Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Timeline
Generic
Rishu Sharma

Rishu Sharma

Gurgaon

Summary

Over 17+ years of experience in IT leadership, strategy consulting, advisory, business development, market research, competitive analysis, and pre-sales, specializing in Cloud, AI, and Digital Transformation.


Head of Digital & Data Strategy, Consulting & Presales at Birlasoft. Additionally, I represent Birlasoft as the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Ambassador


A thought leader in the Cloud and AI domains, and a frequent keynote speaker at prestigious industry forums like NASSCOM, WEF, and annual summits hosted by major hyperscalers.


Successfully led and delivered 75+ closed-room discussions, roundtables, workshops, industry masterclasses. Quoted by leading media outlets such as CNBC, The Economic Times, The Hindu, and CRN.


Recognized with prestigious awards, including being named the ISG Digital Titan Awards 2024 winner for Asia Pacific and India, acknowledging the most outstanding woman in Digital. Also honored with the Sammarthya Samman Award for leadership in technology by the Former Chief Justice of India, 2024.

Overview

17
17
years of professional experience

Work History

Sr Director, Strategy & Consulting Digital & Data

Birlasoft
09.2022 - Current
  • Strategic Leadership: Spearheading the development and execution of go-to-market strategies, driving over 15% growth in revenue across the Digital and Data portfolio, encompassing Cloud, Data & Analytics, and, Digital Experience
  • Consulting Excellence: Lead cross-functional teams in delivering high-impact consulting engagements, resulting in improved operational efficiency and >$20 million in cost savings for key clients.
  • Presales Leadership: Head and oversee presales operations, collaborating with sales and delivery teams to successfully close $300 million in new business annually through the design of tailored solutions and value propositions.
  • Team Management: Lead and mentor a high-performing team of 18 professionals across strategy, consulting, and presales, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and driving performance through continuous coaching.
  • Client Relationship Management: Cultivate and maintain executive-level relationships with key clients, acting as the trusted advisor for critical transformation initiatives, contributing to long-term partnerships and retention.
  • Cross-functional Collaboration: Bridge the gap between strategy, sales, and delivery functions, enabling seamless execution of multi-million-dollar deals, which resulted in 5% increase in client acquisition.
  • Business Impact & P&L Responsibility: Accountable for the P&L of the strategy and consulting division, ensuring profitability, identifying cost optimization opportunities, and achieving 10% margin improvement year-over-year.
  • Market Expansion: Led efforts in expanding market presence by defining new strategic partnerships and identifying untapped market opportunities.
  • Thought Leadership: Positioned the company as a thought leader in industry forums and client engagements, influencing C-level decision-makers. A renowned industry leader and a frequent keynote speaker. Authored over 200+ CXO oriented thought provoking content pieces. Have been quoted in prestigious publications like CNBC, Economic Times, Forbes India and many more. Collaborate with industry bodies such as NASSCOM and WEF.

Associate Director

International Data Corporation (IDC)
03.2017 - 08.2022
  • Head of India Cloud, AI & Digital Transformation research and consulting practice, across tech vendors and tech buyers. Authored over 200+ CXO oriented though provoking content and built Cloud and Digital natives business research from scratch for IDC India
  • Voice of IDC in the India cloud and AI space. Often reached out by Industry forums (NASSCOM and WEF) for keynote, advisory and contribution on reports and events on the topics of Data economy, AI ethics, Evolving of AI and cloud markets
  • Frequent keynote speaker at home events (CIO Summit, IDC DX summit, Insights Awards, others) as well as invited for speaking at vendor events (AWS, Oracle, top cloud/AI providers). Lead and delivered over 40+ closed room discussions, Roundtables, Workshops, Industry Masterclasses and speaking engagements across IDC’s and industry syndicated events
  • Vendor consulting: Workshops and strategy sessions to providers (hyperscalers/ analytics and AI players) advising them on GTM, strategy validation, target segments, and recommending a robust corporate strategy.
  • P&L management: Local P&L management for business of ~USD 750K per year.

Program Manager

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
11.2010 - 02.2017
  • Managing multiple projects focusing on Competitive and Marketing Insights and part of Office of Corporate strategy (reporting to CEO's office) at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, focusing on Cloud and IoT.
  • Supporting regional/WW sales, marketing and strategy teams in HPE identify right customers, market opportunities and beat competition through data/research driven insights.
  • Working with HPE business unit VPs & executive council & CEO Office to address strategic and business questions.
  • Working with Country/Regional managers to respond to RFI/RFPs, develop business proposals and participating in pre- sales activities.
  • Developing customer insights; assisting HPE management in making decisions regarding their business unit.

Competitive Insights Manager

British Telecom
06.2008 - 11.2010
  • Worked as an FTE (Full-Time Equivalent) employee for British Telecom Plc. Represented BT's Global Insight, Strategy and Planning team and supported its Country Market Insight Team for a aligned delivery of localized customer insight profiles (ad hoc requests and client requests), localized sector snapshots and the relevant IT services markets overviews to support BT's business objectives in the various markets.
  • Undertook secondary research on the EMEA and Asia Pacific market. Using research skills and databases to identify creative solutions to data and information challenges.
  • Developed and articulated clear client value propositions for business development needs in the Asian market.
  • Adept at applying a wide range of analytical tools and framework like PESTLE for stronger analysis and produce more client ready packs with rich content.

Education

Diploma - Digital Marketing

Indian School of Business
Hyderabad
05-2016

PGDBM - Finance & Marketing

BIIB, Pune
Pune
05-2008

Skills

  • Strategic & Leadership Skills: Strategic Planning & Roadmapping, Change Management, Client Engagement & Consulting
  • Technical & Consulting Skills: AI and Machine Learning Strategy, Cloud Consulting, Digital Transformation, Business Process Reengineering
  • Presales and Solutioning Skills: ROI analysis, GTM Strategy, Presentations & Demos

Timeline

Sr Director, Strategy & Consulting Digital & Data

Birlasoft
09.2022 - Current

Associate Director

International Data Corporation (IDC)
03.2017 - 08.2022

Program Manager

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)
11.2010 - 02.2017

Competitive Insights Manager

British Telecom
06.2008 - 11.2010

Diploma - Digital Marketing

Indian School of Business

PGDBM - Finance & Marketing

BIIB, Pune

Similar Profiles

CREATE PROFILE
Rishu Sharma