Akanksha S Gulia’s career defies the ordinary, crossing boundaries between creativity, strategy, and people-centered thinking. Beginning her journey in architecture, she became fascinated by how design shapes experience and continued to move forward, venturing into business, strategy, and consulting across various industries, including healthcare and fintech. Every chapter has deepened her core belief that: true innovation happens when insight and empathy are brought to the forefront.

Today, as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte and a PhD candidate specializing in business, Akanksha seamlessly blends analytical expertise with empathy. Her work focuses on uncovering overlooked nuances and transforming the emotional logic underlying organizational challenges into practical, humanized solutions.

Guided by curiosity, cultural acuity, and intentionality, she believes that real progress flourishes when wisdom, ethics, and genuine human connection take center stage. “Empathy is my deepest driver,” Akanksha shares a principle that animates her every step and defines her distinctly people-powered path.

Background, Education, and Inspiration

Akanksha has never had a linear career path. She began in architecture, drawn by her affection for design and lived experience. Over time, her interests evolved to focus on understanding how people interact with systems and ideas. 

Her academic pursuits continued in parallel, with studies in design and innovation, strategic management, and now a PhD in business, a journey that has sharpened her critical thinking. For Akanksha, inspiration comes from observing people and reimagining the ordinary in ways that make a meaningful difference.

About Deloitte and What Makes It Unique

Deloitte stands out due to its unique approach of placing people at the heart of every engagement. Rather than defaulting to one-size-fits-all solutions, the firm takes a dynamic, personal approach, a genuine attentiveness to the stories, cultures, and shifting dynamics of clients and communities worldwide, shaping our world. 

For Akanksha, this human-first approach is Deloitte’s greatest strength. The company seamlessly blends technical expertise with compassion, diversity, and cultural intelligence and awareness. Its commitment to human sustainability is evident in its promotion of well-being, resilience, flexibility, and thoughtful intent. 

For Akanksha, Deloitte is more than a problem-solver. It’s a partner that fosters thriving cultures and enduring relationships. This state of insight and conscience enables true innovation to drive responsibility and lasting value.

Key Lessons Learned as a Leader

Akanksha’s cross-cultural journey has taught her that the foundation of leadership is curiosity. Observation is not enough, leaders must really listen and remain vulnerable, she notes. Each new environment has tested her assumptions and prompted her to think in a different way. 

Creative problem-solving became her compass, while leadership revealed itself as a partnership to discover solutions together, rather than a matter of authority. She learnt that trust is built when leaders honor unspoken needs and vulnerabilities. For Akanksha, consulting is fundamentally ‘an act of empathy,’ and the strongest strategies always start by understanding people first.

Impact on the Field and Society

For Akanksha, impact is measured by shifts in understanding and mindset. She invites teams to view clients as partners, rather than as projects. Welcoming ambiguity, she helps unearth hidden challenges and underlying emotions, fundamentally changing how organizations think and act. 

Over time, systems gradually give way to collaboration and openness, where user-centered solutions become truly user-driven. Her influence extends beyond outcomes, it lives in the thoughtful questions teams ask and the trust they nurture. As she believes, lasting impact occurs when curiosity and dialogue become a daily practice.

Long-Term Goals and Vision

Akanksha’s guiding vision is people-centered growth, especially as AI reshapes the world of work. She believes technology should amplify, not replace human values. Her mission is to weave empathy, ethics, and inclusion into every solution, driving responsible innovation through honest dialogue. 

For Akanksha, each initiative is a chance to address real needs, not create artificial demand. She measures success by trust and shared progress, aiming to help shape a future where performance and humanity rise together.

Advice for Aspiring Leaders

To emerging leaders, Akanksha’s advice is clear: welcome detours, they hold the most profound lessons. Many of her most valuable skills, she says, were forged in moments of discomfort and uncertainty. She urges leaders to seek out new roles, cultures, and perspectives, trusting that authentic growth follows curiosity.

Above all, she believes “Leadership is less about stepping into a role, and more about stepping up to a purpose.” Authentic leadership is built through rigid plans, but it is also cultivated through exploration, reflection, and a willingness to learn from every twist and turn.

Encouraging New Leaders to Step Forward

Akanksha’s leadership journey began with trust rather than a title. Real responsibility challenged me far more than any role name ever could, she shares. She believes leadership emerges when people are seen, empowered, and given the platform to make an impact and learn through mistakes.

Organizations should foster safe and curious spaces where action is encouraged and learning is valued and embraced. “Leadership isn’t about position, it’s about purpose.” When individuals are trusted to contribute meaningfully, they naturally step forward, shaping the future with confidence.

The Philosophy She Lives By

A guiding Greek proverb shapes Akanksha’s outlook: “Society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” This belief defines her approach to leadership and legacy. For Akanksha, progress is about investing in others and building something enduring, regardless of immediate rewards.

True success is quiet and patient, she reflects. Her focus remains on crafting systems, opportunities, and relationships that outlast her own time. Service and responsibility are the cornerstones of her philosophy, inspiring her to nurture the next generation so that leadership leaves a lasting, positive imprint.

Conclusion

Akanksha S Gulia embodies a new kind of leadership guided by empathy, curiosity, and purpose. Her journey across disciplines and cultures demonstrates that progress begins with understanding people. By blending strategy with humanity and innovation with ethics, she continues to shape organizations through trust and insight. 

Leadership isn’t about speed or titles, it’s about direction, intention, and leaving something meaningful for others to grow. Akanksha’s commitment to planting seeds for the future and nurturing human connections shows that a real legacy lies in what we leave behind for others to flourish.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭. 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭.

𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝𝐈𝐧 | 𝐃𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞 | 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 ➤

𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐅𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞: 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝐀𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐡𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐈𝐡𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐚𝐧