2023 Women Leaders in Technology: Namita Adavi

Namita Adavi is an experienced Management Consultant, currently working as the Principal for Zinnov's Center Transformation practice. She is a sought-after expert in strategic business areas that comprise of customer-centric storytelling, storyboarding, strategy definition, business case building, and capability assessment for Indian markets. She is also a Certified Objective and Key Results (OKR) practitioner with deep cross-industry expertise in Goal Setting and Leadership Coaching.

At Zinnov, Namita supports leaders of Fortune 500 GCCs in India by augmenting their existing Strategy Offices and providing requisite support to set-up and scale their Strategy and Operations teams. She leads Capability Assessment of the Global Offshore Centers and helps identify key focus areas where the India Centers can drive more ownership by deploying Zinnov's Proprietary Assessment Framework. Namita holds a Master's degree in Economics from the University of Pune; and surprisingly, no MBA!

What has been the biggest factor in your success so far?

My team, undoubtedly. As a leader, you are only as good as the people you work with. With or without a degree from top tier universities, the common thread unifying us is the hunger to learn and constantly push the boundaries of what we know or have learned. As a working mom, having a family that consistently supports the demands of a management consultant's schedule is another key factor in my success to-date. What do you enjoy most about your career in the consulting industry? What I enjoy most is the ability to solve high stakes problems for our customers. These are projects which, in many cases, are make or break decisions for the organizations we work with. The fact that customers are relying on our research and advisory to help make these decisions is as daunting, as it is exciting.

What is your proudest achievement to date?

Being able to build a compelling offering that is on track to becoming a million dollar offering for my organization, where one did not exist before. Every meeting where we see our advice being taken by seasoned executives who have double or triple the experience than I do, is an absolute rush!

What's the best advice you've ever been given?

The best advice I have received is to always focus on the quality of the problem we are solving for the customer along with ensuring you are building trust with leaders, first. Consequently, revenue will follow. In a nutshell, this has been my sales strategy right from the outset.

What does this recognition mean to you?

It is a validation not just of my capabilities, but the effort of every single member who has supported me to get here. My customers who have put their faith in me, my team of consultants and leads who work alongside me in the trenches, my mentors and reporting managers who have consistently led by example. It will also help me build a brand for the unique problem I am trying to solve in the industry.