Biranchi Mishra: Integrating Unique And Innovative Business Processes To Ensure The Sustained Success Of The Company
Biranchi Mishra
Chief Risk Officer
In an exclusive interview with CEO INSIGHTS, Biranchi talks more about his professional journey and how he has been able to develop into an elite CRO.
1. Highlight your educational and professional background. Also, tell us about your unique skill sets and strengths that differentiate you from your peers in the industry.
After completing my graduation from OUAT, Bhubaneswar, I worked in a fertilizer manufacturing company for few years before joining Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar for PGDM. I completed a Financial Risk Management course from IIM, Kozhikode, and am currently pursuing an advanced course in Quantitative Finance from The CQF Institute, London. I have handled challenging assignments in various positions across diverse domains like BFSI (SME, MSME, retail & inclusive banking), life insurance, FMCG & consumer durable sectors. Since 2014, I am with Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency, leading product and policy development, credit underwriting, operations, and risk management. My previous assignments include middle-management and leadership roles in HDFC Standard Life, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever's divisions. My responsibilities involve business and product development, operations, policy and process designing improvements, and supply chain management.
2. Please share with us your journey as CRO and what are the challenges you encountered during your professional journey?
Every employee of an organization works as a Risk Manager what we
call "the first line of defence" in Risk
Management. Unlike natural systems, organizations are managed by intelligent participants that can react to change in a self-reflective or even a calculating manner. Those who understand the risk and working it are in the best position to subvert it. The challenge is multifold if you have budget constraints and employees are multitasked, specifically in startups. I strive to create a risk compliant culture across levels in the organization and maintain a delicate balance between managing risk and supporting sustainable business growth. Lastly, every corporate world experience is challenging and equally rewarding if we focus on learning from our experiences. I have always focused on learning from each challenge and mistake committed by both me and my team. At a personal level, constant effort to upgrade my knowledge and skills, empathy, and gratitude for whatever I have in life have helped me manage all the difficulties and challenges throughout these years.
3.Having handledchallenging assignments in senior positions across diverse domains, how are you leveraging the best of these elements to offer the best for Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency?
I started my career as a sales executive and have almost ten years of experience setting up new strategic initiatives in new business, product, business development, and relationship management in the banking and financial institution space. The rest of my experience is in operations, credit underwriting, and risk management. I feel my unique combination of experiences across industries and functions helped me a lot during my career in the current organization, a start-up when I joined.
Risk and uncertainties are different but commonly used as synonyms. Risks are "known" and are measurable. Uncertainties are known but immeasurable(unknowns) like the current pandemic's impact, and there are also unknown unknowns. We identify and quantify the known and measurable risks to decide which risks are within the organization's risk appetite and can be accepted and managed as intrinsic to the business, and the
Management. Unlike natural systems, organizations are managed by intelligent participants that can react to change in a self-reflective or even a calculating manner. Those who understand the risk and working it are in the best position to subvert it. The challenge is multifold if you have budget constraints and employees are multitasked, specifically in startups. I strive to create a risk compliant culture across levels in the organization and maintain a delicate balance between managing risk and supporting sustainable business growth. Lastly, every corporate world experience is challenging and equally rewarding if we focus on learning from our experiences. I have always focused on learning from each challenge and mistake committed by both me and my team. At a personal level, constant effort to upgrade my knowledge and skills, empathy, and gratitude for whatever I have in life have helped me manage all the difficulties and challenges throughout these years.
Risk management is about survival,and it is critically important to the processes of specialization, scaling, efficiency, and wealth creation
3.Having handledchallenging assignments in senior positions across diverse domains, how are you leveraging the best of these elements to offer the best for Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency?
I started my career as a sales executive and have almost ten years of experience setting up new strategic initiatives in new business, product, business development, and relationship management in the banking and financial institution space. The rest of my experience is in operations, credit underwriting, and risk management. I feel my unique combination of experiences across industries and functions helped me a lot during my career in the current organization, a start-up when I joined.
Risk and uncertainties are different but commonly used as synonyms. Risks are "known" and are measurable. Uncertainties are known but immeasurable(unknowns) like the current pandemic's impact, and there are also unknown unknowns. We identify and quantify the known and measurable risks to decide which risks are within the organization's risk appetite and can be accepted and managed as intrinsic to the business, and the
other risks are to be avoided or transferred. Uncertainties are best addressed through a business continuity plan or being more agile in managing as and when it arises. Many organizations, including us, which are agile, could handle the business operation smoothly with minimal inconvenience.
4. Managing risk and uncertainty in general, do you use any framework to have your expectations reflected prolifically as desired outcomes?
Risk management is about survival, and it is critically important to the processes of specialization, scaling, efficiency, and wealth creation. Hence, not taking risks that can be quantified and priced is the risk we want to avoid as an organization. As a risk management process, we constantly identify, evaluate, and manage the risks to achieve the right balance between creating value and avoid exposing the organization to undue risk. We have created risk-averse culture across the hierarchy through well-defined policies and processes and a three-line defence to manage the identified risks. However, identifying and analyzing risk in a fast-changing world always remains a significant challenge that we try to work through regular reviews and improvements.
5. In your journey over the past, which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction- both as an individual and a CRO? Also, what role did your family play in your success?
I believe in multiple years of experience than repeating the same experience numerous times. Fortunately, I handled different challenges in various functions and industries, which are unique and, in a way, extremely satisfactory. I always try to upgrade my skill and knowledge through certifications, participating in industry forums, and professional networking discussions. Family plays a vital role in every person's life. My family has always been my biggest strength, they supported me for unconventional career choices, and stood by me to sail through difficult times.
Biranchi Mishra, Chief Risk Officer, Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency
Biranchi is a thought leader and an operational expert, having handled challenging assignments in senior positions across diverse industry verticals.He is also an astute strategist, enjoying a proven record of excellence in planning and implementing financial models, developing and implementing operational policies/procedures, and strengthening client relationships by delivering optimized solutions.
4. Managing risk and uncertainty in general, do you use any framework to have your expectations reflected prolifically as desired outcomes?
Risk management is about survival, and it is critically important to the processes of specialization, scaling, efficiency, and wealth creation. Hence, not taking risks that can be quantified and priced is the risk we want to avoid as an organization. As a risk management process, we constantly identify, evaluate, and manage the risks to achieve the right balance between creating value and avoid exposing the organization to undue risk. We have created risk-averse culture across the hierarchy through well-defined policies and processes and a three-line defence to manage the identified risks. However, identifying and analyzing risk in a fast-changing world always remains a significant challenge that we try to work through regular reviews and improvements.
5. In your journey over the past, which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction- both as an individual and a CRO? Also, what role did your family play in your success?
I believe in multiple years of experience than repeating the same experience numerous times. Fortunately, I handled different challenges in various functions and industries, which are unique and, in a way, extremely satisfactory. I always try to upgrade my skill and knowledge through certifications, participating in industry forums, and professional networking discussions. Family plays a vital role in every person's life. My family has always been my biggest strength, they supported me for unconventional career choices, and stood by me to sail through difficult times.
Biranchi Mishra, Chief Risk Officer, Netafim Agricultural Financing Agency
Biranchi is a thought leader and an operational expert, having handled challenging assignments in senior positions across diverse industry verticals.He is also an astute strategist, enjoying a proven record of excellence in planning and implementing financial models, developing and implementing operational policies/procedures, and strengthening client relationships by delivering optimized solutions.