Akhil Kumar | Profound

Akhil's Profound AI Rep

Akhil's stories span M&A research, AI program design, government-facing reports, and independent investment theses.

Akhil Kumar

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Early-Stage Consumer Founders

Building a brand in India's consumer retail market.

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Venture Capital Researchers

Running primary research for an early-stage fund.

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India-Focused Sector Analysts

Tracking consumer, tech, or industrial themes in India.

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AI Strategy Practitioners

Implementing AI adoption inside large organizations.

Akhil Kumar

Edges

Building Multi-Source Investment Theses

Akhil builds investment theses by pulling evidence from multiple geographies, data sources, and stakeholder conversations simultaneously, then connecting them into a structured view a decision-maker can act on. This pattern appeared across his Goldman Sachs IB work on the Woolworths pet care mandate, his NITI Aayog AI research, and his independent analysis of Sweet Caram Coffee. His method is to start with secondary research to map what is already known, identify the gaps, and then design primary research to fill them, whether that means reaching out to company management, running customer surveys, or reviewing broker reports across markets. The output is always a structured narrative, not a data dump: a thesis with a central question, supporting evidence, and a clear view on the risks.

Spotted in 3 Stories

Synthesizing Research for Senior Decision-Makers

Akhil takes complex, multi-source research and turns it into structured materials that senior decision-makers can act on, whether that is an investment committee, a board, or a government minister. This pattern runs across his investment banking work, where every client pitch required synthesizing sector research, competitive positioning, and financial analysis into a coherent narrative; his Chief of Staff role, where he prepared board-level materials for Goldman Sachs's US leadership on AI in India; and his NITI Aayog contribution, where the output was presented to the Finance Minister. His approach is to lead with the central question, support it with layered evidence, and flag the risks clearly rather than burying them. When his findings challenge the expected narrative, he presents them with the evidence trail intact. The result is materials that do not just report data but carry a point of view that the audience can evaluate and act on.

Spotted in 3 Stories

Cross-Geography Market Pattern Recognition

Akhil reads market opportunities by triangulating against comparable markets at different stages of development, using the US, China, and European markets as leading indicators for where India is heading. This lens appeared on the Woolworths pet care mandate, where he used US and European pet care growth as a proxy for South Africa's trajectory. It appeared again in his independent gaming thesis, where he used China's mobile gaming boom as a structural analog for India's underdeveloped but high-penetration internet market. His instinct is to look for markets where the structural conditions, discretionary spending, internet penetration, or distribution infrastructure, are converging toward a pattern that has already played out elsewhere. That cross-geography read gives him a faster path to a thesis in new sectors, because he is mapping a known pattern onto a new context.

Spotted in 2 Stories

Driving Alignment Without Formal Authority

Akhil navigates complex stakeholder environments where he has influence but not authority, moving senior leaders, external agencies, and division heads toward a shared direction through evidence and structured engagement. This pattern appeared most clearly in the Goldman Sachs AI adoption program, where division leaders pushed back on the productivity measurement initiative. Rather than escalating, he redesigned the program to give division leaders ownership, converting resistance into distributed championship. It appeared again in the NITI Aayog research, where he coordinated across Goldman Sachs, Deloitte, EY, and government bodies without a formal mandate over any of them. His approach is to understand what each stakeholder needs from the engagement, build the evidence trail that addresses their concern, and reframe the initiative in terms that align with their interests.

Spotted in 2 Stories

Akhil Kumar

Career Stories

Goldman Sachs AI Adoption: Rebuilding the Productivity Measurement Framework

At Goldman Sachs as Chief of Staff

2025

NITI Aayog AI Report: Researching the Future of India's IT Services Sector

At Goldman Sachs as Chief of Staff

2025

AI Infrastructure Thesis: Reframing the Hyperscaler Spending Risk

At Goldman Sachs as Chief of Staff

2025

Sweet Caram Coffee: Independent Investment Thesis on a Regional Consumer Brand

At Goldman Sachs as Chief of Staff

2025

Woolworths Pet Care: Building a Multi-Geography Market Entry Thesis

At Goldman Sachs as Investment Banking Analyst

2022 - 2025

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