CEO Insights India

‘Paying attention to the means is more important than worrying about the end’. Not many follow these wise words, and most importantly, not many will teach you these. But, Nirupama V.G. (Founder & Managing Director, Ad Astra) was lucky to have gained this wisdom from her close friend and serial entrepreneur K. Chandrasekar. The man who instilled the confidence in her to take the first leap towards entrepreneurship. Since then, Nirupama has never looked back in her entrepreneurial journey. She has emerged as a people's person, highly focused on placing creme de la creme candidates on key positions in 32 countries across the world. Ad Astra, her brainchild has embraced digitization as it’s core value to build scalable businesses, ahead of its time. It has successfully provided staffing solutions spanning across Executive Search, RPO Solutions, Temp Staffing, and Selection for over a decade.

A Notable Name in the Industry
Nirupama strives to work as a 'doctor' for varied industries to cure them off their bad hiring practices. The intense dearth of such professionals pushed

her into this field. Passionate about every thing, Nirupama has been instrumental in building various organizations that were later acquired by Fortune 500 Companies. Such rich experience played a pivotal role in catapulting Ad Astra amongst the industry leaders. After 25 years of practice, she believes that everyone is limited by their own thoughts. Hence an open mind and their best shot is required to over come 'the impossible'


Nirupama believes in building organisations based on meritocracy, irrespective of age or experience. Hence, she not only appreciates but also implements good business ideas, no matter which hierarchical level they come from. She says “The biggest risk is to start a venture. Having perseverance and patience pays. Today, in a disruptive world, one should embrace technology, understand what the innovations are and imbibe that in your business quickly”.

Nirupama has not only invested on her teams but also their entire families. This holistic approach has influenced her employees to walk the extra mile for themselves as well as

for Ad Astra Her success is also the result of the equal respect and attention she pays to as well as her candidates. Her unique approach has lead to 90 percent of Ad Astra business coming from referrals, making the firm a preferred partner with every client.

An Icon to Look Forward to
Greatly inspired by the book 'Lean In' by Sheryl Sandberg, Nirupama suggests entrepreneurs to be transparent and share the upside with the team, as key people are not just a team but they are part of the dream. In her own words, “Have fun, and be humane. Do only what you love without comparing yourself with others and ensure you leave your footprint. No challenge is impossible if you take it one piece at a time”.

Nirupama being a work a holic is still learning to bring work-life balance. She gives credit to her family for putting up with her through thick and thin. This foodie loves holidaying in Europe, Africa, and South East Asia for their beautiful mountains, beaches, old sculptures and monuments. Crazy about adventure sports, Nirupama has done sky diving, para sailing, para gliding, under the sea walking, and several other adrenaline pumping activities. She also loves to steal time from her busy schedule for long drives, and to watch good movies and plays.

Nirupama spends considerable time mentoring women entrepreneurs, as well as family-owned business heads She believes in reciprocal learning and sharing knowledge to enhance the capabilities of her mentees. She has been a Career Mentor on Monster.com a world renowned job portal and a visiting faculty in several MBA schools.