Aditi Krishnan · Practitioner Deck
Confidential · Draft
14 slides · v.2.3 · Gurgaon, India · NCR
Slide 01 of 14 · Cover
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Engagement Manager · Bain & Company · Gurgaon office
Aditi Krishnan — practitioner overview
for prospective engagements, FY26 – 27.
Retail, CPG and industrials. 7+ years across pricing, go-to-market and operating-model redesign. 29 completed engagements. $120M in client margin impact verified by finance.
Experience
7+ yrs
Bain Gurgaon 2022–present. Prior: McKinsey Sydney 2017–2022. Promoted twice, once early.
Engagements delivered
29 cases
Of which 14 as engagement manager. Span: 6 to 24 weeks. Teams of 4 to 11.
Client P&L impact
$120M
Gross margin uplift, identified and captured. Verified by client finance. Median engagement: +180 bps.
Sector depth
5 sectors
Retail, CPG, industrials, D2C digital-native, financial services. Lead on retail & CPG.
CONFIDENTIAL
Prepared for prospective client circulation. Fee ranges indicative. Samples & references available under mutual NDA.
Bain & Company · Gurgaon · India
Source: internal engagement register, Jan 2018 – Mar 2026 (n=29).
Slide 02 of 14 · Executive summary
12 Apr 2026
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Four takeaways · three minutes
Why Aditi Krishnan — key takeaways for a scoping call.
Synthesis of seven years, twenty-nine engagements, and client feedback. Each takeaway includes the "so what" for a prospective sponsor.
0
Depth in retail pricing is the unlock, not consulting at large.
Of twenty-nine engagements, eighteen touched pricing or assortment. The playbook is refined, the finance case is defensible, and the implementation partners are already mapped.
So what → Frame the ask around pricing or assortment to get the fastest scope-to-signoff cycle.
0
Every engagement lands with a two-page memo — not a 120-slide deck.
The discipline: decisions fit on two pages or they are not decisions. Everything else is appendix. Sponsors get the memo after week four and again at close.
So what → You should expect to read two pages before each steerco, not browse a deck.
0
Sponsor retention is the real KPI — 62 percent repeat rate.
Sixty-two percent of engagement sponsors returned within eighteen months. That is sixteen engagements from nine sponsors, delivered with the same engagement manager.
So what → Relationship model skews toward long-term partnership, not project-by-project.
0
Verified outcomes, not modelled outcomes — finance signs off at t+12 months.
All impact figures quoted are verified by client finance twelve months post-engagement. Modelled-only or self-reported numbers are excluded from the 120M figure.
So what → Fee discussions can reference verified outcomes — client finance has the paperwork.
Key takeaways · For sponsor alignment
Source: client post-engagement surveys (n=22) & internal Bain performance file.
Slide 03 of 14 · Approach
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Methodology · five phases · avg. 11.8 weeks
A disciplined pipeline from scoping to 90 – day follow-up.
Every engagement runs through the same five phases. Deliverables and steerco cadence are fixed; depth and team shape flex to the scope.
PHASE 0
Scope & diagnose
Interviews across client org, data room review, hypothesis tree, working plan signed by sponsor.
2 weeks
PHASE 0
Build & validate
Model construction, customer research, competitor benchmarking, weekly steerco.
3 – 5 weeks
PHASE 0
Synthesise & decide
Two-page decision memo. Three scenarios with financial impact, pressure-tested in red team.
2 weeks
PHASE 0
Implement & transfer
On-the-ground implementation, capability transfer, daily stand-ups with the client team.
3 – 6 weeks
PHASE 0
90-day verify
Finance-team reconciliation of realised impact vs. plan. Written sign-off and public case (if permitted).
3 months
Steerco: weekly, Thursdays, 45 min
Client time: ~6 hrs / week sponsor + 2 hrs working team
Guarantees: two-page memo + implementation plan + 90-day verify
Approach · Proprietary Bain method, tailored
Source: Bain engagement playbook, 2023 ed. §3.2 (redacted).
Slide 04 of 14 · Engagements by P&L impact
12 Apr 2026
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Exhibit 4.1 · top 7 engagements by annualised gross margin uplift
The large-ticket wins cluster in pricing and assortment.
Sorted by verified annualised margin uplift, USD millions. Red bars indicate engagements where sponsor was CFO or CEO; navy is operating team; gold indicates pro-bono.
Engagement
Annualised margin uplift — USD M
Uplift
Retail holding group · margin re-engineering
Retail · 2024
$42.0M /y
Top-three grocer · omnichannel
Retail · 2023
$31.8M /y
Beauty major · trade-promotion waterfall
CPG · 2025
$22.9M /y
D2C unicorn · operating model redesign
D2C · 2025
$15.8M /y
FMCG conglomerate · route-to-market
CPG · 2023
$12.3M /y
Industrials carveout · cost baseline
Industrials · 2024
$8.7M /y
Public health (pro-bono) · vaccine last-mile
Public sector · 2022
$4.5M /y
Exhibit 4.1 · Engagements — by P&L impact
Source: client finance-verified uplift, 12-month post-engagement measurement.
Slide 05 of 14 · Representative cases (MECE)
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Three cases · SCQA framework · client names redacted
Three engagements, written in the pyramid.
Each case presented as Situation → Complication → Question → Answer. "Answer" column carries the recommendation and the client-verified outcome.
Omnichannel for a top-3 Indian grocer
Retail · 2023 – 2024 · Team of 6
Situation
Grocery chain with 340 stores and growing online footprint. Online was growing 58% YoY but dragging group gross margin by 210 bps; stores plateauing.
Complication
Assortment and last-mile operating model were copy-pasted from brick-and-mortar onto online — no differential pricing, no dark-store strategy, leaky last-mile.
Question
Where does online need to look structurally different from in-store for it to be both scalable and margin-accretive, inside 18 months?
Answer & outcome
Three-speed assortment + dark-store network for 42 cities + differential pricing band. Finance verified +180 bps group margin, $31.8M annualised, captured 60% in year one.
Duration · 18 weeks
Sponsor · CEO + CFO
Verified uplift · +180 bps, $31.8M
Pricing waterfall for a beauty major
CPG · 2025 · Team of 4
Situation
Indian beauty major with 48 SKUs, ₹2,800cr revenue. Trade-promotion spend had grown 22% YoY, but incremental share was flat for six consecutive quarters.
Complication
Promotional spend concentrated on fast-moving SKUs that would have sold anyway; price-pack architecture had not been reset since 2019 despite 34% input inflation.
Question
Which SKUs should hold, which should see list-price change, and how do we redirect trade spend without losing shelf prominence?
Answer & outcome
Three-tier waterfall: nine SKUs with list-price hike, eighteen with pack-size shrink, trade redirected to category-build SKUs. Captured 290 bps gross margin in two quarters, retained shelf.
Duration · 12 weeks
Sponsor · CFO + Head of Commercial
Verified uplift · +290 bps, $22.9M
Operating-model redesign, D2C unicorn pre-IPO
Digital-native · 2025 · Team of 5
Situation
Fast-growth D2C (beauty, food, apparel) preparing for IPO. P&L review cycle was fourteen days end-to-end; merchandising and finance teams blaming each other for slippage.
Complication
Org structure was vertical-by-vertical; merchandising decisions were being made without finance sign-off and rolled back mid-month, generating inventory write-downs.
Question
What org shape gives tight pricing and assortment control without re-creating the bureaucracy the founders explicitly wanted to avoid?
Answer & outcome
Four-squad model with embedded finance and merchandising leads. Cycle cut from 14 to 5 days, write-downs down 38%, $15.8M annualised. Design used post-IPO, now run by internal team.
Duration · 10 weeks
Sponsor · Founder + COO
Verified uplift · −64% review cycle, $15.8M
Case studies · SCQA + pyramid synthesis
Source: redacted from original client reports. Sponsor quotes & references available under mutual NDA.
Slide 06 of 14 · Outcomes at a glance
12 Apr 2026
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Dashboard · rolling blend across all engagements
Six numbers that track consistency, not one-off wins.
Each metric is refreshed quarterly. Red sparkline shows trajectory vs. the same metric 24 months ago.
Avg margin uplift
180bps
Blended across 29 engagements, 2018 – 2026. Verified client-side.
P&L responsibility
$420M
Largest single engagement: a $420M annual margin re-engineering program for a retail holding group.
Avg engagement
11.8wks
Average engagement length. Median is 10 weeks; largest was 24.
Team managed
6.2avg
Average team size led. Largest team of 11 across two workstreams.
Repeat client rate
62%
Engagement sponsors who returned within 18 months for a follow-on scope.
Publications
4
Co-authored Bain Insights and McKinsey Quarterly pieces. Topic: Indian retail, pricing elasticity.
Outcomes dashboard · Refreshed Q1 FY26
Source: internal Bain performance file, 24-month rolling window (Apr 2024 – Mar 2026).
Slide 07 of 14 · Competency matrix
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Self-assessed · independently validated by partner-level reviewers (n=3)
Where the depth sits — and where I staff in specialists.
Red bars indicate deep-specialist competencies (95th percentile Bain-internal). Navy bars indicate working proficiency. "Last engagement" column shows recency.
Pricing & margin
95 / 100
Deep specialist · 18 engagements
last · 2026-Q1
Retail & CPG sector
92 / 100
Sector lead · India practice
last · 2026-Q1
Client management
93 / 100
C-suite exposure across 12 sponsors
last · 2026-Q2
Strategy & scoping
90 / 100
Lead consultant on 14 scopings
last · 2026-Q2
Team leadership
87 / 100
Up to 11 reports, 4 team offs
last · 2026-Q2
Excel financial modelling
88 / 100
Advanced · VBA · 3-statement
last · 2025-Q4
Go-to-market design
85 / 100
Repeat engagements, 6 programmes
last · 2025-Q4
Python analytics
72 / 100
Working · pandas · sklearn
last · 2025-Q3
Competency matrix · Self + reviewer-validated
Source: partner reviewers S. Iyer, P. Martinez, R. Nair, 360 cycle Apr 2025.
Slide 08 of 14 · Sector depth
12 Apr 2026
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Exhibit 8.1 · sector pyramid, by engagement volume and depth
Depth concentrated at the base — retail & CPG.
Pyramid reads bottom-up: deepest at the base, adjacent sectors toward the apex. Years of recurring exposure in parentheses.
ApexFinancial services
EmergingD2C & digital-native
AdjacentIndustrials & B2B
CoreConsumer packaged goods
Base · Retail
Sector footprint
Retail14 engagements · grocers, fashion, omnichannel
2017–26
Consumer packaged goods9 engagements · beauty, F&B, home care
2018–26
Industrials & B2B3 engagements · building products, logistics
2020–24
D2C & digital-native2 engagements · pre-IPO operating model
2024–25
Financial services1 engagement · payments pricing (adjacent)
2022
Sector pyramid · by engagement depth
Source: internal engagement register, n=29, 2017–2026.
Slide 09 of 14 · Education & credentials
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Academic record · certifications · ongoing training
INSEAD — SRCC — and a stack of discipline-specific credentials.
Academic
2017
M.B.A.
INSEAD, Fontainebleau
— Dean's List · top 10% · Henry Ford II scholarship
2014
B.Com (Hons), Economics
Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University
— First class with distinction · 92.4% · University gold medal
2013
Exchange semester
London School of Economics
— Focus: industrial organisation · First
Certifications
Advanced Pricing WorkshopSimon-Kucher Academy · Bonn
Sep 2023
Negotiation MasteryHarvard Business School Online
Mar 2022
CFA Level ICFA Institute · Charlottesville
Jun 2016
Bain Partner Track — TBR Module 3Bain & Company Internal Academy
Nov 2024
Lean Six Sigma — Green BeltIASSC
Oct 2019
Academic & professional record
Source: registrar transcripts & certifying body verifications on file.
Slide 10 of 14 · Sponsor voices
12 Apr 2026
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Three unedited quotes · sponsor consent on file
What sponsors said on exit interviews.
Aditi ran the cleanest diagnostic I have ever seen. Four weeks in, we knew exactly where the margin leakage was, and two weeks later we had a pricing waterfall we could actually execute on. Rare combination of rigour and pragmatism, and our finance team signed off on every number without a single pushback.
Karan Mehra· CFO
Regional FMCG group
I have worked with three of the big four strategy firms over the last decade. Aditi is the only engagement manager who left behind a finance team that could operate the model without her, three months after rollout. That is the real test — and she passed it.
Anjali Rao· VP Operations
D2C unicorn, pre-IPO
Exceptional grasp of Indian retail. She does not try to pattern-match from Sydney or London — she asks the right twenty questions, and the recommendation lands where the business actually operates. We are scoping our third engagement with her now.
Sanjay Iyer· Group CEO
Top-3 grocer · 340 stores
Sponsor testimonials · consent on file
Source: structured exit interviews conducted by Bain People Ops, Jul 2024 – Feb 2026.
Slide 11 of 14 · Publications & thought-leadership
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Co-authored pieces in Bain Insights, McKinsey Quarterly, MintBiz
On the record — five publications.
Why Indian retail pricing is about to rewrite itself— Co-authored with P. Martinez · cover piece, 14 pages
Feb 2026Bain Insights
The dark-store math for tier-2 cities— Co-authored with R. Nair · reported essay
Sep 2025Bain Insights
Pricing elasticity in emerging consumer markets— Co-authored with T. Ellis (McKinsey Sydney) · peer-reviewed case
Q4 2021McKinsey Quarterly
Omnichannel is not just online plus offline— Co-authored with K. Feldman · practitioner column
Jun 2020McKinsey Quarterly
What CPG CFOs get wrong about trade promotion— Opinion column · by-line only
Aug 2023MintBiz Weekly
Publications · 2019 – 2026
Source: Bain Insights archive, McKinsey Quarterly vol. 2021–Q4, MintBiz editorial.
Slide 12 of 14 · Languages & tooling
12 Apr 2026
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Working languages · analytical & communication stack
Four working languages and a standard toolkit.
Languages
EnglishNative · academic, professional, presenting
C2
HindiNative · urban + rural client interviews
C2
FrenchWorking · INSEAD Fontainebleau cohort
C1
Bahasa IndonesiaBasic · two engagements in Jakarta
A2
Languages & tooling
Source: self-declared, ALTE Level self-assessment framework applied.
Slide 13 of 14 · Speaking & lectures
12 Apr 2026
Aditi Krishnan · Private
Selected appearances · last 24 months
Four speaking engagements on pricing & omnichannel.
07 Mar 2026
Rewriting the Indian retail pricing playbookKeynote · Bain India Consumer Summit
440 execsMumbai, JW Marriott
19 Nov 2025
From diagnostic to decision in fourteen daysFireside · INSEAD Asia Campus Career Week
Alumni, 180Singapore
02 Jun 2025
Omnichannel economics for tier-2 IndiaPanel · CII National Retail Convention
600 retailersDelhi, Taj Palace
15 Feb 2025
What every pre-IPO D2C founder should audit firstClosed-door talk · YC SEA Founder Dinner
Founders, 32Bengaluru
Speaking engagements · 2024 – 2026
Source: event organisers & Bain PR desk. Recordings available on request.
Slide 14 of 14 · Next steps
12 Apr 2026
Confidential
Scoping call · indicative fees · engagement logistics
Next step — a 45-minute scoping call.
Please reach out on the channel that works best. First call is complimentary and without obligation; a two-page scoping note follows within 48 hours of the call.
— Thank you. — End of deck —
Aditi Krishnan · Engagement Manager · Bain & Company · Gurgaon office
Next steps · Scoping & engagement logistics
Source: Bain staffing calendar, Q2 FY26. Fee quoted as Bain India standard range.