Ajay Soni

About Ajay Soni

Dynamic, forward thinking leader with vast expertise in driving multibillion dollar enterprises in the Manufacturing, Chemicals and Consulting sectors. Consistently strived towards innovation and establishing industry benchmarks of excellence and innovation. Recipient of the Accomplished Leader Award for institutionalising Talent & Learning at Aditya Birla Group. Experience spanning HR, P&L, Operations and Sales across India, APAC and ME. Passionate about developing future leaders and sustaining a competitive edge built on integrity, authenticity and trust.Core skills encompass Business Acumen, HR Transformation, Learning & Development, Business Strategy, Organisation Design, Client Partnership Management, Leadership Development, Change Management, Business Analysis, Talent Management, Employee Engagement and Stakeholder Management.A marathoner having participated in over a dozen marathons in India and continue on the journey of fitness and well being. In other interests, involved in singing and writing. Published extensive work on Leadership Development and Future of business leadership in the changing world.SPEAKER ENGAGEMENTS• Developing Leaders, insights from Top Company for Leaders – Conferences across Shanghai, Beijing, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Jakarta – 20••••13• Speaker Engagements on Leadership Development, Employee Value Preposition, Best Employer research – Conferences for NHRD, CII, AMCHAM, FICCI – 20••••10

Experience

1. Chief Learning and Leadership Development Officer

   Aditya Birla Group

   Aug 2014 — Present

   Leading talent and succession management with strategic workforce planning for the group globally.• Established a contemporary new learning center in 2024 with an investment worth ~ USD 30 Mn. • Developing 300 senior leaders and 1300 strong talent pipeline across the group. • Working with Chairman on successions and maintaining an internal to external hiring ratio of 80:20. Succession Management impacting 300+ CXO roles across the group and achieved a ratio of 1.2. • Created & executed a 4 layered framework of ‘Talent Councils’ in 2017. • Executed a robust senior leadership transition support process, ‘Make your Mark’ for 120 senior leaders through coaching. • Established a 9-month “Foundation of Coaching Program” for managers. • Launched “My Development Plan” program along with a new Performance Management System, through which all ABG employees have a development plan. • Initiated E- learning & talent properties through AI enabled technology and achieved 10 times digital learning. •Led and on-boarded chairman for the ‘HR 2020 strategy’ to invest, sustain and retain top talent.• Co-led the Aditya Birla Group “Purpose” discovery, involving top 120 leaders, worked closely with chairman to finalise and then activate the ABG Purpose.• Led cultural change for largest group businesses to increase employee and business performance. • Overseeing HR function of one of group companies, Birla Estates. • Aditya Birla Group has won awards for leadership development practices from as GCCU (2017 & 19), ATD (2020), Brendon Hall (2022) and the Best Employer by Aon (2018).• Executed group wide 3 year hiring freeze (2016-18) for mid to senior mgt, enhancing intra-business movements by 40% and inter-business movement by 125%. Replacement hiring down by 65%.• Established Five Functional Academies for the group (2017): “Reimagine”, “HR & ER” \" Finance, IT and Manufacturing\".

Education

• Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology

  Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.), Mechanical Engineering

  1984 — 1988

• Harvard Business School

  Making Corporate Boards More Effective, Business Administration and Management

  2022 — 2022

• Harvard Business School

  Audit Committee in a new era of Governance, Business Administration and Management

  2022 — 2022

• Harvard Business School

  Compensation Committees: New Challenges, New Solutions, Business Administration and Management

  2022 — 2022

• Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad

  Masters in Business Administration

  1990 — 1992

Skills

• Human Resources
• Business Strategy
• Talent Management
• Team Management
• Employee Engagement
• Business Development
• HR Consulting
• Performance Management
• Consulting
• Hris
• Leadership
• Change Management
• Process Improvement
• Business Analysis
• Management
• Employee Relations