Prakash Ahuja

Innovative and competent professional manager with 40+years of experience in marketing and business development globally in across a wide range of industries in USA and India covering areas in IT Outsourcing, Call centres, Back office transaction, Gaming and Education. Conceptualize and build a business plan for a company right from inception to IPO. Established successful organizations in Gaming, IT, Retail and Education. Focus areas covered building the business plan, recruiting the team, organize initial startup funding from angels, banks and VC firms, and marketing the services through strategic alliances with distributions partners and key customers.

Exceptional managerial skills in recruitment, team building and conceptual sales at top management levels. Team player who develops customer-driven teams providing strong closing skills and quality response and follow-up through the complete customer satisfaction cycle. Strategic planning and execution with a key focus on long term goals. Build a leader in Gaming in India leading to an exit with a sale of the studio to Disney.

Turned around a losing software services firm ( Sales $ 2 million / Loss of over $1.8 million )which was a part of a leading Indian conglomerate into a profitable operation with strong alliances and a current revenue in excess of $250 million Structured a dominant JV in the call centre space with an industry leader and set up an operation with 1500 seats within 9 months. Won the largest IT outsourcing deal in the US in 2003 for $54+ million against stiff competition from all the IT majors.

Structured the creation of new Software Services Company to exploit the skill sets developed in Singapore through strategic tie-ups with Verifone and Intershop for the Indian market. The company launched a venture to market Set-Top Boxes for the Indian market. Created the marketing plan, Recruited the initial team, identified the technology partners and negotiated the licensing agreements, structured marketing and manufacturing alliances with Samsung and assisted in closing two rounds of funding on a company valuation of over $ 25 million.

Set up a not for profit Software engineering academy in association with HarvardUniversity and the Indian IT industry in 1992.

​Created India’s first packaged software company Sonata in 1988 Today the company is a blue-chip software stock on the Indian stock markets and does the revenue of over $ 200 million.

Pioneered Specialty retail in India in Computer Retailing and Apparel through strategic partnerships with Fortune 100 companies like VF Inc (owners of Lee and Wrangler brands) and Mother care (from the UK). Entered into strategic partnerships for software and hardware with Apple. Lotus, Microsoft, Sinclair (the world’s first home computer), Atari and many other industry leaders. At its peak, the companies had over 40 stores in Computer Retailing and 18 stores in Apparel doing an annual business of over $ 20 million in 1990.

​The press in India and Asia has tracked achievements and he has been on the cover of Dataquest (India ‘s largest selling IT magazine) and Business World (India’s equivalent of Business Week).

​One of the founding members of Nasscom the Industry association for software services.