Engagement Manager · Enterprise AI & Digital Transformation · Fortune 100 Delivery

I turn complex enterprise AI digital strategy cloud modernization automation portfolios into business outcomes.

Engagement Manager with 10+ years across consulting, corporate strategy, and delivery. I help senior stakeholders move from ambition to execution: governed AI programs, aligned teams, measurable savings, and client relationships that hold up under pressure. Currently leading enterprise AI delivery for American Express.

Fortune 100 clients UT Austin McCombs MBA Deloitte alumnus
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Sudeep Lalka — Engagement Manager, Digital and AI Transformation
EXHIBIT 1 — Executive impact at a glance
Selected outcomes across enterprise AI, modernization, and transformation programs
0MM+
AI transformation pipeline shaped with American Express leadership
0MM
Cost-optimization program supported alongside McKinsey at 7-Eleven
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Delivery organization scaled across six concurrent portfolios
0%
Billing realization on a $5.7MM Deloitte-led Verizon engagement
About

Built for the work between ambition and execution.

"The hard part is not naming the transformation. It is getting leaders, engineers, vendors, and dollars moving in the same direction."

I work where strategy becomes accountable delivery. Across HCLTech, Genpact, Deloitte, CRISIL/S&P Global, and 7-Eleven Corporate Strategy, I have led complex programs where the stakes were visible: AI adoption, platform modernization, cost transformation, and customer-experience change.

My edge is the mix: consultant's discipline, operator's pragmatism, and founder's bias for outcomes. I have advised clients and evaluated consultants from the client side, so I know what earns executive trust: crisp economics, transparent governance, clean handoffs, and teams that can keep moving when the work gets messy.

In 2025 I completed an MBA in AI & Quantitative Methods at UT Austin McCombs, adding formal analytical depth to a decade of delivery leadership.

Leadership model

Executive calm in complex delivery.

i.

Executive partnership & commercial ownership

I build trust with senior clients by making the work legible: clear choices, clean economics, credible SOWs, and no surprises. I have run engagement economics end to end on accounts north of $3.8MM annually.

ii.

Governance that changes behavior

My operating rhythm gives leaders visibility before risk becomes theater: RAID discipline, KPI/SLA models, decision logs, and reporting that ties AI, data, cloud, and automation work to business outcomes.

iii.

Cross-functional teams that move as one

I translate between executive priorities and technical realities, aligning ML engineers, data scientists, finance SMEs, product owners, and distributed delivery teams across the U.S., U.K., and India.

Selected engagements

Selected work with measurable outcomes.

A consistent pattern across the work: ambiguous mandate, cross-functional execution, and outcomes senior leaders could use.

American Express
via HCLTech — Engagement Manager
2025 – Present
Financial Services

Turning enterprise AI ambition into governed delivery across six portfolios

Situation

A Fortune 100 financial services client needed to move GenAI and automation from scattered pilots into governed, production-grade delivery across finance and technology functions.

Approach

Established KPI-based governance across six portfolios; led a 12-person GenAI and Google Cloud CCAI team across 15+ processes; and shaped two strategic transformation pursuits with client leadership.

Impact

Enabled $4MM+ labor cost avoidance, 60% manual-effort reduction, and 40% faster reporting cycles while scaling the delivery organization 4.5x in five months.

$9MM+
Pipeline shaped
$4MM+
Cost avoidance
−60%
Manual effort
4.5×
Team scale in 5 months
7-Eleven
Corporate Strategy & PMO — MBA Internship
Summer 2024
Retail

Giving executives the facts to restart a paused $139MM modernization program

Situation

Executive leadership had paused the Food & Beverage Modernization Program, with roughly 7,800 stores in scope, without full visibility into committed spend or restart economics.

Approach

Rebuilt program economics, execution timelines, and delivery scenarios; analyzed committed spend; and supported Project Green, a $500MM cost-optimization initiative, alongside McKinsey consultants using WAVE.

Impact

Surfaced $52MM in non-cancelable purchase orders that leadership did not have visibility into, directly informing the go/no-go decision and enabling an accelerated restart strategy.

$52MM
Exposure uncovered
$139MM
Program re-modeled
7,800
Stores in scope
$500MM
Cost program supported
Morgan Stanley
via Genpact — Principal
2022 – 2023
Wealth & Investment Mgmt.

Modernizing advisor knowledge and portfolio-risk delivery at scale

Situation

A global wealth manager needed faster access to institutional knowledge for advisors and a modernized portfolio-risk platform, while also raising delivery maturity across a large engineering organization.

Approach

Directed delivery of a GenAI knowledge platform built on LLM, RAG, and agentic workflows; led modernization of a BlackRock Aladdin-integrated risk platform; and coached 15+ Scrum teams while running engagement governance and commercial operations.

Impact

Supported a platform serving 17,000+ professionals, improved latency by 12%, and raised sprint predictability 30% and delivery velocity 25% on a $3.8MM+ annual engagement.

17K+
Professionals served
+25%
Delivery velocity
+30%
Sprint predictability
−12%
Platform latency
Verizon
Deloitte Consulting — Deputy Manager (RTE)
2021 – 2022
Telecom, Media & Tech

Leading ML forecasting and national customer-experience delivery

Situation

Verizon needed AI-driven forecasting to guide a $24MM promotional budget, alongside a parallel overhaul of the 800.VERIZON IVR platform touching every retail customer.

Approach

Served as Release Train Engineer across a 21-member ART spanning data science, engineering, and business; led PI planning and model-delivery governance; and coordinated a 26-member team for the IVR program.

Impact

Forecasting supported $360MM in Q4 business impact; the IVR platform reached 1,252 stores and 142.8MM+ customers, with satisfaction up 20%, wait times down 27%, and 100% billing realization on a $5.7MM engagement.

$360MM
Q4 impact supported
142.8M
Customers reached
−27%
Customer wait times
+20%
Customer satisfaction
Capabilities

The toolkit behind the outcomes.

I bring senior-client presence and delivery mechanics in the same person: the language of the steering committee, and the operating discipline of the standup.

Program & engagement leadership

  • Engagement managementP&L, SOWs, executive relationships, pursuit-to-delivery handoff
  • Program & portfolio governanceRAID, KPI/SLA models, decision cadence, board-ready reporting
  • Transformation roadmappingC-suite ambition to funded portfolio and workstream plan
  • Scaled Agile deliverySAFe, RTE, PI planning, 250+ coached
  • Financial & vendor managementBudget control, change control, realization, vendor accountability

Digital & AI domains

  • Enterprise GenAI deliveryLLM, RAG, agentic workflows from pilot to production
  • Customer & contact-center AIGoogle Cloud CCAI, IVR modernization, national rollout
  • Cloud transformationAWS (certified SA), Azure, GCP migration
  • Data & platform modernizationCapital markets, risk, claims platforms
  • Intelligent automationFinance and operations processes with measurable savings
Career path

A career built at the intersection of consulting, strategy, and delivery.

HCL
2025 – Present
CURRENT ROLE
Engagement Manager, HCLTech — American Express accountEnterprise AI and transformation delivery across six Financial Services portfolios
$9MM+ AI pipeline · 45+ engineers scaled
  • Led a 12-member GenAI & Google CCAI team across 15+ finance and technology processes
  • Shaped two strategic transformation pursuits worth $9MM+ with client leadership
  • Built KPI-based delivery governance across six concurrent portfolios
UT
2023 – 2025
MBA, The University of Texas at Austin (McCombs)AI & Quantitative Methods (STEM) · 7-Eleven Corporate Strategy
GMAT 760 · $52MM exposure uncovered
  • Re-modeled the $139MM Food & Beverage program and surfaced $52MM in non-cancelable POs
  • Supported Project Green ($500MM cost program) alongside McKinsey using WAVE
  • GMAT 760 · Dean Scholarship · Nike MBA Scholar
GEN
2022 – 2023
Principal, Genpact — Morgan Stanley accountGenAI platform delivery, risk modernization, and Agile transformation
$3.8MM engagement P&L · 250+ coached
  • Directed a GenAI knowledge platform — LLM, RAG, agentic workflows — for financial advisors
  • Modernized the BlackRock Aladdin–integrated risk platform: 17,000+ users, −12% latency
  • Coached 15+ Scrum teams; +30% sprint predictability, +25% velocity
DEL
2021 – 2022
Deputy Manager, Deloitte Consulting — Verizon accountRelease Train Engineer, ML platform and CX program delivery, TMT practice
$360MM Q4 impact · 100% realization
  • RTE for a 21-member ART: ML forecasting optimized a $24MM budget, supporting $360MM in Q4 impact
  • 800.VERIZON IVR across 1,252 stores and 142.8MM+ customers; wait times −27%, CSAT +20%
  • 100% billing realization across a $5.7MM engagement
S&P
2020 – 2021
Manager, CRISIL (an S&P Global company)Capital markets platform transformation, 51-member team across three countries
45+ releases · 100% InfoSec compliance
  • Coordinated a 51-member team across the U.S., U.K., and India on a capital markets platform
  • 45+ releases with 100% InfoSec compliance, working directly with CTO and CISO stakeholders
  • Cut reporting overhead by 15 hrs/week across 7 Scrum teams
IE
2019 – 2020
Founder-Director, Intuit EducationBootstrapped EdTech venture — built, scaled to 700+ students, and sold at ~3× EBITDA
Founded → exited at 3× EBITDA
  • Guided 700+ students; built partnerships with 183 universities worldwide
  • Developed a proprietary psychometric assessment framework and SaaS prototype
  • Ran the full sell-side M&A process; exited at ~3× EBITDA
LF
2018 – 2019
Manager, Long Finch Technologies — Healthcare ConsultingEnterprise healthcare modernization for Horizon BCBS and CVS Health, Newark, NJ
65,000+ pharmacies served · 45+ stakeholders aligned
  • Led delivery coordination across two healthcare modernization programs in a highly regulated environment
  • Oversaw the TriZetto claims pricing engine (9,000+ retail locations) and CVS SilverScript serving 65,000+ pharmacies
  • Facilitated Agile delivery across 3 Scrum teams; production release and CI/CD readiness governance
TU
2016 – 2017
MS, Temple University (Fox School of Business)Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship (STEM), Philadelphia
GPA 3.82 · Magna Cum Laude
  • Magna Cum Laude honors with a 3.82 GPA
  • Dean’s Certificate of Excellence and Merit Scholarship Award
  • Pivot point: from capital program delivery into U.S. technology consulting
SA
2013 – 2016
Senior Architect, Goshar, Bhatnagar & Lalka — MumbaiCapital program delivery for mission-critical commercial facilities
$45M budgets · 60+ vendors managed
  • Delivered a $15M data center and a $5M print press plant for mission-critical operations
  • Managed charters, schedules, and risk on commercial build-outs with budgets up to $45M
  • Pioneered IoT-integrated smart-building delivery, cutting post-construction rework 35% and contracting costs $2MM+
Get in touch

If your AI or digital transformation needs to move from executive mandate to measurable execution, let’s talk.

Email Sudeep Connect on LinkedIn Download Resume (PDF)