Venkat Gopalakrishnan

Strategy Advising & Execution Lead | Business Transformation & Corporate Development • Business transformation for a global food ingredients player (2024) -> Led program management across functions: Ops, Sales, Finance, People & Communications. -> Delivered Program objectives on schedule -> Advised on & supported analyses for initiatives in Sales, Operations & Capital Investments • Business development for an international bio-based industrial player (2023) -> Advised and led US partnership proposal discussions for an international player

Launch, scaling, & operational leadership of US & cross-border consumer banking fintech Managed launch of de novo digital bank: -> Led key partner evaluations, contracting and relationships -> Led development & integrations with bank, processor, & compliance partners -> Led execution of customer digital experience in onboarding, compliance, & customer service Managed rapid growth in customer service, processor and bank operations: -> Grew from scratch to over 40,000 customers in 12 months -> Achieved monthly growth rates of 10-15% in deposits & transactions in 15 months Streamlined operations, led compliance, technology, operations and customer service teams: -> Operationalized offshore customer service, development, and engineering teams -> Built an automated onboarding BSA/AML compliant KYC process -> Led & operationalized BSA/AML KYC compliance, oversaw audits and led fraud mitigation

Strategy Advising & Execution Lead | Business Transformation & Corporate Development • Strategy Advising for Aeldra Financial, a FinTech startup: (2019) -> Assessed market size & growth projections for key markets and customer segments. • Advised Ninety-Nine Bottles, an information solutions provider to the beer distribution value chain (2018) -> Honed strategy and evaluated growth options, assessed acquisition targets. -> Identified value creation from existing & adjacent capabilities & potential for quantification. -> Clarified segment-specific customer value propositions to drive value sharing.

• Led $300 million revenue veg ingredient and food processing business driving Strategy and P&L: -> Led cross-functional team of Ag, Operations, R&D, Supply Chain, Sales, & Customer Service. -> Drove new client acquisition in the US and international markets (EU, LatAm, Africa). -> Strengthened and executed on key customer relationships with top food companies in the US. -> Secured long-term profitable contracts in organics, specialty formulations and bulk products. -> Grew co-manufacturing business in various retail packaging (glass, plastic and can) formats. • Sharpened product market focus improving EBITDA by ~$30 million in three years. -> Strongly grew exports and organics by investing ahead of the curve on market trends. -> Drove new products in exports and key domestic markets by leading cross-functional teams. -> Acquired new clients by enabling product trial, focused sales and superior customer service. -> Grew sales in EU, Americas, Africa & Asia adding five anchor accounts & $60 million revenue. • Grew retail co-manufacturing, building on customer relationships and partnering on growth. -> Grew retail business by 30% in 2017, adding $10 million in revenues and $2 million in margin. -> Amplified annual revenues up to $15 million with existing client through capacity expansion. -> Secured five-year contract with exclusivity clauses, doubling volume and improving credit terms. • Retained at-risk client relationship worth $20 million in annual revenues, and increased margins: -> Rebuilt client confidence via exceptional customer service levels and proactive communication. -> Secured new three-year $20 million annual contract. • Protected product and $5 million in revenues by meeting need for BPA compliance at short notice. -> Aligned Supply Chain, Operations, Planning, Quality, Engineering & Customer Service. -> Established & executed program to recover costs and ensure supply of BPA compliant product.

• Led Strategy, M&A and corporate center projects, validating business case & enabling alignment. • Drove C-Suite level strategy assignment, evaluating market entry into biofuels in Latin America. • Drove early analyses of India market entry for Starches & Sweeteners business. • Led C-Suite Selling, General and Administrative Expenses (SG&A) global cost alignment strategy. • Led team in developing five year strategy for the Metals group.

• Directed operations for $60 million in cotton, sesame and sorghum trade -> Held accountability for P&L, strategy, capital productivity, cost budgets and control. -> Managed commodity supply & demand forecasting, logistics, trading risk, and human resources. -> Awarded “Best Performing Profit Center FY 2004 – 2005” among Olam’s Cotton Team. • Led multinational team, with four direct reports and 200 – 300 indirect reports (seasonal). -> Conducted performance reviews, developed training & cross training and had general oversight, • Successfully planned, commissioned, and expanded the first sesame hulling facility in the region. -> Managed project execution to cost & deadline, leading local team and international vendors. -> Aided volume expansion in the Middle East market through hulled sesame export. • Developed customer solutions for quality and risk tripling domestic business volumes. -> Offered risk and inventory management solutions to customers leveraging company expertise. -> Provided downside price protection, vendor managed inventory and dollar denominated pricing. -> Enabled customers to book longer term and larger business and protected market share. • Managed key stakeholder relationships in trading regions to facilitate a strong supply chain. -> Cultivated & maintained strong relationships with facilities, suppliers and local authorities. -> Ensured safety and reliability of personnel and product throughout the supply chain.

• Led process improvement initiatives in preparation for SAP implementation. -> Facilitated capacity and production planning and warehouse network optimization. -> Illustrated tradeoff between batch size, inventory levels, inventory costs and stock-out costs. -> Led initiative to optimize warehouse locations, to optimize cost and response times. • Led projects in multiple business divisions as part of a one-year Management Training program, -> Trained with business units within BASF, including Chemicals, Plastics, Agrichemicals and Textiles, -> Improved demand forecast accuracy by modeling demand for Agrichemical division. ->-> Improved model increased potential for lower inventory levels and higher capacity utilizations. -> Managed customer service project for Plastics Division on assessing service levels. ->-> Evaluated perceived vs. actual customer service levels, visiting clients onsite to obtain feedback.