Management Team

Shounak Deshmukh, our CEO, is at the helm of the affairs. A commerce graduate, a post-graduate MBA (university gold medalist ) followed by a law degree - Shounak has had a strong academic foundation prior to starting off his corporate stint. He has played varied roles managing the entire gamut of HR functions with some of the biggest and well-know industry leaders.He started off with a solid grounding in corporate values with the Tatas (Tata Motors), followed with a long stint with J&J where he picked up the nuts and bolts of managing the grass root workers. Then began a long and successful stint, with American Express (across multiple locations) – a great initiation to the world of high-finance and the resultant HR complexities. Finally for over half a decade, Shounak has played various HR leadership roles at J P Morgan Chase as they set-shop and then went to establish a very large corporate presence in India – a blazing beacon for the multi-billion Dollar wall-street financial outsourcing industry.Today Shounak truly believes that a strong academic background and an accomplished corporate career is not an end in itself but simply a means to an end! Talent Networks has been formed with a tremendous passion to simply ‘make a contribution’ and help companies solve complex business problems. Thought leadership, strong industry knowledge and a sharp analytical mind to drive appropriate interpretation, analysis, and solutioning – that’s what Talent Networks truly stands for.

Harish, is a Partner in Talent Networks who comes with 25 years of experience in Human Resource, having his last stint as founder member of the management team and chief of HR at Raheja QBE, Harish has congregated his experiences over the years associating himself with esteemed international companies as a Leader. He has worked with organizations like HDFC Life, PepsiCo India, Johnson & Johnson and Cipla Pharmaceutical Ltd. Harish understands the complete Human Resource cycle for the Insurance, FMCG, Healthcare and Manufacturing sectors and has led critical interventions to drive organizational performances in all his stints. He is a graduate from Mumbai University and MSW from Indore University. He is a qualified behavioural analyst and trimetric expert. He is also alumni of AOTS (Association of Overseas Technical cooperation and Sustainable partnership) Tokyo, Japan. He is a qualified coach from ICF USA. His passion for outdoors have also led him to indulge in adventure sports like long distance cycling, motorcycling, camping, trekking and many more activities that connects him to mother nature and wild life world over.

Nivedita stands with a decade plus experience as a seasoned HR and Talent Acquisition. She is associated with Talent Networks heading the technology hiring for products and fintech space. She spearheads the Human Resource of Talent Networks India and US Operations. Engaging employees to develop productive approach has always been motive. Prior to joining Talent Networks, Nivedita was associated with CSI Software, a CSI group organisation where she managed end to end client delivery and Account Management for IT service industry. She also has 5yrs exposure in international recruitments. She was managing operations, HR and general Administration for CSI Software for their various locations PAN India. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law and post graduated in Human Resource Management from Welingkar’s Business School. She is a social blogger, amateur writer and an avid traveller.

Asha Bhikale comes with 18 years’ rich experience into the consulting domain post her Masters in English Literature (2001) and PG in Personnel Management from K.C. College of Management Studies (2002). Asha has been associated with Talent Networks since Feb 2016 as Vertical Lead for Investment Banking IT hiring. She is a self-driven and confident HR professional who has excelled in the IT recruitment function for major investment Banking captives & many IT Services organizations. She has a wide experience in hiring IT professionals across levels and technologies. She has extensively travelled across India while supporting companies in setting up their IT Centre. Her knowledge, varied experience, leadership and decision making skills has helped to build strong delivery capability and she aims to take the business towards new altitudes.

Poonam comes with 9 years of experience in banking and financial services operations and finance hiring. She joined Talent Networks post her graduation and grown within the organization. She has strong stakeholder management expertise She and has a thorough understanding of core banking, finance, analytics and consulting space. Understanding the client’s manpower requirements & implementing suitable sourcing strategies from different job boards, referral generation, networking, industry mapping, and headhunting to develop a qualified pool of candidates are her strengths. With these headhunting skills she has successfully closed many Leadership and Senior Executive Mandates. Apart from being a thorough Talent Acquisition professional, she is active consumerist and a big epicure.

Shailesh holds 7 Years of experience in Recruitment and Talent Acquisition. He is heading the Non-IT vertical which includes Manufacturing, Insurance, NGO and other Service industries with strong industry knowledge. Believing in cultivating home grown talent Shailesh is an example of the same - joined as recruiter and now a vertical lead. “Good client relationship always helps to grow business and good candidate connect is an opportunity for a new business”, are his thoughts. When not in his professional space, he is a book lover, social media muse and a fitness freak.

Shibu is a talented and seasoned recruiting manager with over 15 years of experience in US Staffing Services and Consulting. He brings wealth of expertise within Recruiting, Business Operations, Onsite-Offshore Delivery Model and in executing business objectives. He holds an abundance of international experience through small scale start –ups to mid and large size corporations, offering Operational, Sales and Delivery consultations. Over the past fifteen years, Shibu has established himself as a SME in US Staffing catering all the hiring needs of clients and resulting in growth of business.

Zainab Fakhri a seasoned Human Resources professional having a Master degree in Industrial & Organizational Psychology. Her core area of expertise is in Talent Acquisition specifically related to the Non-IT segment. Her exposure of working in a corporate environment and also in the consulting world makes her uniquely placed to service her clients. Her consulting expertise comprises of hiring for manufacturing, specialty chemical, packaging, automotive and construction sectors. Zainab heads the Non-IT vertical which includes Manufacturing, Insurance, NGO and other Service industries. Her core strength is her interpersonal communication and stakeholder management. She has won many accolades through her distinguished career. She is a traveler and a vivid reader.

Surabhi Kathuria is a MBA with more than 15 years of rich experience in Executive Search business focusing on hiring strategies for various strategic and leadership levels such as CEO, CXOs, VPs, Director in Marketing, Finance, Operations, HR, Sales & Business Development for various industries especially Telecom, Retail, FMCG, Manufacturing, BFSI, Consumer Durables, IT & Media etc. Her addition to the team has given impetus to the Leadership Hiring requirements of clients. Her focus is to enable client driven vision & purpose to attract key leadership talent. Her hobbies include Gardening and Painting.