Kanishk Negi is Director of Sustainable Procurement at Schneider Electric. He drives corporate sustainability across decarbonization, human rights and circularity topics for supply chain transformation. He has designed and led multiple global award-winning programs, including The Zero Carbon Project, which onboarded over 1000 suppliers from 50 countries on a decarbonization journey & achieved 56% operational emission intensity reduction, the Decent Work Program, promoting aspirational human rights practices among 800 suppliers, which inspired Schneider Electric to replicate the program for internal operations, Sustainable Packaging and the Critical Minerals initiative among many. In his earlier roles, he helped expand the Responsible Procurement program for a global industrial automation giant from 5 to 17 countries; as a consultant advised companies across sectors on sustainability strategy maturity roadmap and reporting. During initial years of the career, Kanishk designed the initiative on community led ground water management in fluoride contaminated zones, which was awarded by World Bank in 2007 and led the research on biofuels in India.
With over 21 years of experience in leading sustainability initiatives in global supply chains and advising companies on sustainability strategy, Kanishk’s work has been globally recognized for its impact. He was awarded the:
- Sustainable Procurement Leader of the Year at 8thProcureConnect Awards in 2025,
- Top100 ChangeLeaders in Sustainability in 2025,
- Meaningful Business leader (MB100) in 2024,
- Sustainable Procurement Leader in 2022 by Institute of Supply Chain Management (ISCM),
- 40 under 40 Super Achiever for Supply Chain Sustainability by Celerity/Alvarez & Marcel in 2019.
Kanishk regularly shares his views and insights across various UN, OECD, and industry forums and is also associated with various academic institutions such as Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs), Danish Technical University (DTU), Indian Institute of Corporate Affairs (IICA, Guest Faculty-Business & Human Rights) among others and continues to share his expertise with the next generation of sustainability leaders.
The journey through IIFM has been instrumental in transforming Kanishkās life and helped him connect with the love of his life, Aparupa (Chatterjee) Negi of PGDFM 2004-06. Aparupa and Kanishk have a daughter Elakshi who studies in std 9th. They live in Bengaluru.
Location: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kanishk-negi-b04a525
Q.Tell us about your School and College before you came to IIFM. How was your experience there? And how did IIFM happen?
A.I started my schooling in Allahabad at St Josephās College, but soon shifted to Varanasi, where I completed my schooling at St. Johnās School, DLW (std 2nd ā 12th). As a kid I used to visit Uttarkashi (Uttaranchal), which is my paternal home, and I first hand experienced the impact of degrading environment and constant forest fires, which triggered me. My earliest memories of Uttarkashi were of a cold place, where we dint have fans and never needed the fridge. This used to be my most treasured memory, as I used to brag about it with my friends in Varanasiā¦. However, over the years I realised the weather kept becoming warmer, there were increased instances of forest fire, which caused smoke in the crisp hilly air and I could see forest fires come alive in the evening, from my home on the hill top, during summers when I visited family homeā¦.i felt loss of agencyā¦ By the time I completed my schooling, we installed fans and even got fridge at our home in Uttarkashi. To me this felt like someone had stolen the most cherished memory of my childhood- a prized claim that I could no longer make with my friendsā¦ a loss of something special that no one else hadā¦ and I felt strong need to do something about itā¦ and this emotion eventually led me to the path I took.
Post my schooling, I did my Zoology (Hons.) from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and while researching for MBA colleges, I was clear I donāt want to do regular MBA or specialise in finance or marketingā¦ and in this dilemma, I came across IIFM, which combined ecology, sociology with regular management coursesā¦ I immediately felt I found the place where I could feel at home, finding my voice and action to avenge the loss of my cherished childhood memories. I was ready for IIFM š
Q.How has been your journey from IIFM so far?
A.The journey post IIFM has been extremely rewarding.. I was fortunate to work in organizations, with supportive teams and do some innovative work, of which I am really proud of. During placement, I was recruited by Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD). It was the first time when I was up close among the rural communities in Rajasthan, working on issues of common property resource management, coordinating the network of grass roots NGOs across the state and led the research on biofuels (Jatropha) and conceptualized the ground water resource management program for fluoride contaminated areas. While the work with communities was rewarding, it focused on adaptation. After a little over two years, I felt the need to work on mitigation and transition to preventive side. This quest led me to do some soul searching and eventually after some research and reading, I found my calling in working on corporate sustainability. I did short stints with regional arm of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), which was hosted at TERI (The Energy and Resources Institute), then moved to sustainability consulting with Ernst & Young (EY) and then transitioned to industry working in Procurement department of ABB and then Schneider Electric, building the global teams working on sustainability in Procurement and specialized in designing and leading deployment of global programs with suppliers around the world. It has been an incredible journey so far and has seen me visiting and working with people, teams and companies in over 20 countries around the world.
Q.What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. Some of the key milestones have been:
i.Jatropha research at SPWD: Emphasized on asking the right questions while doing the research and field visits. My research on Jatropha wave in the country identified no reference of the variety or the oil content of the seeds, which varied greatly, significantly impacting the cost economics of oil extraction unit. Mass scale plantation also clashed with common pasture land. Lack of any scientific reference of the oil content was a bubble waiting to burst, which did after a few years. The research saw me visiting Tamil Nadu, Chattisgarh and talking to officials in Railways and other departments who were heavily involved in heavy plantation. Although it was sad that the drive did not yield results but what gave me satisfaction was it was a predictable end result backed by on-ground research and also an insight as to why most of the grand schemes fail to take off.
ii.Conceptualizing ground water management program in Fluoride contaminated zones of Rajasthan: The approach was a combination of preventive, and corrective measures, deep diving into the reasons for fluoride contamination, involving community as owner of water treatment and distribution system combined with revisiting the agri and animal husbandry practices to support needed nutrition. The program reviewed the experience of Andhra Pradesh and relied on frugal community based solutions rather than large, costly infra projects like piped water supply. The program was one of the winners at the World Bank India Development Marketplace 2007 and I was proud to receive the award from Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Azad.
iii.Filling the blank canvas: In Ernst & Young, I created the sustainability strategy program for a Swiss chemical company with global footprint and led the execution with a small team, visiting multiple countries of operations. The end result, which was findings and roadmap with actionable milestones, exceeded the expectations of the client and was highly appreciated by the management. This led to a recurring multi-year project. This approach was replicated to several other companies who were looking to refresh their sustainability strategy.
iv.Finding answers for unanswered questions: In ABB one of the first challenges was to salvage around 20 suppliers across India who were on the verge of black listing due to poor ESG performance. This saw me becoming a āsmall time expertā on Factories Act of India (1948), various environmental and safety laws and various state rules, visiting the factories and advising SMEs around India on what actions to implement & how. Subsequently, I revamped the global supplier sustainability program and expanded from 5 countries to 17 countries. I designed and led successful projects on establishing business case for limiting excessive working hours in factory, which was one of the chronic industrial malpractices. This included combining industrial engineering principles with behavioural aspects and quantifying benefits to establish tangibility of sustainable practices. Some of the documented case studies include
- 1.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r6WDxcSNiw
2.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7-79_ERUmg
3.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKfsloFZu-4
4.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BilJi5sV7a0&t=2s
v.In the current role I am responsible for co-designgin the upstream sustainability strategy, identifying the thematic areas and developing interventions and leading the deployment across global supply base. Some of the key successes in the past 5 years have been:
- 1.Climate Change: Co-developed The Zero Carbon Project, which onboarded 1000 suppliers across 50 countries for Scope 3 decarbonization, designing the āSupplier Support Frameworkā, conceptualized āiAccelerate Zero Carbon Day Workshopsā replicated globally, āLocal Action Capsulesā leading reduction of global operational GHG intensity by 56% by Dec 2025.
2.Human Rights: Designed and deployed the aspirational āDecent Workā program, for global suppliers; revised the procurement ESG audit framework for high risk suppliers to increase coverage from 300 to 4000 suppliers globally in 5 years (1000 onsite audits of high risk suppliers and 3000 desk top evaluations for mid risk suppliers)
3.Critical Minerals & Just Transition: Conceptualized, defined and piloted company approach on critical mineral supply chain (Li, Co, Natural Graphite etc),
4.Sustainable Packaging: Coordinated global packaging transition from bleached/virgin cartons to recycled, natural brown boxes.
5.Developed and expanded the global Sustainable Procruement team with required technical skills for implementation with footprint across 4 countries.
Q.What is the most satisfying part in your career?
A.The most satisfying part of my career has been finding solutions to the problems and challenges that people assume cannot be addressed. Be it establishing business case for reduced overtime or community based ground water management or onboarding thousands of suppliers and procurement buyers around the world on decarbonization and human rights. The blank canvass inspires me to create my own imprint in an effort to leave more answers than what I got in my journey.
Q.Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles.
A.My biggest influence on my career has been my partner Aparupa (Chatterjee) Negi. She has been with me from my IIFM days, knows me like no one else and has always inspired me and pushed me to go out of my comfort zone and strive for more. I am eternally thankful to have her in my life and for IIFM for being the ground where we met.
Q.What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. i.My Group: Back in 2003, I met some of the most amazing group of individuals and was fortunate to call them āmy groupāā.. what an amazing bunch…. this special group of eight was- Pooja Kumar, Rakesh Guran, Jagjeet Sareen, Lokesh Kumar, Akai Mao, KT Gangte, Vishwanath Divya & Iā¦. We were almost inseparable for 2 yearsā¦ so much so that some of us even went on field trips together. We kicked off almost at the start of the session and forged bond during orientation visit to Amarkantak and beyond, and subsequently it was something special that kept us togetherā¦ through thick and thinā¦late night rides to Bhopal railway station for parathas, Bhadbhada dam treks- losing our way and finding our grit, navigating heart breaks and aches of our purpose in life, kayaking at bada talab and sleeping through the morning lecturesā¦ scared about job prospects and finding new love and hope for the futureā¦ it was the best time and some of the best friendships I had in my lifeā¦ Then we had the greatest seniors from the batch of 2002-2004- Sachin Badkas, Induja Rai and Arif Hussain, were like elder brothers and sisterā¦ it was almost finding elder siblings who protect you and take you under your wings in a new environmentā¦ I know some of those mentioned above would be reading this.. and I want them to know how much I cherish them and their memories in my life.
ii.A Lifelong Gift from 2004- In 2004, as our seniors graduated and we welcomed the new batch, everything changed for me personally. Thatās when I met Aparupa Chatterjee (PGDFM 2004-06, now Negi), who became my friend, best friend and eventually my life partner. Above everything else at IIFM, meeting her stands out as the greatest giftā¦ and it has been an absolute honour to share my life with her. Sharing glances at common telephone booth at the hostel ground floor, which was Tiwari jiās adda, to sharing a dance at the fresher party, and then every other party whenever any senior came, made me realise we were tuned on the same frequency.. the long walks near IIFMās India gate, bike ride (on borrowed Splendor of Vishwanath Divya), eating pastry at Amer Bakery Hut, boating in the bada talab, long waits at the Bhopal railway station, long separation during OTs, and waiting to meet at the hostel gate and rushing for the morning classes (coz ofcourse I dnt wake up on time), made me realise that it was a relationship worth cherishing and cultivating over long calls from PCO booth once I passed out of IIFMā¦. In Udaipur there is a certain Rajat-owner of PCO booth & electrical shop, near Mahaveer Colony, Bedala chauraha, who definitely made a mini fortune owing to hours long phone calls (yeah.. mobile phones were still new then and smart phones not even inventedā¦. Later with little money from salary, we managed to synchronise the reliance mobile plan to minimize PCO expenses- I think we may have a little contribution to the then rise of R Com,.. but thatās a story of some other time.. although the genius idea was not mine- in full transparency š)
Q.In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A.The 2 years in IIFM shaped my perspective, the way I think and made the often invisible cost of development visible, for me. This helped me evolve my thought process, embedded the systems thinking (even when I did not know what it was) & not to look at an intervention or a topic in isolation but focus on the sidelines (where often the critical gaps lie) on those who are affected by various interlinkages.. it trained me to look for people factor responsible for success or failureā¦ I apply this every day in my workā¦ a lot of success has come by factoring the people side of dynamics. It opened up an entire field for me, which I did not know existed.
Q.As an alumni, what’s your advice to freshers or those are joining IIFM to get best out of the 2 years there?
A. i. Well its easy for me to say this after so many years but when I was passing out, even I my self was unsure of the world I was stepping in.. so it’s a journey that brings clarity step by step as you go alongā¦ donāt hesitate take a plunge and see what you find and navigate your way one step at a timeā¦
ii. Explore everything and expose yourself to as varied experiences and nuances as you canā¦. Itās a journey of explorationā¦ and by absorbing the various hues that IIFM has to offer, you will find the shade that suits youā¦once you find itā¦ make it dark (gain mastery)
iii. Understand yourselfā¦. Know more about you..as a person, what cultivates you and what makes you anxious.. in which environment you like to work, office/field/urban/rural/industrial/research lab etcā¦. whether you prefer a well defined structure to create your masterpiece or are more comfortable with a blank canvas which helps you deep dive into your creativity to come up patterns that the world followsā¦ ofcourse the answers to these questions may not be readily available but keep these pointers as you go along in your journey.. this will help you find your true north.
iv.AND finally, question the value you bring on the table, be critical of yourself, if you are not satisfied with the answer then push your self more before someone else does..
Q.What would be your advise for recent graduates who look for changing their sector after working for couple of years?
A. a. Its common to find oneself at cross roads where transitioning to another sector feels natural ā¦. I myself went through this about 2 years into my first job and it took me some time to understand what that next step for me wasā¦. It was here that reading helped meā¦ and among other stuff, I found CK Prahladās, āFortune at the bottomā¦..pyramidā speaking to me like to otherā¦. And then I gradually started exploring the options and after long journey, with few disappointments, i eventually transitionedā¦to the role that gave me fulfillment- but I learnt new skills, got new expertise, and made sure I developed the core competency needed for the next switch.. in some cases it meant, understanding the GRI framework and how it translated into corporate businesses, developing an aptitude for audit and eventually developing the expertise on the countryās envrionmental, safety and labour laws and how they can be implemented in manufacturing sectorā¦. At each of the instance I learnt things which helped me bring newer things to the table and contribute in a unique way to my team.
b.I would recommend the same to all my young friends, find the reason why you want to change, be honest about it, identify the areas you could potentially transition, analyse the skills needed to succeed, reflect on new perspective and tangible value you would bring to the team/organization/tableā¦.and keep on trying to connect, going out, meeting people & forums, identify organizations and tracking their progress and trying to find synergies.
Q.What is your typical day at the work? And how does it look like while you are on a break?
A.Since my work is mostly transformational with no set playbook or roadmap, much of my time goes into finding new ways to operate, mentoring the team, and building the resilience to navigate progress. My typical day is all about keeping things moving with my global team across China, International region, Europe, and North America. It starts with calls to line up work plans, address roadblocks and check progress on key commitments like cutting Scope 3 GHG emissions, strengthening human rights practices etc. Some days dive deep into projects with individual teamsāThe Zero Carbon Project (nor Pathway), Decent Work Program on human rights, Sustainable Packaging, or now Critical Mineralsāwhile others focus on teaming up with cross-functional groups in environment, procurement across Schneider Electric, or external outreach like thought leadership to shape our stance and conceptualize program on emerging issues which will become key trends in future.
Q.And how about weekends, hobbies, family and anything else you want to add?
A.Weekends are ideally recharge timeāI would love to do absolutely nothing productive, although its difficult to find such a weekendā¦ but whenever I could, I would like to just sink into relaxation mode (lie down and stare at the roof š), unwind with soothing music (Hindi, country music, soft rock or South Indian movie tracks often hit the spot- esp. Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu in that order), lose myself in a good historical or socio-political book, or watch gripping history or geo-political documentaries with my daughter that spark curiosity, discussion and reflection on world events of past or today or a hardcore action movie (typical Jason Stathom).
Q.Favorite Books, movies, authors?
A.I enjoy escaping into books that blend history, strategy, and raw human dramaāhere’s a handful that always draw me in during quiet evenings.
i.Strategic Insights for Real-World Impact
1.The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by CK Prahlad: Opened my eyes to how business can uplift the masses; was instrumental in helping me find direction when after 2 years of work, I was starting to search for a renewed purpose.
2.What They Still Donāt Teach You at Harvard Business School by Mark H McCormack: Straight-talking gems on how to manage your professional self and conduct your business and do things that make you stand out. I loved it so much that I photocopied the book and gave to my cousins as essential āwisdomā from elder brother š (ofcourse photocopying was a thing then!!)
ii.Echoes of Delhi’s Soul
1.City of Djinns and In Xanadu by William Dalrymple: His storytelling makes the city’s hidden layers jump off the page, like a personal time machine. You cannot not enjoy the travels that young William took immersing in a raw experiences.. such as riding on a coal train traversing the silk route or diving into the daily lives of Goras who became more āHindoostaniā than the so many Raja Sahibs or the Jagat Seths, who voluntarily sided with Britishers
2.Twilight in Delhi by Ahmed Ali; Besieged: Voices from Delhi 1857 by Mahmood Farooqui (translations); City of Heart by Rana Safvi (translation): These capture the poetry and pain of old Indiaāvoices that linger long after.
iii.Gritty Thrills and Epic Clashes
1.The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons by Dan Brown: Page-turners packed with twists and secretsāideal for late-night binges.
2.Stalingrad by Antony Beevor: A brutal, unsparing look at war’s toll, full of lessons on endurance and tactics. A key episode of WWII which really turned the tide but fails to get due recognitionā¦
3.Killer’s Wedge by Ed McBain: Sharp, suspenseful crime that keeps the tension dialed up. One of the earliest fiction novels I read in school and was left speechlessā¦
Q.IIFM is driven by alumniās passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. a.I’d love to connect with students and fellow alumni over coffee chats or virtual sessions, sharing real-world stories from my 20+ years in sustainabilityāfrom breaking into corporate ESG roles, navigating the confusion of “what job to take next” amid shifting sectors, to handling internal company pushback on sustainability goals. I can also unpack how geopolitical shifts, like supply chain disruptions or new regs like CSRD, are reshaping the next decade’s priorities in development and businessāplus practical tips on cutting through career crossroads by aligning personal values with market demands.
b.In the past, I’ve provided curriculum feedback to keep things practical and forward-looking. For placements and OTs( now called SI & Project Work) count me in for mock interviews, guest lectures, or reviewing case studies on Scope 3 decarbonization and human rights due diligenceāhappy to help the next wave hit the ground running.
Q.What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? When was the last time you visited IIFM?
A. a.IIFM has evolved tremendously since my student days. There’s been massive infrastructure growthānew hostels, classrooms, and an auditoriumāalong with fresh faculty faces and much larger batch sizes (we were a group of under 40 back then; now it’s scaled up significantly).
b.My last visit was in 2025, after a 19-years gap since 2006, when a small group of us (Aparupa (Chatterjee) Negi, Prabhat Upadhyaya, Jyotilata Pegu, Madhushree Sarkar, Subhrajyoti Saha) had gathered in IIFM for celebrating the 2006 new year, one last time before flying away into the wide world (with a hope that we will find our place in it)āgreat to see the campus buzzing with energy.
