Priya Lakshmi Ugandeswaran

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT PRIYA LAKSHMI UGANDESWARAN

I build organisations where people and performance grow together — and I have spent 25 years doing exactly that.At Standard Chartered Bank, where I spent nearly two decades and rose to Senior Vice President, I led 500+ people across 20 markets — driving process transformation, large-scale automation, and consistent operational excellence. Over three consecutive years, I delivered 15% cost reduction while maintaining service quality across global operations. I set up the Private Banking Hub serving HNW clients across 10 markets from scratch, and established a semi-tech workflow team across 18 countries that boosted productivity by 25%.I also championed diversity and inclusion at scale — initiating the hiring of 120+ employees with disabilities and supporting the launch of a women-only rural BPO, work that earned the Helen Keller Award from the NASSCOM Foundation in 2013.Since 2018, I have worked as an independent HR leader, strategic advisor, and executive coach. I built a full HR function from the ground up for a fast-growing startup — covering policies, structure, recruitment, engagement, and learning. I have advised founders and leadership teams on organisation design, culture, and people strategy, and delivered ICF-accredited coaching hours to senior leaders across Fortune 500 companies including Autodesk, Bloomberg, and The New York Times.Coaching has made me a sharper HR leader — it gave me a deeper understanding of leadership behaviour, team dynamics, and what actually drives people to perform. I bring that lens into every people strategy I design.What I bring to a senior HR or people leadership role:→ Building HR infrastructure from the ground up in fast-scaling environments→ Leading large, distributed teams through transformation and change→ Aligning people strategy with business goals at the board and executive level→ Developing senior leaders and building strong succession pipelines→ Driving inclusion and culture as strategic business priorities→ Coaching senior leaders and executives to lead with clarity, resilience, and impactBased in Chennai, I am at a point in my career where I want to channel 25 years of people leadership, operational scale, and coaching depth into one place — a senior HR role where strategy meets human-centered execution. CHRO, or Head of People in an organisation that believes its people are its greatest competitive advantage. Hybrid and remote arrangements work well for me.At my core, I believe leadership is about connection. When leaders grow from within, organisations transform from the inside out.