Sanjay Krishnaa has been associated with Cyient for the past 17 years. He is currently based in Australia and dons two hats at the company: one as senior vice-president (SVP) and global head, communications, and the other as president, Asia-Pacific (APAC) re­gion. His responsibilities in­clude looking after legal compliance for the company’s APAC operations, as well as profit and loss, strategies and market penetration of its global communications/telecom division.

“Ensuring that we are one step ahead in terms of technological advancements and creating solutions that will help operators remain competitive as well as innovative are the major targets in front of me,” says Krishnaa.

The industry, he notes, is witnessing widespread technological disruption, more than that in any other industry. Commenting on the ma­jor trends he foresees in the global telecom industry, he says that 5G technology will kick in over the next 18-24 months as operators conduct trials and deploy small cells in their networks; there will be a growing focus on software-defined networks and cyber­security solutions; telco consolidation will take place in the global telecom market as mergers and acquisitions pave the way for fewer dominant players in every market, and operators will start investing heavily in the internet of things (IoT), which has op­en­ed up opportunities for companies like Cyient. “We have developed an IoT-based tower operations centre, which en­ables operators to better manage their passive infrastructure,” he elaborates.

Prior to Cyient, Krishnaa had a six-year stint at Japan-based Konica Corporation, where he handled the company’s South Asian market ope­rations.

In terms of management style, Krishnaa says he believes in giving autonomy to his team. He is a proactive listener, is open to ideas and willing to take the risk of going ahead and exploring opportunities. In fact, he feels that being positive and aggressive are two of his biggest strengths.

Krishnaa is a commerce graduate and has an MBA from IIM Bangalore. When not at work, he enjoys playing badminton and tennis, and doing a spot of gardening. His weekends are mostly spent cheering for his son, who plays cricket for a club in Australia. His daughter is working as a management trainee for a local broadband company in Austra­lia while his wife is a homemaker, whom he des­cri­bes as “the strong foundation for all of us”.