Sudhir Kunder, Senior Vice-President and National Head, DE-CIX Interwire, India
Sudhir Kunder has 26 years of experience across the telecom, FMCG, retail and ICT sectors. He is currently vice-president and national head at DE-CIX Interwire, and leads the company’s operations in India and the SAARC region. In the past, he has worked with organisations such as Sify Technologies, Tata Communications and Bharti Airtel, where he handled diversified portfolios across business, operations, marketing and sales.
His vast experience across functions in the telecom space has helped him drive business growth at DE-CIX. “Despite numerous challenges, we have moved at an exponential pace and have diligently formulated and executed plans that have led us to achieve a staggering revenue growth of 338 per cent in the past year,” he says. “We have to ensure that the growth momentum is maintained so as to reach an unassailable leadership position in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, where we are rapidly expanding. Currently, the DE-CIX Mumbai Internet Exchange ranks second in the APAC region. For me, the challenge is to become number one in the region within the next two quarters.”
According to Kunder, the digital triangle of 5G, AI and IoT will be the critical drivers of digitalisation and edge interconnection. He believes that with increased IoT deployments, two factors are coming into focus – devices are getting smarter and fibre cables are forming a large part of wired connectivity deployments across India. Furthermore, security will be a critical and active area of interest going forward.
Kunder has an MBA from KC College and has completed leadership development courses from IIM Ahmedabad and the Tata Management Training Centre. In terms of management style, Kunder says he practises situational leadership, taking up the role of an innovator and/or an activator as the job demands. “I believe that people matter the most and thus, I act accordingly. This has enabled me to collaborate with team members and stakeholders, along with enhancing my abilities to make difficult decisions.”
Kunder confesses that the increased pace of business often makes it difficult to compartmentalise between the personal and professional spaces. “For me, spare time is scarce and is judiciously split between family, friends, reading and riding my motorbike.” His family consists of his mother, a retired banker, his wife, who works for a large private oil and gas firm, and their son, who is currently in Grade 5.
