Priya Desai
Helping Organisations Navigate Change and Unlock Their Full Potential
15 years of organisational transformation, leadership development, and strategic change management across India's top corporations and multinationals. Based in Mumbai. Available for engagements across India, Gulf, and Southeast Asia.
About Me
A Consultant Who Builds Lasting Capability, Not Just Recommendations
I am Priya Desai, an independent management consultant specialising in organisational transformation, change management, and leadership development. Over 15 years I have worked with India's largest corporations, family-owned conglomerates, and multinational subsidiaries to navigate complex transitions, from post-merger integrations to digital transformation programmes to culture change at scale.
What distinguishes my work is a belief that sustainable change requires building capability inside the organisation, not creating dependency on consultants. Every engagement I take ends with my client's team more equipped, more confident, and more capable of driving change independently. This philosophy has resulted in 87% of my clients engaging me for repeat projects.
I hold an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Commerce from Sydenham College, Mumbai. Before independent consulting I spent 8 years at McKinsey and Company in the Mumbai and Delhi offices, advising clients across consumer goods, financial services, and manufacturing. I left McKinsey to build a boutique practice focused exclusively on the human and organisational side of strategy execution.
"Strategy without execution is hallucination. Execution without capability is temporary. I help organisations build both."
Areas of Expertise
Where I Create the Most Impact
Organisational Transformation
Redesigning structures, processes, and ways of working to unlock performance and agility in complex organisations.
Change Management
Leading the human side of large-scale change. From stakeholder alignment to adoption programmes that make transformation stick.
Leadership Development
Designing and delivering bespoke leadership programmes for senior management teams navigating growth, transition, or turnaround.
Post-Merger Integration
End-to-end PMI support covering cultural alignment, operating model design, and synergy realisation across merged entities.
Strategic Planning Facilitation
Facilitating executive teams through annual strategy cycles, scenario planning, and OKR design with structured frameworks.
Family Business Professionalisation
Supporting first and second generation family businesses in India transition to professional management while preserving founding values.
Career Journey
15 Years. 60 Clients. Measurable Impact.
Founder and Principal Consultant
Independent Practice, Mumbai
60+
Clients Served
87%
Repeat Engagement Rate
Rs. 200Cr+
Value Delivered
Built a boutique consulting practice focused on organisational transformation and leadership development serving India's largest corporations and family-owned conglomerates. 87% of clients return for repeat engagements. Practice has delivered programmes across 14 industries in India, UAE, and Singapore.
Associate Principal, Organisation Practice
McKinsey and Company, Mumbai and Delhi
25+
Engagements Led
3
Offices Worked
USD 50M+
Programme Value
Led organisational transformation and change management engagements across consumer goods, financial services, and manufacturing sectors. Promoted from Associate to Engagement Manager to Associate Principal within 6 years. Consistently rated in top quartile for client impact and team development.
TAS Officer, Group HR and Strategy
Tata Administrative Service, Various Locations
5
Tata Companies Rotated
2
Countries Worked
Top 1%
Selection Rate
Selected for the Tata Administrative Service, one of India's most competitive graduate leadership programmes with under 1% selection rate. Rotated across 5 Tata group companies including Tata Steel, Tata Motors, and Tata Consultancy Services.
Case Studies
Results That Speak for Themselves
Post-Merger Integration . Leading Indian FMCG Group
Two consumer goods companies with 8,000 combined employees underwent merger. Cultural misalignment and leadership uncertainty were driving attrition and productivity loss in the first 6 months post-merger.
Designed and led a 9-month PMI programme covering cultural assessment, unified values development, leadership team alignment, and communication cascade across 12 locations.
Digital Transformation Change Management . Top 5 Indian Private Bank
Bank undertaking Rs. 800 crore core banking transformation faced adoption failure risk. Technology was ready but 12,000 branch staff were resistant to new system.
Designed change readiness assessment, stakeholder segmentation, communication plan, training architecture, and champion network covering all 800 branches over 14 months.
Senior Leadership Development . Mumbai-based Manufacturing Conglomerate
Family-owned manufacturing group with Rs. 3,000 crore revenue needed to develop second tier of professional leaders to support promoter succession planning.
Designed 18-month leadership development programme for 40 high-potential managers covering strategic thinking, executive presence, stakeholder management, and decision making.
Credentials
Formally Recognised Expertise
MBA . Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad
IIM Ahmedabad . Class of 2009
Issued 2009Prosci Certified Change Practitioner
Prosci Inc.
Issued 2018ICF Associate Certified Coach
International Coaching Federation
Issued 2020SHRM Senior Certified Professional
Society for Human Resource Management
Issued 2017Client Testimonials
What Clients Say About Working With Me
Priya brought a clarity and rigour to our post-merger integration that we simply could not have achieved internally. She navigated extremely sensitive political dynamics with grace and kept leadership aligned throughout a genuinely difficult 9 months. Our integration is now held up internally as a benchmark.
What sets Priya apart is her ability to hold both the strategic picture and the human reality simultaneously. Most consultants give you a deck. Priya gives you a transformation. Our digital adoption numbers tell the story, we hit proficiency targets 4 months ahead of schedule across all 800 branches.
I have worked with consultants from all the major firms over 25 years in business. Priya is in a different category. She has the intellectual rigour of McKinsey but the personal investment of someone who genuinely cares whether your organisation succeeds. I consider her a long-term strategic partner.
Work With Me
Ready to Start a Conversation?
I take on a limited number of new consulting engagements each quarter to ensure every client receives my full attention and best work. If you are facing an organisational challenge that requires senior expertise, I would love to explore whether we are a good fit.