With a zeal to identify and address unmet needs in global healthcare, Ms. Jaya Subramaniam leveraged her decades of experience in global biopharma to become a founding leader of a successful healthcare analytics start up Analytical Wizards and spearheaded its vision, growth, VC funding and successful exit to a large publicly held global healthcare intelligence entity, Definitive Healthcare in February 2022. She continues on the Executive Leadership Team of Definitive Healthcare, identifying and driving synergies across the integrated entity.
Ms. Subramaniam has an MBA from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania. She also holds a Bachelor’s and Masters’ in Economics from the prestigious Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University. She started her career in the CPG industry and worked for a decade in companies like Diageo Plc and its Indian subsidiary, the UB Group. She worked in various positions across corporate strategy, market research, and brand marketing.
Motivated by using her business skills towards a more meaningful purpose, Ms. Subramaniam made a successful transition to biopharma two decades ago. Her cross-industry global experience helped her gain a broader perspective and worldview, enabling out-of-the-box thinking in an industry that was and continues to experience unprecedented pace of change and transformation.
Her diverse experience enabled her to bring a fresh perspective, challenge status quo, and creatively problem-solve to help businesses, organisations, teams, and individuals successfully navigate change, to innovate, transform and succeed in unchartered territory.
In 2017, Ms. Subramaniam partnered with her husband Ram Sharma, Founder and CEO of Analytical Wizards (AW) and his Leadership Team to build a long-term vision and strategic plan for the company and seek VC funding and investment to turbo charge growth and realise its vision. Through 2017-18, she led the Strategic Planning and VC negotiations. In fall of 2018, she formally joined AW on its Board of Directors and on the Executive Leadership team as Chief Strategy Officer. She executed the Strategic Plan and Vision by hiring, growing and mentoring a team of biopharma experts, developing the product roadmaps and analytical platforms and accelerators, and establishing the value proposition of its offerings. The company witnessed unprecedented growth with an enviable client base, including 4 of top 6 pharma and 6 of top 10 biotech companies worldwide.
In February 2022, AW merged with Definitive Healthcare, a publicly listed healthcare intelligence and data provider following a successful acquisition that led to financial success not just for the Founders and Leadership, but also for every single employee. The merger was a great strategic fit for the long-term potential and viability of AW’s vision with immense synergistic potential for the combined entity.
Above all, AW’s analytical accelerators have proven to bring scale, efficiency and accelerated speed to insights, as well as deeper, richer, real-time insights to enable bio-pharma companies to commercialise life-saving drugs faster and bring the right medicine to the right patient at the right time, thereby improving and potentially saving patient lives. So, the company built value for its employees, its eventual buyer, shareholders/investors, clients and to the global healthcare ecosystem.
PURPOSE-DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
Ms. Subramaniam is a visionary leader who inspires teams by establishing a meaningful aspirational vision and common purpose with potential transformational benefit for society, industry, clients, and employees alike. She strongly believes in the adage “Find purpose and the means will follow.” As a business leader, she has consistently tried to translate her vision into purpose with a clear business plan that is owned and aligned across every team member.
She aims at hiring good talent with varied skills and experience that can collectively contribute to the larger purpose. She inspires cross-functional teams to achieve incredible success by inculcating a collaborative and innovative culture while striving for excellence within each functional unit. Ms. Subramaniam is highly inspired by her parents and closely witnessed their tremendous professional success and social impact despite coming from humble backgrounds and growing up in pre independence India in the midst of World Wars. They rose above the challenges of living in a country through turbulent times.
Her leadership skills were shaped by her early childhood experiences and exposure to governance, public policy and administration, as well as sensitisation to issues of social inclusion, gender and women’s empowerment. Besides, her parents were in transferable jobs that accorded her an eclectic childhood with lots of travel and learning.
Thanks to her parents, Ms. Subramaniam had the privilege to live, study, and work across cities and have a very cosmopolitan upbringing. This made it possible for her to embrace diversity and change. Today, she has lived, worked and studied across continents, and this diverse experience has played a huge factor in shaping her leadership skills and in her global success. It has also made her witness how change is brought about at the grassroots. Living in different places made her truly value the common thread that connects everyone.
ACCOLADES AND AWARDS
Under her leadership, the company has earned some remarkable accolades. In 2019, it was named one of the Top Predictive Analytics companies by the CIO magazine. In 2020, it was featured in the ‘INC 5000 Fastest Growing Privately-Held Companies in the US’ (ranked 1220 on the annual list of companies with three-year revenue growth of 368%). The same year, it was also awarded the ‘INC 5000 NY Metro Regional Award’ presented to the fastest growing companies. In 2020, it was named the ‘Top AI Solution Provider’ by Retail Tech Media. Enterprise World recognised it for ‘Transforming Healthcare Analytics.’ In 2022, My Tech featured AW among the ‘Top 10 AI’ Healthcare Solution Providers.
WORDS TO LIVE BY
Ms. Subramaniam draws inspiration from multiple sources, from her seniors, colleagues, partners and subordinates alike. She strives to learn and imbibe the best from all around, and believes in the ability of ordinary individuals to achieve extraordinary things. According to her, the power of a committed collective team working towards a meaningful purpose is greater than anything else.
