2022 Global Leaders in Consulting: Subir Gupta

Subir is based in the UK and is Managing Principal of Thought Provoking Consulting (TPC) with responsibility for all consulting activity globally. He is an advisor to the retail industry with 3 decades of experience covering all 'front office' areas including buying, merchandising, supply chain and multi-channel operations. He specializes in operating model design, agile capability development and complex program delivery. He is particularly experienced in the field of Retail business & systems transformation and innovation.

What do you consider your greatest personal or professional achievement?

On a personal level, it's hard to beat the immense satisfaction of family life, but founding TPC and seeing it flourish into the internationally recognized consulting and technology group that it is today has been, without doubt, my most rewarding professional experience. I had always wanted to found my own consulting company but had never had the courage to do it.

Then, in 2012, I suddenly found myself out of the comfortable corporate world with no clear path forward, and I realized it was now or never, and so I went for it. Together with a great founder team, we set out to disrupt the Retail industry with our take on what a great consulting partner should be. To date, we have served over 120 retail and consumer brands around the world and we are just getting started. This success is entirely down to our great team of diverse, bright, enthusiastic and highly motivated professionals.

The impact of TPC's work can be summarised by the following quote from one of our clients (a global Consumer Electronics Retailer) for work undertaken during 2021: "If this project would have been performed by a traditional big 4 consultancy firm we would have had to add a zero to the end of the cost and the benefit would be less than half."

What advice would you give a professional just beginning a career in consulting?

The first thing I would say to anyone entering the consulting profession is that you have made an excellent choice. Remember, always, that consulting is a team sport that offers an unparalleled "fast track career incubator" and the fact that you are in it means that some talented folk believe you have the potential to go to the very top. Make the most of the opportunity because no other profession will give you the same opportunities to experience such a breadth of business challenges and the responsibility that comes with assisting clients to overcome them. Your own career progression is limited only by your own pace of professional development in a truly meritocratic environment, so be a curious optimist, trust your instincts, have a voice and strive to learn every day.

And last, but by no means least, nurture your network like it's the most valuable possession that you have, because it is. The network you build through your consulting career will look after you throughout your entire working life and beyond. No matter how long your career in consulting lasts, be it months or years, it is something you will never regret.

What have you loved most about your consulting career?

I have been consulting for nearly 30 years, and I can summarise the common denominators of my most enjoyable consulting experiences as variety, innovation, people, surprises and fun. Next-level goals require new thinking, a challenger mindset, sustained commitment and teamwork. They cannot be achieved by recreating the past or avoiding challenges.

All of this was brought sharply into focus during the pandemic which badly affected the Retail sector that TPC serves and presented a potentially existential challenge to our company. As the world went into lockdown, the entire TPC team came together to put in place a solid survival strategy. But soon, our focus quickly shifted to a complete reinvention of our business as it soon became clear that the scale & pace of change forced on the Retail and Consumer Goods industries would present a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

Today, TPC has transformed how consultancies help Retailers challenge themselves to innovate, adapt and thrive in the post-pandemic world with unparalleled pace and agility. The marketplace has embraced this approach and in 2021, we have seen our global revenues increase over 160%. Today we are much stronger, capable, and happy business than we were pre-pandemic.

What's the best advice—personal or professional—you've ever received?

Never stop learning, and strive to be disruptively creative. Replicating what has come before won't help you or your clients stand out.

What does being honored as a Global Leader mean to you?

Winning this award is a huge honor to me and a massive milestone in the history of TPC. All consultants strive to be the best at what they do, but in reality, consulting is a team sport and so this award is a recognition of the huge efforts of everyone in the TPC family.

I believe this award will also serve to inspire the next generation of consulting innovators and entrepreneurs by showing that it is possible to create their own success stories if they have the ambition and motivation to give it a go – and stick at it.

At TPC, we are passionate about the retail industry and the success of our clients. Our success is inextricably linked to theirs and as such, winning this award is a huge endorsement of the faith they place in us as their trusted advisors.