Unlike many of his peers who have trodden a structured, well-worn professional path, Ajay Gupta has been a bit of an experimenter. “I have always maintained an experimental approach to my career,” he explains. “As a child, I wanted to become an engineer, inspired by my friend’s father, a civil engineer. But by the time I entered engineering college, electronics was considered a top-notch field to work in. I wanted to work in hard-core R&D, but soon changed my mind. Instead, I entered the field of hardware. I enjoyed it, but soon got bored and moved into software. Thereafter, I realised that enabling a business to grow is a bigger challenge and decided to change my field once again.”

 

Gupta joined Ericsson in 2010 as vice-president of the company’s consulting practice. He was responsible for setting up Ericsson’s strategic consulting practice and leading its efforts in meeting the communication needs of enterprise customers. He assumed his current position as vice-president and head, strategy and marketing in July 2011. His areas of expertise include developing strategies, identifying priority areas and ensuring timely execution. “My job is also marketing centric. This entails understanding the needs of the market and customers, and positioning ourselves accordingly as a company providing solutions to overcome business challenges with the end-objective of making it a profitable business for our customers and for us as well.”

Prior to joining Ericsson, he was a part of the management team at Aricent and Sasken. He led these companies into multiple technology domains, including setting up the technology and IT businesses for the service provider segment, and establishing consulting practices in the business and networking domains, licensing IPRs and setting up outsourced R&D for various equipment manufacturers globally.

Interestingly, Gupta has worked in the same company as his wife three times over 18 years. So, does this mean they talk shop at home? “Typically, neither of us carries our work home. We do discuss the various issues we may be facing at work but it isn’t the central theme of our discussions,” he says with a laugh.

At the end of a workday, Gupta likes to unwind by reading books on management and economics, as well as cooking and gardening. His long-term plan is to teach or do social work. “After so many years of working and gaining so much experience, teaching or doing social service is the best way to learn more and share learning with others,” he says