Avnish Sabharwal

“I have had the privilege of being mentored by Avnish Sabharwal, and his impact on both myself and XR Central has been nothing short of transformative. Avnish’s deep domain knowledge in deep tech, XR, AI, and green tech is unparalleled, and he consistently pushes us to reach new heights, often tagging us as "hustlers" for our relentless pursuit of excellence. Avnish has been more than just a mentor—he’s been a true guide and advisor, always just a call away. His understanding of the startup ecosystem, combined with his global connections, has opened numerous opportunities for us. For me, his name is synonymous with the startup ecosystem. Sir, thank you for being our go-to person and an inspiring leader in this ever-evolving industry.”

“Bold, dynamic, visionary, a leader with high integrity who walks the talk and cares immensely about his team - these are the words that I would use to describe Avnish. I am both lucky and grateful to have worked under Avnish. It is no easy feat to be consistently leading one of the top corporate venture and innovation programs in India for years. Avnish has spotted trends way ahead of time and made us work on them. Intrapreunership, Deep Tech , SaaS, University collabs and Sustainability initiatives are some of the examples on which we were working before they became mainstream. Avnish is a go-getter, a doer and believes in execution. I have greatly admired his clear thinking and strategic direction on initiatives, along with his ability to balance planning with decisive action. This effective balance between thoughtful analysis and practical execution is truly impressive. Avnish has always pushed his team to achieve the best and be on our A-game. He never spoon feeds but enables and guides us to manage and lead initiatives much beyond what we think is possible. He trusts us to deliver while being present to solve any issues. He also pushes his team to become their own leaders - be it by debating ideas or sharing and discussing his experiences or prodding us to do in-depth thinking and research or developing clarity on ideas/goals/execution. He obtains the best out of his team and provides them with great opportunities to become their best. If you are in Avnish's team, you will default to being a high performer and extremely efficient person. The focus of Avnish has always been to foster a culture of excellence and team spirit. It was a great exercise for me personally when developing the culture code for our team and having an insight into understanding what made our our team so good. Avnish is one of the few leaders I have met in the Corporate world who genuinely wants their team to succeed beyond the team. He wants the best for them both inside and outside of work, mentors them and invests in their development and happiness. He makes things happen for his team (personal and professional) and stands by his team (no matter the circumstance). He always provided feedback in private but never left us fighting battles outside. He is fair and straight forward and never keeps you guessing. It takes some time to realize that he is a very kind and compassionate person behind the tough exterior. The way he cared for his team during COVID is commendable. Beyond his team, he is also a highly respected mentor and influential leader in Indian startup ecosystem. As a leader he ensured we received the best exposure in terms of events, travel, meeting people, offsites, upskilling, networking. I would always like to thank him for the espirit-de-corps he imbibed in me and would remember that am always a part of his team. I hope to make him proud of me.”