Scripting his growth journey with a solid foundation and difficult choices

From humble beginnings to Biocon CFO, Indranil Sen’s corporate journey is fuelled by strategic insights, and a mindset of relentless growth.

In brief

• Indranil’s expertise and global perspective paved the way for his role as Biocon’s CFO, where he continues to shape the future of corporate finance.
• His path reflects a dedication to family, personal growth, and a commitment to nurturing strong team dynamics.
• Focused on building robust processes and inspiring the next generation, Indranil exemplifies effective leadership and innovation.

Fulfilling his father’s dream

Born and brought up in Kolkata and the only child of his parents, Indranil comes from a humble background. His journey to where he is today is rife with some incredible highlights. Talking about his childhood, he shares, “I was very active in sports, but not very academically oriented. The turning point came when I scored well in the 10th board, after which I chose the commerce stream and went on to achieve my father’s dream who wanted to become a qualified Chartered Accountant himself. He used to tell me how respectable and well-rounded this profession is and how he was always very keen to take that up as a career.” 

Building a strong foundation

An ardent planner, Indranil kept himself motivated by setting goals — both short and long-term. One of his goals was accomplished when he joined a Big Four firm as an intern. “The experience of interning at a Big Four is extraordinary. You are made to learn the value of your job. You see challenges, but you also learn how to handle them,” says Indranil. Looking for bigger and better job opportunities, Indranil decided to move to Bangalore and joined EY as an Assistant Manager in 2006. That’s when Indranil’s journey with EY started, which he fondly remembers as one of the most enriching ones of his career. At EY, Indranil’s experience straddled across many areas of assurance of listed companies to large global MNCs, he saw the firm grow and scale up relentlessly.

The exceptional EY journey: lifelong friendships, valuable lessons, and global exposure

 Indranil remembers the four years he spent at EY as being filled with memories and learnings where he and his colleagues focused their energies and passions on building the assurance practice. Despite the demanding work schedule, the motto “work hard and party harder” was taken quite literally at the firm’s Bengaluru office. They were a young and aggressive team and were able to close some exciting projects. In addition to being “fun” and “demanding,” Indranil remembers his journey with the firm as a great learning experience.

“At EY, I learned how to look at numbers the way a finance controller looks at them. The depth of work that I realized at EY helped me move forward in my career journey,” he added. Indranil continues to have a special bond with EY. “It has been almost 12 years since I left EY, but I feel connected to the firm. I am still friends with my EY colleagues,” he reminisces. His continuing bond resonates with EY’s endeavour to make its experience last a lifetime. He also cherishes the wonderful EY off-sites. One of the things that Indranil enjoyed most about his stint at EY is the international experience that came as a part of his job. “Within six months of joining EY, I travelled to the US for a large client. That was my first ever international assignment, and it broadened my horizon,” he shared.

Moving to the other side

After Indranil and his wife were blessed with a daughter, his wife moved to Kolkata to care for a close family member. “Those 12 to 18 months when my wife and daughter were away in Kolkata while I worked in Bangalore made me rethink my career choices. I wanted to slow down to spend more time with my family. This thought motivated me to move out,” he shared. Indranil knew that staying in Big Four would fast-track his career. But giving priority to the family and personal growth, he decided to pace out his career and joined Symphony Teleca, a privately-held US multinational IT company, as Head of Financial Reporting in 2010.

Making big moves

After spending four years in Symphony Teleca, Indranil joined Biocon, one of the leading innovation-led global pharmaceuticals company, in 2014. “I joined Biocon because I always wanted to work for a listed company and an opportunity to work under Siddharth’s mentorship again. We go back a long way. We worked closely for four years in Symphony Teleca,” Indranil added. But once Indranil was in Biocon, he had to build relations and set processes. Since then, the growth has kept Indranil on his toes and the learning has been a continuous process. According to Indranil, Biocon has been a very fulfilling experience, both professionally and personally. “Walking into the doors of my office at Biocon feels like a homecoming. I feel like I belong to this place,” he shared. Indranil joined Biocon as a financial controller and rose to become the company’s CFO – that is almost a decade of hard work, dedication and humility.

Groomed from scratch

In the initial few years at Biocon, Indranil performed an extended role in accounting, treasury, and tax. As the journey progressed, he started taking care of costing and later business finance before he was trusted with the opportunity to head the entire finance department. “The journey in Biocon has been phenomenal. The culture at Biocon is about understanding the business, culture and people. There is a strong sentiment that existing Biocon employees who have risen through the ranks are most capable of doing these roles,” added Indranil. A typical workday for Indranil is a combination of his business meetings and team reviews. He spends much time in implementing strategies along with the colleagues. Indranil says that people are his topmost priority. “We are who we are because of our people. If we don’t have strong and skilled people, we will not be able to implement robust processes,” he emphasized. Indranil says that the easiest part of his profile is connecting with people. “I am not hierarchical by nature. So, I can go to anyone in the team and have a conversation,” he added.