Former Accenture HR Head Srijata on Talent, Leadership and the Rise of Independent Work

Meet Srijata Sengupta—a transformational leader with over 25 years of experience across Accenture, Mercer, and corporate consulting.

Srijata has over 25 years of experience in Human Resources, talent consulting, and leadership across industries. As HR Head at Accenture’s Technology business in India, she led purpose-driven talent transformation, digital upskilling, and inclusive people practices that drove industry-best retention.

She later founded Foodwise, Co-founded The Foundation Academy in rural West Bengal, and teaches at Kanthari, a leadership institute for social change makers. Today, as an advisor at IndusGuru, she continues to guide organizations and professionals in navigating the future of work.

We spoke with Srijata Sengupta about her professional journey, the shift from corporate to entrepreneurial and advisory roles, and her perspectives on the future of flexible consulting, leadership, and inclusive workplaces.

Could you describe your professional journey — particularly what led you from a formal corporate leadership role (at Accenture) to roles engaging with entrepreneurial/social ventures and advisory capacities (e.g. with IndusGuru)?

Srijata Sengupta: I have had a fulfilling career in Human Resources and Talent Consulting for over twenty five years, building and growing strong organisations by bringing innovation in people experiences and systems and focusing on development of people and communities.

In these 25 years, I have had the opportunity to work across multiple industries, starting with Consumer Goods, Consulting and Technology Services. In my last role as the HR Head for the Technology business in India at Accenture, I had the opportunity to prepare the organisation for the next phase of its growth through purpose-led talent transformation and upskilling.

We created industry leading people experiences that are humane, personalised and inclusive, resulting in one of the best retention and engagement levels in the industry.

I arrived at a point in my life and my career where I was keen to apply my skills and my capacity to causes which will help improve the future of the world. That is how my entrepreneurial journey began with setting up my own social enterprise, foodwize.

In my role as an advisor at IndusGuru, I know that it is an organisation which is truly changing the future of work, connecting organisations to deep, senior experts on a real time basis and enabling experts to navigate their careers in a flexible and personalised way.

What were the key inflection points?

Srijata Sengupta: Contrary to popular perception, the decision to make such a significant professional and personal transition was years in the making and it was not a sudden moment of epiphany.

I had been reflecting on what is the most effective use of my time and skills for the future of my career.  What legacy would I like to leave behind and what causes would I like to support?

Working for the benefit of the community has always been an aspiration and hence, nearly 10 years ago, I founded a school in rural West Bengal to support education of children from families who do subsistence farming.

My entrepreneurship and advisory journey has been a result of this introspection and I am very glad I made this transition from a traditional corporate career.

Given your work as a senior advisor at IndusGuru, what trends are you seeing in how skilled professionals are choosing gig or flexible consulting over traditional employment? What motivates them — flexibility, autonomy, purpose, or something else?

Srijata Sengupta: We are seeing an increasing trend of mid-career to senior professional choosing to manage their careers differently, motivated by various aspects like – autonomy over their time, flexibility to take on projects that are aligned to their interests, working on projects that have greater purpose.

Post COVID, there are more people preferring flexible assignments over traditional employment. People want to feel empowered to decide how they apply their skills and the type of work they do.

Organisations are also pivoting to access expert talent-on-demand and for strategic priorities of the organisation. While this provides organisation access to skills they may not have internally, it is also creating good quality projects for freelance experts

What skills and mindsets are essential for succeeding as an independent consultant? How do they compare to those needed in corporate leadership?

Srijata Sengupta: The core skills  and expertise for independent experts in not any different from those needed in corporate leadership. However, independent experts must be able to enjoy working across different environments, cultures and contexts. Be able to integrate at speed with teams, design solutions and build the necessary relationship to deliver the project outcomes.

How do you lead or mentor in less structured environments like project-based or remote teams?

Srijata Sengupta: The pandemic necessitated a rapid adjustment towards working and leading in virtual and hybrid environments.

That has gone a long in helping people adjust and operate in less structured or virtual environments.

Mentoring and leadership has evolved from a place of constant control to enablement through clear shared priorities, building the capabilities required,  providing the resources to get the job done and timely feedback for course correction. The role leader or mentor is to ensure the teams are able to maximise their impact.

What are the biggest challenges professionals face when shifting into gig work? And what must organisations do differently to engage independent experts effectively?

Srijata Sengupta: There are a couple of challenges professionals face when shifting in gig work – firstly is maintaining a network and community.

When some is within an organisation, they automatically become part of different communities and professional network, which is often lost once they become freelance consultants.

This is where IndusGruru provides various platforms for consultants to network with each other and build their own community. The other challenge is continuing to keep their skills updated and relevant, investing in personal learning.

Organizations need to include independents experts as one of the many ways in which they access talent and include it as a part of their manpower planning. This will ensure they access talent for strategic priorities on time and the right price.

Operationally organisations need to design their for talent processes to include independent expert – like onboarding, foundational training for long term project, procurement and recruitment processes. This will ensure independent experts are productive from day 1 onwards and organisations also get the most out of this talent pool.

How do you see platforms like IndusGuru evolving — beyond simply matching consultants to projects?

Srijata Sengupta: Platforms like IndusGuru are creating an eco-system for organisations to access talent on-demand, at the right price and right time. Beyond matching consultants to projects, they are creating the norms and practices that make on-demand talent an effective strategy. 

For organisations it is an end-to-end service from scoping the project, finding the right expert, providing onboarding service and processing payments. Contracts can be designed in flexible formats – time (days, weeks, months) pr deliverable based. Onboarding can happen within days. 

For consultants, it is access to a marketplace that enables them to select projects that are best suited to their skills and interest areas.  Consultants are supported through of writing their profiles, proposal submission and commercials.

Both sides benefit from technology/ AI based matching on the one -hand, but also a dedicated account management team that ensure the right outcome and experience for all stakeholders.

What advice would you give women considering a move from corporate roles to independent work, especially on building credibility and managing risks?

Srijata Sengupta: There are 3 pieces of advice I would like to give anyone who transitions from corporate roles to independent work

1) Independent work provides flexibility however, it needs a lot of discipline to managing workload and time. You need to have clarity on what models of engagement will work for you and what will not. Be open and communicate that transparently

2) Build your profile and find ways to showcase and credentialize your expertise – find opportunities to write case studies, blogs. Find speaking opportunities and provide your time to help others learn from your experiences.

3) In flexible work, there will be peaks and turfs in your engagement. Plan to manage your downtime well. Use the time to upgrade your skills, network with people in the industry etc

Looking ahead, what emerging trends in flexible consulting and leadership excite you most?

Srijata Sengupta: I am very excited to see that organisations are pivoting to focus on skills as opposed to designations and titles when it comes to planing and managing talent.

Also, organisations are pivoting to make AI an integral part of their business operations and will need very differentiated skills in the future. This will open  up significant opportunity for experts to provide their services to strategic priorities.

The other emerging trend that is very exciting is start-ups and SMEs using fractional CXOs to propel their growth. Traditional employment contracts often don’t meet the requirements of smaller organisations in growth phase.

The ability to structure a contract flexibly, can become a game changer for start-ups and SMEs. They can access the best fit talent, tailored to their needs.

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