Kashi Nath Memani: A visionary who built institutions, nurtured people

The former EY India leader helped build a national professional services practice, combining global ambitions with a people-first approach to leadership

Professional services firms in India have changed enormously over the past few decades. Those of us who have lived through that change know how much it took to build the institutions we see today. Kashi Nath Memani was at the centre of that journey. His passing brings back to me the scale of his contribution and the many ways his example influenced my own thinking.  

From the days of the Big Eight, Kashi saw where the profession was headed. S R Batliboi & Company already had an established association with the international network that became EY. He built on that legacy, recognising the possibilities it opened up for the Indian practice. Under his leadership, the firm grew substantially, combining its local knowledge and relationships with the global network’s capabilities to build an increasingly strong national practice.  

 

Kashi became chairman and country managing partner of EY India in 1996 and continued until 2004. These were important years for India. Liberalisation was changing how businesses operated and what they expected of their advisers. Indian companies were beginning to look beyond the shores, while global businesses were looking seriously at India. Kashi saw the opportunity, but also the responsibility it placed on the profession to raise its game.  

Then came a pivotal moment. Arthur Andersen collapsed globally following the Enron saga, and its Indian practice, among the fastest growing in the country, combined with EY in 2002. It was a major development for the profession. Bringing together two substantial practices meant bringing together strong personalities, different ways of working and considerable talent. Kashi’s ability to harness people’s capabilities helped lay the foundation for the leadership position that EY enjoys today.  

To call him a visionary would, I think, tell only part of the story. He could see what was coming and had the ability to get people to work towards it. Running a professional services organisation myself, I know how difficult that can be. The quality of the people you attract matters enormously. So does the confidence they have in your leadership.  

Kashi could recruit outstanding people and bring them together across the country.  What I admired just as much was his ease with people. He could engage with industrialists, politicians and senior bureaucrats, and be equally approachable to someone just starting out. A young person seeking guidance would find that he had time for them. His humble beginnings remained evident in the humility with which he met people, even after he had achieved so much. 

That matters more than we sometimes acknowledge. In our profession, people are the firm. They need room to exercise judgment, to develop their own relationships and, eventually, to lead. For me, Kashi’s example is a reminder that a leader has to be secure enough to give capable people that room. I also think of the time he made for younger professionals. Advice offered at the right moment can change how someone sees their future. We may remember the large transactions and the milestones in a firm’s growth, but these quieter contributions can stay with a person for a lifetime.  

His service on the International Monetary Fund’s External Audit Committee, his work with chambers of commerce and his corporate board roles after retirement reflected the standing he had earned. But a list of positions cannot capture what he meant to the profession, or the impression he left on those who worked with him. 

For me, his lasting influence lies in the way he combined ambition for the firm with a humane approach to its people. I have found much to learn from that. As I think about the organisation I lead today, I am reminded of how much we owe to people like Kashi, who saw possibilities early and gave others the opportunity to grow with them. He helped shape the profession that has given so many of us our life’s work. I remember him with affection and deep respect.

 

The writer is chairman & CEO, Dhruva Advisors India Pvt Ltd