Testimonials
MR. UDAY KULKARNI IS AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER WHO LEADS SCHINDLER INDIA TO BE THE MARKET LEADER, AS A LEADER HE CONSISTENTLY GUIDED AND COACHED THE ORGANIZATION DURING CHALLENGING TIMES TO EXCEL IN BOTH SALES GROWTH AND PROFITABILITY YOY DURING HIS 10+ YEARS TENURE. MR. UDAY, CUSTOMER CENTRICITY, CONSULTATIVE SELLING, APPROACH AND STRONG PEOPLE ORIENTATION BENCHMARKS HIM NOT ONLY AS GREAT LEADERS BUT ALSO GREAT COACH AND MENTOR
Vaibhav Pitale
Managing Director India and Southwest Asia Belimo Actuators India Pvt. Ltd.
- Charles Holley, Retired CFO of Walmart
WHEN I WAS CFO FOR SCHINDLER INDIA, UDAY TOOK OVER AS A CEO, COMING FROM WITHIN THE INDUSTRY AND WITH A BACKGROUND IN SALES. UDAY HAD A VERY STRONG REPUTATION IN THE INDUSTRY FOR HIS VERY HIGH CUSTOMER CENTRICITY AND HAD A HIGH INCLINATION TO SALES WHICH AT THAT POINT OF TIME WAS NOT CONFORTING ME IN MY ROLES AS CFO AS I WAS WORRIED ABOUT BALANCE BETWEEN SALES AND PROFITABILITY. MY CONCERNS WERE SOON PUT AT REST IN ONE OF OUR FIRST INTERATIONS ITSELF, WHEN UDAY MADE IT CLEAR, THAT HE BELIEVES IN THE PHILOSOPHY, THAT NO ONE UNDERSTANDS THE ENTIRE COMPANY BETTER THAN THE CFO, HENCE IT IS IMPORTANT THAT, CEO AND CFO NOT ONLY HAVE A STRONG TRUSTING RELATIONSHIP BUT ALSO CFO LEARNS CEO’S WORKING AND COMMUNICATION STYLES AND SUPPORTS TO DRIVE THE VISION SET FOR THAT, BOTH ALWAYS NEED TO HAVE AN HONEST AND OPEN DIALGOUE. THIS OPEN AND TRANSPARENT DISCUSSION GAVE ME A LOT OF COMFORT AS I WAS ABLE TO VERY OPENLY AND TRANSPARENTLY COMMUNICATE WITH HIM WHICH BUILD OUR RELATIONSHIP. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNT FROM HIM AS A CFO WAS WHEN TO PLAY THE ‘DR NO’ ENFORCER ROLE AND WHEN TO BE A TEAM PLAYER AND HELP OTHER PEERS MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS AND UNDERSTAND THE IMPLICATIONS OF THEIR DECISIONS.’
Vikas Chawla
EX CFO, Schindler, China
I HAD THE PRIVILAGE TO WORK MANY YEARS WITH MR. KULKARNI AS VICE PRESIDENT AND EXECUTIVE MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE SCHINDLER GROUP. DURING THIS PERIOD, I VERY MUCH APPRECIATED HIS HONESTY, HIS COURAGE TO TAKE DECISIONS, HIS DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE ELEVATOR MARKET IN INDIA AND HIS CAPACITY AS A LEADER. HE PROVED TO BE A VERY SUCCESSFUL TEAM BUILDER AND THE RESULT WAS THAT HE MANAGED TO BUILD A VERY STRONG MANAGEMENT TEAM, WHICH OVER A PERIOD OF 10 YEARS IMPROVED ALL IMPORTANT KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS, NAMELY TURNOVER, MARKET SHARE AND PROFIT. I THANK MR. KULKARNI FOR HIS CONTRIBUTION TO THE GROUP AS WELL AS HIS IMPORTANT SUPPORT TO ME. I WISH HIM GOOD P LUCK IN HIS NEW ACTIVITIES AND HOPE THAT WE KEEP IN CONTACT.
Luc Bonnard
Vice President and Executive Member of The Board of Directors
I HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH UDAY WHEN I ARRIVED IN INDIA AS THE CEO FOR SCHINDLER IN 2018. THE INITIAL DAYS WERE ALL ABOUT HIM GIVING HIS ALL TO ENSURE THAT MY FAMILY & I WERE WELL SETTLED AND THAT I GOT FAMILIAR WITH THE MARKET AND OUR PEOPLE. SINCE I WAS COMING BACK TO THE COUNTRY AFTER A GAP OF MORE THAN A DECADE, UDAY’S SUPPORT AND HANDHOLDING AT THAT STAGE WAS INVALUABLE.FOR ME, IT WAS ALWAYS GOING TO BE A CHALLENGE TO FIT INTO HIS SHOES CONSIDERING THE KIND OF CUSTOMER AND PEOPLE CONNECT HE HAD. TO TOP THAT, I HAD TO MATCH HIS HAWK LIKE EYE FOR DETAIL, SENSE OF PLANNING AND STRONG CUSTOMER CENTRICITY – QUALITIES I ADMIRED.
THE UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH SCHINDLER INDIA HAD DURING HIS TENURE AS THE PRESIDENT WAS NEVER SEEN BEFORE IN THE VERTICAL TRANSPORTATION INDUSTRY AND HUGE CREDIT GOES TO HIM AS THE LEADER, FOR US ACHIEVING THAT.
I THANK UDAY FOR EVERYTHING HE HAS DONE FOR ME AND WILL LOOK TO CONTINUE ALL THE BEST PRACTICES HE SET IN PLACE DURING HIS TIME IN INDIA. ABOVE ALL, WILL ALWAYS SEE HIM AS AN INSPIRATIONAL LEADER WHO PEOPLE RESPECTED A LOT, NOT JUST IN THE INDIAN INDUSTRY BUT ALSO GLOBALLY ACROSS THE SCHINDLER GROUP.
Ashok Ramachandran
Board Member & COO
JSW Energy
