Board Member, Advisor, Investor and Former Tech Executive
San Carlos, CA
Avanish Sahai is a former technology executive with experiences in product, marketing, and ecosystems. He has held leadership positions at both early-stage and established companies including Oracle, Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Google Cloud. Avanish has served on the boards of tech companies HubSpot, Birdie.ai, and Scribe, as well as of non-profits World Affairs and BayBrazil. Born in India, raised in Brazil, and now a US citizen, Avanish is an avid traveler (50+ countries). The world is home; he is increasing his focus on philanthropy and investments globally.
Avanish’s expertise lies in connecting product vision and roadmaps to messaging and positioning that drives go-to-market programs and priorities. He is also an expert in building and leveraging ecosystems and platforms to scale businesses. As the creator of “The Platform Journey” podcast, he shares insights with industry practitioners.
At Google Cloud, Avanish led the partner go-to-market programs and had global oversight of ISV partner recruitment and engagement. Before that, he created the tech partner team at ServiceNow and also built Salesforce’s AppExchange business. Avanish was a founding co-leader of McKinsey & Company’s global Software and Services practice.
Avanish holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson, an MSCE from Boston University, and a BSEE from the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil. He is married to DCI and UCLA Anderson classmate Faye Sahai; they have a son who graduated from Pomona College ‘20 and a daughter graduating from Brown University ‘23. He loves traveling to new places, exploring cuisines, hiking, biking and is a passionate soccer and basketball fan.
DCI Fellow: Faye Sahai