Describe yourself in three words or phrases.
If I had to choose three words, I would say I am optimistic, persistent, and driven by nation-building — those are the qualities I would like to be known for.
What do you like most about your job?
What I love most about my job is the ability to create positive outcomes for students. Whether it is working with them on picking up skills that they want to learn, getting them a better future, internships, placements, coaching and mentoring them. Really being able to have a positive influence on their lives and livelihoods is something that really drives me.
Describe a project or initiative you’re currently working on that excites you.
I’m very excited about this — we are working with the government of Maharashtra to set up state-of-the-art EV skilling centres of excellence for women. So imagine upskilling women in some of the latest technologies, whether it comes to EV, AI or additive manufacturing, and getting them into the workforce for these jobs. That is something that really excites me because here you can genuinely have an impact across all strata of society.
And this is actually a way in which Atlas SkillTech University is investing in setting up a centre of excellence with the Maharashtra Department of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Skills. Because the equipment and infrastructure are often not there, we are building the first centre of excellence right in the heart of the city, and then of course the government programs will be run through it.
What’s a piece of work you’re proud of – and what did it teach you?
I would say the piece of work I’m most proud of is the formation of ATLAS SkillTech University. At the time, there were no regulations that allowed for an urban skills and technology university to be created, and this was during the peak of the pandemic. We worked closely with the government to help create an enabling framework, and I actually drafted the first Act for an urban skills and technology university. Atlas subsequently became the first Skills and Technology University, and now there are several others.
What it taught me is that education is ultimately about nation building. It showed me the importance of working collaboratively with policymakers to create systems that can genuinely expand access to new-age, high-quality education and shape brighter futures for students.
What’s a small daily habit that helps you in your work?
A small daily habit that really helps me in my work is putting my daughter to sleep at night. For me, that is the most enjoyable moment of my day because I can completely unwind, switch off, and have meaningful conversations with her about how her day was and what her challenges are.
What I also love about speaking to children is how optimistic and unconditioned they are. As we grow older, we become more conditioned, but children are natural risk-takers who believe everything can be achieved — and I think that is a very good attitude to carry through life.
What’s one change you’d like to see in your sector over the next few years?
I would say Indian higher education needs to be deregulated fast because, although our regulators are becoming more enabling, we still need more freedom and autonomy to make decisions that the market requires. So I would say higher education as a whole should be deregulated further.
What idea, book, podcast or conversation has stayed with you recently?
I’ve started reading this book called Apple in China, and that has really stayed with me because it talks about how deeply integrated business and geopolitics are. It also highlights the importance of long-term strategic decision-making and how critical it is to get those decisions right.
For me, being responsible for a university and for thousands of students and faculty members, the burden of decision-making becomes very important because certain decisions can have very long-term consequences.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone starting out in this field?
I have lots of advice to give, but if I had to keep it to one thing, I would say that education is a very different field. You cannot get into it purely for profit — you have to get into it for nation building and human capital value creation. Most importantly, your product is your student.
When you are developing students, you have to put in unlimited inputs to achieve the right outcomes. So as long as you stay focused on doing what is right for the student and keep student-centricity at the heart of everything you do, you will get the model right.
