Welcome back to EY Spotlight: Sandeep Bajaj | EY Toronto 2013-17

After spending five years at Walmart Canada, Sandeep Bajaj returned to EY with a passion for leading major transformations. We caught up with him to discuss how his original time with the firm helped shape his work in industry, what drew him back, and what motivates him to drive transformations for clients across sectors.

I earned my partners’ confidence and trust, which in turn gave me the confidence to engage with senior client leadership. This allowed me to develop my personal brand and build the case for change for my clients, propose innovative ideas and take on future roles leading transformation in industry.

I also developed a great network at EY that has lasted the test of time.

What’s the most valuable lesson you learned while working at EY?

One of my most valuable lessons is bringing my personal purpose to my client work. I learned to look for the win-win in changes that I felt were important, but also relevant to our clients. This included topics such as sustainability and engaging broader community stakeholders in solutions. This allowed me to follow work that was in demand while making a positive difference. I brought this mindset to my career in industry as well. 

What motivates you most about your work?

I appreciate having the opportunity to be part of the next generation of business-led digital transformation solutions. Whether I’m working on supply chain or other impactful digital transformation initiatives, I feel EY takes the right approach by leading with a business transformation mindset.

This has a couple of very interesting aspects — one around learning and growing, and another around seeing value creation from a successful initiative. An example is the work I’ve done, both in industry and now at EY, on decarbonization of the supply chain as part of an emerging circular economy. This involves learning about the rapid developments of new solutions and designing initiatives that can create measurable value. It’s exciting to be part of these solutions! 

What made you decide to come back to consulting now?

It’s a great time to be in consulting, especially if you love transformation work. We live in an exciting age with businesses facing major challenges and opportunities in areas such as sustainability and effectively using artificial intelligence (AI) technology. I felt this was the right time for me to come back from industry to help clients with new solutions. I hope to apply my in-depth experience in consumer and other sectors to support business transformation for a range of client organizations.

The number-one reason I rejoined EY was the culture. I really like the way EY collaborates. Our ability to create teams quickly to work on complex client problems is something I really enjoy. The people make it happen.

The firm’s entrepreneurial culture was also something I gravitated towards. The firm empowers teams to bring innovative ideas to help address client problems. An example is being able to engage with both suppliers and our clients to accelerate innovation. EY made it easy for me to come back to consulting. I saw the great culture was just the same as I remembered, and the firm was investing in key solution areas where I can add value for our clients, such as supply chain decarbonization, AI and supporting innovation.