My contribution to a board
I would bring an operating habit of asking what a reported completion actually permits the customer to do. In document conversion, a file count, a receipt list and a populated index can all be accurate while leaving a material obligation unresolved. Similar questions arise in other service businesses when activity measures stand in for acceptance or usability. I would help a board examine the connection between the commercial promise, management's evidence and the remaining exceptions. My experience also includes making the cost of correction explicit and assigning authority to pause work when the source account is uncertain. I would not claim expertise in every technical, legal or customer domain represented by the records. A board needs complementary knowledge and access to specialist advice. The contribution I offer is a disciplined examination of the operating account and its limits, while management retains responsibility for preparing evidence, directing teams and delivering the service it has agreed.
Judgement in practice
01Asking what the production total leaves unfinished
Our 740,000-image programme looked complete by capture count, but 86,000 items needed reprocessing because faint annotations had not remained legible. We accepted ₹29 lakh extra expense and three weeks to correct the identified problem. A director should ask whether a service-completion measure reflects the agreed acceptance conditions or mainly records activity. I would want management to explain the population affected, the proposed remedy and the remaining limits, without requiring directors to inspect individual images. The board should also understand the commercial consequence of correcting the work and whether earlier sampling could have revealed the issue. I would resist a report that converts known rework into a higher productivity number or presents the correction as proof that every possible defect has been eliminated. The useful question is whether the company has an honest and actionable account of the obligation it still owes.
02Preserving a question that belongs to the record owner
In a 12,000-record sample, 720 revision classifications needed clarification. The client resolved 540, leaving 180 explicitly unresolved. As a director, I would ask whether management distinguishes an incomplete service task from a judgement it has no authority to make. The pressure to fill every field can encourage an organisation to conceal uncertainty behind a convenient default. I would want to know who owns the answer, what the unresolved status means for delivery and how the commercial commitment treats that dependency. That scrutiny should not lead the board to make the engineering decision itself. It should establish that the company has an appropriate route to the authorised owner and that its reports preserve the limitation until the answer exists. A visibly incomplete record may be a more responsible outcome than an apparently complete one supported only by an operator's inference.
My first year on a board
I would begin with the prospective company's service promise and follow a representative commitment through its operating account. The chair and management would agree how that learning occurs, including any visits, so that I do not create a parallel inspection programme. I would ask how acceptance is defined, which exceptions reach senior management and how the cost of correction appears in financial reporting. Understanding those arrangements would help me distinguish an isolated defect from a weakness in the management system. In committee work I would initially focus on a small number of material questions that connect to the board's agenda, rather than import the detailed measures used at Thervani. I would also seek an explanation of the business from commercial, finance and technical colleagues, since an operating view alone can miss important obligations. At the end of the first year I would ask the chair whether my questions improved collective decisions and whether I had maintained the boundary between scrutiny and direction.
Conflicts and their management
Thervani handles records for industrial customers and works with equipment, software and specialist service suppliers. A prospective board could overlap with those relationships, including organisations whose confidential material I encounter through my executive responsibilities. I would disclose relevant connections before detailed appointment discussions and update them as circumstances change. I would not use client source material, conversion results or unpublished commercial terms to support another company's decisions. A recurring conflict involving a major client or competitor could make a seat unsuitable even where individual recusals are possible. Employer approval must also address time: twenty-four days is an initial allowance for regular preparation, meetings and travel, not a claim that an incident or transaction cannot require more. I would discuss additional demands before accepting and decline a role that depends on access to current clients or confidential records. The contribution must be based on judgement I can legitimately bring, rather than privileged material I am obliged to protect.
My independence statement
I would disclose employment, ownership interests and relevant personal or commercial relationships for the prospective company's assessment. Independence would need to be considered under section 149(6) and any applicable SEBI LODR requirements, with the specific directorship and committee limits reviewed. Neither an operating title nor a learning result determines that position. I would avoid a role whose recurring conflicts prevent meaningful contribution.
Board and committee exposure
Presented to the Board or a committee
Thervani Document Systems
Board reviews of service acceptance, operating expense and material delivery exceptions
April 2019–present
Presents operating recommendations as COO. The earlier director-of-delivery title was an executive designation, not a statutory seat; no current or previous directorship is claimed.