Anil Kumar Sakala
BENGALURU
Summary
Strategic business leader with over 15 years of experience driving growth and market impact through a strong foundation in business strategy, market research, and competitive intelligence. I specialize in leveraging both primary and secondary research to uncover deep insights that inform market entry strategies, product positioning, and go-to-market plans—particularly within SaaS and consulting environments. My work has helped shape services and products to better fit the market by analyzing them through a 360° business lens. Throughout my career, I’ve partnered closely with C-level executives, sales teams, and business development leaders, delivering strategic recommendations that drive informed decision-making, and accelerate revenue growth.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
PRODUCT STRATEGY MANAGER / BUSINESS STRATEGY
SRI TECH SOLUTIONS INC
Tampa
07.2023 - 12.2024
- Conduct market research, competitive analysis, and customer segmentation to identify market trends, opportunities, and threats.
- Monitor competitor activities, product offerings, and industry developments to inform product strategy and positioning.
- Gather customer feedback through surveys, interviews, usability studies, and other feedback mechanisms to understand customer needs, pain points, and preferences.
- Use customer insights to prioritize product features, define user personas, and improve the overall customer experience.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, marketing, sales, and finance, to align product strategy with business objectives, and ensure successful execution.
- Define clear goals, success metrics, and KPIs to measure the effectiveness of product strategy initiatives, and track progress over time.
- Develop go-to-market strategies for new product launches, feature releases, and product expansions.
- Coordinate with marketing, sales, and customer success teams to create messaging, positioning, and sales enablement materials.
- Identify strategic partnerships, alliances, and integration opportunities to enhance the value proposition of the product, and expand its market reach.
- Collaborate with third-party vendors, developers, and platform providers to build an ecosystem around the product.
SENIOR MANAGER, BUSINESS STRATEGY
Hubilo
Bengaluru
02.2021 - 07.2023
- Deliver market insights to management: Provided up-to-date information regarding market and industry trends, competition strategies, and customer sentiments to the CEO and decision makers.
- Execute qualitative and quantitative research to understand the customer journey, customer pain points, competitor strengths and weaknesses, market trends, etc.c
- Utilize data analytics tools and techniques to analyze large datasets and extract actionable insights related to SaaS industry trends, behaviors, and market dynamics.
- Identify key signals and trends in the data to formulate a well-informed Point of View (POV) and narrative regarding the analysis, along with possible findings that could inform product performance, market opportunities, and customer needs
- Conduct comprehensive research and analysis of market and competitive trends, and deliver objective, meaningful insights in concise and compelling ways
- Provide data-driven recommendations to internal stakeholders, including executives, product teams, and marketing teams, to guide decision-making and drive product improvements
- Strategic Role in CEO Office: Integral part of the CEO's office, overseeing critical business research priorities
- Identify potential companies for acquisition to enhance product strengths and offerings
- Customer Feedback Compilation: Provide strategic support and consumer insights to identify customer wants and needs to ensure product development is consumer driven
- Shape Business and Product Strategy: Develop research objectives with the potential to influence both business and product strategies
- Project Management Role: Program management in developing overall company strategy, business planning, performance analysis, liaison with business heads and cross functional teams like Product, Engineering and Customer Success to drive Product deliveries, strategic growth initiatives
- Worked with senior management on strategy development and execution planning
- Utilized effective communication techniques to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organization
- Managed multiple projects and priorities in a fast-paced environment
- Mentored junior staff members, providing guidance on career development opportunities
- Provided clear direction and guidance to subordinates, fostering an environment of collaboration and teamwork
- Established performance metrics to monitor progress towards organizational goals and objectives
- Analyzed data from various sources to identify trends and make actionable recommendations for improvement
- Leveraged technology to streamline processes, resulting in significant time savings across departments
- Built strong relationships with vendors and suppliers; negotiated favorable terms for company purchases
- Managed multiple high-priority projects simultaneously while meeting tight deadlines
- Identified areas for improvement throughout the organization; implemented corrective measures where necessary
- Conducted market research activities and analyzed competitive landscape to inform strategic decisions
- Created and implemented effective strategies to increase market share and grow business
- Led and directed team members on effective methods, operations and procedures
- Addressed and resolved client or customer inquiries to foster superior standards of service
- Collaborated closely with senior executives to develop long-term corporate strategy plans
- Negotiate with vendors to achieve the best value
- Provides assistance to management as needed
- Provide thorough information and recommendations to all appropriate stakeholders concerning product and service availability, sources of supply, known vendor performance, pricing, available cooperative contracts, and alternatives
MANAGER, RESEARCH & CONSULTING
ResearchFox
Bengaluru
06.2019 - 02.2021
- Built an in-depth understanding of the business and research requirements of multiple strategic clients
- Implemented process improvements, resultingin an increase in operational efficiency.
- Prepared in-depth proposals of new strategic research engagements clearly outlining the client objectives, scope, approach, preliminary findings, key considerations, timelines and fee
- Plan, lead and manage multiple strategic research projects, including in-depth market sizing, market opportunity assessment, go-to market strategy support, competitive benchmarking, industry best practices assessment and economic reports
- Devised best approaches and methodology to address client queries
- Plan for proxies and data triangulation for niche sectors, topics and geographies to provide so-what analysis
- Lead and participate in expert consultations, both free and paid, to gather insights on topics with negligible information in secondary domain
- Managed and reviewed the outputs of team members and deliver error free client ready outputs under tight deadlines
- Present key findings to the client and address questions and objections with clarity and confidence
- Responsible for professional development, coaching and evaluation of 7+ team members
- Contribute to firm-level responsibility which includes knowledge management, training, recruitment, new product development, expanding business capabilities etc
- Utilize your expertise in data analysis and insights to uncover actionable opportunities for rapid growth in both self-initiated and leadership-assigned growth projects
- Project Scoping, Solution Mapping, and Management: Proficient in scoping projects, mapping solutions, managing project execution, and monitoring progress
- RFI and RFP Responses to the Research Projects: Handled Proposal creations to win different clients worth 1Million
- Leadership of a 7+ Member Consulting Team: Skillful in leading and managing a consulting team of seven or more members
- Innovative Marketing Strategies: Conceptualize marketing initiatives, including creating blogs and executing email campaigns to drive website traffic
- Sales Expertise: Accomplished in diverse sales activities encompassing outbound and inbound calls, logo acquisition, deal closure, and proposal creation
- Survey Execution Experience: Experienced in executing surveys that encompass the following areas: IT Initiative and Digital Adoption Trends, IT Modernization and Data Trends, Digital Strategies, U&A Studies, CEO/C-Level Insights, GTM Strategy for Market Entry etc
- In-depth Industry Insights: Proficient in gathering insights for the IT industry, as well as the consumer and automobile sectors
- Utilized predictive analytics tools to forecast customer behavior and market trends
- Provided actionable insights regarding competitive landscape analysis and industry best practices
- Analyzed large datasets using SQL queries in order to uncover hidden patterns in customer behavior
- Designed surveys to collect feedback from customers on product performance, pricing, and satisfaction levels
- Managed projects focused on understanding customer needs by leveraging primary research techniques like focus groups
- Leveraged advanced analytics techniques such as machine learning algorithms to improve marketing campaigns effectiveness
- Analyzed data from multiple sources to identify trends, opportunities, and risks
- Monitored changes in consumer sentiment over time by gathering feedback through online surveys
- Created detailed reports summarizing research findings and presented them to senior management
- IT Procurement recommendations to clients
- Interact with Gartner, Forrester and IDC to get recommendation on vendors and price quotation understanding of the IT product in procurement
- Managed the sales pipeline and forecasted sales targets to ensure business objectives were met.
- Developed and executed strategic business plans to achieve revenue and growth targets.
MARKET INTELLIGENCE SPECIALIST
HackerEarth
Bengaluru
03.2018 - 05.2019
- Creation of Market Intelligence Repository: Proficient in developing comprehensive repositories of market intelligence
- Product Development Recommendations: Capable of offering strategic recommendations for product development like doing GAP analyses to identify product improvement opportunities
- Sales Strategy Formulation: Expertise in devising effective sales strategies to drive growth
- Market Positioning Strategy: Adept at crafting strategies to position products effectively within the market
- Proposal Creation: Proficient in generating compelling and persuasive proposals
- Custom Research Expertise: Skilled in conducting custom research including Account Intelligence, Industry Insights, and other relevant insights
- Coordinated with cross-functional teams on projects and initiatives
- Coordinated with stakeholders to support business demands
- Conducted extensive research to identify trends in the industry
- Developed marketing or outreach media to communicate sustainability issues, procedures or objectives
SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST LEVEL 4
Ernst & Young
Trivandrum
04.2016 - 06.2017
- Managed Research Projects: Successfully managed research initiatives in areas such as Information Technology, Business Resilience, and Cyber security
- Assisted Business Partners: Provided support to business partners in creating Winning Proposals, Go-to-Market materials and client presentations
- Created Marketing Collateral: Developed brochures and thought leadership papers to enhance brand awareness
- Newsletter Management: Held full responsibility for end-to-end newsletter creation and distribution
- Developed detailed reports and presentations for stakeholders outlining findings from qualitative and quantitative analysis.
- Provided expertise in creating survey instruments, sampling plans, questionnaire design and data collection strategies.
- Trained junior analysts on proper usage of software applications used for gathering, cleaning and manipulating data.
- Maintained up-to-date knowledge of best practices related to research methodology and analytics techniques.
ASSISTANT MANAGER
Kaar Technologies
Chennai
01.2014 - 04.2016
- Analyst Relationship Management: Led strategic engagement with Gartner to strengthen analyst relations and successfully secure Kaar Technologies' inclusion in a key vendor report.
- Industry Trends Mapping: Regularly update C-level management on industry trends and challenges within the SAP market, involving comprehensive analysis, strategy-driven reporting, and SAP market analysis
- Advisory Report Analysis: Proficient in interpreting and articulating insights from advisory firm reports, including Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Ovum, E&Y, PwC, Frost & Sullivan, and KPMG, to provide valuable updates on industry and technology trends
- Sales Enablement Support and Presentations Development
SENIOR EXECUTIVE - CORPORATE STRATEGY
Larsen & Turbo Infotech
Bengaluru
07.2011 - 12.2013
- Assisting Strategy Head in Business Roadmap Creation
- Planning and Structuring Research Projects Full Ownership of Research Execution
- Aiding Management, Sales, and Business Units in Strategy Development Conducting Industry, Technology, and Account Research
- Proficient in Market Sizing, Trends, and Challenges
- Skilled in Competitor Analysis, SWOT, and IT Business Models
- Familiarity with Gartner, Forrester, IDC, Ovum, PwC, KPMG, etc
SENIOR MARKET RESEARCHER TEAM LEAD
GAVS Technologies
Chennai
02.2008 - 06.2011
- Collecting data, identifying, evaluating, and monitoring potential opportunities
- Actively contributing to the creation of sales opportunity pipeline reports Conducting market studies on industry and technology trends
- Assist Marketing and Sales Team
- Acted as a Business Analyst for CRM Tool - SalesForce
- Establishing an account database for the US, UK, and Middle East regions
Education
PGDP Business Analysis & Business Intelligence - Data Science
JNTU University
India03-2020
MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION - MARKETING
IIeBM
India01.2003
Bachelor of Science - Electrical, Electronics And Communications Engineering
JNTU
Hydberabad03-2002
Skills
- Business Development
- Quantitative Research
- Qualitative Research
- Primary Research
- Survey Programming
- Secondary Research
- Sales Intelligence
- Competitor Research
- Consumer Insights Specialist
- Qualtrics Survey Tool
- Sales Force BA
- Power BI
- Tableau
- Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Management Consultant
- Influencing and Negotiating
- Business Analysis
- Proposal Creations
- Google Docs
- Business Analyst
- User Feedback
- Agile Principles
- SDLC
- CSPO
- Business Intelligence
- Market research
- Data analysis
- Customer segmentation
- Product strategy
- Competitive analysis
- Cross-functional collaboration
- Go-to-market strategy
- Project management
- Stakeholder engagement
- Business intelligence
- Lead generation
- Growth strategies
- Training and development
- Presentations and decks
- New market identification
- Report preparation
- Market analysis
- Business strategy
- SQL programming
- Data extraction
- Financial analysis
- Problem-solving
- Active listening
- Contract negotiation and closing tactics
Certification
- CSPO - Certified Scrum Product Owner
- CSM - Certified Scrum Master
- SF BA - SalesForce Certified Business Analyst
Awards
- Best Performer - Quarterly Award, Hubilo
- Excellence Award, L&T Infotech, 07/01/11, 12/01/13
- Excellence Award, GAVS Technologies, 02/01/08, 06/01/11
Affiliations
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sakalaanil/details/recommendations/?detailScreenTabIndex=0
Languages
Telugu
First Language
English
Proficient (C2)
C2
Tamil
Intermediate (B1)
B1
Hindi
Advanced (C1)
C1
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
PRODUCT STRATEGY MANAGER / BUSINESS STRATEGY
SRI TECH SOLUTIONS INC
07.2023 - 12.2024
SENIOR MANAGER, BUSINESS STRATEGY
Hubilo
02.2021 - 07.2023
MANAGER, RESEARCH & CONSULTING
ResearchFox
06.2019 - 02.2021
MARKET INTELLIGENCE SPECIALIST
HackerEarth
03.2018 - 05.2019
SENIOR RESEARCH ANALYST LEVEL 4
Ernst & Young
04.2016 - 06.2017
ASSISTANT MANAGER
Kaar Technologies
01.2014 - 04.2016
SENIOR EXECUTIVE - CORPORATE STRATEGY
Larsen & Turbo Infotech
07.2011 - 12.2013
SENIOR MARKET RESEARCHER TEAM LEAD
GAVS Technologies
02.2008 - 06.2011
PGDP Business Analysis & Business Intelligence - Data Science
JNTU University
MASTERS IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION - MARKETING
IIeBM
Bachelor of Science - Electrical, Electronics And Communications Engineering
JNTU
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