Thursday, June 12, 2025
Date: June 12, 2025
Time: 3.00 PM to 4.00 PM
Venue: Auditorium (308) (Third Floor)
Resource Person: Mr. Sachin Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Director Operations –IOT Practice, Cognizant.
Participants: First Year PGDM & PGDM- Global (Batch 2025-2027) Students
Faculty Coordinator: Dr. Indrajit Goswami & Dr. Nirbhay Mishra
Organizer: Induction Program Committee (2025-2026), Dr D. Y. Patil B-School.
Objectives:
To provide students with an opportunity to learn from corporate professionals about the expectations of organizations.
Dr. Kiran Singh, Assistant Professor, delivered the welcome address and introduced Mr. Sachin Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Director Operations –IOT Practice, Cognizant. Dr. Sheetal Darekar, Deputy Director and Head, Corporate Relations, felicitated the guest. The institute had the privilege of welcoming Mr. Agarwal for an insightful and highly interactive session with the first-year students of PGDM and PGDM-Global programs (Batch 2025–2027).
The topic of the session was “Operational Excellence in the IT Service Industry”, a subject of great relevance and significance for future management professionals.
The session was conducted in an engaging Q&A format, wherein Mr. Agarwal used a PowerPoint presentation to pose ten thought-provoking questions to the students. Each question served as a prompt for discussion, stimulating active participation from the audience and allowing students to apply their classroom learning in a real-world context.
The ten questions covered a wide range of foundational and strategic aspects of operations and financial management in the IT services sector.
These included:
1. Operational excellence
2. Can you think of some business processes?
3. How do you measure the financial performance of a business?
4. What is revenue?
5. What is the cost?
6. What is the most important obligation of any company to its shareholders?
7. How do we enhance the financial performance of an IT services business?
8. What are the biggest cost components?
9. What is the major focus of a COO in his operational excellence function?
10. What are the key cost optimization levers?
Through this interactive method, Mr. Agarwal not only assessed the students’ understanding but also encouraged them to think critically. He patiently clarified concepts and offered practical insights based on his extensive experience in operations and leadership roles. His explanations were articulated in simple, relatable language, making complex industry concepts easy to grasp. Mr. Agarwal emphasized that operational excellence is about achieving efficiency, reducing waste, and continuously improving processes to deliver better value to customers and shareholders. He explained key business processes in IT services, discussed cost and revenue structures, and highlighted the importance of measuring financial performance through metrics such as profitability, ROI, and EBITDA.
Further, he stressed the role of a COO in aligning operational efficiency with strategic business goals, managing large teams and resources, and ensuring customer satisfaction while maintaining financial discipline. The discussion on cost optimization levels, such as automation, workforce management, vendor efficiency, and cloud migration—gave students a clear understanding of how top executives drive value creation in IT companies.
Mr. Agarwal's ability to blend technical knowledge with business acumen left a strong impression on the students. He appreciated the audience for their enthusiasm and thoughtful responses, creating a highly participative and enriching learning environment.
The session was extremely well received, with students expressing appreciation for the real- world perspectives shared. It served as a valuable platform to understand the dynamic nature of operational excellence in the IT service industry and inspired students to think strategically about operations, cost management, and business leadership.
Throughout the session the speaker engaged the students by asking them questions and clarifying their knowledge gaps. At the end, Dr. Nirbhay Mishra, Professor, delivered a vote of thanks.