Ask me anything with Ashish Chaturvedi - Senior Vice President of Operations at HGS APAC

This inaugural AMA episode introduces HGS listeners to Ashish Chaturvedi's personal side, covering his favorite movie, phobias, alternate career paths, and lifetime aspirations beyond the boardroom.

 What You’ll Learn 

Ashish's top movie pick: The Godfather series, rewatched every 2-3 years for its endless depth and repeat value.
A surprising fact: He has phobias of water (can't swim, near-drowning incidents) and air turbulence, feeling most confident on solid ground.
Alternate career: Started in hotel management (New Delhi hotels), could have stayed in hospitality but shifted to outsourcing in the 90s boom.​
Lifetime dream: Become an active mainstream politician in India post-retirement to bring corporate perspectives into politics.

 Transcript 

[Unknown Speaker A] Welcome, HGS listeners. We are thrilled to kick off our brand new series, Ask Me Anything, where we take you beyond the boardroom to get to know our HGS leaders on a personal level. In this episode, we're sitting down with Ashish Chaturvedi, Senior Vice President of Operations at HGS APAC. From spearheading new initiatives to staying grounded in his daily routine, Ashish is a leader who truly balances it all. Ready to get a closer look? Let's jump right in.
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[Unknown Speaker B] What's your favorite movie and why?​

[Ashish Chaturvedi] That's easy to answer. It has to be Godfather series. In my last 20 or 30 years, if there is a repeat value of any movie that I have constantly gone back to and watched it all over again and yet discovered so many new aspects of that movie, it has to be Godfather. Every two to three years, you know, I watch that movie all over again.​

[Unknown Speaker B] Can you share a surprising fact about yourself that most people don't know?
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[Ashish Chaturvedi] I'm sure some know, but yeah, most people won't know that I have few phobias that I've dealt with in my life. I have fear of water. So, as soon as I'm off the ground and in a boat or, you know, wherever near water, I'm a bit worried. And I can't swim and I've had a couple of incidences where I almost got drowned and that kind of further aggravated the problem. And it's not just water, like I said, I carry few phobias in my life. So, while I'm in air and if there is a turbulence, um, I am a train wreck or a flight wreck or call it whatever, right? So, my confidence is at its best, if I can put it this way. My confidence is at my best when I'm on the ground. Not in air or water or anywhere else.
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[Unknown Speaker B] If you weren't in your current career, what alternate career paths might you have pursued?
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[Ashish Chaturvedi] In fact, I started my career with the hotel industry. A lot of people know about that, and I was a hotel management graduate. First four or five years of my career I spent with the hotel industry. I worked in New Delhi, you know, couple of hotels. I did well in that hotel industry and could have pursued that as a permanent career. But back in the 90s, when the outsourcing industry had picked up momentum and there were many startups and companies setting up and the offshoring buzz had started... Like many hoteliers with the background of customer service, you know, took the plunge and I happened to be one of the latecomers, by the way, took me a while to convince myself out of the hospitality industry. But I would say if I want to in here, I would have just continued simply on what I was doing prior to joining the outsourcing industry.​

[Unknown Speaker B] What's the one goal or dream that you still want to achieve in your lifetime?​

[Ashish Chaturvedi] That's an interesting one. Not many people know, but maybe perhaps some of my family members know. I've always aspired or visualized myself as an active mainstream politician in India. It's an interesting one. Mostly people in the salaried class don't aspire to be a politician. And that's exactly the reason why I think so and dream myself to be a politician that it's time that a lot of corporate folks need to take plunge into the mainstream politics in whichever way they can contribute. And there's a dream that I possibly, you know, would realize once I'm retired from my current assignments, that could perhaps be too late, but it's never a late start, I would say. So, yeah, that's something that I still want to do whenever I can.​

[Unknown Speaker A] That's it for today. We hope you enjoyed this episode and took away some valuable insights from our leader. Stay tuned for more episodes in our Ask Me Anything series, where we dive deeper into the lives and leadership journeys of more inspiring HGS leaders. Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to follow HGS on Spotify for more exciting and insightful conversations with the minds shaping our future.