Ajoy Chawla (TAS 1990)
Chief Strategy Officer, Titan Company Ltd.
Your fondest memory as a young TAS manager…
My engagement with TMTC, Pune – from probation till date. The ambience, people, hospitality, learning, and teaching opportunities are all truly memorable.
Which was the most challenging yet fulfilling project?
As the Global Business Head of a large and profitable brand, TITAN, I had to simultaneously grow the dominant domestic business profitably, while revitalising the brand (TITAN) to make it more modern and premium. As part of that journey, restaging RAGA and building it into an iconic Indian women’s watch brand was the most fulfilling!
If you were to name a few challenges, they would be..
Shaping the Chief Strategy Officer role so as to add value to the divisions and to the CEO is an internal challenge. Business incubation needs talented and entrepreneurial individuals who are comfortable with ambiguity, are experimentative and agile, besides having a sharp business acumen. Bringing in such talent and ensuring a culture that nurtures such individuals is a key challenge.
In your spare time, you like to..
Travel, play tennis, read about human psychology, and get a scientific understanding of esoteric practices. I also like to mentor and teach.
The one thing you’d have liked to do differently?
Would like to have paid a lot more attention to topics like Organisation Behaviour, HR and EQ from campus days. Though they are often underrated, they are quite critical. On a personal note, wish I had started learning Tennis or Golf early on when I was in my mid-thirties. Would have been a proficient player by now!
Your message to the youth of today?
Be humble, open to learning and committed to delivering excellence; success will follow.