A seasoned automotive and industrials professional, Rahul Sakhamuri is comfortable on shop floors across both Asia and the midwestern United States. “My first job was an internship in Coimbatore, India in a cast iron foundry when I was 17.”
In 2019, after receiving his MBA from the University of Chicago and working with power and mobility manufacturer Cummins, Rahul moved to New York where AlixPartners was his target firm. “I put all my effort into joining AlixPartners because throughout the recruiting process, I saw over and over that this firm was comprised of smart and genuinely kind people.”
At AlixPartners, Rahul, who was born and raised in India, was pleased to find a connection to his heritage when he joined the Asian Leadership Insights & Growth Network (ALIGN).
“Most of my time was spent with a core group focused on client delivery and I had a goal to find an outlet for contributing more holistically,” he describes.
ALIGN, one of AlixPartners’ Employee Resource Groups, is dedicated to activating professional development, inclusion, and multicultural business opportunities for individuals and allies of the Asian community.
Rahul was a hands-on member, describing himself as a “devil’s advocate" to ensure wholly diverse perspectives were considered across Asian cultures.
“I became a louder thought partner within the ALIGN community on how to resonate meaningfully with our members, and the business.”
For example, Rahul recently moderated a firmwide discussion with ALIGN on the trends of deglobalization. With over 120 attendees listening and asking questions, Partner & Managing Directors from across industries shared perspectives on the key drivers of deglobalization and how they advise clients to navigate such shifts.
Having spent more than a decade in the United States, Rahul hoped to move back one day to Southeast Asia to be closer to his family—a dream that would be realized sooner than he thought.
After leaving the firm in 2022 for a short stint supporting a startup’s supply chain management, Rahul rejoined AlixPartners to help build its new Singapore office, which opened in 2023.
“This was my opportunity to be closer to family while maintaining a career that I love,” he explains.
Rahul’s face lights up while describing his new life in Singapore. “The firm’s support during my transition was tremendous.”
While his return has been characterized mostly by newness—new city, new colleagues, new office—ALIGN has made it feel like a homecoming. “It is amazing to have a community at work that is separate from projects or clients.”
“They have been so welcoming. I feel cherished. And that’s very good for my confidence and my work performance as I navigate these changes.”
And for someone with a builder’s mindset like Rahul, this new frontier has provided an opportunity to expand how ALIGN supports its global community.
“How can I leverage the percentage of mindshare that ALIGN and our other ERGs hold to widen our perspectives on ideologies that connect both business and culture,” he considers.
It’s through questions like this that Rahul fuels inclusive behavior across the firm and drives conversations that help expand our business.
“Inclusivity can often be skewed towards the diaspora. As we grow here in Asia, I want to make sure there is opportunity for inclusion within our origins as well.”