Brain Box - The Leadership Podcast

After 6 amazing seasons, this 7th Season of the podcast promises to be the cherry on top. Aptly titled "Game Changers", this is the season where I host  trend-setters across industries who've redefined leadership . Our first guest today embodies it perfectly: Mr. Amit Malik , the CEO & Managing Director of Aviva . He was selected as one of the “Top 40 HR Leaders” way back in 2014 & wa...

In the Season 6 finale, where we've interviewed HR stalwarts, I'm very happy to have a seasoned Talent Acquisition expert on the show.  He's Mr. Aditya Pal Singh, Director & Head of Talent Acquisition at Informatica.  He’s got over 19 years of experience, spanning the entire gamut of Talent Acquisition, having worked with Accenture as VP, Talent Acquisition before joining Informatica...

To wrap up the Women's Day Series, we present the "Leadership Snippets" of one of the strongest women in our podcast.  She has virtually done it all - changed industries (from Airlines to Hospitality to Career Coach to Author); changed profiles (Training to Sales to Marketing to Communications / PR to Entrepreneur) .. the constant is that she's never shied away from a challenge.  The Sni...

Today, on Women’s Day, we have the CHRO for iCORE, a global Business line of one of the world’s largest IT organizations - Wipro Limited.  She’s the home grown Wipro leader -Priti Kataria.  She is responsible for anchoring and leading “Wipro cares” Mumbai chapter, while passionately leading and partnering in the organisation efforts around inclusion and diversity. While given her various...

This is the second episode of "Leadership Snippets", which is just a 9-minute version of the original podcast.  This Women's Day, we are proud to present the version where we had a candid chat with Ms. Sheela Nambiar (then Sr. Director with Oracle & now Digital Sales Leader with IBM in North America).  It highlights how difficult it is (at least was) for women in sales, how an introv...

While the full podcast is available in the link below, "Leadership Snippets" gives you an upto-9-minute "Leadership Recap" on what is needed to be a better leader.  Today's episode is the snippet of my first guest on BrainBox & is also my mentor for nearly 2 decades. He's Mr. Ashish Wattal, Managing Director, Cisco for India & SAARC.  Full episode:   https://anchor.fm/kaushi...

It's the 25th episode today & I have the privilege of having a visionary leader on the show - Mr. Ranjan Ghosh. I've known him for over 2 decades from the time he was Executive Director in GAIL for Corporate Planning & Strategy, but he's also very keen in Quantum computing & grey-space consulting.  Since we are focused on Leadership, though, this episode is a must-listen - where w...

Having passed out of one of the premium HR institutes in India, XLRI - Mayank has been with behemoths like Asian Paints & RIL before taking a 'career break'. He finally embarked on his journey to co-found a startup.  Today we have a very candid chat on the latest topics - The Great Resignation (of course), Career Break & Motivating blue-collared workers! I really wish I had spoken to...

Everyone has heard the saying “Data is the New Oil”. I have with me a very special guest today who has been at the intersection of both worlds! He used to handle data for one of the largest oil companies & figuring in the Fortune Global 500 list with profits of over $6.1 bn. He’s Mr. Alok Khanna – Former Executive Director of Strategic Information Systems at Indian Oil Corporation for nearly 4...

With over 21,000 followers on LinkedIn & a pass out from XLRI Jamshedpur, my very special guest today is a person who puts Human in the Human Resources function. He’s Dhruv Dubey, General Manager of HR in Spencer Retail. With over 20 years in leadership roles across multiple industries, he’s an expert in making HR practices business driven, market aligned and data based. Check out his take on why...

I’ve had guests from a couple of countries outside India, a couple of fellow-podcasters, an author & even a Leadership coach – but this is the first guest who is - “All of the above” - Brandon Eastman, Founder of "Be Better Industries". This is an exhilarating, from-the-heart chat around "Sales & Sales Leadership". Brandon helps performance driven leaders break through their limitations, p...

The first podcast of 2022 starts off as a "LinkedIn Live" event and this is the audio-only version.  My first LIVE guest is Sonnia Singh - She’s a Career Transitions & Leadership Coach, Managing Director of HSMAI India, an accomplished author & has also had a remarkable career in the hospitality space with behemoths like Oberoi Group, Taj Group, Park Hotels, Ibis, Accor - across both...

It's a great honour to host the ex-CIO of Tata Motors, Mr. Jagdish Belwal, on "Brain Box". He's a stalwart not only in Indian boardrooms, but also on LinkedIn with 15k+ followers & his own show "ClariTea". He has been awarded "Cloud Icon" & "Automotive Icon" in the CIO Power List Awards. We have a great heart-to-heart chat on Leadership, his career journey, leading teams & hiring among...

Today's guest is Mr. Arun Tewary, one of the most popular CIOs in India & Dubai - having worked with companies like Tata Steel, NTPC, Essar Steel in India & Al Futtaim, Emaar & 15 years with Emirates Flight Catering (EKFC).  He has a tonne of accolades to his credit - "Winner of Aviation Awards", Ärab Technology Award" & has been a keynote speaker in at least 6 events in as ma...

A deep dive into Marketing, Leadership & startup world with the person who’s made HUL his home for over 11 years! Very few know it better ..

it’s a huge honour to have Mr. Sourav Das, Chief Digital & Information Officer, Essel Mining & Industries Limited at Aditya Birla Group on teh show today. He’s the IIT-IIM combo that parents swoon over & has a tonne of accolades to his name. He’s been awarded the Eminent CIO of India Award at the 19th Infotech Forum in 2021 … the CXO Excellence Award 2021 … The Transformational CIO Awa...

Today’s guest is the former Chief Digital & Information Officer & Global Head of Wipro HOLMES & I’m confident virtually everyone in Wipro India would know – ROHIT ADLAKHA. He’s a true leader – who exhibits true leadership by playing the infinite game driving the development, engagement and outcomes of his team. He currently serves as Executive Advisor to 3 companies and even co-hosts h...

Today I have on the show .. Prashant Tewari. He's been one of the very few people I know, who has moved from IT behemoths like an IBM to one of the most exciting startups today - Acceldata. We have a free-flowing chat around leadership, working in the startup world vis-a-vis the large organizations, life in the Middle East etc. 

This is my first-ever 2 part series with a single guest, and he is Samrat Kishor, a Technology & Strategy Consultant turned entrepreneur and investor. I hope you liked the first part which was centred around “Leadership” focusing on his experience across the Big names in Consulting like Grant Thornton, KPMG, Deloitte & Accenture over 23 countries. This podcast would be on “Technical Evange...

I have a very special guest with me today. I had such an interesting chat with him that I am doing the first-ever 2-part series with a single guest. He is Samrat Kishor, a Technology & Strategy Consultant turned entrepreneur and investor. The first podcast with him will be centred around "Leadership" focusing on his experience across the Big names in Consulting like Grant Thornton, KPMG, Deloi...

Being a seasoned sales professional myself, all my guests & most of my own podcasts have been around sales. However, everyone in sales knows that without the technical team, it would be impossible to consistently provide the levels of customer excellence that people expect from us. Today’s guest is someone whose leadership I truly admire & consider to be a Technical Evangelist. I’ve known...

On the final episode of the first "Leadership" series, I'm very happy to host Sanjay Deshmukh, Senior Regional Vice President, of Snowflake (Ranked 1st on the Forbes Cloud 100 in 2019).  We have a free-wheeling chat around him being an "Iron Man", his superlative presentation skills, leadership tips & life in Singapore (Both careerwise & quality of life).  ABOUT "BRAIN BOX": The...

On the 4th episode of the "Leadership" series, I'm very happy to host Savio Monteiro, Director, GBM (Dubai) to discuss his leadership thoughts, which I've witnessed first-hand - since he had been my manager from 2011-2017. We have a heart-to-heart on things around leadership principles, how Dubai is different from India, work-life balance & values. ABOUT "BRAIN BOX": The "Brain Box" podcast ha...

“Industry without talent is useless. Talent without industry is exasperating. The two together can make an artist.” Today I have one such leader who has been an artist across industries to provide his views on leadership. Mr. Dulles Krishnan has been Chief of Staff to Steve Mills in the US, overseeing a $50 bn IBM Software Group; had APAC leadership roles across IBM, AWS, SalesForce & now is t...

As another great woman leader, Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, famously said “You will be defined not just by what you achieve, but by how you live.” Sheela Nambiar portrays these words to perfection. From the challenges, women face in sales; to leading with "assertion" rather than "aggression"; work-life balance; all the way to her philanthropic ways, this podcast is a must-listen if you want t...