Barnik Maitra-led ADL India On A Growth Trajectory
Barnik Chitran Maitra, who was on the advisory & founding board of several early-stage Silicon Valley start-ups, funds and incubators until early 2020, was approached by the top management of Arthur D Little (ADL) to steer its second innings in India. The former NRI didn’t give a second thought despite enjoying a plum position in the US. Within a year, the Brussels, Belgium, -headquartered company grew from zero employee and no revenues in April 2020 to now become the fifth largest tier one management consulting firm in the country with over 50 employees. It now pits against companies like Mckinsey & Co, Bain & Co., Booz & Co, BCG, AT Kearney, etc, which offer a similar suite of offerings in the Strategy Consulting space such as Market Entry, Cost Optimization, Growth Strategy, Business Consulting, et al.
“My passion for building the new India is one of my key reasons for taking up this challenging role at this juncture. Also, the coming decades and century belong to India, which is on the cusp of becoming a leading global economy. Furthermore, technology and Innovation, fuelled by the vibrant start-up ecosystem will be the new engines of growth for India,” Maitra, Managing Partner of India and South Asia of Arthur D. Little tells BW Businessworld in an exclusive interaction. He added, “Interestingly, our business is and will always be bigger than China. The unique value proposition ADL pursues is serving sectors of the Indian economy whose full potential has not been realized and that need transformation to achieve the US$ 5 trillion GDP goal and Atmanirbhar Bharat, most notably water, agriculture, tourism, and healthcare.”
According to the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM), the Indian consulting industry is expected to record revenues of Rs. 27,000 crore by 2020. Unofficial estimates suggest that the industry is projected to grow by 25-30% CAGR over the next five years. One estimate also says that between 500 and 600 high-value consulting contracts, worth $250 million to $300 million, are awarded every year by Indian companies, including 30 or 40 projects worth over $2 million each.
As per a report by ‘The Ken’, BCG India grew 22% to Rs 2,325 crore ($315.9 million) in revenue; McKinsey & Co India LLP grew 82% to Rs 1,352 crore ($183.7 million) in domestic consulting revenue. BW Businessworld could not independently confirm the financial figures of either companies.
Arthur D. Little is an international management consulting firm which played key roles in the development of business strategy, operations research, the word processor, the first synthetic penicillin, LexisNexis, SABRE and NASDAQ. Having taken the helm of the oldest global management consulting firm in the region, Maitra has turned around the firm’s performance in just 15 months, having made inroads in the government sector and companies of a host of verticals such as telecom, technology, automotive, utilities, healthcare, agriculture, and water with an additional focus on digital transformation, rural development, tourism, space, and industrials/manufacturing.
Today, the company is a multi-national management consulting firm operating as a partnership. Under Maitra’s leadership, the ADL India brought in a radically reimagined management consulting offering, which is open-sourced (“open consulting”), outcome-oriented with advisor ‘skin-in-the-game’ and offers diverse client propositions such as strategy advisory, transaction advisory, fund-raising, breakthrough growth and digital transformation.
“We have pioneered something called ‘Open Consulting’ approach, which is like the ‘Android of Consulting’ and is accessible to all of our domestic clients. Secondly, we link part of our fees to outcomes, which we call ‘skin-in- the- game’ and is far more important for smaller companies and startups. The third thing is that we have a very unique proposition wherein we are helping our clients access international capital by connecting themreach out to select trusted investors. If you put all these three propositions together as an Indian business, you have the proposition of having an advisor who prepares you to build the world of the future and not teach about the business you are in today,” added Maitra, who was also a Partner at McKinsey & Company.
Despite the Covid-induced slowdown, ADL managed to crack deals/ forge alliances with varied industries, comprising a leading energy utility major, several telco infrastructure players, auto players across the value chain, a healthcare conglomerate, a generics pharmaceutical player, a global tech multinational, an international water multinational, PE/VC fund house on EV, sustainable mobility, impact investments, infrastructure players as well as a leading financial institution. ADL is also working with important stakeholders in the Union Government and also several state governments in areas of strategic importance to the economy and society.
“Today a lot of our clients are asking how do we reorient our business in quantum computing, which happens in top-notch research laboratories or in the research wings of big-league companies. Since we offer our clients to leapfrog into the future, we did better business during Covid in India. We couldn’t have created this business if there was no Covid. Every single executive we are speaking to is thirsty for a reimagined transformed solution," adds Maitra when asked about the business environment after the pandemic had struck.
Meanwhile, ADL India aims to earn a 3-digit figure in million euros in the next 3-4 years. The company also plans to double the headcount every two years to reach over 100 consultants by 2022 and 200-250 by 2024 and over 400-450 by 2026 and also be the top two tier 1 management consulting firms in India in this time frame.
“While globally we are growing by over 20% annually (on a YOY basis), our Indian arm is looking to double its revenues every 12-18 monthsgrowing 100-150%. We want to convert some of the global capabilities, which we are building in India, at scale. So, in the next 3-4 years from now, we are earmarking our Bangalore competence centre not just for AI, but also for blockchain, IoT, Edge Computing, Cloud/SaaS, Hofed (training workshops for farmers), Cyber Security, etc."
