Tania Ahmed

+91 8454845835
ahmed.tania622@gmail.com

Strategy & Innovation Management, Marketing & Brand Management Professional with 10+ years of experience
SUMMARY

Marketing, Innovation Management & Strategy professional with an MBA in Marketing & Finance from IIFT, Delhi and
B.Com (Hons) from Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University.

I have extensive corporate experience having worked with the Mahindra Group (Corporate Strategy and Innovation
Center of Excellence) and NIIT Technologies Ltd. (Corporate Branding, Marketing including Digital Marketing, Key
Account Management & Presales).

My professional work experience of 10+ years has enabled me to develop expertise in strategy, problem solving, project
management, creative thinking, marketing & communication.

I have worked in cross cultural and geographically distributed teams and have managed teams in some of my projects.

Currently working as Manager in the Group Strategy Office, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (M&M) since June 2013:
- Strategy:
Engage in Group Strategy projects that cut across multiple business lines / companies and include
interfacing with multiple business and leadership teams
Responsible for corporate strategy, Business Analysis, Market research and analysis, strategic
recommendations based on management queries, etc

Innovation:
Create a structured process and spearhead the Innovation Awards for the Group [crossing over 2 lakh
employees, across 3 stages of evaluation and 1000+ entries].
Managed the innovation digital properties Including website)
Propagated innovation leadership speaker series by innovators
Created Case Studies and other Innovation artefacts
Managed a team of 2 to drive Innovation activities

Part of the team that managed Digital & Social Media Marketing for Mahindra Blues Festival 2016

6 years of prior experience as Senior Business Manager at NIIT Technologies Ltd. (NTL)
-

Corporate Branding & Marketing:

Designing sales and marketing communications, in close coordination with creative & advertising agencies
Managed creative agencies to prepare creative material and collaterals
Led the marketing efforts with the objective of building NTL in key global markets with a focus on
Belgium & Netherlands.
Designed and launched the new website for NTL
Part of the core team that established the Internal Sales department at NTL and set processes for it.
Was given the additional role of managing Corporate Communication & PR solely for the whole group
within a year of joining the team.
Devised & implemented lead generation campaigns with focus on achieving targets & augmenting business

Key Account Management & Presales:

Responsible for all presales activities (managing Bids/ Proposals/ RFP/ RFIs)
Handling Client engagement, giving presentations and demonstrations, etc

Professional Experience

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Manager Innovation, Corporate Strategy & Synergy
Group Strategy Office

Responsibilities:
-

Engage in strategy projects with end-to-end project delivery that cut across multiple business
lines / companies and include interfacing with multiple business and leadership teams across the
Mahindra Group.

Conduct in-depth secondary research and primary research to derive strategic and meaningful
insights for the businesses/stakeholders.

Conduct analysis of market trends, industry trends, customers, regulatory issues and competition
to deliver high quality Business Plans/Reports.

Putting together economic and operational aspect in the business cases and dDeveloping
alternative business cases to support investment and stake-holders expectations

Discussion of various business cases with the stakeholders clearly demonstrating how each of the
cases contributes to the bottom line of the company.

Corporate Strategy

Innovation Centre
of Excellence (CoE)

Since June 2013

Achievements: Instances of Strategy projects executed successfully:

-

Strategic and Tactical plan for pursuing opportunities in Smart Cities for the Mahindra Group
(Scoping, analysing and identifying opportunities for Group)

Created a Smart Cities Brochure outlining the Mahindras Groups solutions in the space

Detailed business plan and business model design for starting a new business in the F&V retail
space (Structuring the model, finalising product portfolio, defining target audience, value chain
structuring, detailed financial plan and developing pilot launch framework

Designed an exclusive digital platform for the Group Executive Board at M&M to access
strategic information

Responsibilities: Launched and drove varied initiatives to execute the Innovation CoEs charter
to promote a culture of innovation throughout the Mahindra Group through workshops,
mentorship, and events:

Anchoring Digital & Offline Marketing Activities for CoE

Digital content management for innovation website to ensure updated and consistent content
Management of digital property
Preparation and dissemination of marketing and communication material
Program organisation and management

Developing CoE Processes

Mahindra Innovation Award processes
Knowledge management for innovation projects
Research for benchmarking with world leaders

Work with eco-system members on innovation initiatives

Achievements: Instances of augmenting the innovation culture at the Mahindra Group

- Design & implement a new format for the Mahindra Innovation Awards (An annual groupwide program honouring innovations)
- Spearhead and execute Mahindra Innovation Awards & Mela end-to-end. The program spans
5 months, 1200+ innovation entries across all businesses, 3 stages of rigorous evaluation and
culminates in a platform for the projects to be showcased.
- Developed the digital platform for curating innovation knowledge management for the
Mahindra Group (authored numerous innovation case studies and thought papers) and created a
monthly newsletter to promote the website
- Propagated innovation leadership speaker series by innovators with the objective of creating an
innovation mind-set

Facilitated innovation workshops for leadership teams (E.g. Leading Innovations Workshop, IPR
and Patenting Workshop)
Worked on the proposal to create a digital crowd-sourcing platform for catalysing innovation at
M&M

Sr. Business Manager

Responsibilities:
-

Key Account
Management
&
Presales
(May 2010 May
2013)

Presales activities (Managed Bids/ Proposals/ RFP/ RFIs, gave presentation and
demonstrations to clients, etc)
Handled project cycles with government and corporate clients (Project scoping, functional
validation of e-Procurement platform, stakeholder collaboration, etc)

Achievements: Joined the sales team in October 2012 and in 6 months

- Built a pipeline to the tune of INR 50 crore
- Acquired the logo of a cement major
- Reached revenue targets of INR 2 crore

Only sales person in India Business Unit to reach the targets

Responsibilities:

Branding& Corporate Marketing alongwith website management & design, agency & vendor
management:
- Conceptualised and developed marketing collaterals (brochures, sell-sheets, e-Direct Mailers, case
studies)
- Launched the new corporate website with an overhaul and redesign of the interface and content
- Agency & Vendor management owning the brief-to-implementation-cycle (ensured effective
closure within deadlines)
- Executed marketing and promotional activities to ensure brand visibility and awareness across
geographies
- Introduced new channels and communication policies previously untried in the organisation
(CEO Chat Forums, internal Sales & Marketing newsletter)
- Worked on multiple industry awards that resulted in NTL getting awarded/felicitated/ranked in
Nasscom Innovation Awards, Dataquest, Global Outsourcing Top 100, among others
- Designed & controlled the PR calendar for NTL to promote brand perception (press timelines, etc)
- Developed, pitched (for stories, articles, press releases, speaking opportunities etc) and tracked
NTL in the media
- Oversaw & coordinated media communications, press conferences and media meetings

Regional Marketing
- Created and executed the annual marketing plan for Belgium & Netherlands
- Developed marketing strategies to expand customer base through lead generation and customer
activation programs for NTLs BFSI solutions (6th CEE Credit Risk, IDC Breakfast Meetings, etc)

Competition Tracking & Sales Enablement

- Tracked competition technology landscape and indicators to analyse and discover value
propositions for NTL services
- Devised & implemented lead generation campaigns with focus on achieving targets & augmenting
business

Achievements:
- Designed and launched new corporate website with an overhaul and redesign of the interface
and content
- Executed well received marketing programs in Belgium & Netherlands (6 th CEE Credit Risk,
IDC Breakfast Meetings, etc)

Marketing, PR
&
Corporate
Communication
(May 2007- April
2010)

May 2007 May 2013

Introduced new channels and communication policies previously untried in the organisation
(CEO Chat Forums, internal Sales & Marketing newsletter)
Achieved to get NTL awarded/ranked in key industry surveys (Nasscom Innovation Awards,
Dataquest, Global Outsourcing Top 100, etc)
Ensured effective closure of all projects within deadlines
Set up the Sales Enablement department in the Group
Tracked competition technology landscape and indicators to analyse and discover value
propositions for NTL services
Devised & implemented lead generation campaigns with focus on achieving targets &
augmenting business

Academics
Institute / University
Indian Institute of Foreign Trade
Lady Shri Ram College (Delhi University)

Qualification
MBA
B.Com (Hons)

Extracurricular Activities

Helpage India: Worked on a project on the mobile medical services for the elderly
National Social Service (NSS): worked on a Child Development Program project
Active member of the Bharat Scouts and Guides throughout school at the State level
Published articles in newspapers and magazines on a range of topics
Active member of Dramatic, Creative Writing and Film Society throughout school & college

Hobbies

Reading, Writing, Traveling

Year of Graduation
2007
2003