?

I think it is important to look at the nature of the business curriculum and drive a change towards incorporating business books that have made an impact rather then prescribing traditional text books. In addition, the skill sets that need to be focussed on in this decade are going to be radically different - business storytelling, behavioural psychology and cultivating the habit of listening. These have to be taught with greater rigour and focus. Also, business schools need to actively bring in industry leaders as faculty so that students get a real sense of the rapidly changing industry dynamics.

• Apart from your corporate career, you have also published many books. What motivated you to be a writer? How should students strive to transform their passion into profession?

I have always had a keen interest in debating, writing and theatre during my graduation and business school days. Writing books and becoming an influencer was a natural extension of this interest.

Every student should strive to pursue an alternate career, in addition to their primary career,  through which they can realize their passion. To do so takes consistent effort, say 2-3 hours over every weekend and working towards improving that passion.

• What are some of the challenges the current global pandemic has presented you with? How have you navigated them?

A large part of our professional lives is built around developing quality relationships with CXOs and the physical meeting is a critical part in that journey. Moving to a virtual space has had its challenges in cultivating quality business relationships. Although over a period of time, everyone has got used to this new way of working.

The relentless increase in work hours and blurring of personal and professional lives has been a challenge everyone has had to deal with. To be honest, this has been difficult in navigating, with few answers on how to manage the workload and the resultant mental health issues.

• 2020 has been a year of digital adoption. In your opinion, what are the technologies that are picking up pace? What are the trends that are shaping the future of digital transformation?

2020 has been a landmark year in digital adoption. There has been a significant increase in purchases shifting online across categories as omni-channel behaviour takes on a completely new dimension. For corporates, shifting their infrastructure to the cloud and bringing in tools so that their workforce and trade partners can work remotely has seen tremendous traction. Going forward, technologies like augmented reality for shopping in industries like auto, real estate and apparel are making waves.

In the future, the consumer life cycle will be determined in a way where the lead generation and shortlisting will happen online while the lead conversation and purchase will happen at the physical store for high ticket categories in real estate, auto, luxury goods. Over a period of time, direct to consumer platforms will see incremental traction for leading retail and consumer companies.

• Tell us something about your latest book - ‘Hacks for Life and Career: A Millennial’s Guide to Making it Big’?

A few years back, I happened to interview 250-300 millennials and 75-100 corporate leaders. It was startling to hear from corporate leaders that 95% of millennials were not ready to succeed in their lives professionally and personally while millennials complained that the education system and the corporates they worked for didn’t equip them well. That was the genesis of the book whereby I identified close to 60 hacks which millennials should master to succeed in their lives. The book has sections on ‘dos and don’ts’ about entrepreneurship, real world business concepts, understanding personal finance, making successful careers across FMCG, consulting, e-commerce and banking along with ways to maintain sound mental health and growing as an individual everyday.

• With your experience as a strategy consultant for over 10 years, having worked with Accenture Strategy, Marico &PwC, what would you say to people setting out on their career today?

For young millennials starting out today, they should be cognizant that careers are no longer linear. They are likely to dabble in multiple industries and pursue a secondary career alongside their primary career. They should also realize that half life of skills sets has gone down to 2-3 years and in a few years, what they know might turn out to be redundant. Hence they need to work on themselves by reading and up-skilling continuously. Also, they should focus on their mental health from a very early stage as it might be the biggest health pandemic over the next decade.

• The shortage of skills and talent in the tech sector has been a long standing issue now. What do you think are the skills that are going to gain prominence post-pandemic?

Some of the skills that are going to be in demand post-pandemic are business storytelling, quality listening and behavioural psychology amidst others. Business storytelling will be important as it will be necessary to build a collective vision for the workforce over disconnected virtual media. With consumers turning extremely fidgety with concerns over health and safety and relentlessly increasing competition, cultivating the ability to listen without bias will be a necessity for corporate leaders. Finally, understanding human behavior and excelling basis knowledge of psychology will hold leaders in very good stead.

• What are some of the most valuable lessons you’ve learnt over the years?

Over the last decade, I have learnt the value of patience and consistent effort. With my alternate career, the first 8 years were fairly muted and I saw disproportionate success in the last two years which made the entire decade highly memorable. It is important to consistently be ‘at it’ at whatever you are doing as success tends to be highly non-linear and exponential when it arrives. In addition, I have tried to consciously maintain balance in life by cultivating physical activities and hobbies.

• What would your advice be for leaders and students as they reset for the new normal?

The single biggest advice would be to go with the flow and not take yourself too seriously. The world is changing rapidly every 2-3 years and the best way to tackle it would be to be light, in weight and in spirit.