Gaurav first joined The Smart Cube as a research analyst in 2005, working his way up to associate vice president, before joining Fidelity Investments in 2012 to grow its analytics and market intelligence function.

The Smart Cube, an provider of research and analytics solutions, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Gaurav Kumar to the new role of Chief Operating Officer, to lead the company’s operations.

Gaurav first joined The Smart Cube as a research analyst in 2005, working his way up to associate vice president, before joining Fidelity Investments in 2012 to grow its analytics and market intelligence function. In 2015, he was selected to join Fidelity’s elite GMA Leadership Program, involving four rotations across global operations. After completion, Gaurav was appointed to the position of Director of Digitisation, which focused on leveraging analytics and technology to enhance customer experience.

Gautam Singh, Co-Founder and chief executive officer of The Smart Cube, comments:

“Hiring into such a strategically important role is a daunting task, but we have found the perfect person in Gaurav, combining a deep understanding of our core business with a fresh mindset and relevant learnings from his previous experience. He joins at a very exciting time, following the recent launch of our new sector-focused solutions, and his wealth of experience across financial services, consulting, pharmaceuticals, technology, and oil and gas, will be hugely beneficial. I’m very much looking forward to working with him again, to drive the next stage of our evolution.”

The chief operating officer role will pick up the responsibilities previously held by Managing Director Sameer Walia, one of The Smart Cube’s three founders, and also strengthen the remit of the Executive Team. Sameer is stepping aside after 15 years to pursue his life-long dream of working full-time in the not-for-profit space, dedicating his time to new social causes. He will retain a non-executive role and his stake in the business.

Sameer Walia, Co-Founder and managing director of The Smart Cube, comments:

“Upon first meeting Gaurav I knew that I wanted him at The Smart Cube. His intellect, hard work, and personable nature saw him rise quickly – a record five promotions in less than seven years – so I am thrilled to welcome him back to lead our operations. I am proud of our strong culture, work ethic, and high client retention rate, and know Gaurav will take this from strength to strength.”

Gaurav Kumar, Co-Founder and chief operating officer of The Smart Cube, comments:

“From day one, The Smart Cube’s influence on me was significant. The strong fundamentals – both in terms of business operations, the culture and values – laid the foundations for my career. I’m extremely excited to be back, with new skills and experience gained from analytics, technology, product development and, above all, people and operations management. From being client-side, I hope my fresh perspective and understanding of what clients are looking for, will allow me to add new value.”