1. What’s your leadership mantra in the fast-evolving tech landscape?
Mera mantra simple hai — fail fast, learn faster. In tech, if you don’t evolve, you dissolve. At boAt, we’ve made it a habit to stay ahead by listening to what Indian consumers truly need, not just copying global trends. That mindset shift—backed by our own R&D at boAt Labs—is what’s helped us innovate for India, in India, and now, for the world.
2. How do you inspire and motivate your team during a challenging time?
Interestingly, human beings are wired to take failures and challenges as diseases. That said, the very need to inspire and motivate comes when you keep yourself in a position of power who knows it all. I don’t do that and especially not when I can be a friend too. Mujhe gyaan nahi pasand and boss banna toh bilkul nahi.
If any of my team members is feeling low, I don’t mind if they rant about it—even if it’s about me. Inspiration doesn’t always have to come from those who are in the “position of authority”; it can come from simply being present and being real. I talk to my team like two college friends would—cracking jokes, sharing my own failures, and gently reminding everyone that we’re in this together. That sense of humanness goes a long way, because it’s exactly what I once wished for when I was in their shoes.
3. In an era of AI and automation, how do you see the role of human leadership evolving?
AI aur human leadership—dono ek team jaise hain. AI can assist, but it’s the human touch that adds soul. At boAt, we use AI in products, but the emotion behind them comes from real people who understand Indian consumers.
It is important to ensure that we understand that the fear of AI is as redundant as CA fearing calculators when they came out. Human leadership can evolve to great heights if we are able to learn it and most importantly acknowledge that it’s alright to learn from it.
The next few years, India’s human leadership role in AI would largely be dependent on our ability to take the first step in terms of not just adopting an innovation but even using the robust talent we must innovate first and use the balanced combination of human intuition with machine intelligence to drive India’s potential and bring world to India.
4. Tell us about a major screw-up in your career—what went wrong and what did you learn?
Before boAt, I tried selling Rs. 25,000 headphones to a price-sensitive market without first building brand love or emotional connect. It flopped. I lost money, I lost confidence, and for a while, I even thought maybe entrepreneurship just wasn’t for me.
But looking back, that was my best MBA. It taught me that product-market fit isn’t a buzzword — it’s survival. And more importantly, I learnt how to listen — to the market, to customers, to feedback.
Cut to when boAt started, we flipped the script. It was our moment to change the positioning of ‘just another audio brand’ and build a community of boAtheads. Using the philosophy of ‘customers bhagwaan hain’, we priced smart, designed cooler, and connected with the Indian youth like no other brand was doing at the time. That screw-up taught me that failure isn’t the opposite of success, it’s part of the same process.
5. What’s a mistake you see many young tech entrepreneurs making?
I think, we have come a long but there is still a long way to go. Entrepreneurship was a taboo word in a country like ours, still people have taken the risk to dive into new and unknown waters and come out with flying colours.
The shortcoming however is in being too sincere and following the rules. It’s time we build something novel and not follow the footsteps of the west.
With entrepreneurship now a national hobby and tech as our enabler, it’s time to lead, not follow.
6. How do you handle failure, and how do you encourage a failure-friendly approach?
I often say, Failure isn’t a disease, it’s a teacher. I don’t ‘handle’ failure—I learn from it and move on. The real problem isn’t failing; it’s not applying what you’ve learned. If you want to build the unimaginable, be ready to fail in unimaginable ways too. Sometimes, the biggest ‘NO’ is life setting you up for a better ‘YES’.
7. What’s the next big disruption you foresee in the tech industry?
I think the next big thing is already our favourite word—it’s AI and real-time automation. As time goes on, audiences are becoming more impatient and far more active. They know exactly what they want, and when they want it. Earlier, people used to go to nearest stores to buy items, we soon shifted to e-commerce that gave us what we needed in a few days. Now, it’s all about instant gratification—quick commerce today delivers in mere minutes.
At the same time, personalization has become a game-changer. Many D2C brands are now leveraging real-time customer data to offer hyper-personalized recommendations based on individual needs. Even in healthcare, doctors can predict complex diseases like cancer before they fully manifest—this is the impact real-time data and AI are making. This fusion of personalization, real-time data, automation, and time efficiency is opening massive disruption opportunities for both tech and D2C sectors in the decade ahead. However, the ideal output of these advancements will flourish only if human intellect goes uncompromised.
8. How do you unplug from the tech world? Or do you? Any non-negotiable habits?
The question of unplugging only comes when you start treating something as just ‘work’. For me, keeping up with the world is something that keeps me curious—not something you need to unplug from. I like staying updated with what’s happening around me, and I enjoy learning about things I don’t know. Because if I don’t, my boAt won’t sail in the direction I want it to. This is the same philosophy that made boAt itself not just another audio brand, but a home-grown lifestyle brand which is now world’s second-largest audio and wearable brand.
After all, I can’t really unplug from being a tech entrepreneur, can I?
9. What books that changed your perspective on leadership & Technology?
Well, I am more of a practical guy. I prefer to learn through experiences over theory and books.
10. Podcasts and inspiring quotes that you want to recommend our readers?
I’d not say a podcast or an inspiring quote, but a personal learning that I can share is, “Ek baar Jitne Ke Liye Hazaar Baar Harna Zaroori Hain”.
Learn to take ‘No’ for an answer and learn to say ‘No’ to an ask. Learn to become friends with mistakes and most importantly, learn when to unlearn and relearn to keep up with the changing times.
Success is like an ECG machine—if it’s going up and down, you’re alive and kicking. But if it’s a straight line? You’re dead.