Always learning

Every six months, I find something new to study. Sometimes it is a domain I am working in and want to go deeper on. Sometimes it is something far outside my work that I am simply curious about. I treat it the same way I treat my morning routine — non-negotiable, repeated, compounding.

In the last two years alone, I have completed over forty professional certifications and specialisations. They span supply chain, leadership, digital strategy, AI, data analytics, lean six sigma, blockchain, emotional intelligence, and even Bhagwad Gita for leadership. Some came from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Some from Airbus, Unilever, and Google. Some from INSEAD, University of London, and University of Amsterdam. The variety is intentional. So is the discipline.

This page is not a list. It is a record of an approach.

Where it started

I did my Bachelor of Management Science at IIPS, DAVV in Indore between 2001 and 2004, and went on to do my MBA in Marketing at the same university from 2004 to 2006. That was where I first learned that academic rigour and curiosity are not opposites — they are partners. The MBA project on e-commerce I did in 2003, when e-commerce in India was barely a thing, is the project that, six years later, would help me walk into Flipkart.

In 2018, I went back to school in a different way — completing the Stepping into Leadership Programme at the Indian School of Business. ISB taught me that leadership at scale is a different discipline from leadership in a room. I have been carrying that lesson with me ever since.

How I keep learning now

The pace has actually accelerated in the last two years. Once I committed to learning continuously, the platforms made it easy. Coursera, edX, Udemy, INSEAD's Digital Hub, Project Management Institute. I treat them the way someone else might treat a gym — show up, do the work, finish what you start.

A representative slice of recent learning:

Strategy and digital transformation— Advanced Digital Transformation (IIMA), Leading with a Digital Strategy (IIMA), Transforming Life and Organisations in the Digital Age (IIMA), Corporate Strategy (University of London).

Supply chain— Airbus Supply Chain Specialist (Airbus Beyond), Unilever Supply Chain Data Analyst, Supply Chain Software Tools, Supply Chain Digitization (IIMA), Implementing Supply Chain Analytics.

Leadership and people— Leadership Skills (IIMA), Building Resilient Teams, Emotional Intelligence in Leadership, Happiness Skills (IIMA), Organizations of the Future (IIMA), Understanding Bhagwad Gita for Leadership Excellence (IIMA).

Operations and quality— Strategically Leading Lean Six Sigma Programs (PMI), Team Management for the 6σ Black Belt (Kennesaw State), Operations Management (IIMBx), Six Sigma Green Belt.

AI and data— Google AI Essentials, Foundations of Data Science (Google), Data Analytics for Lean Six Sigma (University of Amsterdam), Using Data Analytics in Supply Chain.

Specialised disciplines— Introduction to Blockchain Technologies (INSEAD), ISO 45001 Lead Auditor (TÜV NORD), 5S Lead Auditor.

If you want to see specific credentials, my LinkedIn profile carries the verifiable list with credential IDs and issuing institutions.

Why all of this

I am asked this often. Sir, you are already an SVP — why are you still studying?

A few reasons.

First: the world is changing faster than any one role can keep up with. The supply chain I joined in 2010 is not the supply chain I work in today. AI is reshaping operations every quarter. The leaders who stop learning become irrelevant in five years, regardless of how senior they are right now.

Second: most of what I learn does not have an obvious application on the day I learn it. The blockchain certification from INSEAD has not yet shown up directly in my work at Om Logistics. The Bhagwad Gita course shifted how I think about decisions under pressure. The data science work has changed how I look at our metrics. None of it was "career strategy." Some of it will compound. Some of it will not. Either is fine.

Third — and this is the one I would most want a younger reader to hear: when you make learning a habit, the question of what to learn next becomes easier, not harder. You stop optimising. You start exploring. And the explorations connect, eventually, in ways you would never have engineered.

That is the only career advice I trust enough to give: keep learning, and trust that the dots will connect themselves later.