Fractional CMO · Growth Strategist

Most growth-stage tech companies have a product their engineers love and a market that doesn't quite get it yet.

That's exactly the gap I close — turning what your team built into what your market actually buys.

Work with me See how I work
23
Years in growth & brand
4
Continents of GTM experience
8+
Industries across B2B & B2C
The gap I close

I've sat in engineering rooms.
I've sat in boardrooms.

After 23 years across B2B technology, BFSI, EdTech, enterprise services, and AI-led platforms — I've learned that the most common reason growth stalls isn't the product. It's the space between what the product does and what the market understands about it.

I've translated complex technical products into market-facing propositions — multiple times, across multiple industries, at companies like Oracle Financial Services, Manipal Global, SunTec, and R Systems. I understand what your engineers built well enough to position it properly. And I understand your market well enough to make it land.

I've also run operations as COO at a growth-stage tech company — which means I understand the constraints you're working under. The limited runway. The need to move fast. The reality that you can't afford to wait six months to see if a strategy works. I've been in that room. I know how to lead at that pace.

What founders tell me
"We have a strong product and a good team. We just don't have someone who can give our marketing the direction it needs to grow."
What I bring
Senior marketing leadership — positioning, GTM, messaging, events strategy — without the full-time cost. I lead your existing team. You keep your people. I give them direction.
What I've done repeatedly
Built brands from zero. Taken complex tech propositions to new markets. Led rebranding exercises at Oracle, Manipal, Gritstone. The 0→1 stage is where I do my best work.
The engagement model

Senior leadership,
without the overhead.

01
I lead, your team executes
You already have hands and legs. What you need is the brain. I work with your existing team — setting direction, prioritising, and deciding — so your people become more effective immediately, without adding headcount.
02
Focused time. Senior thinking.
Two hours a day, every day. Positioning, GTM, messaging, events, campaigns — structured around what moves the needle this quarter. Not a retainer that drifts. A focused engagement with a clear outcome every 90 days.
03
I learn your product, fast
I've built GTM around complex tech across BFSI, B2B SaaS, EdTech, and AI platforms. Getting up to speed quickly — and then leading confidently — is how I've operated for 23 years. Your product is not too technical for me.
23 years across 8 industries

Experience that spans
the full growth journey.

  • R Systems International
    VP of Marketing, Global Head of Growth Marketing & GTM
    2024 – present
  • Gritstone Technologies
    Chief Operating Officer
    2022 – 2024
  • SunTec Business Solutions
    Head – Product Marketing
    2020 – 2022
  • Manipal Global
    Head – Products & Marketing
    2017 – 2020
  • MeritTrac Services
    Head – Product Marketing
    2011 – 2017
  • Oracle Financial Services
    Product Marketing Manager
    2007 – 2011
"The best marketers I've worked with understood the product deeply enough to argue with the engineers — and the market well enough to prove them right."
Sectors I've built GTM for
B2B Technology AI-led Platforms BFSI EdTech Enterprise Services Product Engineering Digital Transformation SaaS
Education
MBA – Marketing, Rajagiri MIT Sloan – Digital Transformation BA Economics, MG University
Beyond the boardroom

I played cricket
for Kerala state.
It taught me everything
about leading a team.

From 1995 to 2001, I represented Kerala state cricket teams. State-level cricket teaches you things no MBA does — how to read conditions fast, how to lead under pressure, and how to get the best from people who are under scrutiny.

I've carried that instinct into every leadership role since.

  • → Reading a cricket pitch and reading a market are the same skill. Both demand patience, preparation, and the courage to play the right shot at the right moment.
  • → Test match thinking beats T20 thinking in brand building. Most companies want the quick win. The ones who win long build patiently.
  • → A captain knows everyone's role better than they do. That's what a fractional CMO does — aligns the team to a game plan each person can execute.
  • → Away series are the real test. New market entry is an away series. Preparation is your only true advantage.
Thinking out loud

Where I write about growth, brand,
and what cricket taught me.

Follow on LinkedIn
01
GTM Strategy
The gap between what you built and what the market gets
Why most B2B tech companies fail at positioning — and what to do in the first 90 days.
02
Sports × Business
Test match patience in a T20 world
What state-level cricket taught me about building a brand that outlasts the campaign.
03
Next article coming soon.
Follow on LinkedIn to get it first.
Let's work together

If you're a founder who's been wearing
the CMO hat for too long —
this is the conversation.

I work with a select number of growth-stage companies at a time. Within the first 90 days, you'll have a clear positioning story, a GTM plan your team can execute, and a pipeline of content and campaigns already running. By month six, marketing stops being the thing that's always behind — and starts being what's pulling the business forward.

If you're building in B2B tech, AI, BFSI, or EdTech — and you have a team that needs direction, not more headcount — I'd like to hear about it.

Premjithac@yahoo.com LinkedIn →