Ashok Sekhar

Results-driven Bid Director with 19+ years of experience in leading multi-million dollar bid and tender processes across the IT / ITES industry and consistently achieving a 45%-win rate on major procurements. Specializes in shaping competitive win themes and leading multidisciplinary teams to convert high-value opportunities into signed contracts. Expertise in navigating complex procurement frameworks and ensuring 100% compliance on all proposal submissions.

Skilled in developing compelling value propositions, managing multimillion-dollar budgets, and mitigating risks to secure contracts that deliver sustainable revenue growth.

General Manager – Bid Management at SBL Knowledge Services Pvt. Ltd. (2025-01 – Present)

Seasoned business leader with extensive experience spearheading Bid Management, Business Development and Strategic Growth Initiatives across Geospatial, IT, and ITES sectors. Proven track record of driving end-to-end proposal management, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and positioning the organization for sustained market leadership.

• Head the Bid Management / Presales Division, leading multidisciplinary teams to design, develop, and deliver high-impact proposals that align with organizational goals and client objectives.
• Define and drive the company's core business development framework, shaping go-to-market strategies and strengthening market positioning across domestic and international geospatial and ITES markets.
• Oversee the complete bid lifecycle — from opportunity identification, technical analysis, and solution design to pricing, proposal submission, and contract negotiation — ensuring compliance, competitiveness, and profitability.
• Collaborate closely with technical and project management units to deliver techno-commercially sound and cost-effective solutions; instrumental in effort estimation, proposal content development, and executive presentations.
• Partner with the Technical Division to drive AI/ML integration for feature recognition and natural resource data generation, accelerating innovation and process optimization.
• Lead pre-contract negotiations, legal reviews, and commercial assessments, ensuring strategic alignment and risk mitigation before project handover to production or delivery teams.
• Identify and pursue empanelment and tendering opportunities with government and institutional clients; develop submissions in compliance with complex procurement frameworks.
• Serve as a key advisor to the Managing Director / CEO on strategic initiatives, business cases, and new product/service development to enhance organizational growth and market competitiveness.
• Champion knowledge dissemination, process improvement, and capacity building across teams through training and mentoring in bid strategy, proposal excellence, and techno-commercial acumen.
• Maintain strong market visibility and provide strategic insights on industry trends, competitive analysis, and potential partnerships for business expansion.

Senior Associate Vice President at DSM Soft (P) Limited (2015-12 – 2025-01)

Strategic leader with comprehensive experience in Contracts, Presales, and Global Bid Management, specializing in Geospatial, IT, and ITES domains. Instrumental in building high-performing presales and bid teams, driving international tendering success, and delivering value-driven, compliant, and commercially competitive proposals.

• Established and led a presales team equipped with the technical and business acumen to manage complex bids, ensuring excellence across the full bid lifecycle — from opportunity analysis to contract award.
• Spearheaded tender management initiatives for international opportunities in Remote Sensing (RS), GIS-based data creation, photogrammetric mapping, ortho imagery, LiDAR data processing, and other geospatial applications supporting utilities, infrastructure, agriculture, and forestry projects.
• Directed global opportunity scouting and tender evaluation processes, ensuring adherence to rigorous bid governance, documentation standards, and compliance frameworks.
• Managed strategic accounts with key global clients and mapping agencies; nurtured long-term partnerships through transparent communication, technical reliability, and commercial integrity.
• Designed and delivered geospatially focused, cost-effective solutions tailored to complex client requirements, leveraging domain expertise to balance innovation, quality, and profitability.
• Pursued empanelment and contracting opportunities with prominent government mapping agencies and international geospatial organizations, leading compliant and compelling proposal submissions.
• Served as an internal audit member for Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) compliance, supporting enterprise-level governance and operational excellence.
• Represented the organization in client engagement meetings and technical discussions across the United Kingdom and Schengen countries, enhancing cross-border business relationships and on-ground project understanding.

Associate Manager – Business Development at Vedanta Limited / Sesa Sterlite (2009-01 – 2015-12)

Dynamic professional overseeing business development operations, technical proposal management, and cross-functional coordination within the geospatial and mining and exploration sectors. Played a pivotal role in strengthening bid excellence, optimizing project execution frameworks, and building team capability to support long-term business growth.

• Coordinated seamlessly with business units and cross-functional teams to ensure alignment between project delivery, bid objectives, and organizational strategy.
• Assessed team competencies and training requirements, driving structured skill enhancement programs to strengthen technical and bidding expertise.
• Monitored adherence to established bidding processes, ensuring accuracy, consistency, and compliance with organizational and client standards.
• Led troubleshooting for technical and bidding challenges, ensuring timely resolution and quality output across all bid submissions.
• Managed strategic accounts with key global clients and mapping agencies; nurtured long-term partnerships through transparent communication, technical reliability, and commercial integrity.
• Designed and delivered geospatially focused, cost-effective solutions tailored to complex client requirements, leveraging domain expertise to balance innovation, quality, and profitability.
• Pursued empanelment and contracting opportunities with prominent government mapping agencies and international geospatial organizations, leading compliant and compelling proposal submissions.
• Served as an internal audit member for Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) compliance, supporting enterprise-level governance and operational excellence.
• Represented the organization in client engagement meetings and technical discussions across the United Kingdom and Schengen countries, enhancing cross-border business relationships and on-ground project understanding.
• Supervised Remote Sensing (RS) and GIS process activities for ongoing projects, maintaining delivery quality and operational efficiency.
• Managed preparation of techno-commercial proposals, business documentation, and strategic reports to support client submissions and executive reviews.
• Defined project methodologies and technical approaches, ensuring optimal resource utilization and adherence to best practices.
• Provided oversight on project management aspects, anticipating potential risks and implementing proactive mitigation strategies.

GIS Engineer at Risk Management Solutions India Pvt Ltd (RMSI) (2007-01 – 2007-12)

• Worked in RMSI as a GIS Engineer and responsibilities included generation of various thematic maps, creation and updating land use land cover map using satellite images.
• Responsibilities included the preprocessing of the datasets, georeferencing, image processing of the dataset and feature extraction.
• Experienced in GIS projects related to Environmental management, forestry, engineering & mining.
• Worked in projects which were meant to delineate prospective mineral zones.
• Led a team of GIS Engineers in various projects which dealt with landuse and landcover classification.
• Used various satellite images such as Cartosat, Hyperion, IKONOS, ETM+, MODIS, LISS, Landsat, HYMAP, Aster etc.

M.Tech in Remote Sensing and GIS in Geosciences – Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS, Dehradun, India) (2008)

M.Sc in Applied Geology – University of Madras (2004)

B.Sc in Geology – Mahatma Gandhi University (2002)