Avinash Kedari

GCC and innovation leader with 15+ years across Honda Digital Innovation India (HDII), T-Hub, Alpha-Numero, SuneraTech, FIS and Accenture. B.Tech (Electrical & Electronics) with a PGDM from IIM Lucknow.

Currently

Head of Startup Innovation at HDII, owning the scouting, challenge, POC and pilot pipeline that feeds Honda's India digital products. Previously led the Corporate Innovation, GCC and CSR practices at T-Hub with full P&L ownership, running 50+ programs for 120+ Fortune 500 / 1000 corporates including 13 automotive OEMs and Tier-1s. Track record of 100%+ revenue delivery, 50+ new enterprise logos, 100+ POCs and pilots, and 20+ member teams. Active US & Canada Business Visa holder.

Head of Startup Innovation - Honda Digital Innovation India (HDII) - Bengaluru, India

(2026-07)

• Head the startup innovation vertical, owning strategy, startup scouting, partnerships and delivery of Honda's India startup engagement through open innovation challenges, hackathons and ecosystem programs.
• Driving Honda Innovation Challenge 1.0 (POCs to pilot selection with a four-startup cohort) and 2.0, along with upcoming challenges, hackathons and discovery workshops to identify priority innovation themes.
• Manage partnerships with T-Hub and other incubation centers and startup ecosystem partners across India to source startups, co-create programs and widen Honda's innovation pipeline.

Head of Corporate Innovation (Director) | GCC & CSR Practice - T-Hub - Hyderabad, India

(2023-05 - 2026-06)

• GCC leadership: Led T-Hub's GCC vertical end to end, building tailored account strategies for Global Capability Centres in Hyderabad and across India and positioning T-Hub as their innovation, talent and growth partner.
• Engagement: Worked with GCC heads and CXOs to turn parent-company priorities into local innovation agendas, delivered through startup scouting, hackathons, challenges and POCs, growing single programs into repeat, multi-program relationships.
• Market and GTM: Tracked new GCC setups and expansions in India and shaped go-to-market plans and outreach to win new logos.
• Corporate innovation programs: Designed and ran 50+ programs (hackathons, ideathons, open innovation challenges, corporate accelerators, 6-12 week pilots) for 120+ Fortune 500 / 1000 corporates, with full P&L ownership across sales, account management and delivery.
• Automotive vertical: Built the automotive innovation vertical, engaging 13 OEMs and Tier-1s including VW, Honda, Mercedes-Benz / MBRDI, Bosch, AISIN, Renault-Nissan, JLR, Denso, Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki.
• Startup pipeline and pilots: Curated and qualified 1,000+ startups across mobility, EV, AI/ML, IoT and connected vehicle; facilitated 100+ POCs and pilots covering problem scoping, startup matchmaking, commercial structuring and deployment.
• Revenue and logos: Added 50+ new enterprise logos in under 3 years and delivered 100%+ of revenue targets every year, engaging CXOs across BFSI, manufacturing, retail, avionics, healthcare and semiconductors.
• Ecosystem and team: Built partnerships with NASSCOM, NSRCEL (IIM Bangalore), CII, AIC, IIM Ahmedabad, FITT (IIT Delhi), IIIT Hyderabad and ISB; built and led a 20+ member team across business development, pre-sales, program management and delivery.

Director, Enterprise Sales & Digital Transformation - Alpha-Numero - Hyderabad, India

(2021-03 - 2023-05)

• Owned enterprise sales, account management and GTM strategy for the North America and India regions, driving the full sales cycle from prospecting and demos to RFP / RFQ, solutioning, negotiation and closure.
• Closed $2M+ in deals and built a $15M opportunity pipeline across Manufacturing, Financial Services and Semiconductor verticals.
• Closed Managed Services and Staff Augmentation deals worth $1M ACV, growing recurring revenue from existing accounts.
• Established strategic partnerships with Gartner (GTM strategy) and UiPath (technology partner) to open new accounts and strengthen the offering.
• Led a 4-member sales and marketing team, owning hiring, training, pipeline reviews and quarterly business reviews (QBRs).
• Expanded the business into Canada and the UAE through External Sales Consultants, opening new geographies.
• Awarded Employee of the Year for FY 2021-22 for revenue delivery and market expansion.

Senior Manager, Enterprise Sales & Pre-Sales | Key Accounts, RPA, AI & Digital - SuneraTech - Hyderabad, India

(2018-12 - 2021-03)

• Owned the complete enterprise sales cycle for North America in RPA, AI/ML and chatbot solutions, from prospecting and demos to solutioning, negotiation and closure (Jan 2020 - Mar 2021).
• Closed 5+ new logos within 12 months; received the Excellence Award in Sales Strategy for FY 2020-21.
• Ran channel partnerships with Automation Anywhere, UiPath, Cherwell and ServiceNow, driving joint GTM and partner-led deals.
• Headed a 4-person APAC pre-sales team, managing POCs, RFIs, RFPs and RFQs and aligning scope, deliverables and budgets with client executive sponsors (Dec 2018 - Jan 2020).
• Managed multiple key accounts; designed client collateral, hosted webinars and ran digital campaigns to build pipeline.

Senior Business Solutions Consultant, Banking & Payments - FIS Global - Bengaluru, India

(2018-01 - 2018-12)

• Drove pre-sales and business development for Banking & Payments solutions across APAC at one of the world's largest FinTech companies.
• Managed end-to-end pre-sales: solution pitches, RFP / RFI responses, client demos, POCs and closure of large, complex deals.
• Engaged C-level decision-makers at premier banks to shape requirements and commercial proposals.

Business Solutions Consultant, Banking & Payments - FIS Global - Bengaluru, India

(2017-04 - 2018-01)

• Built core expertise in enterprise pre-sales, client engagement and solution consulting for Banking & Payments products across APAC.

Software Engineering Analyst, Microsoft ERP & Enterprise Solutions - Accenture - Hyderabad, India

(2013-04 - 2015-06)

• Core team member on a USD 700M annual revenue system handling Canadian government fare-card transactions.
• Developed Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP applications integrating value-chain activities for a US MNC; achieved 100% on-time resolution across 300+ client issues.
• Recognised with a Performance Award and Star of the Month twice in a 24-member team; A+ on Microsoft AX certifications.

Associate Software Engineer - Accenture - Hyderabad, India

(2012-05 - 2013-04)

• Built Microsoft ERP applications for US and Canada enterprise clients; created an automation tool that cut simulation execution time by 90%.

PGDM (MBA) - Finance & Operations - Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow (2015 - 2017)

B.Tech - Electrical & Electronics Engineering - KITS Warangal (Kakatiya University) (2008 - 2012)