Intro  0:01  
Many aspire to reach the upper echelon of the healthcare industry, but few are able to successfully navigate the corporate ladder. C-Suite Partners sits down with international healthcare executives, asking the tough questions and unpacking the personalities of the top industry leaders. Welcome to the Boardroom.

Michael Murray  0:37  
Ashok, thank you so much for being a part of C-Suite Partners' "In the Boardroom" today. We'd like to learn a little bit about your career, and I think everyone at home would like to understand your current role and who you work for. 

Ashok Pandit  0:48  
Thank you, Michael, it's a pleasure to be here. So I am working with IHH Healthcare. We are one of the largest healthcare service providers; our footprint is spanning 10 countries. We've got about 140 facilities, more than 80 hospitals, ambulatory centres and clinics. We got over 500 laboratories in our markets for diagnostics. My role is, I'm Group Chief Corporate Officer, and I've been with the firm now over four years. 

Michael Murray  1:23  
What did you study? 

Ashok Pandit  1:25  
I started with engineering, and then I worked in one of the largest truck manufacturing companies in India for a couple of years. Then I went for my post graduation in management, focused on finance, then I went into finance and banking, which I did for 28 years. 

Michael Murray  1:42  
Wow. Tell me about that transition from manufacturing to banking. Why did that happen? 

Ashok Pandit  1:49  
Well, I just, you know, to me - it was a simple, you join in as engineer, you're very excited. Then simple math was, I saw people with a postgraduate degree in Management coming several levels above you. And that got me thinking. That got me into a management program at these institutes in India called Indian Institute of Management. And I really liked the courses there, very different from my engineering courses. So the courses in finance, in economics, got me, got me very focused and interested in a career in finance. 

Michael Murray  2:30  
Was it more nerve racking your first day in banking or working on these large deals? 

Ashok Pandit  2:36  
I'm actually quite relaxed in these things. So, I think there was obviously more anxiety coming into when I, when you change your role and change your job. There's anxiety for the first, not just the first day -

Michael Murray  2:48  
Sure.

Ashok Pandit  2:48  
For the first few months, because you've got to go and quickly prove that the organisation made the right hire.

Michael Murray  2:55  
That's right.

Ashok Pandit  2:56  
Right? So you're under, under that kind of a pressure to deliver and deliver quickly. But yeah, that's the fun aspect of the job as well, right? That keeps you going, that keeps you motivated to, you know, keep on doing new things, which is very essential, especially when you're investment banking. 

Michael Murray  3:12  
Right. What do you think the opportunity is in Southeast Asia? Because you're seeing, at the moment, a lot of private equity, there's a lot of interest in the region. And we were just having a bit of a chat before about the markets. Where do you see it for IHH?

Ashok Pandit  3:26  
There is, you know, we see immense opportunity. You know, we have a growing middle class. We have a fair amount of affluence in Southeast Asia. We also have an aging population, and that basically means a lot more healthcare, healthcare service delivery, needed in South Asian sort of markets. We are, we have a great footprint in Singapore, in Malaysia. We've got a small presence in Brunei, and we've got presence in Hong Kong and Shanghai as well. But there are other markets which will provide future growth opportunities for us. Our aim is to be a market leader in the markets we are present. That helps us in basically attracting and retaining talent, which is quite important in our business. Clinical talent, and also workforce talent, nursing talent, because that, that's what you know, enables us to deliver best clinical outcome for our patients. 

Michael Murray  4:29  
Can you think of a moment in your career where it could have been an error in judgment, a bit of a misstep, and it's kind of impacted the way that you deal with problems moving forward? Is there anything in your career that you can think about, where if you had it over again, you might have taken a different approach? 

Ashok Pandit  4:46  
Yeah, I think in banking, I had, you know, some ups and downs. And I think if I reflect back, I think I could have done things in a slightly different manner. And I think that's one of the biggest learnings I've had coming to the corporate side. And at times, you've got to take a step back. You've got to take a step back from your daily deal making, to think about the business, to think about what can you do to take the business to the next level. What does the business mean for the organisation you're working for, right?

Michael Murray  5:26  
Right? 

Ashok Pandit  5:27  
And I think that has been that there have been times where I've taken a step back in my career because I was just not thinking about the bigger picture, getting too bogged down into the, into the narrow, into the next deal. And you know, when you when you have a setback, it takes time to recover. You know, the recovery is not instant. And I think twice in my career, it took me probably 6-12 months to come back. And the reason I was able to come back was, is people around me stepped in to provide help and guidance.

Michael Murray  6:07  
Right.

Ashok Pandit  6:07  
It's amazing that how you can come back and make a full recovery back. Not just because your own talent obviously. You need to be invested and you need to be focused, but people out there who you've helped in your in your career, come and help you and that, that gets you really thinking about those, those are things that, you know, are critically important in careers. 

Michael Murray  6:34  
Where do you see your career in the next 10 years? Do you think about that? Or do you think about, it will happen?

Ashok Pandit  6:41  
So I really like what I see in the healthcare segment. And I think next 10 years, definitely within the healthcare sector. 

Michael Murray  6:51  
Excellent. 

Ashok Pandit  6:53  
Sure. I'm very, very excited about where IHH is. I think one of the areas where I think, probably, I'll start you know, going more and more is, is this whole area around health tech.

Michael Murray  7:07  
Okay.

Ashok Pandit  7:07  
I think that's definitely an area that interests me a lot. But that's more for the, you know, five beyond five, you know, five years. But I think in the short to medium term, I'm quite invested in what I'm doing. I really enjoy it. 

Michael Murray  7:21  
And if you had to describe your career in a couple of sentences, what would it be? 

Ashok Pandit  7:27  
No, it's been fun. And I've now been working for over 30 years, and I see what IHH is doing on the healthcare delivery side. The focus the organisation has on quality outcomes for patients, etc,. is is quite inspirational. So I think, as long as I get up every morning and get excited, you know, for the journey the day, it's good for me.

Michael Murray  7:52  
Perfect. Well, Ashok, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for being a part of"In the Boardroom". 

Ashok Pandit  7:57  
Thank you.