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DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Shivakumar is Operating Partner at Advent International. Before this, he was President (Corporate Strategy and Business Development) at Aditya Birla Group. Earlier assignments include: Chairman & CEO at Pepsico India and prior to that, Managing Director at Nokia India. Before joining Nokia, he worked with consumer electronics maker Philips and top consumer goods firm Hindustan Unilever. He is an engineer from IIT Chennai and an MBA from IIM Calcutta.

Shivakumar has written three books: Reflections - a collection of Shivs articles; The Right Choice - Resolving Ten Career Dilemmas; and The Art of Management. The latter two are business bestsellers.

My Work at Founding Fuel

The Best Business Books of 2025
·Work, Careers & Personal Mastery

The Best Business Books of 2025

Ten essential reads on money, leadership, and navigating a changing world

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

The Art of Public Speaking
·Work, Careers & Personal Mastery

The Art of Public Speaking

Insights from the book ‘Say It Well’ by Terry Szuplat, Barack Obama’s speechwriter

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

The Power of Like
·Business & Strategy

The Power of Like

Insights from Martin Reeves and Bob Goodson’s new book, ‘Like’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

Character is about who we choose to be
·Leadership & Organisation

Character is about who we choose to be

Insights from General Stanley McChrystal’s new book ‘On Character: Choices That Define a Life’. The book is in Shivakumar’s list of best books of summer 2025

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

My 10 best business books of summer 2025
·Leadership & Organisation

My 10 best business books of summer 2025

On what makes a leader, how to stop wasting energy on the wrong things, speaking well, the history of attention, understanding India’s economic planning, and more

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

The global trends to watch in 2025
·Economy, Policy & Society

The global trends to watch in 2025

Insights from The Economist’s report ‘The World Ahead 2025’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

My top ten business books of 2024
·Business & Strategy

My top ten business books of 2024

The best books of the year on how the past informs the future, tackling tough situations, and technology

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

The Age of Information
·Technology & the Future

The Age of Information

Insights from Yuval Noah Harari’s book ‘Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International

How to reinvent your career
·Work, Careers & Personal Mastery

How to reinvent your career

Insights from Herminia Ibarra’s book, ‘working Identity’

DS
D Shivakumar

D Shivakumar

Operating Partner | Advent International