Shailendra Puri

Commercial and operating leader with 25+ years building and running technology, workforce and GCC services businesses. Has delivered $50M+ in cumulative P&L impact, led 1,500+ professionals, and personally acquired 300+ enterprise clients across BFSI, manufacturing, life sciences and global enterprise GCCs. Combines revenue origination with direct delivery and margin ownership — a commercial-and-operating profile that has repeatedly converted single-resource footholds into multi-year, multi-service accounts.

Founded two services businesses from inception to scale. Personally designed three proprietary frameworks — for GCC advisory, AI-led value creation and managed-services governance — now applied across client engagements. Deep India market leadership, with active relationships across Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Chief Strategy Officer at Xevyte Technologies (2025-04 – 2026-09)

Recruited to build the India growth mandate from a standing start — operating as a largely solo BD function across seven practice areas (SAP/ERP, cybersecurity, cloud/infrastructure, data & AI, DevOps, staffing, GBS) supporting a ~1,500-person delivery organization.

• Designed and deployed VANTAGE™, XAIM™ and XELERATE™ as the firm's first standardized GCC diagnostic, AI-transformation and managed-services governance methodologies — replacing ad hoc proposals with a repeatable commercial and delivery framework used by presales and account teams.
• Built the account portfolio from zero: signed and expanded MSAs with Wartsila, Siemens, ABB, DP World, JLL, Qnity and M&G, while opening senior relationships across India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
• Set sector and account priorities across cyber, SAP, cloud, data, AI, DevOps and managed services, aligning delivery, presales and account management around a single commercial roadmap.

Chief Operating Officer at FirstMeridian Global Services (2024-02 – 2025-04)

Took direct P&L and delivery accountability for a ₹100 crore-plus (~$12M), 500-plus-person business spanning seven industry verticals — a mandate combining full commercial ownership with delivery governance, not a delivery-only remit.

• Reset account economics by tightening deployment, delivery governance and margin management across managed-workforce, capability-centre, hiring and technology-services lines.
• Converted single-service resourcing mandates into broader, longer-term enterprise relationships, including Nayara Energy, Deloitte, KPMG, WTW, Bajaj Finserv and HDFC Bank.
• Operated as the senior link between field delivery teams and enterprise sponsors — the combined commercial-and-operating pattern that has defined every subsequent role.

Principal Partner and VP, GCC/GIC Business at Apexon (2022-07 – 2024-02)

Owned P&L for a GCC/GIC business generating $15M+ in annual revenue, with end-to-end accountability for account strategy, commercial growth and capability-building propositions for global enterprise clients.

• Lifted client retention by more than 20% through direct executive sponsorship, service recovery and tighter accountability across commercial and delivery leadership — a retention gain with outsized P&L impact given the account concentration typical of GCC/GIC portfolios.
• Led growth across Siemens, ICON, Airbus, M&G, CMA CGM and JLL, while opening new GCC market relationships in Manila — his first footprint beyond India.

Vice President, IT Contingent Workforce and Managed Services at upGrad Rekrut (2021-08 – 2022-06)

Established and led the IT contingent-workforce and managed-services business from the ground up — growth plan, team structure and operating cadence — inside a fast-scaling edtech-to-enterprise-services pivot.

• Won and onboarded enterprise accounts including Siemens, M&G, ICICI Bank, Axtria, Springer Nature, CRISIL, Bayer and IIFL within a compressed ~10-month tenure — consistent with a career-long pace of 12–15 new logos per year.

Head, Professional Services at NSEIT Limited (2018-10 – 2021-08)

Led the Professional Services business with 17 direct reports and oversight of 500+ billable professionals, generating $10M+ in revenue across digital banking, cybersecurity, data, AI, automation and cloud.

• Owned BFSI market development end-to-end, bringing consulting, technology and delivery teams together to structure and execute mandates for banks, insurers and capital-markets institutions — the origin of BFSI relationships he still draws on today.

Chief of Sales at Anlage Infotech (2017-06 – 2018-10)

• Led the sales organization across IT, engineering, BFSI and life sciences, setting account priorities and winning RPO and contingent-workforce mandates through new client acquisition and expansion.

Director, India Business at Akraya Inc. (2015-06 – 2017-05)

• Led the India business mandate — enterprise acquisition, strategic account development and commercial forecasting — with exposure to global MSP and VMS programs, building the international-market fluency later applied in Manila and the Middle East.

Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Renovo Consulting Group (2009-08 – 2015-06)

• Co-founded and ran the business with full P&L, legal and operating responsibility, growing annual revenue to ~₹8–10 crore (~$1M) across consulting, workforce solutions, SOW and managed projects — his second proof of being able to build a commercial engine from zero.

Co-Founder and Director at Abyss & Horizon Consulting (1999-04 – 2009-07)

• Founded and built the firm from inception to ~₹24–25 crore (~$3M) in annual revenue, with full P&L, legal and operating responsibility across recruitment, contingent workforce, RPO and SOW services — the original proof point for his founder identity, a decade before Renovo.

Sales and Business Development, IT Education and Technology at Various Organizations (1994-01 – 1999-12)

The starting point of an unbroken, three-decade selling and relationship-building track record.