The magic of new beginnings

I trust the magic of new beginnings. New beginnings are almost always magical. They often mean new routine, people and places. A skeptic looks at these quite differently, but an optimist always just knows! I am in the latter category. The force of change I have experienced over last few months is simply incredible.

“You are crazy, Abhi!”, Andy said. Care to tell me why? I quipped.

My ex-boss & a great mentor Andy (your identity is safe Andy!) was merely trying to tell me that what I was about to go through are usually the 3 most stressful events in one’s life. Of course they were.

• Change of career (and an industry) – check
• Go through having a baby – check
• Move into a new home – had plans but thought better of it 😄

Andy was right, it has been stressful, but at the same time most wonderful and memorable few months. Magic of new beginnings doesn’t mean the ride will be stress free. You have got to look on the positive side. On November 25’th, Deepika and I were blessed with a baby boy. Anik our bundle of joy is the best thing to have happened to us. Although for now, he loves to party all night 🙂 talk about following his Dad’s footsteps!

I have been told its normal and like all other things it shall pass. In return, Deepika and I have high expectations of him. 

We would like Anik to invent the “warp drive”!! you know, he needs to experience magic of new beginnings in the stars 😃

On the career front, I am very grateful to have had a long and successful career with Barclays. Over the years I made a few significant career moves. I had a chance to build some wonderful things for our customers,  as well as contribute to some really cutting edge innovations. I worked with many wonderful people and have grown tremendously as a professional. Moreover, I have been able to count on a few amazing mentors for a word of advise at every crucial step.  I have also made a few friends for life and have learnt many valuable lessons along the way. Hindsight is a wonderful thing and looking back all over those years, I  feel a sense of pride and nostalgia. Barclays will always be near and dear to me. Edit: I am back at Barclays now. The magic of new beginnings also means serendipity and you never knows where your life takes you.

My first 4 months with Vodafone have been amazing. 

An iconic brand sure, but what I didn’t appreciate was its amazing history with over 460+ million customers worldwide. The global scale is just mind-boggling. 

Also, with an ever increasing smartphone base, our mobile app is truly transforming how customers interact with Vodafone. At the outset, it feels like an exciting race between customer expectations and transformation of experience. In last 3 months I visited some Vodafone markets, and plan to visit more this year – very excited by how much opportunity the scale presents. Every country offers a case study for growth and a challenge in commercial strategy. In a nutshell, super interesting stuff!! Andressen Horowitz has a famous quote, “Software is eating the world” and now that has turned into “Mobile is eating the world”. With overwhelming evidence that it is true, obviously I am finding it super interesting being in the “kitchen” here at Vodafone, metaphorically speaking, of-course.

Until next post, I wish you all a wonderful 2017!