Managing Partner – Value Creation — Applied-AI Portfolio

The mandate

Funding has given an applied-AI practice permission to expand faster than its delivery model has evolved. Much of its best work still depends on founders or a small circle of senior practitioners personally diagnosing the opportunity, assembling the team and rescuing delivery. That approach created early distinction but now limits volume, consistency and leadership development. The board wants a Managing Partner – Value Creation who can institutionalise what works without draining the entrepreneurial energy that built the franchise.

The portfolio represents approximately ₹1,150 crore of AI product and services revenue and about 500 employees and material partners across India, Pune and the wider operating region. It combines advisory, technical delivery, product components and client-change work. Demand is real, but conversion, staffing, reuse and benefits evidence vary significantly between pursuits. The post-funding scale-up has magnified those differences and increased the cost of allowing weak work to travel under the same brand as the strongest engagements.

This role will establish a repeatable route from client problem to realised value. It requires choosing where the practice is distinctive, setting entry standards for work, building reusable methods and insisting that adoption and economic outcomes are designed alongside models and data. Growth is not an end in itself: new revenue should strengthen client trust, contribution and intellectual capital rather than create a larger collection of bespoke obligations.

Why this seat is open

An accelerated leadership transition has made this an urgent replacement. Interim ownership protects the applied-AI portfolio, but split accountability cannot continue through the next scale-up gate. The board intends to appoint within six to eight weeks and will handle the predecessor’s circumstances neutrally. The hybrid advisory role is based in Pune and reports to the Global Managing Partner and regional partner council.

What you will own

You will define a value-creation thesis and translate it into a disciplined portfolio. That means reviewing markets, accounts and propositions through four lenses: client access, differentiated capability, provable outcome and attractive delivery economics. Offers that meet those tests should receive leadership and investment; those that do not must be redesigned, partnered or stopped. Funding decisions need staged gates rather than permanent support based on strategic labels.

Client work must begin with a measurable decision or operating outcome. You will introduce engagement architecture that joins commercial promise, technical feasibility, adoption, benefits measurement and risk. Senior review should occur before a fragile proposal is sold, not after delivery becomes distressed. Reusable assets need product ownership, support expectations and transparent investment accounting so that claimed leverage can be distinguished from repeated customisation.

The organisation cannot scale while founders remain the universal escalation route. You will clarify partner accountabilities, appoint leaders for priority propositions and create apprenticeship through live work. Senior hiring is expected, but it should complement internal development and close specific market or delivery gaps. Principals need credible routes to partnership, and delivery leaders must receive recognition for client outcomes rather than simply utilisation.

The first 12 months

In the first 90 days, establish the true baseline. Review the largest accounts and engagements, analyse where margin and client outcomes diverged, and identify which founder interventions are concealing a weak system. Meet clients, capital sponsors, partner leaders and technical specialists. Assess the leadership team and bring the board a portfolio map, immediate risk actions and explicit gates for further scale capital.

From months four through nine, focus investment on the strongest propositions, close or restructure chronic exceptions and install one engagement and benefits discipline. Put named leaders behind priority offers, recruit only against proven gaps and demonstrate that at least one important engagement can progress from origination to accepted outcome without founder rescue. Make partner economics support collaboration and quality.

At twelve months, repeatable client impact, senior hiring and durable fee growth should be observable across a meaningful portion of the portfolio. The next annual plan must link demand, capacity, reusable assets and talent, with clear downside moves if conversion or delivery quality weakens. The board should see a franchise that can grow through its system, not through heroic availability.

What the board will measure

The approved annual case should be achieved within a 10% band, with prospective explanations for variance. Three quarterly forecasts must reconcile fees, cash, qualified demand, delivery capacity and workforce assumptions. A defined constraint from the post-funding scale-up—such as founder-dependent approvals, time to staff or benefits acceptance—must improve quantitatively from a trusted baseline.

The most serious client, quality and execution matters need closure by their authorised dates, supported by evidence that the remedy persists. At least 90% of critical talent should be retained and ready-now successors should cover 70% of direct reports. High-severity concerns must reach their proper forum promptly and cannot remain unresolved for more than 30 days without conscious acceptance.

The person

You are a Managing Partner, Operating Partner or Transformation Practice Head with at least 28 years in AI, enterprise software, cloud, data infrastructure, analytics, applied research or a closely related advisory context. You have directly owned at least ₹650 crore in P&L, book, budget or client-value portfolio and led no fewer than 350 people across disciplines.

Your record shows how you expanded a founder-led or expert-dependent model into a durable practice. You can evidence portfolio pruning, signature client outcomes, senior-team renewal and stronger economics after the initial intervention. The board will look for judgement about when technology enables value and when process, adoption or commercial design is the real constraint. References must identify your decisions rather than attribute success to brand momentum.

Compensation and terms

The expected package is ₹5.0–7.5 crore fixed plus performance variable and LTI, calibrated to final scope and current mix. Long-term participation follows normal vesting and performance provisions. A structured transition of clients and conflicts up to six months is possible. The appointment offers regular contact with the chair, executive committee and principal capital sponsors.

Confidentiality

The client name, exact footprint, predecessor details and funding history sit outside this brief. Qualified candidates will receive them under a mutual undertaking; the composite public facts should neither be circulated nor reverse-engineered.