About Us: Bios
Dr. Amit S. Mukherjee
Prior to forming Ishan, Amit's consulting experience came in two phases. Most recently (2001 - 2004), as Vice President and Strategy Advisor, he started and led Forrester Research's strategy consulting practice. From 1994 - 1998, Amit was at Arthur D. Little, where he became Director (i.e., partner) in record time and served on two practice leadership teams, one of which he co-founded. In these positions, Amit developed business, innovation, organizational and technology strategies for top executives, including CEOs and Board members, of some of world's best known companies in the high technology, consumer goods and healthcare sectors. In addition, his Arthur D. Little teams often applied his doctoral research to improve client operations and develop new products.
Amit’s line management experiences also came in two phases. He was the Chief Technology & Strategy Officer of TurboChef Technologies (1998 - 2000) and a junior manager at American Express Bank (1983 - 1986). In the former role, as a member of the strategic alliance leadership team led by Maytag's CEO, he oversaw technology transfer to Maytag and guided a $ 100 million residential product launch. He also led the development of next-generation technology and negotiated IP creation partnerships with blue chip organizations.
Finally, Amit gained his educator/researcher credentials from 1986 - 1994. He earned his Doctorate from the Harvard Business School, after doing extensive field research in Europe on the use of knowledge to compete effectively. He then served as an Assistant Professor at INSEAD and very briefly, Georgetown University. At INSEAD, he taught technology and operations management in the Executive, MBA and Ph.D. programs. In addition to powering Arthur D. Little's Minimalist Manufacturing consulting service, his research resulted in two co-authored, highly cited papers published in the top-tier peer-reviewed journal, Management Science.
Amit and his family live in Watertown Massachusetts. He enjoys hiking, cooking, traveling and reading. He still gets wistful about the days when he had time to enjoy cricket. One of these years, he plans to take up horseback riding.
Ms. Sanghamitra Dutt
Prior to co-founding Ishan Advisors, Sanghamitra spent 22 years in commercial banking.
She had been an Officer (most recently, a Managing Director) of Fleet Bank and its predecessors, BankBoston and First National Bank of Boston (1989 - 2004). Most recently, as a lender in the Asset Recovery area, she negotiated the restructuring of debts of global companies that had defaulted on their commitments. Earlier, she held key roles in Corporate Credit, where she analyzed and approved multi-billion dollar loan packages. Against strong opposition, she had convinced corporate officers to sell off a huge loan portfolio months before the credit agencies sharply downgraded it to junk status. As the head of the team responsible for Board-level credit reporting, she saw the Office of the Controller of the Currency recommend the adoption of the report she had created to other large financial institutions.
Sanghamitra was a Credit Manager at Bank of New England (1986 - 1989). Unable to convince her superiors that flawed credit management practices were endangering the Bank’s financial health, she tendered her resignation. About a year later, the Federal authorities engineered the liquidation of the Bank.
Sanghamitra began her career in New York at the Fuji Bank and Trust (1982 - 1986), the US subsidiary of Japan's Fuji Bank. She was the first woman to be elected an Officer of this institution.
Sanghamitra holds an MBA from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Japanese from Georgetown University. She speaks four languages - English, Bengali, French and Japanese - though her command of the last two is somewhat rusty.