Outstanding Achievement category winner
Rakesh Majithia/KPMG

Apart from being a top golfer, Rakesh Majithia cannot think of another career that would have “excited” him as much as consulting. Majithia, 43, an associate partner in the sourcing advisory practice at KPMG, is passionate about his profession.

“You are able to work with different people across different cultures and understand how different people react to change,” he explains. “Working with stakeholders, helping them to move their thinking onwards, problem solving and making a difference — I enjoy all of that.”

He joined KPMG as a director in 2007, drawn by the opportunity to give “truly independent advice” on the best solutions for clients.

Within a year he had been promoted to associate partner. His role involves helping organisations to examine how they can deliver high-quality business support functions more cost effectively by exploring possibilities for standardising, centralising, outsourcing and going offshore.

Majithia graduated from Leicester University in 1990 and went into a management advisory role in industry. From there he was headhunted by Coopers & Lybrand (now part of PricewaterhouseCoopers). “I did a lot of work around management information for effective decision support, then moved on to being involved with the first big wave of enterprise resource planning implementations.”

He became involved with SAP, which he describes as “a huge enterprise software application that a lot of global organisations use, with modules for finance, supply chain logistics, people and so on”. Becoming proficient in its finance modules, he went on to manage large-scale global implementations for major companies.

In need of a change of direction, Majithia moved into transformation work, focusing on developing operating models for finance to help companies to reduce costs and increase effectiveness. This led him into sourcing advisory work, which has been his focus for the past 12 years. He advises clients on their strategy and vision around global sourcing, looking at options such as shared services and centres of excellence.

Majithia knows that it takes time to build the trust of clients. “When you go into an organisation, you may not be liked very much. They know what it means when the consultants arrive and you have to win them over.”

The Consultant of the Year judging panel concluded that he excels at winning over people. Majithia’s application “sprang out” at them. “It’s his leadership skills, confidence, communication skills. I think he will always go the extra mile for his clients,” one of the judges notes.

While working for IBM Majithia played a key role in setting up its first shared service centre in Bangalore. He later spent six months in Delhi managing a project. On a weekend visit to friends in Bombay he met his wife Paulomi.

“Consultancy is a career I love and enjoy and everybody works hard and plays hard, but the one thing that has kept me grounded is my family,” says Majithia, who, in his twenties, donated a kidney to his youngest brother.

Looking to the future, Majithia adds: “I’m excited by the fact that I’m driving towards partnership and hoping that I’ll get there soon.

“We lost another of my brothers two years ago to cancer. He started his career as a graduate with KPMG, and I think he would have been very proud to know I was being successful there. These things push you on and give you inspiration.”

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