Ashwini B. G
Talent Acquisition Leader
Bengaluru
Summary
Passionate Talent Acquisition leader with over 19 years of experience across AI start-ups, product and services organizations, specializing in technical, niche, and non-technical hiring. Proven track record of building and scaling high-performing recruitment teams, developing and executing talent acquisition strategies, driving transformation and change initiatives, and enhancing recruitment processes to improve efficiency, scalability, and candidate experience. Experienced in partnering with senior stakeholders and business leaders to build talent strategies aligned with organizational growth and business objectives.
Overview
20
20
years of professional experience
Work History
Head of Talent Acquisition
GSM
Bangalore
12.2025 - 08.2026
- Built and scaled the India Talent Acquisition function from 0→1 in a startup environment, establishing the hiring strategy, processes, governance, and metrics needed to support business growth.
- Led hands-on end-to-end recruitment across multiple Business Units ,personally driving sourcing, stakeholder engagement, interview processes, offer negotiations, and closures while balancing speed, quality, and candidate experience.
- Partnered with business leaders and HRBPs to translate growth plans into workforce strategies, headcount plans, hiring roadmaps, and talent priorities, using market intelligence and compensation insights to influence hiring decisions.
- Built and developed a high-performing TA team, establishing clear goals, KPIs, capability-building initiatives, and a culture of ownership, while creating scalable recruitment practices and a consistent hiring experience.
- Drove strategic and cross-functional initiatives across employer branding, recruitment analytics, process optimization, and operational efficiency, ensuring TA evolved into a scalable and data-informed business function.
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
Gruve Technologies
12.2024 - 11.2025
- Joined Gruve Technologies as the 3rd employee and built the India Talent Acquisition function from 0→1 for an AI-based technology startup, establishing the hiring strategy, processes, recruitment infrastructure, governance, metrics, and operating model to support rapid business growth.
- Led hands-on, end-to-end hiring across technology, AI/ML, Cloud, Cybersecurity, Data, Infrastructure, and business functions, personally driving critical and niche hiring from sourcing and assessment through stakeholder management, offer negotiation, and closure.
- Partnered closely with founders, business leaders, and HR stakeholders to translate growth plans into workforce strategies, headcount plans, hiring roadmaps, and talent priorities, while leveraging market intelligence and compensation insights to shape hiring decisions.
- Built and scaled the TA team and capability, defining the operating model, KPIs, recruiter goals, hiring practices, and development frameworks. Also managed recruitment delivery through the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) model, supporting clients with scalable recruitment capability and processes.
- Established the technology-enabled TA ecosystem from the ground up, driving ATS and interview-platform implementation, recruitment analytics, employer branding, process optimization, and cross-functional initiatives to create a scalable, data-driven hiring engine, optimization, and cross-functional initiatives to create a scalable, data-driven hiring engine.
- Implemented process improvements enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs.
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
Grab
07.2022 - 12.2024
- Led and scaled the India Technology Recruitment function at Grab’s R&D Centre, overseeing full-cycle hiring across engineering and technology roles, including senior engineering leadership positions.
- Built strong hands-on experience in senior and leadership hiring, while partnering on strategic recruitment initiatives across Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore, gaining exposure to diverse talent markets, local hiring dynamics, and regional talent trends.
- Partnered with senior R&D and business leaders across the region to translate growth objectives into talent strategies, hiring plans, and targeted recruitment approaches, ensuring alignment across India and Southeast Asian teams.
- Introduced a data-driven approach to recruitment, leveraging hiring metrics, dashboards, recruitment analytics, and market intelligence to improve decision-making, funnel effectiveness, and hiring outcomes.
- Built and mentored high-performing recruitment teams while partnering with Employer Branding and cross-functional teams across Southeast Asia on talent initiatives, EVP, candidate engagement, and consistent regional execution.
Recruitment Lead
Thoughtworks
12.2016 - 07.2022
- Led distributed team of senior recruiters to meet annual hiring targets through strategic planning.
- Identify and execute new recruiting strategies through critical recruitment analytics and market intelligence.
- Drove process efficiency and operational excellence, enhancing candidate experience throughout recruitment.
- Partnered with technologists to attract top talent and foster a diverse workforce.
- Drive in-house initiatives such as referral programs, candidate engagement, and onboarding sessions.
- Plan and set goals for the team, support their growth and development.
- Share market intelligence data for niche roles and compensation benchmarking.
Recruitment Specialist
Thoughtworks
12.2016 - 07.2022
- Led full-cycle recruitment for design team and specialized roles.
- Developed targeted recruiting strategies and established networks to source qualified candidates.
- Hired senior-level candidates and collaborated with stakeholders to achieve hiring objectives.
Manager
Sapient Consulting
12.2007 - 11.2016
- Managed stakeholder communications to align project goals with client expectations and requirements.
- Led project teams in developing tailored solutions and strategies that addressed specific client needs.
- Facilitated workshops to uncover client needs and create actionable plans for implementation.
Client Manager
Assure Consulting
05.2006 - 12.2007
Education
Master of Science - Biotechnology
St Philomena’s College
MysorePGDHRM - Human Resources Management
Christ College
BangaloreSkills
Recruitment strategy development
Team leadership
Cross-functional collaboration
Data decision-making
Negotiation skills
Data-driven decision making
Diversity and inclusion
Accomplishments
- Drove recruitment transformation and operational excellence across India by introducing new TA policies, processes, and scalable hiring practices, including setting up Design and Cloud recruitment practices from scratch to support evolving business needs.
- Delivered measurable hiring outcomes by reducing offer-decline rates from 48% to 20%, achieving 55% of hires through LinkedIn, and improving hiring efficiency to a 62-day median time from open to offer acceptance through data-driven sourcing and candidate engagement strategies.
- Strengthened quality and consistency of hiring by implementing attribute-based hiring and workshop-based assessments across multiple technical and niche skill areas, enabling more structured evaluation and improving stakeholder confidence in hiring decisions.
- Led organization-wide TA and D&I initiatives, partnering with senior stakeholders to drive strategic recruitment programs and implementing unconscious bias training to foster more objective, inclusive, and effective hiring practices.
Timeline
Head of Talent Acquisition
GSM
12.2025 - 08.2026
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
Gruve Technologies
12.2024 - 11.2025
Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition
Grab
07.2022 - 12.2024
Recruitment Lead
Thoughtworks
12.2016 - 07.2022
Recruitment Specialist
Thoughtworks
12.2016 - 07.2022
Manager
Sapient Consulting
12.2007 - 11.2016
Client Manager
Assure Consulting
05.2006 - 12.2007
PGDHRM - Human Resources Management
Christ College
Master of Science - Biotechnology
St Philomena’s College