Krishna Agarwal, Director of Data and Analytics in the Bangalore office, gives us a peek into the data science journey at Metyis India.
 

Meet Krishna Agarwal, Data and Analytics Director in Bangalore.

Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I was born and brought up in the industrial town of Jamshedpur in India, with my family being in the retail trading business. I grew up seeing business activities from close quarters and appreciation for business processes comes quite naturally to me. My professional career so far has spanned roles in IT services, financial risk management, business consulting, and data analytics. I would describe myself as an analytically strong, hands-on problem solver, with a passion for building organisations.

I presently stay with my family in Bangalore, India and I am blessed with 2 amazing daughters. I have a strong belief in sustainable living: I maintain an active kitchen waste composting unit at home and participate in social events on this theme in my neighbourhood. My pet project presently is developing my mini garden at home using organic homemade compost. I am also an avid Cricket fan and love following and discussing matches.

What is your current role at Metyis?

I wear multiple hats in my current role at Metyis. My first role is as the Head of the Metyis India Data & Analytics team. It’s been an exciting and enriching position, with opportunities to build the team and grow to our current size and skill diversity. We built the recruitment processes to cater to India-specific dynamics, conducted the first campus recruitment interviews, and solved myriad other challenges along the way. Parallelly, we had to find a way of mentoring and charting growth plans for the new members, closely aligning with global Metyis teams on project execution.  

My team has also had to keep pace with the various evolving trends in tools and technologies. We have widened our skill base in Metyis India, keeping an eye on continuous learning. I’m happy to say that I too have benefitted immensely by enhancing my knowledge of new areas of analytics and applications. My second role is to co-manage a key account. With our work, we have now established ourselves as the partner of choice for all data analytics projects. Right from the development of their data warehouses to building key business reports and advanced analytics-based predictive modelling to optimise business processes.

I will be completing five years in Metyis later this year. During this time, I’ve had the chance to work for multiple clients. My role has evolved from leading project execution to managing partnership programmes for our clients. Each engagement poses new challenges in terms of the business problems to solve, data and techniques to be used, and nudging clients to adopt newer and improved ways of working. Working on a diverse set of projects with clients across industries and geographies has been a phenomenal learning experience.

What first sparked your interest in analytics?

Very early in my career, I was exposed to data analytics in my role as a financial risk consultant. I used to immensely enjoy the sections of my work that focused on quantitative modelling. These models, while being primarily used for risk management also had enormous applications in growing business and profitability. This excited me and I believed I had found my calling. I subsequently moved full-time into the Data Analytics role.

I was always good at quantitative skills and first principles-based problem-solving. I was also exposed to IT services in my early years, which helped me with the programming & and database concepts. These came wonderfully together for me in the world of analytics.

What led you to Metyis?

Before Metyis, I had worked in a start-up environment and was already leading a large delivery team based out of India and servicing USA-based clients. My initial interactions with Metyis senior partners presented an opportunity to build the Metyis India D&A center. Building an analytics delivery practice in India was an idea that immensely appealed to me.

I was quite excited by Metyis’ vision of being Partners for clients with a very high focus on impactful solutions. It aligned with my thinking of developing applications that were ‘business first’ always.

How do you feel your team or function is making an impact on the business world through analytics?

We are building the digital foundations for embedding analytics in our partners’ day-to-day business operations. We are helping business leaders become fully equipped to handle the important facets and trends of their business such as sales, customer processes, procurement, finance, and operations.

Our advanced analytics solutions are being used by clients to streamline their business operations and logistics, proactively manage their customer expectations, fine-tune their pricing strategy, and optimise on-ground sales processes. Client leadership and senior management teams are using our applications in their day-to-day decision-making. I see a similar positive impact being made by our work with other Metyis clients and partnerships. 
 

What are you most excited about for a future at Metyis?

Over the last few years, Metyis’ presence has grown across countries and delivery capabilities with centres in Porto and India. We have the right ingredients ready to take us ahead and I believe Metyis is very favourably poised for growth. This positions each one of us at Metyis for an upward journey in our careers too.

I see exciting opportunities for us to continue the learning path, adopt newer tools and technologies, and build formidable skill sets and experience. I am also excited about Metyis India, as we look at multi-fold growth in our size and capabilities. I see the India team playing a big role in the execution of our Metyis growth strategy.