A National Defence Academy cadet starting as early as the age of 16, Sonal worked with the special forces of the Indian military for several years and won the gallantry award Vir Chakra before taking on the challenging task of heading Hill & Associates. For this, he also used his experience with the United Nations Peace Keeping Force where he went on deputation. These days he advises senior management of Fortune 500 Companies on corporate risk management in India.
These span over strategic analysis of geo-political issues and enterprise risk management to business continuity planning and crisis management.
The entrepreneurial spark
I was posted in Jorhat in Assam when I was airlifted to be on the war front at Kargil in 1999. It was after the war that I met Hill & Associates in Mumabi. At that time they just had an office in Mumbai and they asked if I could expand the network and start work at Delhi. I liked the idea and got on to the job.
Today, we have a professional staff of 100-plus and an office in Bangalore, besides Mumbai and Delhi.
I spent 13 years with the Indian military before joining Hill & Associates. It was my association with special intelligence operations and anti-terrorism operations amongst others during the special forces career that awakened the entrepreneur in me.
Varied Experience
I went to Somalia as part of a UN peace keeping force. In the army you are expected to take up any kind of assignment at any time of the day. One is expected to do a neuro-surgeon's job to that of a plumber. And it was my stint at the UN where I learnt the tricks of multi-tasking, which is helping me today.
It was my research work covering the human element in terrorism and insurgency, which was part of the Times Fellowship that I was awarded, that got me interested in the kind of work Hill & Associates was doing, and what probably made the company select me to expand their Indian business. It worked both ways.
On-job Learning
A year after joining Hill & Associates, I went to do an MBA from the Indian School of Business (ISB) in Hyderabad. This gave me tremendous exposure especially in the areas of the corporate world.
With the help of my team members I have cracked several cases relating to corporate frauds, risks associated with mergers and acquisitions and the like. Besides, I have gathered considerable on-the-job experience.
These include enterprise risk management, financial and cyber crime investigations, contingency planning and incident response, business intelligence, information security, IPR protection and integrity risk in industries.
The areas Hill & Associates is engaged are as diversified as IT and outsourcing, mining, oil and gas, financial institutions, FMCG, pharmaceutical etc. And our clients include central and state governments as well as non-government organisations.
We have also done several works for our clients who have businesses in the disturbed states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chattisgarh, and the North-east. More recently, we did an assignment with the Andhra government, which has invited international bids, and one of the frontrunners for that was a fraudulent company which has forged its bank guarantee and other papers.
Future Growth
After joining Hill & Associates I feel I have arrived. For future growth I am looking at organic growth within the organisation. There is so much to learn and so much to implement and so much to explore in the field.
We are servicing large Indian corporates as also Fortune 500 clients. And to keep myself abreast of subjects related to my field, I speak on risk management issues at different fora.
