and objective view on a wide range of issues impacting the business and its people. The third role is that of a performance champion. The CFO is often the shark in the tank, he quips. The fourth role is that of a ‘resource investigator’, as the CFO is expected to keep an eye on external trends and developments which have a bear-ing on the business. Last, is another important role of being a peoples’ champion and talent developer. “I believe in surrounding myself with people who are smarter than me in their respective areas so that we have a winning team,” he says.

After a successful FP&A stint in the foods business, he moved to PepsiCo India’s beverage business as CFO for the South Market unit based in Chen-nai. This was three degrees of change, he says, in role, the business he now had to handle, and the location. The move was in line with his career aspi-ration to gain critical experience, and was his first leadership role. He had a large team including finance, IT, and purchase employees.

In mid-2008, he moved to the Pep-siCo AMEA headquarters in Dubai as Senior Director of FP&A, for the whole sector which includes Asia, the Middle East, and Africa for both the foods and beverage business. This was his first international stint exposing him to a portfolio of countries, from developed markets such as, Japan and Australia, to emerging ones such as China and Egypt. He also experienced the rich cultural diversity of PepsiCo. His team comprised employees from Turkey, Lebanon, China, Colombia, Guatemala, and India. Leading such a diverse team was challenging yet exciting, and made me a much more inclusive leader, he says. He was also exposed to senior PepsiCo leaders including the sector CFO and CEO. “Roles like these are like a place in the sun, you either bask in it or get burnt,” he adds. It worked out well for him. He discovered that Dubai is one of the best international loca-tions for Indians, as you don’t have to compromise on any aspect of your

Indian-ness, while enjoying an inter-national lifestyle.

In March 2012 he returned to In-dia, as the CFO of the foods business. These movements have been easy for me as I have embraced change as the only constant in my life. Mr Mitra is a CA and MBA from IIM Kolkata. He started his career in Hong Kong Bank, and then moved to Love-Lock and Lewes. His first industry job was at CESC in Kolkata, handling accounts and treasury. At Tata Tea he did in-ternal audit, and then joined Mobil to set up its eastern office. Moving to GE Medical Systems he handled three distinct roles of accounts and commercial, structuring customer fi-nance deals for its medical equipment customers, and participating in GE’s Six Sigma initiative. His first national role was at Reckitt Benckiser, where he witnessed the merger of Reckitt Colman with Benckiser.

Talking about the key lessons learned in his professional life, he says, number 1 is being adaptable. “Love what you do, or change”. Next is “grow the core and add more”, that is, build on your strengths and acquire new skills. He believes in stretching beyond his brief, going the extra mile always makes a difference, he says. Being customer oriented is important. Add value to the business and the people around you. Also, don’t just articulate the problem, suggest pos-sible solutions as well. Finally, it is all about leadership and about inculcat-ing a genuine interest in developing talent and building winning teams.

Mr Mitra is married to Reetika and has a 13-year-old son Arjun. The family has a travel bug and has visited four continents and 25-odd countries so far. Mr Mitra has a penchant for writing and is hoping to eventu-ally author a book. Looking ahead he is keen to teach under-privileged children and give back to society in a meaningful way. Meanwhile, after all the changes in his life, he says he has found his home in PepsiCo, as it resonates with his values and career aspirations.

The foods business of PepsiCo in India has been growing in high

double digits in the ‘salty category’, with popular brands such as, Kurkure, Lay’s chips, and Lehar Namkeen en-joying high recall among Indians. “It feels good to be where the category momentum is strong, and it is very exciting to be here shaping the future of this organisation in India, with clear imperatives,” says Kaushik Mitra, CFO – PepsiCo India Foods.

With finance and purchase as his responsibilities, he says inflation has been a bother. The imperative there-fore is to relentlessly drive productiv-ity to protect and grow margins. As the CFO, a key challenge has been to set up systems and processes which effectively manage the scale and complexity of the business and enable quick and effective decision making while minimising risk. “A part of the task lies in simplification and stan-dardisation,” he says. For instance, business stakeholders require not just real time data but detailed analysis and insights. Finance has to keep pace with the demands and this cannot be achieved by working harder or longer hours, but by systems and processes which enable it.

He talks about his five distinct roles as the CFO. The first is that of a functional expert ensuring adequate governance processes, balancing mul-tiple levers to ensure P&L delivery, and minimising risk. The second is being an able business partner to the CEO and the executive committee. The CFO is expected to provide a balanced

Adding Value

PeoPLe

Kaushik Mitra,CFo – PepsiCo india Foods

46 cFoCoNNeCT February 2013