Ashutosh
Sundaram

Unconventional moves.
Lasting impact.

In 2016, move 37 was the play no one expected — and the one that changed the game. Twenty years of building at the edge of data, AI, and human systems, across five industries. Each move, deliberate. Most, pointed toward the larger good.

Sr. Director · HR Tech & Analytics ISB AMPBA '27 Bengaluru
01

What I've built

AI and data projects across two decades.

Enterprise AI program
AI workmates & governance
Responsible for making the enterprise's AI agents — the "workmates" rolling out across the organization — work and succeed in production. This includes the governance architecture I designed end-to-end: a three-lines-of-defense control structure and a human-in-the-loop framework with review decision partners, with compliance mapped across the EU AI Act, NYC Local Law 144, EEOC guidance, and the NIST AI Risk Management Framework — a single governance backbone across every deployed agent.
agentic AIHITL3 lines of defenseEU AI ActNIST AI RMF
Program design & delivery
HR data & AI fluency program
A 20-week program I designed to move an HR function from descriptive reporting to real data — and then AI — fluency. Built on a six-dimension competency model mapped to the Gartner ladder, with a quantitative baseline→endline diagnostic so growth is proven, not asserted. Grounded in adult-learning science. I designed the architecture and deliver the core modules.
competency modelGartner ladderbaseline→endlinedata→AI bridge
Platform
Saathi
A community animal welfare and pet care platform. A caregiver wedge feeds a community animal data layer built as a public good, with a commercial pet-services marketplace as the revenue layer. Built to prototype.
PWAReact NativeSupabasedata-as-public-good
Health analytics
Sahaya
A personal health analytics app for caregivers and the sandwich generation — turning fragmented health data into individual-level insight. Built with DPDP Act compliance designed in from the start.
ReactSupabaseDPDP-readyhealth data
National-scale gov-tech
National rural data platform
Designed and led the digital transformation strategy for a Government of India rural livelihoods mission — data and project-tracking infrastructure spanning 34 states and union territories, built to make grassroots impact visible at national scale.
34 states & UTspan-IndiaM&Edata platform
Workforce intelligence
HR analytics engine
Built predictive workforce intelligence from a zero-analytics baseline for 40,000+ associates — attrition modeling, succession readiness, and compliance forecasting, delivered through self-service dashboards.
WorkdayPower BIpredictiveself-service
Data architecture
Single Source of Truth
Led a large-scale data unification initiative — consolidating fragmented, siloed systems into one authoritative data layer for the enterprise, so every team works from the same numbers.
data unificationintegrationgovernanceenterprise scale
Executive enablement
Data for decision-makers
Over five years, trained thousands of corporate professionals — including Fortune 50 executive leaders — to use data for better decisions. Turning data literacy into a leadership capability, not just a technical one.
executive educationdata literacyFortune 503,000+ trained
02

How I build

The throughlines that hold across every project.

01

Responsible AI governance for regulated enterprises

A three-lines-of-defense, human-in-the-loop governance architecture for deploying AI agents where the cost of getting it wrong is real — mapped to the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, and sector regulation.

02

Building data & AI fluency at scale

Moving whole functions from descriptive reporting to data — and then AI — fluency, through programs designed on adult-learning science and measured by quantitative baseline→endline diagnostics. Capability you can prove, not just claim.

03

Data and tech modernization at scale

From fragmented legacy systems to unified platforms — consolidation strategy, adoption, and change management for workforces measured in the tens of thousands.

04

Data for good, tech for good

Making data and technology work for people who wouldn't otherwise have access to it. The throughline across 20 years and five industries — and the reason most of what I build points outward.

03

The path here

Not a straight line. An arc through five industries.

2024 — present
Senior Director, HR Technology & Analytics
Healthcare BPO · 40,000 associates · 5 geographies
Workday transformation · predictive workforce analytics · AI agent governance
2021 — 2024
DGM, Enterprise Delivery
Great Learning · Ed-tech
8,000+ career transitions · India's leading data science bootcamp · 26% risk reduction
2017 — 2021
Co-founder
Augmented Understanding & Saral Sankhya · Social enterprise
National rural data platform across 34 states · 3,000+ trained · user base 400 → 7,000 for an NGO
2014 — 2017
Head, Operations & Special Projects
Hippocampus Learning Centres · Education
13,500 students · 300 installations · client retention 44% → 85%
2007 — 2014
Business Analyst → Program & Project Manager
Hewlett-Packard · Enterprise IT / analytics
$120M incremental revenue via segmentation framework · sales analytics · workforce planning
2005 — 2007
Senior Consultant
Symphony Marketing Solutions · Analytics consulting
Business analytics for retail & CPG clients · industry insight & portfolio strategy
04

The Long Arc

Thinking in public — on data, AI, governance, and the systems people rely on.

Essays on data, technology, and human systems

Substack →

Governing AI agents in regulated enterprises

Coming soon

The case for data literacy in HR

Coming soon

Let's build something

Have an idea, a prototype, or a product you want to make sharper with data, AI, and technology? That's the conversation I like most. Bring the ambition — I'll help you make the unconventional move.