Abhaya Shankar : Leading The Automotive Component Industry With Transformation Through Innovation & Strategy
Abhaya Shankar
CEO
One of the finest leaders in this industry, Abhaya Shankar is a seasoned executive with over 40 years of experience, including 22 years as CEO/MD in various industries. He graduated from IIT Kanpur and IIM Kolkata and is a Certified Executive Leadership Coach and Registered Independent Director. He has set up several greenfield and brown field manufacturing units in India, creating sizeable shareholder value as well as significant employment opportunities. He specializes in business transformation, strategy, and startup mentoring. He has also transformed companies in the green building materials, and, more recently, aerospace, defence, and nuclear power.
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Abhaya Shankar enlightens us more about his professional journey and his unique play at UCAL.
What is your perspective on the market's current position, and how are you driving the legacy of UCAL under your direction?
The automotive industry is critical to economic development and human progress because mobility promotes growth of a civilization and improves people's lifestyles. India, with its emphasis on green economy, large population, and young demographics, represents a promising market for automotive sector for the next 15- 20 years. Environmental concerns, as well as the demand for efficient, affordable transportation, drive innovation in this rapidly evolving industry. OEMs and new entrants are preparing for significant expansion.
Regarding UCAL, I have concentrated on overcoming challenges of technology and innovation in our product range by creating efficient mechatronics and electronics design and engineering
teams to accelerate new products development and parallely acquiring electronics and mechatronics manufacturing capabilities. We increased our R&D efficiency, implemented effective program management, and improved customer interactions through revamping our sales engine.
Our comprehensive transformation program addresses all functions, preparing UCAL for long-term growth and international expansion, including winning new businesses from USA, Europe, Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. We hired where essential and undertook a serious cost reduction initiative to improve the bottom line. Acquring new businesses is our main mantra and in eighteen months our RFQ bank has increased five fold. Flexible pricing strategies and attention to accurate and time bound costing has improved our competitiveness and helped us to create a healthy new orders. De-risking activities on several fronts will ensure protection against volatility in this VUCA world.
As an alumnus from IIT Kanpur, what are the most memorable academic experiences you look back on today?
IIT Kanpur, is known for its rigorous academics, with emphasis on overall personality and leadership development. My time there was enriched by a variety of courses in humanities in addition to the core engineering courses. My participation in cultural clubs and hobbies promoted our well-rounded and balanced development. Balancing academics and extracurricular activities was crucial. I am grateful for my parents' support, which encouraged me to pursue various non-academic interests too. My participation in theatre and the Cultural Council were memorable fun-filled experiences in addition to an excellent academic environment and supportive professors that made us good engineers. My team won the prestigious final year 'Best Project Award'.
Having been entrusted with leadership positions early on in your career, how are you inspiring/lending your knowledge to budding industry leaders?
My leadership journey began with the influence of my father, who instilled the importance of education, self-esteem, and selfless leadership. My schooling taught me discipline, courage, and tenderness and IIT offered a platform for knowledge and leadership development.
Working with Dr. V. Krishnamurthy at Maruti taught me the importance of humility, strategic thinking, and continual learning. Inspired by these experiences, I like to promote humility, lifelong learning, and noble goals for aspiring leaders. I am
Our comprehensive transformation program addresses all functions, preparing UCAL for long-term growth and international expansion, including winning new businesses from USA, Europe, Africa, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. We hired where essential and undertook a serious cost reduction initiative to improve the bottom line. Acquring new businesses is our main mantra and in eighteen months our RFQ bank has increased five fold. Flexible pricing strategies and attention to accurate and time bound costing has improved our competitiveness and helped us to create a healthy new orders. De-risking activities on several fronts will ensure protection against volatility in this VUCA world.
I like to promote humility, lifelong learning, & lofty ideals for aspiring leaders
As an alumnus from IIT Kanpur, what are the most memorable academic experiences you look back on today?
IIT Kanpur, is known for its rigorous academics, with emphasis on overall personality and leadership development. My time there was enriched by a variety of courses in humanities in addition to the core engineering courses. My participation in cultural clubs and hobbies promoted our well-rounded and balanced development. Balancing academics and extracurricular activities was crucial. I am grateful for my parents' support, which encouraged me to pursue various non-academic interests too. My participation in theatre and the Cultural Council were memorable fun-filled experiences in addition to an excellent academic environment and supportive professors that made us good engineers. My team won the prestigious final year 'Best Project Award'.
Having been entrusted with leadership positions early on in your career, how are you inspiring/lending your knowledge to budding industry leaders?
My leadership journey began with the influence of my father, who instilled the importance of education, self-esteem, and selfless leadership. My schooling taught me discipline, courage, and tenderness and IIT offered a platform for knowledge and leadership development.
Working with Dr. V. Krishnamurthy at Maruti taught me the importance of humility, strategic thinking, and continual learning. Inspired by these experiences, I like to promote humility, lifelong learning, and noble goals for aspiring leaders. I am
committed to mentoring people, generating opportunities for others to grow in their careers, building a supportive atmosphere, and promoting employment growth.
What is your anticipation of the market going forward?
It is clear that demand in India is bound to rise in the automotive industry. Some of our major customers are targeting double digit growth in sales. To succeed, businesses must create robust strategies for navigating the volatile and uncertain environment. This necessitates quickly addressing challenges and adapting for rapid growth. It's important to remember that some aspects of business performance may be beyond your control, so organizational resilience is critical. Our growth will be aligned to exceed the industry growth. Additionally, the unwavering pursuit of excellence is essential. Global demand for high quality and reasonable cost of production necessitates understanding and implementing the trends in manufacturing excellence such as Industry 4.0, Robotics, IOT and AI. Success factors vary by industry, and our team is dedicated to identifying and leveraging these for continued growth and success.
What is the next destination you have envisioned for your journey?
As part of UCAL's transformation initia-tive, we have a clear vision for the next five years: we want to threefold our revenues and profitability and de-risk our company through diversification in products as well markets. We intend to broaden our strategic focus to include exports and build a direct access to aftermarket sectors, and serve other than automotive industries as well such as white goods and medical equipments, by leveraging our electronics expertise. Furthermore, we intend to expand and be known as a high-precision manufacturing company with strong Engineering capa-bilities. We aim to deliver techno-logically advanced products and explore opportunities in aerospace and defense, establishing ourselves as a trailblazer in both innovation and manufacturing excel-lence.
Abhaya Shankar, CEO, UCAL
Abhaya Shankar, CEO of UCAL, has over 43 years of leadership experience in reputable organizations. He graduated from IIT Kanpur and values education, humility, and lifelong learning. Shankar is driving UCAL's growth through strategic initiatives that prioritize innovation, high-precision manufacturing, and diversification into industries such as aerospace and defense. His leadership style fosters a supportive culture, creates employment opportunities, and ensures the company's long-term success.
•Hobbies: Playing musical Instru-ments, singing, Golf & Reading
•Favourite Cuisine: Chinese & Continental
•Favorite Travel Destination: Indian museums & cities such as London & Paris
What is your anticipation of the market going forward?
It is clear that demand in India is bound to rise in the automotive industry. Some of our major customers are targeting double digit growth in sales. To succeed, businesses must create robust strategies for navigating the volatile and uncertain environment. This necessitates quickly addressing challenges and adapting for rapid growth. It's important to remember that some aspects of business performance may be beyond your control, so organizational resilience is critical. Our growth will be aligned to exceed the industry growth. Additionally, the unwavering pursuit of excellence is essential. Global demand for high quality and reasonable cost of production necessitates understanding and implementing the trends in manufacturing excellence such as Industry 4.0, Robotics, IOT and AI. Success factors vary by industry, and our team is dedicated to identifying and leveraging these for continued growth and success.
What is the next destination you have envisioned for your journey?
As part of UCAL's transformation initia-tive, we have a clear vision for the next five years: we want to threefold our revenues and profitability and de-risk our company through diversification in products as well markets. We intend to broaden our strategic focus to include exports and build a direct access to aftermarket sectors, and serve other than automotive industries as well such as white goods and medical equipments, by leveraging our electronics expertise. Furthermore, we intend to expand and be known as a high-precision manufacturing company with strong Engineering capa-bilities. We aim to deliver techno-logically advanced products and explore opportunities in aerospace and defense, establishing ourselves as a trailblazer in both innovation and manufacturing excel-lence.
Abhaya Shankar, CEO, UCAL
Abhaya Shankar, CEO of UCAL, has over 43 years of leadership experience in reputable organizations. He graduated from IIT Kanpur and values education, humility, and lifelong learning. Shankar is driving UCAL's growth through strategic initiatives that prioritize innovation, high-precision manufacturing, and diversification into industries such as aerospace and defense. His leadership style fosters a supportive culture, creates employment opportunities, and ensures the company's long-term success.
•Hobbies: Playing musical Instru-ments, singing, Golf & Reading
•Favourite Cuisine: Chinese & Continental
•Favorite Travel Destination: Indian museums & cities such as London & Paris