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Subu Rao shared this$63,000 slipped through the cracks - and nothing in the system flagged it. I came across this one at a distribution company. Big vendor base, thousands of invoices moving every month. One vendor had been set up years earlier, and because their master agreement didn't mention payment terms, someone had marked them as "no discount." Reasonable call at the time. But every invoice that vendor sent said the opposite: pay us in 10 days, take 1% off & the team was paying in 10 days. Six point three million dollars' worth. So that discount was already theirs - earned, sitting right there. Nobody took it, because the system said there was nothing to take. That one gap cost $63,000. Here's the part I'd want any finance leader to sit with: nothing looked wrong. Payments on time. Invoices matched. Books balanced. On paper the AP team was doing everything right - and still leaving money behind. We train AP to catch what's wrong. Almost nobody's trained to catch what's quietly missed. So if you're a CFO or a VP of Finance running high invoice volumes - when your system says one thing and the invoice says another, which one is your team actually paying against? Abijith Arunkumar Dheemanth R Owais Bhat Kavya Gupta Konishko Chatterjee Manoranjan j
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Subu Rao posted thisEvery story like this gets read the same way. Government. Nobody spends other people's money carefully. In May this year, Richmond, Virginia reviewed two years of its own payments and found close to $5.8 million paid twice. One $5 million wire went out, and then went out again. I've been sitting with it since. Some of it had no purchase order behind it, so nothing matched and the second payment cleared like the first. Others were caught and voided - and the system reissued them the same day, on its own, because an invoice can't be cancelled once its purchase order is closed. Then the detail that changed how I read it. Richmond's fix was a service request to Oracle. Same ERP I see inside enterprises every week. And enterprises are built worse for this. A shared service centre keying invoices for entities it has never visited. A vendor master carrying twenty years of acquisitions. Duplicate detection is exact match, so one character out of place and the invoice is simply new. Richmond's own report cites the range: 0.08% to 2% of disbursements go out duplicate or erroneous. On $2 billion of spend, the optimistic end is $1.6 million. Your auditors aren't looking for it. It isn't material. That is the entire reason it stays there. Richmond found it because a city auditor's mandate isn't materiality. Then they published it, and named their own departments. I have never seen a company do that. The inefficiency isn't public sector. The disclosure is.
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Subu Rao shared thisI recently did a podcast episode with Abhay Tandon, alongside Kamal Sharma, who runs Carrier's Global Connected Hubs across India, China and Mexico. It's part of the GCC Mini-Series, live now. Kamal spent almost the entire recording with his arms crossed. I found out afterwards that's just how he listens, nothing more. Somewhere between him explaining how a hundred year old air conditioning company is turning into a genuinely serious AI company, and me trying to keep up, I ended up learning more about the AC industry in an hour than I expected to in a lifetime. Nearly 9 in 10 homes in the US have air conditioning. In Europe, it's 2 in 10, and after the summer Europe just had, that's a real problem now, not a stat. Then Abhay asked me something I did not have a rehearsed answer for - what actually separates the enterprises worth partnering with, as a startup, from the ones that quietly waste a year of your life. I said what I actually believe, on record, for probably the first time. It's rarely about the size of the company or the budget. It almost always comes down to whether one person inside decides to make the new technology their problem, and stays with it after the initial excitement wears off. Genuinely grateful to Abhay and Kamal. Still thinking about parts of this conversation days later. Link's in the comments. The Innovators and Disruptors Collective Abijith Arunkumar Dheemanth R Owais Bhat Konishko Chatterjee Kavya Gupta
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Subu Rao shared thisMost large manufacturers trust their 3-way match to catch every overpayment. It doesn't. I've watched the same six-figure gap show up more than once, always in the same blind spot. A large American HVAC manufacturer running plants across several states. PO cost, receipt cost, and invoice cost had to match before anything got paid. That's about as strong as AP controls get, on paper. Here's what that match doesn't touch: trade payments. Those numbers can shift by plant, by state, sometimes even by the vendor's own contract terms, so most ERP setups wave them through with a lighter check. Sometimes none at all. One trade payment on a single invoice should have read $1,150.00. It got keyed in as $115,000.00. Decimal, gone. Invoice cleared. Nothing flagged it. $113,850 walked out the door on a typo, because the control everyone was relying on was never built to look at that line in the first place. I see this most in manufacturing. High invoice volume. Procurement spread across plants. And trade payment terms that never look quite the same from vendor to vendor. A 3-way match protects the three lines it was designed to protect. Nobody designed it to protect what's underneath them. If you run AP for a manufacturer with more than one plant: who's actually checking the lines your 3-way match skips? Not a rhetorical question; genuinely curious what AP teams are doing here. Abijith Arunkumar Owais Bhat Dheemanth R Kavya Gupta Konishko Chatterjee
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Subu Rao shared thisWhat's the one skill that decides whether you stay relevant over the next five years - and it's probably not the one you think. Spent an hour with Suryasnata Mohapatra, who leads Digital & AI Transformation at a US-based retailer, for this episode of Beyond the Bottomline, hosted by Prateek Tandon. She touched upon a really important point. - "The real skill in this AI moment isn't keeping up with every new tool. It's knowing which problem is actually worth solving. Everything else follows from that". - "We got into why so many transformation programs get called "successful" without actually changing how the business runs day to day. Why governance usually isn't the thing slowing teams down. And why picking the right problem matters more than picking the right platform". Full episode in the comments. Owais Bhat Abijith Arunkumar Dheemanth R Kavya Gupta Konishko Chatterjee
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Subu Rao shared thisRecorded a podcast episode recently with Suryasnata Mohapatra, who leads Digital & AI Transformation at US-based retailer. One thing she said has been stuck in my head since: "AI is not the transformation. Solving business problems is." Simple line. But it's the whole problem right there. Everyone's out here picking platforms and comparing models, and half the time nobody's stopped to ask what they're actually trying to fix. We talked about why so many of these transformation efforts stall even when there's real money behind them. Why "governance" usually gets blamed for slowing things down when it's often the opposite. And why everyone tracks adoption instead of whether anything actually got better. Putting the teaser out below. Full episode coming this Thursday. Curious what others think - what's the real reason transformations quietly fail, the one that never makes it into the after-action report? Prateek Tandon Owais Bhat Dheemanth R Abijith Arunkumar Kavya Gupta #beyondthebottomline
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Subu Rao shared thisMy story is now part of a book. Kannada Prabha and Asianet Suvarna News have published Geddavara Siddhasutra - A Text Book of Success. 26 true stories of people from Karnataka who started at the grassroot level, with nothing served on a silver spoon, and built something of their own. Rishab Shetty, who took Kantara from Karnataka to the world, is in it. Sathya Shankar, who once drove an auto-rickshaw and today runs House Of Bindu, a brand that competes with international beverage companies. K.P. Nanjundi, who went from the slums of Bengaluru to the Karnataka Legislative Council. Vishwanath Shenoy, who gave his life and his earnings to social service. Divya Rangenahalli, who proved age has nothing to do with success. And on page 335, my story. I have told my story before, in meetings and interviews, always in English. This is the first time it is in Kannada. Reading your own life in your mother tongue is a different feeling. I did not expect that. The Honourable Governor of Karnataka, Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, released the book at Lokabhavan in Bengaluru, and said he hopes these 26 stories push young people to create jobs instead of searching for them. Shri Ravi Hegde, Editor-in-Chief of Kannada Prabha, and his team put these stories together, and I am thankful to them for letting mine be one of them.
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Subu Rao shared thisIf you're running an enterprise doing $5B+ in revenue, here's an uncomfortable number: this can run into $150M-$250M a year in revenue leakage. Nobody's stealing it. It's sitting quietly in the gap between what you're owed and what you're actually collecting. I've spent years going through contracts, billing systems and usage logs at large companies, and the causes are almost always boring. A discount someone forgot to switch off. A tool three ex-employees still have login access to. A customer using way more of your product than you're actually billing them for. At a $10M company, the same leakage rate works out to $300-500K a year - annoying, but survivable. At $5B, it's the budget of an entire department, disappearing a little at a time. That's because legal owns the contract, product owns the entitlement, and finance owns the invoice - and nobody owns making sure all three still agree with each other. This month's newsletter maps out exactly where this happens, stage by stage, from the day a contract is signed to the day the cash finally lands. https://lnkd.in/g-3kvrqiDynamic pricing models evade traditional finance system.Dynamic pricing models evade traditional finance system.
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Subu Rao liked thisThank you Sejuti Das (Sej) and Maevor Consulting for the invite. Looking forward to contributing, learn and expand the association with brilliant council members.Subu Rao liked thisFirst employee. Three geographies. 3,000 professionals. $480M portfolio. 85% of Carrier's global AI programmes. And he was just getting started. We are proud to welcome Kamal Sharma, Global Digital Connected Hubs GCC Leader and CIO – APAC & Middle East at Carrier Corporation, as a member of The Vanguard Council by Maevor. Kamal joined Carrier in 2019 as the first employee of its digital hub journey and what he built from that starting point is one of the most compelling GCC transformation stories in India today. Three connected hubs across India, Mexico and China. An enterprise AI and LLM platform that generated approximately $20M in direct savings and EPS impact. Thirty-one AI-powered digital employees deployed in a single financial year. Sixty percent productivity improvement in service-centre operations. These are not pilot numbers. These are institution-scale outcomes. His conviction is one The Vanguard Council shares entirely: the next generation of GCCs must move beyond cost and capacity to become P&L-relevant business institutions with autonomy, innovation mandates and real accountability for enterprise value. That is not a vision statement. For Kamal, it is already a reality he has built. Welcome to the council, Kamal! https://lnkd.in/g_2h5aXJ #VanguardCouncil #AILeadership #MaevorInnerCircle #LeadershipCouncil #GCC
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Subu Rao liked thisExciting opportunity to join the team in Milpitas!Subu Rao liked thisI'm building a high-impact Strategic Sourcing team and looking for a talented professional to lead IT & Technology sourcing initiatives that directly influence business transformation, innovation, and cost optimization. If you're passionate about negotiating complex technology deals, partnering with executive stakeholders, and shaping sourcing strategy, please apply!Strategic Sourcing Specialist (IT and Technology Categories)Strategic Sourcing Specialist (IT and Technology Categories)
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked thisCelebrating Our Interns: Fresh Minds, Fresh Ideas, Enormous Opportunities! It’s always rewarding to see young talent turn an opportunity into a meaningful learning experience. For these aspiring innovators, the journey began at #OrangePromptathon2026 — an initiative that brought together @Carrier @NASSCOM and @Ramdeobaba University, connecting industry and academia to give students an opportunity to apply AI, creativity, and innovative thinking to real-world challenges. What started at the Promptathon soon moved from being a classroom exercise to industry exposure, as we welcomed these young minds to Carrier Digital Hub India for internships within Data, Analytics and AI team. Over the past two months, they worked alongside our teams, explored real-world applications of Data & AI, asked questions, and brought fresh perspectives along with a lot of energy to the table. Kamal Sharma Arun Nandi Thank you for always trusting and supporting the early talent initiatives and for all the sponsorship. This is an excellent collaboration. As they (Anagha Bhattad Anurag Pathak Dhruv Tambekar Kanchan Thakur Vedant Surendra Umap) complete their internships, I congratulate each of them on reaching this milestone. A big shout out to DHI Talent & HubOps team (Suchi Pathak Richa Bajaj Ganeriwal) all our mentors and the entire UDA team for guiding and supporting them throughout the journey. I hope they take forward not just the skills and experience they have gained at Carrier, but also the curiosity to keep learning, experimenting, and challenging what’s possible. Congratulations, and wishing you all the very best for what comes next, Interns. Super proud! #Carrier #Internship #Graduation #UDA #Data #AI #Analytics #DHI #Innovation #FutureTalent #RBU #OrangePromptathon2026 Arun Nandi Kamal Sharma Debbie Cheng Suchi Pathak Richa Bajaj Ganeriwal Parikshit Umare Naveen Sankar Amith Kumar Amrit Das Parameswaran P Mahesh M.j Vishal Sathe Sunita Panigrahi Saiful Khan Girish Mallavaram Saurabh Chakraborty Srikanth GR Raghvendra J.anth GR Raghvendra J. Jaivenkat Krishna H Vishnu Kanchi Nemoori Abhinav Talgeri Tulika Gupta Mansi Agarwal Neha Arora Kichambare Deenbandhu P Praveen C.nbandhu P Praveen C. Ishpreet Singh Gautham S Padma Krishna Rupak Sinha Ayush Keshav Ehtesham Haque
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked this🚀 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 continues to reimagine the shopping journey...and the industry is taking notice. Stitch Fix Vision is a Best Use of AI ✨ finalist in the 2026 Glossy Fashion & Luxury Awards. https://https://lnkd.in/g4yaPZzx Here's what it actually does. Vision combines generative AI with our deep understanding of each client's style, fit, and preferences to create personalized images of them wearing recommended outfits. With See It On Me, clients generate those images on demand, so they can visualize and discover new looks before they buy. Not a rendering trick. A tool built on Stylist judgment and years of client data, doing something a product photo on a stranger never could. This recognition belongs to the team that imagined Vision, built it, tested it, and keeps pushing it forward. I get to work alongside them a few weeks into this seat, and I'm already energized by how much more there is to build. We are just getting started. If you have not tried it, do it now as we are improving it everyday! https://lnkd.in/gGb7iKbe Congrats to fellow finalist Vêtir. Good company to be in. #RetailTech #AI #GenerativeAI #Personalization #FutureOfRetail #StitchFix
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked thisMy new book launches next week! So I’m doing something special to celebrate. I’m hosting a book launch party on Sunday, 8/30 from 4-6pm PST at the beautiful Calligraphy Wines in Los Altos, CA. This is going to be a really intimate afternoon with good conversation, curated wine tastings, and you’ll also get a hardcover copy of my book. It’s crazy that we’re already here… A few months ago, this felt so far away. But my book, “The Gift of Time,” is coming out in less than 7 days! If you’re in the area, I’d love to have you at the launch party. I only have a few tickets left, you can get yours here https://lnkd.in/g48gbRd5 Who am I going to see there?
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked thisReady to get your prompt reviewed? People are literally challenging each other's prompts now! Wasn't the whole point to teach machines our language? We tried, we even called it the 'natural' language ;)
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked thisI am delighted to share that I will be a part of the Host Committee for the Bengaluru leg of India ADR Week 2026, alongside: Nandakumar C. K. Dharmendra Chatur Maneesha Kongovi Poornima Hatti @Karan Joseph on 07 September 2026 at the The Orchid Hall, The Oberoi Hotel, Bengaluru. Looking forward to a week of engaging discussions in Bengaluru. Hoping to meet many of you soon. For more information, please visit https://www.adrweek.in. #IAW2026 Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas
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Subu Rao liked thisSubu Rao liked thisHonored to join the Founding Class at RetailClub AI Festival in Huntington Beach from September 22-24, proudly representing Centric Brands. I'll be discussing How AI Is Changing the Way Business and Technology Work Together alongside leaders from across retail and technology. Looking forward to the conversations on and off the stage! See you on the beach!🏖️ #RetailClub2026
Experience & Education
Licenses & Certifications
Volunteer Experience
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Blood Donation Co-ordinator
NSS
- 2 years 9 months
Health
Worked as Blood donation co-ordnator in NSS unit Mangalore
Publications
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Revolutionary Solution to Retailers' Revenue Leakages
SDMIMD
See publicationAn article on how Discover Dollar's revolutionary solution can help Retailers to effectively solve multi-million dollars of revenue leakages.
Courses
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Corporate Finance
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Retail Marketing
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Honors & Awards
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Speaker at Retail Technology Conclave 2015
Retail Association of India
Was invited as speaker at Retail Technology Conclave (June 17/18, 2015) conducted by Retail Association of India at Mumbai. Spoke about Opportunities for efficiency and optimization in Merchandise Sourcing and Vendor Management.
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Delegate Representing Indian Startup to TiECon 2015
TiE Silicon Valley
TiE Silicon Valley chose Discover Dollar as delegate startup to be present at its flagship event TiECon 2015 where we had meeting with Walmart CTO, Evernote Founder and opportunity to interact with wide range of investors and people from startup ecosystem.
More information available on my blog : https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/trip-silicon-valley-tiecon-2015-subrahmanya-rao-ns?trk=pulse_spock-articles -
Winner of Amrita TBI Pitch Fest 2015
Amrita TBI & Dept of Science & Technology Govt of India
Winner of Amrita TBI PitchFest among 500+ applicants from across Asia. Received 20L grants and 15L worth tax benefits for Govt.
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Emerging top 20 Retail Software Companies in India - CIO Review 2015
CIO Review
Feature as Most Promising 20 Retail Software Companies in India - CIO Review 2015. The youngest company to make into the top 20 list.
http://www.cioreview.in/magazine/Discover-Dollar-Enabling-Retailers-to-Resolve--Overpayments-and-Revenue-Leakages-MVOT378253749.html -
Winner "Innopreneurs 2015" Award
IMT Nagpur
Winner "Innopreneurs 2015" Award jointly conferred by IMT Nagpur with prizes worth INR 100,000.00.
Reference:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Promising-start-up-ideas-get-rewarded/articleshow/46336694.cms -
Interned Students from Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore
NSRCEL
Interned Students from Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania and Indian Institute of Management Bangalore.
Areas of internship: Strategy, Pricing & Pivoting.
My feed back about their Internship Report was a component to their grades for a Credit Course.
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Finalist to Nasscom "10K Pitches"
NASSCOM & 10000 Startups
Discover Dollar was Finalist out of 7000+ Product Startup applicants for Nasscom's "10K Pitches" where we had opportunity to showcase our solution to India's best Investors, Mentors, Angel network, Accelarators & Incubators.
Won following benefits from Sponsors:
$100,000 Google Cloud Credits from Google
$150 Per month Azure Credits & "JumpStart" Access from Microsoft
$8,000 AWS Credits by Amazon Web Services
$8,000 worth Credit from HackerRank
Super Receptionist from…Discover Dollar was Finalist out of 7000+ Product Startup applicants for Nasscom's "10K Pitches" where we had opportunity to showcase our solution to India's best Investors, Mentors, Angel network, Accelarators & Incubators.
Won following benefits from Sponsors:
$100,000 Google Cloud Credits from Google
$150 Per month Azure Credits & "JumpStart" Access from Microsoft
$8,000 AWS Credits by Amazon Web Services
$8,000 worth Credit from HackerRank
Super Receptionist from Knowlarity Cloud Telephony -
Winners of Anthah Prerana 2014 by IIM Bangalore, Microsoft & TiE Bangalore Chapter
The Indus Entrepreneurs Bangalore Chapter
Winners of Anthah Prerana 2014 - Rewarding Inner Spirit of Entrepreneurs
Jointly conferred by:
Indian Institute of Bangalore
The Indus Entrepreneurs Bangalore Chapter
Govt Of Karnataka
Microsoft
More details at http://www.anthahprerana.org/ -
Key Note speaker on Entrepreneurship along with SAP APJ President Adaire Fox Martin
BMS College of Engineering
Invited as Key Note speaker on Entrepreneurship along with SAP APJ President Adaire Fox Martin to address the students on Entrepreneurship at BMS Engineering College as part of SAP University Alliance on September 11, 2014
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"Top 5 Most Innovative Solution" by SAP
SAP
My solution Discover Dollar Resolve Awarded as "Top 5 Most Innovative Solution" by SAP in Global level at SAPPHIRE 2014 Orlando, Florida on June 06, 2014. Totally 1300+ Solutions were in the Race and only Indian based startup to make it to Top 5
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Spizen of Year - Best Employee Award 2012
SPI Financial Services
Won Best Employee Award in a company of 1500+ employees for overall performance and delivering results much more than expected. Bringing in transforming ideas to save time and cost of organization.
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5 Time winner of Star of the Month in 2011
SPI Financial Services
Won Star of the Month Award for displaying excellence and outperforming targets in Feb, May, Sep, Oct and Dec month of 2011. It was awarded to only one person in the team of 40+ in a month.
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Movers & Shakers Award
SPI Financial Services
For challenging the status-quo and bring in fresh ideas to improve processes and work-flow
Languages
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English
Full professional proficiency
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Kannada
Professional working proficiency
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Hindi
Professional working proficiency
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Tamil
Limited working proficiency
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Konkani
Limited working proficiency
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National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association of Canada
Frustrated by slow, clunky account transfers? You’re not alone. 🇨🇦 Canada’s fintechs are calling on Ottawa to modernize the system. The goal: make moving money easier, faster, and more efficient for everyone. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/d8Gf-hUk #Fintech #Banking #Payments #Innovation #NCFA #NCFACanada
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Carson Law Office Professional Corporation
𝗧𝘄𝗼 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗼𝘀. 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵. 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. Not all investments are treated the same when someone passes away — and the differences can be dramatic. Consider two individuals with similar net worths. One holds most of their wealth in RRSPs or RRIFs. The other holds a large portion in non-registered investments such as stocks, ETFs, or real estate. At death, registered accounts are generally taxed as full income, often at the highest marginal tax rate. Non-registered investments, on the other hand, are typically subject only to capital gains tax on the growth portion. The result? Two estates of equal value can leave very different amounts to beneficiaries. This is why estate planning isn’t just about growing wealth — it’s about understanding how investments are taxed at the end and planning accordingly. #CarsonLaw #EstatePlanning #WealthPreservation #RRSP #RRIF #CanadianEstate #FinancialPlanning
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Victor Gichun
A compelling rags-to-riches narrative of an Indian immigrant who achieved billionaire status in Canada by mastering Warren Buffett's investment principles. This journey highlights the power of strategic financial acumen and disciplined execution in building immense wealth. It's a testament to how foundational investment strategies, when applied with persistence, can lead to extraordinary success, even from humble beginnings. #ImmigrantSuccess #WarrenBuffett #InvestmentStrategies #BillionaireMindset #PersonalFinance
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