Global
Meet Vinay Rajadhyaksha, President and Chief Operating Officer. Vinay heads the delivery of Ness’ services globally by driving strategic initiatives across multiple talented groups in North America, Europe, and India. His dynamic leadership abilities are guided by the famous mantra stated by Mahatma Gandhi, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” He believes in leading by example with clarity and in return, the world will be with you.
Q: Tell us a little bit about your role and where you are based out of.
A: I joined Ness more than three years ago as Chief Delivery Officer and had the opportunity over the last year and a half to take on the role of President and Chief Operating Officer. I’m primarily focused on the execution of our services which includes Delivery, HR, Resource Management, Process and Quality. These functions support our Sales, Practices, and Solution teams – all focused together on delivering business value to our customers. Given the global nature of my responsibilities, I split my time between multiple continents. I find myself moving back and forth between India and the US and at times, stopping by Europe on the way. I consider myself fortunate to get to see my son who’s doing his post-graduation work in the US where I’m currently based. When I return home to India, I get a chance to spend time with my wife, daughter, and 94-year-old father-in-law.
Q: Given your global role, what’s your favorite part of the workday?
A: Mornings are my favorite. I love to get in a quick walk or exercise first thing in the morning. Once I do that, I take stock of the day and prepare for any calls or meetings. I then shift gears to my mail inbox, which you can imagine is always receiving email at all hours of the global day. There is always a steady stream of emails that come in from whichever part of the world is working at that time. When I’m in the US, my mornings are absolutely full because both India and Europe are working almost until my lunchtime in the US. But if I’m in India, it’s the other way around. Evenings get extremely busy because that’s when the US is working. It’s a bit of an irregular routine, but I adjust and adapt to the time and location. Of course, Friday evenings are the best, as one settles into the weekend. Most weekends are reserved for reading and catching up socially.
Q: What do you keep on your desk?
A: I generally prefer a clean desk as am not a fan of clutter. Since I typically travel to different offices and almost everything is done electronically, I don’t leave much behind. The two items I prefer to have on my desk are a family photo and my coffee mug.
Q: Speaking of coffee, how do you prefer it?
A: Coming from India, I’m both a tea and coffee drinker. Depending on the time of day, I prefer one over the other. My morning cup of tea is almost to die for. It’s the first thing I have when I wake up and I prefer coffee with my breakfast. I take both with cream and a little sweetener. With so many meetings, it’s always nice to have a cup of tea or coffee close by.
Q: What’s on your to-do list?
A: I just love traveling and that’s at the top of my list. I was fortunate to get into international business a bit early on in life and have been traveling steadily for the last 25 years. To date, I’ve been to 45 countries in life, and my immediate goal is to travel to 5 more countries and get to #50. Although, once I get to my goal, I don’t plan on stopping since my family and I love traveling so very much.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working at Ness?
A: I’ve worked at companies of all sizes – big and small; however, my time at Ness stands out in many ways as one of the best. Nessians are a highly talented group, including my own team and the executive team. One of the things I enjoy most is that Ness provides multiple opportunities for employees and challenges us in a positive way. I find this to be very unique and it brings out the best in us. This is also an exciting time at Ness as we poise ourselves for quantum growth.
Q: How would your 10-year-old self react to what you do now?
A: I come from humble beginnings and never would have dreamt of the opportunities that I’ve had in my life. It’s truly a blessing to have seen and been a part of the evolution of global IT over three decades and where our business has taken us.
Q: When travel resumes, what’s the next place you’d like to visit and why?
A: As I mentioned, having traveled quite extensively, I’ve visited most of the Far East from Japan at the top to New Zealand at the bottom. Similarly, my professional and personal travels have taken me to Western Europe as I spent a couple of years living in the UK. Next on my list is to explore Eastern Europe (Poland, Croatia), Russia, Ukraine as also South America (Brazil and Argentina).
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