A Captivating Personality with Unparalleled Acumen
Parvathi Murali is a superwoman who has over 15+ years of experience in the Power and Utility sector. She has led over 25 Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) projects, replacing over 10 million Electric, Water, and Gas meters across the U.S. and Canada. These smart meter deployments have contributed significantly to lowering carbon emissions and greenhouse gases, contributing to a greener environment. Through these deployments, she works on making this world a better place to live.
Her focus is on using cutting-edge technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure that we are on the path of sustainability and not just focused on technology enhancements. Despite being a woman of color, Parvathi is part of the senior management team and works as an Advisory Partner at a multinational Technology Consulting firm, Capgemini.
After graduating in the top 1% of the class with an undergraduate degree in Computer Science Engineering from SRM University, India, she decided to pursue her Master’s in Computer Information Systems from Georgis State University in the USA at the age of 22. Upon graduating with a Master’s, she started her career in the Power & Utility industry. She also started her own Management Consulting firm (Enermind Inc.), specializing in strategic consulting for Power and Utilities, at 27. Today, she has grown to hold senior and leadership roles with over 15 years of industry experience. She supported multiple projects to run a successful business. This provided her the opportunity and exposure that was required to lead and work in executive and management roles in multinational IT firms.
Coming from a traditional and orthodox South Indian family and a family that pushed the next generations to achieve greater success in life, she believed in excellence, which drove her to stand out from the crowd in everything she has achieved so far. With the challenges that come with being a woman of color in the North American region, Parvathi led a team in a Senior Management role at Ernst & Young at the age of 30, securing multi-million-dollar business opportunities, paving the path to Advisory Partner at Capgemini, Canada.
Her inspiration has always been strong women who have walked the face of the earth. Since childhood, she has grown up hearing stories of such powerful female leaders, including Lakshmi Bai (the ruler of Jhansi), Nefertiti, Cleopatra, Michele Obama, and others.
She loves to take up new challenges in life, which is what she feels is a good strength and weakness. Parvathi says, “Never saying no provides you the opportunity to work on different dimensions and helps you gain experience in things you have not done before. On the other hand, sometimes you end up signing up for things more than the number of hours in a day.”
She feels that they typically say a woman is behind every man’s success. In her case, behind every success and appreciation that she receives, there has always been a man (her husband). Her husband has been the wind under her wings and has supported her in everything she pursued personally and professionally. This has substantially reduced the challenges, helped her balance and ace both personal and professional life, and helped reduce the stress that most of us encounter. She concludes, “I strongly believe that for a woman to be successful in life, she needs to choose the right partner. This can make or break things, especially regarding a woman’s career, goal, dream and aspirations.”
Parvathi loves to destress by spending time with her family. She loves to spend any free time with her husband, daughter, who is 9 months old, or with her 5-year-old dog. She loves to travel and explore new traditions and cultures. She plans all her vacations to ensure she and her family travel together to different countries and explore their local food, art, culture, and traditions.
Parvathi feels that some of her key strengths to being a successful leader are leading by example and listening keenly. She says, “I believe in less theoretical and more practical experience. Hence, whenever I need to teach my team a new skill, I show them how it is done instead of just providing instructions. This has set an example for my team members to learn quickly and helped bridge the gap despite the hierarchy at the firm. Never underestimate the ideas of a newbie. Sometimes, fresh perspectives can provide solutions and help you see and think beyond the traditional problem-solving methods.”
Numerous awards and accolades have been bestowed upon her, including the “Emerging Leaders in Business” award at the CXO 2.0 conference in Las Vegas, NV, and the Technology-Driven Sustainability Expert of the Year award in Hong Kong, China, which recognize her contribution and leadership skills to the Power and utility industry.
