Meet a Veevan: Strumming a path to Veeva’s APAC headquarters

Professional services career as a Senior Business Consultant in the commercial sector of the Asia Pacific Region, following consulting positions in two other global firms. Sushant was hired as the first consultant in the Asia Pacific region, based in Australia. In this role, Sushant helps clients succeed at executing their commercial strategy — making better decisions by looking at strategy and operations

Meet a Veevan is a series that looks at the employees who bring us life. For this edition, we spoke to Sushant Aggarwal, Principal Business Consultant. Sushant combines his analytical skills and passion for problem-solving with his strong communication skills to guide clients into more successful implementation of their commercial strategy. He’s successfully transitioned to a new life in Australia and values the chance to balance his work, his passion for playing the guitar, and time with his Jack Russell Terrier.

What is your Personal and Professional Background, and how did you get to Veeva?

Sushant: I was born in India, where I completed my formal education and began my career. I have an MBA in marketing and a bachelor’s degree in computer science engineering. Although I consider myself analytical and love mathematics, I am also outgoing and was destined to go beyond sitting in front of the computer. My first few career opportunities, spanning six years, were in life sciences consulting firms. It was a good choice for me to make the best of my background and interest in helping people solve difficult challenges. I worked on a variety of commercial strategy projects for pharmaceutical companies across the globe. Unfortunately, as is often the case, by 2019, I had experienced serious burnout. I needed a break to find some balance and take a step back to tend to my home life, including music and my love of animals. My Jack Russell Terrier is an important member of the family. Studying and playing the guitar is a major passion that I had neglected. My wife supported me to take a break, study electronic music, and pursue certificates in data science to eventually return to work.

In the meantime, my wife’s employer, a major global consulting firm, offered us a chance to move to Australia. Once we settled in, I began to pursue a new job. I was keeping my eyes open for many types of opportunities. Along the way, l stumbled upon a Veeva position. I was surprised to learn that Veeva was more than a CRM company. But I was impressed by their growth and wanted to learn more. I interviewed with the APAC leadership team, and from the day I was contacted to the day an offer was made was just three weeks. In between, I did four interviews with Veeva. Without realizing it, I was already experiencing Veeva’s commitment to “speed” as a core value.

I received a competing offer from another major global company that was for a larger salary. However, in the end, I was impressed by several factors that really showed me what Veeva was about. Among the key reasons I joined was the humility of the (four) leaders with whom I interviewed. Although they were top-tier executives, they were grounded, kind, and had no pretenses. I was also impressed with the speed with which they made the offer and the confidence they were placing in me to do the job. It showed that they were risk-takers and willing to let me have a chance to show what I could do as the first Business Consultant hired for APAC. I immediately felt connected to the leaders of Veeva from the first time I interviewed.

As a Senior Business Consultant, I help clients succeed at executing their commercial strategies. Our work helps them make better decisions by providing them with strategic insights and recommendations, and highlighting opportunity areas in their processes and operations that impact commercial outcomes. As part of this, we leverage Veeva’s proprietary dataset, Pulse, to conduct industry benchmarking and monitor KPIs and other metrics to help their sales reps succeed. Generally, we are working with the Asia Pac teams of global entities.

What’s unique about the Work Environment and Culture at Veeva?

Sushant: Veeva is a company committed to making life sciences a better industry. The fact that Veeva is a Public Benefit Corporation is one testament to this. Maximizing shareholder value is a goal, but Veeva’s biggest goal is industry and community success. I see the leaders walk the talk every day by exemplifying the values of employee success, client success, doing the right thing, and speed. Veeva is creating a legacy and a better world. As an employee, this instills a sense of ownership. At Veeva, we pride ourselves on captaining our own ship. This plays out daily. If I think one of my clients or the life sciences industry needs a certain type of project, I have the freedom to take the initiative forward simply by reaching out to other groups at Veeva and engaging them in the discussion. Although Veeva has 5000 employees, it’s still operating like a startup.

Another way of looking at Veeva is that it’s a flat and highly collaborative organization. The fact that I could lead a serious project two months into my role and then complete it with accolades from the client in three months is amazing to me. Veeva took a chance on me in a way that is unique to this environment.

How will Veeva help you grow?

Sushant: At Veeva, I have grown by having the opportunity to decide what is relevant and a priority to help the client. I can make a choice to do the right thing. At Veeva, providing value is guiding everything I do. At the same time, I am also conscious of burnout and feel responsible to my colleagues to ensure they stay fresh and encouraged. This sense of responsibility is all part of my personal and professional growth.

I see great opportunities ahead as a consultant for Veeva. Veeva has been primarily a product company for ten years and business consulting is new. I believe we will continue to grow as a team as we help clients succeed — one feeds the other. I hope to continue to contribute to the growth of the APAC region. My team has put me in front of clients to lead critical engagements and brainstorm their needs, which has contributed to my growth. Veeva challenges all of us with unstructured but high-impact situations.

What would you say to someone who was thinking of working here?

Sushant: Veeva is the Google of the life sciences industry — always innovating and acting like a startup no matter what the actual size. Veeva engenders a strong sense of ownership. If you have ideas, you can be at the helm of your ship, run with your ideas, and get full backing from the team. Veeva cares about its people and allows you to be yourself. You can take responsibility for growing your career, and they will help you make it happen. Veeva is getting the best out of me because my values synchronize with Veeva’s. I appreciate the humility of the leaders, the sense of ownership, and the opportunity to do the right thing for my team and clients.