The DS Show

In Episode 26 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Jofi Alexander, Regional Director of Anaplan Africa, to explore a remarkable career journey that spans over three decades of leadership, innovation, and transformation in enterprise performance management. From his early days pioneering BI and data warehousing at Oracle to leading Anaplan’s regional growth across Africa, Jofi shares how c...

In episode 25 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Eoin McMillan, Founder & CEO of Sourcetable, to explore how he’s reimagining the spreadsheet for the AI era. With over a decade of experience in startups across technical and operational roles, Eoin shares his journey from consulting and product building to launching Sourcetable, a platform designed to make data analysis radically mor...

In episode 24 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Ash Jain, CEO of Accelytics Consulting, to explore a career spanning more than 25 years in enterprise performance management (EPM) and business transformation. From starting in computer science to building and leading boutique consultancies, Ash shares the pivotal decisions, leadership lessons, and personal philosophies that have shaped h...

In episode 23 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Shell Black, President of ShellBlack.com and a Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame, to unpack a journey that spans two decades of growth, community leadership, and scaling a boutique consultancy into a financial services powerhouse. Shell shares how a personal blog turned into a full-fledged firm, what it was like growing alongside Salesforce dur...

In episode 22 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Neil Thomas, Senior Vice President of Finance and Workforce Applications at Anaplan, to explore a remarkable career spanning four decades across finance, sales, and enterprise software innovation. From his early days at Johnson & Johnson to pivotal roles at Adaytum and Adaptive, Neil shares how he evolved from a traditional accountant...

In this episode of The DS Show, Daanish sits down with Dana Therrien, VP of Sales Performance Management (SPM) Advisory at Anaplan. Dana shares his 25+ year journey through the world of sales and revenue operations, from leading global orgs to driving strategy at Forrester and now Anaplan. They dive deep into: The evolution of revenue operations and SPM at Anaplan How Dana scaled high-performing o...

In this episode, Daanish sits down with Calvin Magondo , Product Manager at Anaplan , to unpack his career journey, the art of product management, and what it takes to design with the end user in mind. Calvin shares how he transitioned into product, his early work in social entrepreneurship, and lessons from building across sectors like agriculture, aviation, and education — all before landing at...

In episode 19 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Timothy Brennan, Chief Revenue Officer at Anaplan, to explore the future of enterprise planning and the evolving role of technology in strategic decision-making. Tim shares his journey from consulting to leading go-to-market strategy at one of the top connected planning platforms in the world. The conversation dives into how Anaplan is he...

In episode 18 of The DS Show, Daanish Soomar sits down with Ghazala Kabani, a seasoned Clinical Operations Consultant and founder of Integrity ClinOps Consulting. With over 25 years of experience spanning hospitals, CROs, biotech, and pharma, Ghazala shares her remarkable journey into clinical trials—from her beginnings as a nurse in Pakistan to leading strategy and oversight for global studies. T...

In episode 17 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar is joined by Subbu Kuchibhotla, former Global Managing Partner of Sales Strategy & Customer Success at Anaplan and a dynamic executive with deep roots in innovation, startups, and enterprise transformation. Subbu shares his unique journey—from leading disruptive change at Fortune 50 companies to scaling early-stage startups to profitability across...

In episode 16 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar sits down with Iver van de Zand, Vice President of Product Management at Anaplan, to explore his remarkable career journey from analytics leadership at SAP to his current role driving Anaplan’s product vision. Iver shares how he’s built a loyal following through blogging, public speaking, and community engagement, becoming a leading voice in the data a...

In episode 15 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar sits down with Darrell Cross, EVP of Finance at FOX Entertainment Studios. With over 15 years of experience across companies like MarVista, Wild Card, and Deluxe Media, Darrell shares his career journey from CFO roles to leading finance at one of the industry’s most dynamic studios. In this episode, Darrell reflects on life before and after FOX’s acqui...

In episode 14 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar welcomes Kirill Kuznetsov, Finance Transformation Manager and Certified Master Anaplanner at DSI Consulting. Kirill brings deep expertise in extended planning and analysis (xP&A), having led Anaplan implementations across industries like FMCG, energy, pharma, and luxury goods. In this conversation, Kirill shares his insights on designing stable yet...

In episode 13 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar sits down with Jesse Walklin, Chief Revenue Officer at Codex Recruitment and a key voice in the Anaplan talent ecosystem. With nearly a decade of experience building high-performing teams across EPM technologies, Jesse offers a unique perspective on how the Anaplan ecosystem has evolved—and where it’s heading. The conversation covers current hiring tre...

In episode 12 of The DS Show , Daanish Soomar welcomes Ben Ashwell-Fryer, a seasoned finance executive and former VP of Finance at Exscientia, to explore the intersection of biotech, finance, and technology. With a career spanning scale-ups like Immunocore, BenevolentAI, and most recently Etcembly, Ben brings a wealth of insight into the financial challenges and opportunities unique to high-growth...

In episode 11 of "The DS Show," Daanish Soomar hosts Chetan Alsisaria, CEO and Founder of Polestar Solutions, who brings a wealth of experience in entrepreneurship, business intelligence, and technology solutions. Chetan shares his career story, starting from his early days at top consulting firms to founding Polestar Solutions, a company that has become a leader in data analytics and en...

In episode 10 of "The DS Show," Daanish Soomar sits down with Caleb Maxson, Founder and CEO of Openvale Group, to explore the intersections of functional and technical skillsets in the Anaplan ecosystem. Caleb shares his extensive background in strategic finance and analytics across various industries, highlighting how his experiences have shaped his leadership approach and contributed to building...

In episode 9 of "The DS Show," Daanish Soomar welcomes Seyma Tas, a Master Anaplanner and the Anaplan Product Owner at Caliber Collision, to discuss her extensive experience in the Anaplan ecosystem. Seyma shares her journey from her early days in data analysis and education, leading to her current role where she spearheads the design, build, and deployment of scalable Anaplan solutions for variou...

In episode 8 of "The DS Show," host Daanish Soomar is joined by Karim Lameer, the dedicated Head of Biotech at DSI Consulting, who shares his comprehensive journey and insights within the Anaplan ecosystem. Karim discusses his progression from being an Anaplan customer and consultant to spearheading complex connected planning initiatives at DSI Consulting, emphasizing his deep commitment...

In episode 7 of "The DS Show," Daanish Soomar converses with Mitch Aist, a Master Anaplanner and Solution Architect renowned for his dedication to enhancing business planning processes through Connected Planning and cloud-based tools. Mitch's extensive experience in leading Anaplan Center of Excellence (COE) teams across various companies has empowered stakeholders by seamlessly inte...

In this compelling episode of "The DS Show," host Daanish Soomar welcomes Clarissa Hassfurder, a Certified Master Anaplanner and the founder of Double10 Consulting, to share her unique journey through the Anaplan ecosystem. Clarissa's path from being a customer of Anaplan, to a consultant, and eventually stepping out as an independent consultant, offers a fascinating look at the vari...

In episode 5 of "The DS Show," host Daanish Soomar sits down with Sourjya Rudra, Co-Founder & PlanFlamingo, for a deep dive into the Anaplan Ecosystem and the varied pathways it offers. The conversation unfolds to reveal the day-to-day realities and challenges of leading a company, offering listeners a rare glimpse into the life of a CEO within the tech and consulting industry. Beyon...

In this enlightening episode of "The DS Show," Daanish Soomar engages with Steven Barry, the Director and Global Alliances Lead at Cervello, for an in-depth post-mortem of the 2024 Anaplan Kickoff Conference. They dive into a balanced discussion, highlighting the innovations and updates that spark excitement, while also pinpointing developments they approach with a watchful eye. Beyond t...

In this captivating episode of "The DS Show," host Daanish Soomar delves into the world of Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) with guest David Smith, Principal Product Manager at Kaleidoscope.com. Working closely with Michael Gould, a renowned EPM software founder, David is at the forefront of innovation in Gould's latest startup venture. Their discussion illuminates the vital r...

In this episode of "The DS Show," host Daanish Soomar welcomes Misbah Ansari, Certified Master Anaplanner and CEO of MizLogix, to discuss the intricacies and rewards of working within the Anaplan ecosystem. Misbah sheds light on the day-to-day realities of being an Anaplan Consultant, highlighting the key differences and unique challenges faced when navigating roles as both an employee a...