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From Fortune 500 to Founder | Rajesh Kalidindi from LevaData

Rajesh Kalidindi worked at a large fortune 500 networking company when a GM with a billion dollars in spend asked for his help reducing cost. Rajesh didn’t think it was possible—at least not through traditional means.

He decided to try a heavy, data-driven approach to generate insights that increased value. “That was a huge success,” he says. “What we were doing at 8% per year, we got a 14% reduction that was $16 million incremental to the bottom line with that approach.”

Rajesh recognized an opportunity that went beyond his company—so he started his own, LevaData, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze procurement objectives alongside real-time market activity to generate predictions and customized recommendations.

In this edition of Founders Journey, Rajesh explains more about the initial inspiration behind his project, and he talks about the difference between managing a large team at an enterprise company and putting together a team for a startup.

More information: https://levadata.com/


Rajesh has over twelve years of experience managing strategic sourcing and supplier management for multiple commodities and third-party manufacturing operations. He’s delivered significant bottom-line savings through data-driven procurement practices for Cisco and Palm.

An MBA with concentrations in supply chain management and information systems from Michigan State University, he is a thought leader on fusing human with artificial intelligence for procurement innovation.

LevaData powers the world’s smartest supply chains. LevaData helps global enterprises improve supply chain performance by optimizing costs, mitigating risks and accelerating new product development.

LevaData’s Supply Management platform leverages the power of AI, Community Intelligence and Supplier Network to deliver competitive advantage to customers by continuously identifying opportunities and risks, recommending actions and assisting in the execution

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