VARUN SHARMA
Summary
Dynamic Business Development leader with expertise in solution sales leveraging AI and ML. Successfully onboarded major clients in India and the Middle East, showcasing exceptional negotiation and relationship-building abilities. Deep understanding of new age technologies including Conversational AI chatbot and voicebot, Gen AI and Agentic AI methodologies.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
Work History
Director – Sales
Karix Mobile
04.2025 - Current
- Lead international team of 4 members, managing annual recurring revenue of $50 million.
- Onboarded major accounts including Salesforce and Cainiao, enhancing client portfolio.
- Secured business growth from Tencent Cloud to $100,000 within weeks.
- Engaged with high-profile clients such as Amazon Retail, AWS, Alibaba Group, and Nexmo.
Associate Director – Business Development
Twixor
05.2022 - 01.2025
- Spearheaded North America expansion as first international hire, achieving $500K in ARR.
- Onboarded five customers and three reseller partners to enhance market presence.
- Organized and presented at over 15 events and conferences to boost brand recognition.
- Generated opportunities valued at $5M across Americas region.
Associate Director – Business Development
Karix Mobile
07.2019 - 05.2022
- Built and expanded New Products division focused on Digital Transformation solutions via OTT channels.
- Generated $10M ARR over three years for North India and Middle East Asia markets.
- Closed significant accounts including Easemytrip, Makemytrip, Royal Enfield, and Air India.
- Defined use cases with clients for structured and AI-driven conversations across platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram.
- Managed complete sales lifecycle including lead generation, presentations, proposals, negotiations, and project deployment.
- Collaborated with internal teams—Presales, PMO, and delivery—to streamline customer journeys and ensure timely delivery.
- Executed pre-sales and post-sales solutions to enhance customer engagement through social media channels.
- Drove strategic initiatives to enhance market penetration in assigned geographies.
Senior Manager – Business Development
Indian School of Business
03.2018 - 01.2019
- Led the Business Development team and held Profit-n-Loss responsibility for the Executive Education programs held by the center (the biggest by revenue generation).
- Successfully executed the existing programs while improving and streamlining the system.
- Created a new revenue generation stream contributing to a 25% increase in revenue in 2018.
- Conducted and coordinated financial, product, market, operational and related research to support strategic and business planning within the department & programs of the client group.
Manager (startups) – Business Development
Lassonde School of Engineering
12.2013 - 12.2017
- Set up the Business Development team of the newly established incubator space - Bergeron Entrepreneurs for Science and Technology (BEST).
- Mentored several start-ups – Refining ideas, developing value proposition, helping understand commercial implications and scalability.
- Defined the GTM strategies for the startups.
- Managed to successfully raise seed funding and graduate over a dozen start-ups from the Department in 4 years.
Project Associate
Cognizant Technology Solutions
10.2007 - 11.2011
- Worked on Development projects in the health care vertical for IMS and Pfizer clients.
- Technologies – Data warehouse and Business Intelligence, Data stage, SQL, Netezza.
- Liaised with the stakeholders to communicate project goals and objectives and ensure deliverables are completed in a timely manner.
Education
Master of Business Administration -
Schulich School of Business, York University
Canada12-2013
B. Tech - Electronics & Communications
Sathyabama Institute of Science And Technology
India07-2007
Skills
- Business development
- Revenue generation
- Market expansion
- Strategic partnerships
- Solution sales using AI and ML
- Conversational AI CX solutions
Accomplishments
- Developing New Geographies – Americas as part of Twixor & Middle East Asia as part of Karix.
- Top Sales Performer – Achieved 100% target for 6 successive quarters at Karix Mobile. Crossed 150% in 2 of those quarters.
- New Customer Logos – In Q4 2021 and Q1 2022 won 25 new Enterprise customer logos. Overall 100+ new customer logos were won in the last 6 years for Karix and Twixor.
- Initiatives – As part of Twixor, implemented selling via partnerships instead of direct sales. Closed 3 large partners in the Americas region. Created opportunities worth $5M.
Timeline
Director – Sales
Karix Mobile
04.2025 - Current
Associate Director – Business Development
Twixor
05.2022 - 01.2025
Associate Director – Business Development
Karix Mobile
07.2019 - 05.2022
Senior Manager – Business Development
Indian School of Business
03.2018 - 01.2019
Manager (startups) – Business Development
Lassonde School of Engineering
12.2013 - 12.2017
Project Associate
Cognizant Technology Solutions
10.2007 - 11.2011
Master of Business Administration -
Schulich School of Business, York University
B. Tech - Electronics & Communications
Sathyabama Institute of Science And Technology