Sanjay Sultania: Fostering Organizational Transformation Beyond Financial Success
Sanjay Sultania
Chief Financial Officer
Especially in the infrastructure development industry, which is expected to grow into a Rs. 11 lakh crores worth market in just five years, CFO is expected to be the masterminds and steward of governance in rapid changing and challenging environments where CFO has little role to play in operations but drive the business with robust governing process and budgetary control. Such a contemporary leader with strong acumen in corporate finance with a deep understanding of Business, Finance, Strategy, Technology, and Governance is Sanjay Sultania, aspires to be a true partner with board Chief Financial Officer at Ramky Infrastructures Limited a public listed organization.
This proactive team player comes with nearly 3 decades of experience in both strategic and operational aspects. He has played and playing a significant role in the evolution of Ramky Infrastructures as a global Infrastructure Development Company from India. Sanjay is well-known in the industry not only for his problem-solving skills and expertise but also for leading the organization with great efficiency and contributing to its growth.
Sanjay Sultania has comprehensive experience in the areas of Strategic Planning, Financial Control, Company Secretarial Affairs, Costing, Fund Management, Budgeting, Taxation, Legal & Commercial Matters, and Corporate Governance. He is a strategic planner with a proven ability to improve operations, impact business growth, and maximize profits through achievement in finance management, cost reductions, internal controls, and productivity / efficiency improvements. By communicative the futuristic & realistic plans to the board members and team proficient team, Sanjay is driving financial success. CEO Insights engages an interview with Sanjay Sultania to
explore valuable nuggets of his success strategies.
Enumerate on your educational and professional background. How are you leveraging the past learnings in your journey?
I completed Chartered Accountancy in the early 90s. Carrying the experience of working in managerial roles with startup like Ritspin Synthetics, and gaint like Aditya Birla Group Aditya Chemicals, Stallion Group of Africa, ECI Engineering & Constructions, Represented investors on board of AbhiBus a technology based 2nd largest bus ticketing company and co-founded aapkishop.com to begin the entrepreneurial journey, I have learned that integrity, intellect, drive, governance, emotional intelligence, organizational culture, and operational skill is crucial for business performance. Being in the infrastructure industry for 10 years, I got the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the business. Today, I am able to put forth thoughtful plans derived from experience and changes in the market scenario.
Brief us on the shift that the infrastructure market has observed. How are you playing a significant role in making your organization adapt to these changes?
It's been 10+ years of rewarding journey infrastructure development and I have observed a sea of change in the industry. Specifically, after the implementation of GST, all the processes, accounts, and functions started getting automated. Each and every recording of transactions started happening in the ambit of government, regulatory bodies, and financial institutions. With this, CFOs have become key players who drive changes and sail through these tremendous changes. We are well-equipped to implement these changes and enable smooth financial function in the company. I am able to do this by proactively ensuring transparency and making the board members and my team stay updated on the changing reforms to bring better transparency and governance and this will surely help to analyze and mitigate the risk.
What do you think that today's company's fail to realize when it comes to managing financial assets?
Failing to understand the true picture and the complications relating to a transaction is the biggest drawbacks for companies. Lack of planning and improper identification of risks/uncertainties leads to inaccurate forecasting. The first crucial step to manage financial assets accurately is appropriate planning. Our plans must be realistic and accurate. This aspect largely depends on the deep understanding of the business and its process and above all understanding of the related environment dynamics. In our organization, we put forth all the plans not only from a short-term angle but from a business continuity point of view to the board. And Forecast the monthly cost,
Enumerate on your educational and professional background. How are you leveraging the past learnings in your journey?
I completed Chartered Accountancy in the early 90s. Carrying the experience of working in managerial roles with startup like Ritspin Synthetics, and gaint like Aditya Birla Group Aditya Chemicals, Stallion Group of Africa, ECI Engineering & Constructions, Represented investors on board of AbhiBus a technology based 2nd largest bus ticketing company and co-founded aapkishop.com to begin the entrepreneurial journey, I have learned that integrity, intellect, drive, governance, emotional intelligence, organizational culture, and operational skill is crucial for business performance. Being in the infrastructure industry for 10 years, I got the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the business. Today, I am able to put forth thoughtful plans derived from experience and changes in the market scenario.
Brief us on the shift that the infrastructure market has observed. How are you playing a significant role in making your organization adapt to these changes?
It's been 10+ years of rewarding journey infrastructure development and I have observed a sea of change in the industry. Specifically, after the implementation of GST, all the processes, accounts, and functions started getting automated. Each and every recording of transactions started happening in the ambit of government, regulatory bodies, and financial institutions. With this, CFOs have become key players who drive changes and sail through these tremendous changes. We are well-equipped to implement these changes and enable smooth financial function in the company. I am able to do this by proactively ensuring transparency and making the board members and my team stay updated on the changing reforms to bring better transparency and governance and this will surely help to analyze and mitigate the risk.
What do you think that today's company's fail to realize when it comes to managing financial assets?
Failing to understand the true picture and the complications relating to a transaction is the biggest drawbacks for companies. Lack of planning and improper identification of risks/uncertainties leads to inaccurate forecasting. The first crucial step to manage financial assets accurately is appropriate planning. Our plans must be realistic and accurate. This aspect largely depends on the deep understanding of the business and its process and above all understanding of the related environment dynamics. In our organization, we put forth all the plans not only from a short-term angle but from a business continuity point of view to the board. And Forecast the monthly cost,
Cashflows, expenditure, and profit with respect to budgeting.
Another major reason for failure is aggressiveness of an organization. Sometimes companies focus on business growth and sales aggressively and compromises the governance and forward risk evaluation. We need to have a proper brake and accelerator, otherwise the chances of an accidents are much prevalent that is how a business could fail.
The financial function is the center of the overall administration system of business, the ineffectiveness, and inefficiencies of financial plans will have disturbing effects on the survival and performance and any mistake are of strategic in nature and sometimes it goes beyond repair. It is the custodian of all systems, processes, and control; hence the financial governance system has to be institutionalized as fundamental for the success of any organization. These days because of explosion of technology and lots can be achieved to have robust governance.
Throw some light on your leadership style.
My leadership focuses on democracy in the team. I give opportunities for people to learn and then contribute the best to the organization. I mainly, focus on identifying the strength and weaknesses of each of team members. We thrive in an environment of supporting each other. I analyze the board's requirements & the business needs and support them to take effective decisions down the line. So I Believe in Reporting the Numbers and Driving the numbers as at the end it's a score card to highlights your success.
Sanjay Sultania, Chief Financial Officer, Ramky Infrastructure
Suggestions for successful financial operations
· Honest, trustworthy and high in integrity
· Understand the industry, its dynamics, and KPIs
· Strategic minded with ability to understand all aspects of business
· Analyze the market and the reference to the changes that happened in the Past
· Know our business, process, cost, profitability, and where we stand against competition.
· Collaborative and team oriented
· Ability to communicate well with all level of employees
· Effectively coach and mentor others
· Decision making ability
· Solid understanding of corporate taxes but not a technician
· Strong financial generalist/multi disciplined
· Improve processes to truncate revenue leakage or reduce unnecessary cost
· Restructure strategies and adhere to corporate governance
· Debottle necking to create value and maximize the wealth of stakeholders
Another major reason for failure is aggressiveness of an organization. Sometimes companies focus on business growth and sales aggressively and compromises the governance and forward risk evaluation. We need to have a proper brake and accelerator, otherwise the chances of an accidents are much prevalent that is how a business could fail.
The financial function is the center of the overall administration system of business, the ineffectiveness, and inefficiencies of financial plans will have disturbing effects on the survival and performance and any mistake are of strategic in nature and sometimes it goes beyond repair. It is the custodian of all systems, processes, and control; hence the financial governance system has to be institutionalized as fundamental for the success of any organization. These days because of explosion of technology and lots can be achieved to have robust governance.
Throw some light on your leadership style.
My leadership focuses on democracy in the team. I give opportunities for people to learn and then contribute the best to the organization. I mainly, focus on identifying the strength and weaknesses of each of team members. We thrive in an environment of supporting each other. I analyze the board's requirements & the business needs and support them to take effective decisions down the line. So I Believe in Reporting the Numbers and Driving the numbers as at the end it's a score card to highlights your success.
Sanjay Sultania, Chief Financial Officer, Ramky Infrastructure
Suggestions for successful financial operations
· Honest, trustworthy and high in integrity
· Understand the industry, its dynamics, and KPIs
· Strategic minded with ability to understand all aspects of business
· Analyze the market and the reference to the changes that happened in the Past
· Know our business, process, cost, profitability, and where we stand against competition.
· Collaborative and team oriented
· Ability to communicate well with all level of employees
· Effectively coach and mentor others
· Decision making ability
· Solid understanding of corporate taxes but not a technician
· Strong financial generalist/multi disciplined
· Improve processes to truncate revenue leakage or reduce unnecessary cost
· Restructure strategies and adhere to corporate governance
· Debottle necking to create value and maximize the wealth of stakeholders