Rajiv P Kapahi, FCA
A Fellow Chartered Accountant, serial entrepreneur, published author of 21 books, and global business leader whose four-decade career has spanned multinational corporations, financial services, healthcare, technology, and investment advisory.
Biography
The Story
Rajiv P Kapahi, FCA, is one of India's most versatile and experienced strategic minds — a Fellow Chartered Accountant, serial entrepreneur, published author of 21 books, and global business leader whose four-decade career has spanned multinational corporations, financial services, healthcare, technology, and investment advisory. As Strategic Advisor for India Inc. at the Global Indian Network, he brings a uniquely informed perspective on India's Public Sector Undertakings — those state-owned engines of the Indian economy that he argues are poised to become the architects of an 'Indian Century' on the world stage. His vision is ambitious, evidence-grounded, and rooted in decades of direct engagement with India's most complex financial and strategic ecosystems.
Education and Professional Qualifications
Rajiv P Kapahi's academic formation began at Modern School in New Delhi, one of India's most distinguished schools, before he pursued a B.Com (Honours) from Hansraj College, University of Delhi between 1983 and 1986 — studying accountancy, company law, taxation, economics, commerce, mathematics, operations research, and statistics. He then qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), completing his FCA between 1986 and 1989. The FCA designation is the highest professional qualification in Indian accountancy — held by a small percentage of the total ICAI membership and signifying sustained excellence in financial practice, ethics, and professional leadership.
From CFO to Executive Director
Before entering the entrepreneurial and advisory world, Rajiv built a distinguished corporate career at the highest levels of multinational finance and operations. He served as Senior Vice President for Finance and CFO at DLF Pramerica LIC Pvt. Ltd — the joint venture between DLF, one of India's largest real estate developers, and Prudential Financial of the United States — where he oversaw financial strategy and operations for a business at the intersection of two of India's most capital-intensive sectors.
From 2011 to 2020, he spent nine years at Boston Scientific India — one of the world's leading medical device companies — as Senior Director for the India Hub, responsible for finance, operations, and distribution, serving concurrently as Executive Director. This long tenure at a global healthcare multinational gave Rajiv deep expertise in regulated industries, cross-border operations, and the management of complex multi-function business units serving India's rapidly growing healthcare market. His experience in healthcare has since informed his investment advisory work, including his analysis of India's organised single-specialty healthcare market, which he projects will grow from $4.4 billion in 2025 to over $12 billion by 2030.
Entrepreneurship and Technology Ventures
In 2020, Rajiv transitioned decisively into entrepreneurship. He co-founded and served as Director of Boma India from 2020 to 2022 — an initiative focused on community-driven economic development and empowerment. Simultaneously, he founded XCalibrate Global Pvt. Ltd., the parent vehicle for SherlockSuperCoach.AI — an AI-powered conversational coaching platform for personal, professional, and organisational growth, described as a growth vehicle for human potential. The platform represents Rajiv's conviction that the intersection of artificial intelligence and human development is one of the most consequential frontiers in contemporary business.
In 2022, he joined JPIN as an Advisory Board Member, focusing on financial services and investment banking for start-ups in emerging markets — a role that draws directly on his decades of experience in corporate finance, capital markets, and India's evolving startup ecosystem. He also serves as a Strategic Advisor at the Confederation of Empowerment Initiatives (CEI) since 2021 — the same organisation with which Jas Sohl (GIN Ambassador, UK) works as Chief Strategy Officer — advising on inclusive economic development programmes across India. His investment analysis work through Medidect India covers healthcare sector consolidation, private equity dynamics, and the strategic implications of major deals such as the $5 billion Aster DM–Quality Care merger.
Strategic Advisor for India Inc.
At the Global Indian Network, Rajiv serves as Strategic Advisor for India Inc. — a role that centres on articulating and advancing India's public sector interests on the world stage. His analysis of India's Public Sector Undertakings, published by GIN in March 2025, offers one of the most lucid and ambitious framings of the PSU sector's global potential to emerge from the Indian diaspora advisory community.
He has written that Indian PSUs have made a sizeable and significant contribution to the rise of the Indian economy at a global scale. As India rises geopolitically, he envisions PSUs at the forefront of building an Indian Century over the next few decades. With a footprint in about 70 countries, Indian PSUs can make a vibrant impact in critical sectors like power, transport, highways, ports, railways, infrastructure, defence, and healthcare across Asia, Africa, MENA and South America. From the current 3 PSUs in the Fortune 500, this number could realistically grow to 15 to 20 within a couple of decades. It is a vision that places India state-owned enterprises as instruments of geopolitical influence and global development, aligned with India Viksit Bharat 2047 ambitions.
Author of 21 Books
One of the most distinctive dimensions of Rajiv P Kapahi's public profile is his prolific output as an author. He has published 21 books to date — a milestone he marked with the release of Chanakya & Sun Tzu, a work that draws on two of the ancient world's most celebrated strategic thinkers to illuminate the principles of leadership, strategy, and power relevant to the modern business environment. 'When an author comes of age, it is a wonderful feeling,' he reflected upon completing his 21st book. 'A happy milestone.' His writing spans finance, leadership philosophy, personal development, and strategic thinking — a body of work that extends his advisory influence far beyond the boardroom and into the broader intellectual conversation about India's place in the world.
Now, as India rises geopolitically, I visualise our PSUs to be at the forefront of building an “Indian Century” over the next few decades.
Highlights
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