Multi-faceted Leader

Ajayya Kumar is a man of multiple talents and a burning desire to channel his skills into promoting his roots and help people succeed

For anyone not living under a rock, the name Ajayya Kumar rings a bell in the multiverse of management thinkers and authors. He has emerged as a name to be noted and a force to be reckoned with in the past few years, venturing into the arena of writing and becoming a cultural connoisseur.

Apart from being a management thinker, author, TEDx speaker, art curator, Ajayya is also the Chief Operating Officer of Emricom. He has won many awards for being a visionary leader and is based out of the UAE. Ajayya’s business acumen has also helped Emircom create a strong foundation over the past 20 years.

Championing Culture and Art

Despite having moved to the UAE, Ajayya never lost his love for his cultural heritage, making an effort to maintain a strong connection to his cultural background at all times. He was born and raised in Thrissur, Kerala and was exposed to kathakali shows and performers as a young child, which inspired his advocacy and interest in culture. Consequently, he has spearheaded several Kathakali and other traditional arts festivals in India and overseas.

Ajayya is the Founder and Chief Curator of the Sarvamanagala Arts Initiative (SAI), which executes projects under two banners — Sarvamanagala Sabha, a not-for-profit organisation and Sarvamangala Productions, a media production company making conscious interventions in the field of films and OTT content. A cultural foundation that makes deliberate interventions in the fields of art, culture, and cinema through curated events, fundraisers, film production, and artist services, Ajayya started the initiative to promote Indian classical art forms.

A recent project of Ajayya and his Sarvamangala Trust initiative is the cultural mapping of the Peruvanam village, aiming to increase its exposure and economic growth by changing it into a creative economy. The Peruvanam temple and village have been classified as a protected site by the Archaeological Survey of India.

Author, Tedx Speaker and host of podcasts

Ajayya is a voracious reader and insightful author due to his love of art, culture, and literature. He has published three books, ‘Lessons from 21 films for the 21st century entrepreneurs’, ‘Formula-G’, an Amazon number one bestseller and ‘Mindful parenting’. His fourth book ‘Business Gita’, which is set to be released in January 2023, is organised in the form of talks, imparting management lessons via them. He has received stellar reviews from 'The Telegraph and Ashwin Sanghi, the celebrated author.

Through the podcast series named beingajay, Ajayya conversed with several renowned personalities, like NASA scientist, Dr. Jennifer Wiseman, former RAW Chief, PK Hormis Tharakan, noted author, Chetan Bhagat, Metroman, E Sridharan, and Dr. Mukesh Kapila. It is one of several programs aimed at passing on the knowledge of specialists in many fields to the current and the next generation. Ajayya also introduced a rescue code for children for the first time in the world to safeguard them from domestic abuse. His idea was to bring the gaming community to the rescue of the abused children. His short film on the subject was also chosen for the Cannes Film Festival.

Ajayya Kumar’s Tedx speech on Importance of solitude in entrepreneurship went viral and has garnered over a million views. He has been recognised and awarded as the Global Asian of the year 2021-22 by Asia one.

He has also been recently recognised as the ‘World's Best Emerging Business Leader 2022' in the author category. The award, given by WCRCINT, in association with The Malcolm McDonald Academy, recognises the world's best emerging leaders.

— ali@khaleejtimes.com