I grew up in a middle-class south Indian family where education was the only way out, and luckily I loved it. Curiosity came naturally. I was the kid who'd reread a chapter until I got it, or stay up with a problem I couldn't crack. That instinct now shows up as a love for the deep, unhurried work of understanding a business from the inside out, sitting with a founder and pulling it apart together. That's what I enjoy the most.

I joined McKinsey out of IIT Kharagpur and worked across financial services, industrials and renewables. The strategy work was interesting, but the implementation projects shaped how I think today. Watching a clean plan collide with the messiness of execution gave me immense respect for the people who actually make things work on the ground. It's also why I deeply respect what founders do every day.

Everyday, I get to sit beside founders, mostly in consumer, fintech and healthcare, who've given up comfortable careers to solve hair-on-fire problems, and try to understand the ambition and obsession that makes someone do that. I believe you can only enjoy this work if you're wholeheartedly in love with the problem you're solving. Being around that energy is the high I keep chasing. It's a ringside seat to India building itself, and I'm grateful to play a small part.