Born in Varanasi and grew up in Pune, Anjali Pandey was enthused by her engineer cousins to choose engineering as her career over 25 years ago. Engineering drawing excited her; she says it was fantastic to be a mechanical engineer and good to be working for an engine company. It was a dream run for her at Cummins India, where she joined about 20 years ago as a fresh graduate trainee in the sourcing function. It was a bit odd to see her working on the shopfloor, which men dominated. However, the environment was very welcoming, which made her pursue her career at ease. She moved on to become a Six Sigma Black Belt.
She was looking for gaps in her career and decided to pick unconventional roles to help broaden her overall perspective. She is always curious to know how business decisions are taken and how risks are evaluated. As she felt that there was a limitation in the role that she played as a production engineer, Anjali took additional responsibility with Internal Audit, which calls for the expertise of Chartered Accountants. She opted for the role as she wanted to get exposure in business and finance. By deploying her own logic and analysis and also Failure Mode Effective Analysis, which is typical of engineering, she not only grasped the nuances of internal auditing but also mastered the methodologies and pursued comfortably in every role that she took.
Before taking on the leadership for Cummins Emission Solutions in 2011, she also led the Strategy and Business Development function for the India Area Business Organisation for two years.
At Cummins India, she currently serves as the Vice President – managing the Engine Business and the Components Business, responsible for driving the growth and enhancing the market share for both, On-highway and Off-highway sectors. In addition to this, she also leads the Powertrain and Electrification programs for Cummins in India.
An avid reader and a Table Tennis player, she believes that Cummins is the place to be, with ample opportunities to learn and grow at every stage and the flexibility to gather experience across multiple functions and specialisations.
She often says that she demands more of herself and continue to upgrade her capabilities. She would never settle for less and this, perhaps, made her career journey exciting for her.