Leaders

In a world where cities are rapidly transforming, leaders like Shalini Vaddy are reshaping how communities are imagined and built. As a Partner at Speed Infra Developers, she operates at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and purpose, bringing together a rare blend of technical expertise, entrepreneurial instinct, and a deep understanding of customer behaviour to influence Hyderabad’s evolving real estate landscape.

Born and raised in Visakhapatnam, Shalini’s journey began at IIT Madras, where she learned to think critically, adapt quickly, and solve real-world challenges. After an early stint as an Operations Officer at Indian Oil Corporation Limited, she pursued an MBA in Strategy and Consulting at IIM Ahmedabad, further strengthening her ability to analyse complex systems and lead with clarity.

Having held influential roles throughout her career, she is now an entrepreneur building large-scale, design-led residential ecosystems in Hyderabad. Shalini leads the organisational strategy, consultant and partner collaboration, marketing, sales, CRM, and key internal operations at Speed Infra Developers. She credits her academic and corporate experience with shaping her adaptability, collaborative problem-solving, and her belief in uniting diverse stakeholders.

Throughout your extensive professional experience, which roles have been instrumental in shaping your approach to leadership?

Throughout my career across various firms in India, two roles have been particularly influential in shaping my leadership approach.

At T-Hub, where I served as Director of Corporate Innovation, I learned the power of building a strong network. The companies and people you stay connected with can often define your journey, especially in roles centred on partnerships and business development like mine. During that time, I built a vast ecosystem of relationships that continue to support me even today. T-Hub also pushed me to think differently, to take that extra step, identify and address gaps, and create something new. That mindset of going beyond the obvious is what earns recognition in a competitive world.

My time at EY, where I managed markets for AP and Telangana, this network became even more valuable. I also relied heavily on technology to connect with the right stakeholders, understand their needs, and work efficiently. These approaches helped me accelerate my trajectory and rise faster within the corporate landscape.

Introduce us to Speed Infra Developers and the primary responsibilities you shoulder within the organisation?

Speed Infra Developers is a new age real estate firm creating large-scale, thoughtfully designed communities in Hyderabad. Our work is rooted in strong design principles, meticulous planning, and close collaboration with leading consultants to deliver distinctive, high-quality living environments.

My role centres on organisational strategy, partner and consultant selection, marketing, sales, CRM, and internal operations. Real estate involves working with a wide ecosystem of stakeholders, and a part of my responsibility is to determine whom we collaborate with, define their scope, and set the critical parameters that guide the project execution. I identify, evaluate, negotiate, and finalise these partnerships, ensuring each collaborator aligns with the project vision and delivery standards.

Beyond strategy, I also oversee marketing, sales, and CRM end-to-end, my biggest contribution lies in overall planning, aligning everyone to a shared strategic direction, ensuring seamless communication, and making sure every stakeholder is moving in sync.

What has been the most challenging aspect of your current role and how do you tackle it effectively?

In any leadership role, I believe the most critical factor is people. The real challenge is not only identifying talented individuals but finding those whose values, working styles, and adaptability align with the organization’s pace and vision. Identifying, bringing together, and motivating such a team so that they work toward a common goal has been one of my biggest leadership responsibilities.

To navigate this, we follow a very thorough selection process. Once we identify the right person, retaining them becomes equally important. It goes beyond compensation; it’s about shared vision, continuous motivation, and investing time to ensure people feel valued and connected to the larger purpose. Creating that sense of shared ownership is what ultimately sustains high performing teams.

Which life lessons learnt while at IIT Madras have defined your professional journey?

During my time at IIT Madras, I realised that what truly sets you apart is not just having a good idea, but thinking differently and following it through with persistence. Many of my peers had brilliant ideas and big ambitions, yet a large number of them dropped off midway because they couldn’t stay consistent. That was a powerful lesson for me. Even the best ideas won’t succeed if you don’t keep pushing through challenges, staying patient, and holding on to your goal.

I learned to never give up once I commit to something. If I start a project, I make sure it reaches completion, regardless of how tough the journey gets. That mindset of persistence, resilience, and seeing things through was shaped during my IIT Madras days, and it continues to guide my work and leadership even today.

How do you perceive the evolution of corporate innovation and its impact on India’s business ecosystem?

Corporate innovation is a niche space, and my time at T-Hub gave me a deep appreciation for its strategic importance. Large MNCs usually work in defined directions with established product lines, so they often miss the fast-paced idea generation and quick prototyping that startups excel at. Startups, on the other hand, excel in brilliant ideas and cutting-edge technologies but often lack the networks, capital, and market access required for scaling.

At T-Hub, our Corporate Innovation team acted as a bridge between these two worlds. We brought together corporates with resources and long-term vision with startups building high-potential, relevant technologies. By facilitating these interactions, we enabled both sides to achieve meaningful synergies.

I had the opportunity to work closely with global leaders such as Carrier, Otis, Lockheed Martin, Tata Aerospace, Intel, and many others seeking startup-driven innovation. Through these engagements, we see several concepts mature into impactful products, demonstrating how well-designed corporate setup partnerships can accelerate India’s innovation landscape.

Shalini Vaddy, Partner, Speed Infra Developers

Shalini Vaddy, Partner at Speed Infra Developers, is a strat­egy-driven entrepreneur shaping large-scale community developments in Hyderabad. An alumna of IIT Madras and IIM Ahmedabad, she began her career in marketing before moving into corporate innovation and business develop­ment roles at T-Hub and EY, where she built strong industry networks and developed a reputation for out-of-the-box thinking. Today, she drives organisational strategy, leads partner and consultant collaborations, and oversees mar­keting, sales, CRM, and overall planning at Speed Infra. Her end-to-end stewardship ensures alignment across diverse teams and stakeholders, enabling the delivery of high-quali­ty, future-ready real estate projects grounded in clarity, de­sign excellence, and execution discipline.