Q1. You’ve worked in the shipping and multimodal logistics industry for over 24 years; could you start by giving us a brief overview of your roles and core responsibilities across sales, marketing, and intermodal operations?

Over the last 25 years, my career has taken me across the full spectrum of the shipping and multimodal logistics ecosystem—spanning container shipping, ICD/CFS operations, rail–road intermodal solutions, customer service leadership, and digital transformation. I’ve had the opportunity to work both on the frontline of commercial growth and within the operational core of large organisations, which has helped me build an end-to-end understanding of how trade flows, supply chains, and customer expectations truly come together.

I began my journey in documentation and customer service, which gave me a strong foundation in compliance, process discipline, and service quality. As I moved into sales and key account management roles with global carriers, I focused heavily on customer engagement, trade development, and revenue growth. During my time with INTTRA, for example, I led commercial expansion across India and Sri Lanka and played a key role in promoting early digital adoption in the industry—long before “digital transformation” became a mainstream priority.

My responsibilities grew significantly when I transitioned into leadership roles, overseeing national customer service operations, multimodal logistics planning, and large-scale process re-engineering projects. At CMA CGM SSC, I managed over 100 FTEs across India’s EXIM service operations and drove major efficiency improvements through KPI frameworks and process automation.

One of the most defining phases of my career was leading the ICD Tumb business at Adani Logistics. As the General Manager, I held complete P&L responsibility for a high-growth unit that crossed ₹600 crore in annual revenue. This role required deep involvement in commercial strategy, service delivery, stakeholder management, cost optimisation, and the design of integrated rail–road intermodal solutions. During this period, I scaled the business from 2,000 TEUs to over 23,000 TEUs and helped establish ICD Tumb as a key logistics hub through strong partnerships with ports, customs, railways, shipping lines, and major BCOs.

Today, as VP – Sales & Customer Service at Steampulse India, I continue to build on this experience by driving strategic alliances, strengthening pricing and revenue management frameworks, and expanding our trade lanes and service capabilities. My focus remains on enabling sustainable growth through smarter commercial planning, better digital integration, and unwavering commitment to service excellence.

Across all these roles, the common threads have been customer-centricity, operational discipline, and the ability to connect commercial strategy with on-ground execution. These experiences have shaped my approach to leadership and helped me consistently deliver both revenue impact and process excellence throughout my career.

Q2. As container trade patterns shift and India pushes multimodal connectivity, how are you seeing network design evolve—especially around ICDs, rail–road combinations, and new trade lanes—and what trade-offs leaders are grappling with on cost vs reliability?

At present, if we really look at logistics, the government is giving more importance, coming up with the National Logistics Policy/PM Gati Shakti, and allowing market shifts from ports to inland locations through DFCs. Also, increasing volumes are pushing leaders to come up with new solutions. 
We can see now that many players are working on the Hub-and-Spoke model and ICD, and private terminals are providing additional services and moving away from older versions. 

Also, in light of the global shift driven by WAR, the RED Sea crisis has forced customers and carriers to adjust trade lanes and service designs to ensure service reliability.

The cost factor remains a concern, as investments in infrastructure projects are higher.  

Q3. From your experience driving e-commerce service delivery and back-office digitalisation, what does “good” digital enablement now look like for a container logistics provider in 2025 in terms of visibility, customer self-service, and internal decision-making?

Currently, technology has taken the front seat in container logistics. Real-time visibility services provided by most top carriers help customers plan their schedules.  Live tracker on container, API, email alerts (Milestone-wise), Geo-fencing, etc, really help in decision-making. Faster turnaround for bookings and B/Ls; more digital platforms are now available for customers to support a self-service model. 

Q4. Freight markets have become more volatile, with frequent swings in capacity, fuel costs, and surcharges. How are sophisticated customers and logistics providers rethinking pricing strategy and contract design to balance long-term relationships with dynamic market conditions?

This remains very much challenging for customers due to market forces. Going for a long-term contract, short-term or dynamic pricing remains a question for everyone. 

For sophisticated customers, we have seen an approach to local logistics based on a fixed basis, locking the cost on an annual basis with a clause for fuel adjustment if it exceeds tolerable limits for both parties. 

For freight, large customers still stick to annual pricing with commitment to volume; they get the best rates and service guarantee. Some customers prefer a short-term contract basis for volume prediction and lock 50-60% of the volume. Then, for the remaining, go for dynamic pricing based on market forces. 

Q5. Sustainability and decarbonization are becoming board-level topics in shipping and logistics; in practical terms, where do you see real movement today—modal shifts, asset choices, network redesign, or data-driven efficiency—and where is it still more talk than execution?

1. Shifting volume to rail from road for longer distances 
2. Triangulation of vehicles / Containers to reduce MTY movements

For sustainability, Decarbonization in shipping lines has begun with the introduction of fuel-efficient / alternate fuel vessels. Challenges remain: port infra/ availability of alternate fuel.

The cost of EV trucks and the availability of charging stations are major issues today.

But we are seeing many initiatives from customers, shipping lines, and service providers to decarbonise, though adoption is slow.  

Q6. You’ve spent years managing relationships with ports, railways, shipping lines, CHAs, and large EXIM customers; what have you found to be the most effective ways to align such diverse stakeholders around service standards and problem resolution when things go wrong?

Firstly, the SLA needs to be agreed upon with each stakeholder. Meeting them at regular intervals and discussing key topics, development, and future issues that may emerge needs to be taken into consideration.  If anything goes wrong after due measures, follow the standard escalation matrix and get the resolutions done. Bring all stakeholders  on the same page after the resolutions and take corrective steps for the future.

Q7. If you were an investor evaluating companies in the container shipping and multimodal logistics space, what critical questions would you ask their senior leadership before deciding whether to back them?

1. What is the value proposition that you are going to offer to the market, which will differentiate your product/ services?
2. What different revenue sources are you going to add in future?
3. What will be the pricing structure for the business?
4. What is your expected volume in the next 1 to 5 years
5. What is your organisation's structure?