Leaders

Choosing to pursue English Literature was one of the most defining and transformative decisions of my academic journey. It equipped me with essential soft skills, effective communication, storytelling, emotional intelligence, and understanding of the human psychology, that continues to shape my professional outlook.

Later on, I secured admission to Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar and completed my MBA. The unwavering and constant support of my family has been instrumental in encouraging independent thoughts, challenging limitations, and breaking through the glass ceiling.

How did your professional journey as a business analyst pan out? Which factors paved the way for your leadership journey?

My corporate journey began at Hewlett Packard, where I was recruited post MBA to join the business analytics team. The role introduced me to the mechanics of professional oper­ations andthe impact of analytics in shaping business out­comes.

What truly resonated with me was the importance of collaborative leadership model, where mangers empowered teams by clarifying expectations and fostering autonomy.

These early lessons in facilitative leadership became instru­mental as I advanced to my positions at Goldman Sachs, con­tinuing to build on this foundation.

Introduce us to Ideal Components and its journey in the automotive sector so far?

Ideal Components was established by my father, a seasoned industry professional with experience at leading firms like Maruti Suzuki and Tata Startup Motors. Driven by a passion to re-engineer manufacturing process for greater cost efficiency and enhanced quality, he laid the foundation of the company that currently supplies automotive components to major clients such as Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp.

Our vision remains steadfast-to create a lasting, positive impact across our entire stakeholder ecosystem-employees, customer, suppliers, and service partners. Our focus is on building safe, reliable infrastructure.

With a product portfolio exceeding 200 automotive components, we are now on the cusp of achieving a significant business milestone: a turnover of ₹100 crores, which we anticipate reaching in the near future.

What key responsibilities do you shoulder as the Executive Director? Which business challenges do you encounter as an entrepreneur in the automotive space?

In my current role as Executive Director, I strive to deliver value across all touchpoints of the business, with strategic leadership rooted in purpose. My transition form Goldman Sachs to the family enterprise was inspired by a personal mission to empower the most marginalized layers of the society.

I undertook the responsibility, but soon faced operational realities of limited resources and workforce challenges. Leading unskilled teams demanded both patience and a reassessment of the unique value I bring as a leader.

Leveraging my experience in the corporate sector, I began implementing automation and digitalization strategies within our manufacturing processes. I believe that when leadership prioritizes people genuinely, it fosters deeper team alignment, which is now reflected in our strong retention rates and overall employee engagement.

One of the most pressing challenges today is staying relevant in an environment of constant evolution. At Ideal Components, we are aligning ourselves through Six Sigma and lean manufacturing practices, with a goal to achieve zero-defect operations by next year.

The true challenge for entrepreneurs lies in future-proofing operations by integrating global systems like SAP to meet and exceed international quality standards.

Looking back at your professional journey, what key milestones have you achieved so far?

Over the past seven years Ideal Components has successfully reached four major milestones. First, our company’s turnover has tripled, a growth trajectory that, while demanding, reflects strong operational resilience. Second, we have expanded from a single manufacturing facility to three fully operational plants, each established from the ground up.

Another major advancement has been our 41 percent increase in customer ratings and vendor rankings, including recognition from marquee clients like Maruti Suzuki. Additionally, we have secured critical global certification such as IATF and ISO, an exceptional accomplishment for a mid-sized company.

How do you foresee the Indian automotive landscape evolving, especially in terms of diversity?

Curiosity drives transformation, brings in people asking thoughtful and strategic questions and brings a shift in mindsets and fosters change. When it comes to trueinclusivity across caste, culture, and race, and religion, we still have significant progress to make.

Compared to other industries, the Indian automotive landscape continues to trail behind in terms of gender diversity. To counter the gender disparity, our company takes a proactive approach by integrating more women into all divisions, with special focus on traditionally male-dominated zones like the press shop and more manufacturing areas.

Priyal Aggarwal, Executive Director, Ideal Components

As a seasoned professional, Priyal Aggarw­al commits to elevating industrial practices­through the lens of equality, ethics, and long-term impact. As the Executive Director at Ideal Components, her leadership approach is root­ed in understanding customer needs and de­livering value-driven, intelligent engineering solutions through collaborating like-minded professionals.