Founder and CEO

Aklara Consulting OPC

India | Asia

Naina Sahni is a leadership coach, systems thinker, and PhD scholar whose work bridges organizational transformation, personal healing, and community renewal. With nearly two decades of experience in people-centric roles, she has partnered with some of India’s most influential companies to help leaders build dynamic, learning-centered cultures.

At Zomato (2011–2019), Naina played a pivotal role in the company’s global expansion, leading communications, recruitment, and leadership development while working closely with Founder & CEO Deepinder Goyal. She later co-authored The Culture of Zomato (2023) with Deepinder Goyal and Ashish Goel.

At Blinkit (2020–2022), she partnered with Albinder Dhindsa during Grofers’ transition to Blinkit, serving briefly as Chief People Officer before its acquisition by Zomato.

Since 2019, she has focused on leadership coaching and systems thinking, guiding high-growth organizations and their leadership teams in embedding systems sensing and reflective practices. She has conducted pro-bono workshops on systems thinking with over 500 educators and hundreds of executives across India, the UAE, Portugal, and Germany.

Since 2024, Naina has been coaching the founders of CARS24, one of India’s largest consumer tech companies. Together, they are shaping a generational learning organization, embedding tools from the Compassionate Systems Framework and launching Crash Free India, a not-for-profit initiative aimed at reducing road fatalities through education, advocacy, and community action.

Alongside her professional work, Naina has been on a deeply personal journey. After nearly twenty years away, she returned to her hometown of Aurangabad to live with her family. This choice—rooted in practicing compassion—has become a living experiment in generative social fields. Over the past year, she has witnessed remarkable transformations: her mother has reversed her diabetes, her siblings have regained health and purpose, and her family has reclaimed their home as a space of healing. She is also co-parenting her young nieces and nephew, grounding her practice in daily life.

In 2025, Naina founded Ananta, an NGO for women’s leadership and community transformation, and began her doctoral research at MGM University: Cultivating Grace-Based Learning Architectures. She continues to expand her learning through courses such as Neurobiology of Leadership with MIT’s Dr. Tara Swart and the Capra Course with Fritjof Capra, while sustaining daily practices of journaling, meditation, yoga, calisthenics, and reflective writing.

As the first in her family to pursue higher education at this level, Naina sees her journey as both personal and collective. She is committed to weaving India’s deep ancestral roots in compassion and awareness with contemporary systems practice — creating conditions for organizations, communities, and societies to thrive.