Ashish Dehade

A big believer in “…creating stories that we can tell our grandchildren with pride…”, that is, do more to transform our world; Ashish has been continuously looking for opportunities to positively impact lives. He thinks that the largest impact on lives can happen through focusing on better education and healthcare.

Ashish has been passionate about the ‘how’ along with the ‘what’… that is, it is not just about ‘what’ we deliver; it is also about ‘how’ we do what we do – that is, with respect and without compromising Values, Principles, Culture, Ethics, and laws.

As a Co-Founder, Ashish focuses on the strategic direction and overall performance of Ara; along with its long-term impact on communities. He is directly involved in mentoring and coaching Ara students.

Previously, Ashish has led Global Strategic Planning, Growth and Operations for various multi-billion dollar corporations across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific, while leading global businesses with annual revenues of over billion dollars. He was Global Business Head (UnitedHealthcare operations) and Global Head of Strategic Transformation at Optum Global, part of UnitedHealth Group, then world’s largest healthcare company; and Fortune 6.

Prior to that, he was Global Business Head for Life Sciences at Cognizant. He also led First Advantage, then the world’s largest Background Screening company, as its Managing Director (West Asia & ASEAN) and Group Chief Operating Officer (Asia Pacific). Before FADV, Ashish was part of the early Leadership team at TransWorks (later Aditya Birla Minacs), one of India’s first business process outsourcing companies.

Ashish was part of early Leadership team at Accenture in India; and rose through the ranks at CEAT, from being a sales trainee to being India’s youngest regional head ever for a tyre company; leading CEAT’s largest revenue region.