Sudharshan Krishnamurthy
Director & Co-Founder
Bengaluru,KA
Summary
Senior Customer Experience, Client Enablement, and Operations leader with 15+ years of experience building and scaling high-performing teams across fintech, digital platforms, SaaS, and high-growth organizations. Proven track record of leading large-scale customer operations (50–250+ teams), driving measurable improvements in NPS, response times, operational efficiency, and revenue outcomes.
Deep expertise in fintech customer journeys, including payments, BNPL, lending, KYC, disputes, and compliance-sensitive workflows, with leadership experience at platforms such as ZestMoney and PhonePe. Known for designing AI-enabled, automation-first CX and enablement models that reduce demand, improve resolution quality, and strengthen customer trust at scale.
Demonstrated ability to build functions from scratch, institutionalize operating models, and lead through rapid growth and ambiguity. Strong cross-functional partner to Product, Engineering, Risk, and Business leaders, translating customer insights into process, product, and experience improvements.
Hands-on, outcome-driven leader with founder experience, combining strategic thinking with execution rigor. Adept at building accountable cultures, developing leaders, and aligning customer experience with business growth. Seeking senior leadership roles where customer experience, enablement, and operational excellence are core drivers of scale and competitive advantage.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
5
5
Languages
Work History
Director – Client Acquisition, Operations
Jigsaw
06.2024 - Current
- Built and scaled the client acquisition, customer experience, and operations function from zero to a 50+ member organization within 10 months, establishing operating structure, accountability models, and performance metrics.
- Acted as the senior operational leader for all client-facing teams, ensuring consistent service delivery, quality standards, and client satisfaction.
- Defined and implemented end-to-end client onboarding, enablement, and engagement frameworks, driving improved client retention and long-term partnerships.
- Owned senior client relationships across 1,000+ clients, serving as the primary escalation point and trusted advisor for complex or high-impact engagements.
- Drove 350% revenue growth within 10 months by aligning client needs, delivery capability, and sales execution with operational capacity.
- Designed and deployed standardized workflows, operating playbooks, and reporting dashboards, improving delivery predictability, efficiency, and visibility for leadership.
- Established performance management frameworks across productivity, quality, turnaround time, and client satisfaction, enabling continuous improvement and data-driven decision-making.
- Recruited, trained, and mentored team leads and managers, building a high-performance culture centered on ownership, collaboration, and accountability.
- Led change management initiatives during rapid scale, ensuring minimal disruption to client experience and team performance.
- Partnered with senior stakeholders across sales, delivery, and leadership to align growth objectives with operational readiness.
- Represented the organization at industry forums and university partnerships, strengthening brand presence and building sustainable talent pipelines.
Co-founder & CEO
Ekholine Global
12.2023 - 05.2024
- Co-founded and led the organization, defining company vision, go-to-market strategy, and operating model from inception in a bootstrapped environment.
- Owned end-to-end business execution including strategy, operations, client acquisition, delivery, and financial discipline.
- Built and led a cross-functional team across operations, sales, and execution, establishing early-stage processes, priorities, and accountability structures.
- Operated the business with a strong focus on cost control, unit economics, and sustainable execution without external funding.
- Designed foundational workflows, operating rhythms, and performance tracking to support efficient and scalable operations.
- Led client discussions, partnerships, and external representation during the company’s formative phase.
- Fostered a high-ownership, execution-driven culture while navigating ambiguity and rapid decision-making.
Vice President - CX & Operations
Palette formerly known as White.inc
05.2023 - 11.2023
- Led and scaled a 120-member customer experience organization across multiple lines of business, ensuring consistent service quality and operational excellence.
- Owned end-to-end CX and operations strategy, balancing customer satisfaction, efficiency, and business outcomes in a fast-growing digital environment.
- Partnered closely with Product, Engineering, and Data teams to embed customer insights into product roadmaps and improve end-to-end customer journeys.
- Leveraged analytics and process intelligence to identify friction points, optimize service touchpoints, and improve resolution quality.
- Designed and implemented self-service solutions, chatbots, and product usability enhancements, reducing inbound customer ticket volumes by 75%.
- Led cross-functional initiatives to improve operational efficiency, reduce resolution times, and enhance customer trust.
- Established performance management frameworks and dashboards tracking productivity, quality, response times, and customer satisfaction.
- Provided crisis management and senior-level intervention during high-impact customer or operational incidents.
- Built and developed leadership capability within the organization by mentoring managers and team leads.
- Drove a customer-first, accountability-driven culture while scaling processes and teams.
Manager – Customer Experience & Operations
ZestMoney
04.2022 - 05.2023
- Led omni-channel customer experience and operations for a 250+ member team across multiple fintech lines of business, supporting high-volume customer journeys including onboarding, KYC, repayments, disputes, and escalations.
- Acted as a senior escalation owner for complex and high-risk customer cases, balancing customer empathy with regulatory, risk, and compliance considerations.
- Partnered closely with Product and Engineering teams to design and deploy AI-enabled chatbots and self-service workflows, reducing customer ticket volumes from approximately 12,000 to 2,000.
- Automated high-frequency fintech queries related to loan servicing, repayments, and payment failures, enabling frontline agents to focus on high-value and exception-driven cases.
- Reduced First Response Time (FRT) from over 4 hours to under 30 minutes across all customer communication channels.
- Improved Net Promoter Score (NPS) from the mid-30s to a sustained 85+ by strengthening resolution quality, process discipline, and customer trust.
- Built and owned analytics dashboards tracking customer behavior, resolution velocity, response times, repeat contact drivers, and operational efficiency.
- Defined and governed CX performance metrics across productivity, quality, turnaround time, and customer satisfaction for internal and external support teams.
- Established end-to-end customer experience operating standards and workflows to ensure consistency, predictability, and scalability.
- Led training, quality, and continuous improvement initiatives to uplift agent capability and reduce repeat contacts.
- Recruited, onboarded, and developed team leads and managers, building a high-performance, customer-first culture focused on accountability and execution excellence.
Manager - Social Media
PhonePe Pvt Ltd
02.2020 - 04.2022
- Built and led the social media customer support function for a large-scale fintech payments platform, supporting high-volume, real-time customer interactions.
- Managed a team of 25+ specialists handling payment failures, transaction disputes, merchant issues, and sensitive customer complaints across social channels.
- Acted as a key escalation owner for executive-level and high-risk customer issues, ensuring swift resolution while protecting customer trust and brand reputation.
- Partnered closely with Risk, Product, Engineering, and Compliance teams to resolve payment-related issues and improve systemic reliability.
- Developed structured response playbooks, escalation protocols, and quality standards to ensure consistency and speed at scale.
- Leveraged social media analytics and interaction data to identify recurring payment issues, feeding insights into product and process improvements.
- Improved response quality and turnaround times while operating in a high-visibility, compliance-sensitive environment.
Functional Manager
Kinara Capital
12.2018 - 12.2019
- Led and managed 200+ team members across Sales, Customer Experience, and Business Development functions, aligning regional execution with organizational goals.
- Oversaw day-to-day operations across multiple locations, driving consistency, efficiency, and performance discipline.
- Partnered with cross-functional teams to streamline processes and improve customer and sales effectiveness.
- Traveled extensively to train, coach, and upskill sales teams across regions, improving field execution and customer engagement.
- Implemented performance tracking and operational controls to improve productivity and accountability at scale.
- Played a key role in driving regional growth by strengthening frontline capability and operational rigor.
Inside Sales (Contract) - Enterprise Excellence (USA)
Azuga Inc - SaaS
02.2018 - 11.2018
- Supported enterprise sales initiatives for a US-based SaaS platform, focusing on mid-market and large enterprise clients.
- Executed consultative sales engagements to understand client operational needs and position appropriate SaaS solutions.
- Managed and maintained a structured sales pipeline, ensuring consistent follow-ups and qualified opportunity flow.
- Collaborated with internal teams to align product capabilities with enterprise client requirements.
- Demonstrated strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills across complex sales cycles.
- Consistently met or exceeded assigned sales targets within a competitive enterprise environment.
Process & Product Trainer
Urban Ladder
08.2015 - 12.2017
- Played a key role in piloting the initial customer experience cohorts, supporting early-stage scale and operational readiness.
- Designed and delivered product, process, and customer experience training programs to frontline and supervisory teams.
- Customized training materials and learning modules based on product updates, customer feedback, and performance gaps.
- Conducted engaging classroom and on-the-job training sessions to improve service quality and operational consistency.
- Supported scaling initiatives by onboarding new teams and ensuring adherence to defined CX standards.
- Monitored underperforming SKUs and collaborated with business teams to drive revenue improvement through better product understanding.
Senior associate Training & Quality (APAC)
First Advantage
04.2013 - 07.2015
- Supported training and quality programs for APAC operations, ensuring consistent service standards across teams and geographies.
- Delivered process, policy, and product training to frontline teams, improving onboarding effectiveness and operational readiness.
- Conducted quality audits and performance assessments to identify gaps and recommend targeted improvements.
- Partnered with operations leaders to drive adherence to defined quality benchmarks and client expectations.
- Contributed to continuous improvement initiatives by analyzing trends in errors, rework, and customer feedback.
Subject matter expert (Australia)
Firstsource Solutions Pvt Ltd
01.2009 - 03.2013
- Served as a Subject Matter Expert supporting Australia-based operations, providing functional guidance and process expertise to frontline and leadership teams.
- Acted as a key escalation point for complex customer issues, ensuring resolution quality and adherence to defined service standards.
- Supported process improvement initiatives by identifying recurring issues and recommending workflow enhancements.
- Assisted in onboarding, training, and coaching agents to improve service consistency and performance.
- Worked closely with quality and operations teams to maintain compliance with client requirements and delivery expectations.
Education
Bachelor of Computer Applications -
BSP
Skills
Customer Experience & Enablement Leadership
Customer Experience (CX) Strategy
Client Enablement & Onboarding
Customer Lifecycle Management
Escalation & Executive Issue Management
Customer Retention & Loyalty
Service Design & Journey Optimization
Fintech & Digital Operations
Fintech Operations (Payments, Lending, BNPL)
KYC, Disputes & Resolution Management
Compliance-Aware CX Operations
High-Volume Transactional Support
Risk-Aware Customer Handling
AI, Automation & Process Intelligence
AI-Enabled Chatbots & Self-Service
Automation of Customer Workflows
Process Optimization & Standardization
Operational Analytics & Insights
Ticket Deflection & Demand Reduction
Operations, Governance & Performance
Operating Model Design
Service Delivery Management
Performance Metrics & KPIs
Quality Frameworks & Continuous Improvement
Reporting Dashboards & Business Reviews
Change Management
People & Site Leadership
Large-Scale Team Leadership
Leadership Development & Coaching
Workforce Productivity & Capacity Planning
Cross-Functional Stakeholder Management
Site & Operations Leadership
Revenue & Client Growth
Client Acquisition & Expansion
Revenue-Linked CX Strategy
Enterprise & B2B Client Management
Sales & Operations Alignment
Tools & Ways of Working
CRM & Ticketing Platforms
Data-Driven Decision Making
Agile & Cross-Functional Collaboration
Key Achievement
- 15+ years in Customer Experience, Client Aquisition, Operations, and People Management.
- Successfully led and optimized CX strategies for high-growth companies.
- Proven track record of driving efficiency, scaling teams, and improving customer satisfaction.
- Hands-on approach to problem-solving, operational execution, and stakeholder management.
- Fostered a customer-first culture, ensuring swift issue resolution and continuous process enhancement.
Timeline
Director – Client Acquisition, Operations
Jigsaw
06.2024 - Current
Co-founder & CEO
Ekholine Global
12.2023 - 05.2024
Vice President - CX & Operations
Palette formerly known as White.inc
05.2023 - 11.2023
Manager – Customer Experience & Operations
ZestMoney
04.2022 - 05.2023
Manager - Social Media
PhonePe Pvt Ltd
02.2020 - 04.2022
Functional Manager
Kinara Capital
12.2018 - 12.2019
Inside Sales (Contract) - Enterprise Excellence (USA)
Azuga Inc - SaaS
02.2018 - 11.2018
Process & Product Trainer
Urban Ladder
08.2015 - 12.2017
Senior associate Training & Quality (APAC)
First Advantage
04.2013 - 07.2015
Subject matter expert (Australia)
Firstsource Solutions Pvt Ltd
01.2009 - 03.2013
Bachelor of Computer Applications -
BSP