Few leaders can combine financial expertise and human-centered leadership as well as Pradnya Bagade, Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Electronic Payment and Services (P) Ltd., in the complex world of acquisitions, strategic expansion, and investor relations. Her leadership path was not formed overnight; rather, it was forged in the furnace of difficult decision-making, cross-functional cooperation, and a silent but unwavering dedication to inclusive development.
Her strategy is based on influence, empathy, and strategic clarity rather than authority. As the Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Managing Director, she is gaining a foundation in Industrial Psychology and a front-row seat to high-stakes business maneuvering. She is learning early on how strategy must always be founded in people and how vision is becoming executive. Her involvement in significant business events, such as acquisitions and stock injections, demonstrating a unique capacity to match stakeholder interests with the long-term goals of the company.
Her ability to maintain composure under pressure is what is making her unique. She is leading with composure, vision, and conviction whether she is negotiating a complicated M&A deal or fostering investor confidence. She is promoting innovation without sacrificing governance and cultivates an inclusive culture without sacrificing effectiveness. Her views on measured risk, open communication, and developing up-and-coming leaders are subtly changing the definition of resilient leadership in contemporary India.
Pradnya Bagade is overseeing EPS’s next phase of impact-led growth, making sure that strategy is based on values, diversity is integrated into teams, and leadership is always a duty that is both visionary and human.
Inclusive and Evolving Leadership Approach
Pradnya Bagade describes her leadership style as inclusive and growth-oriented which is shaped by her academic background in Industrial Psychology and professional exposure to top-level decision-making. Her transition into the role of Executive Assistant to Mr. Mani Mamallan, Chairman and Managing Director at EPS, was instrumental in transforming her approach. The role allowed her to witness firsthand how strategic vision translates into daily execution, teaching her to bridge the long-term goals of the organization with on-the-ground action.
“Over the years, my leadership style has matured into one that emphasizes collaboration across departments and functions.” she describes. She combines empathy with a clear focus on measurable outcomes, blending analytical decision-making with emotional intelligence. This balance has been crucial in the high-pressure world of mergers, acquisitions, and investor relations—areas where clarity, conviction, and trust are paramount.
Strategic Decisions That Shaped the Journey
Among the key milestones in her career were EPS’s major equity infusion in 2015 and the mergers and acquisitions executed in 2017. These events were not just crucial for the company’s growth, but also played a transformative role in Pradnya Bagade’s development as a strategic leader. Her involvement in identifying acquisition targets and aligning them with EPS’s long-term vision showcased her ability to balance ambition with pragmatism.
Leading these deals required more than just financial expertise, it demanded the ability to align various stakeholders, from investors to internal teams. Pradnya Bagade successfully built investor confidence through transparent communication, well-crafted narratives, and consistent delivery of business outcomes. These strategic moments underlined her strength in managing risk while staying focused on the larger organizational vision.
Leading Through Uncertainty and Complexity
One of the most defining challenges Pradnya Bagade faced came during complex M&A negotiations under intense market uncertainty. In these high-stakes environments, she was required to manage legal, financial, and strategic dimensions simultaneously while addressing conflicting stakeholder expectations. Her calm demeanor, emotional intelligence, and clarity of purpose helped her steer the process toward successful closure.
Instead of relying solely on formal processes, she built trust across departments, anchored every discussion in EPS’s mission, and ensured that all voices were heard. These experiences reaffirmed her belief in “calm leadership” a style that is combination of resilience, empathy, and a deep understanding of the business landscape to achieve alignment and drive impact.
Enabling Calculated Risk-Taking and Innovation
In investor and M&A space, risk is inevitable but at EPS, she has ensured it is always intentional and calculated. She fosters a culture that encourages data-backed decision-making, rigorous scenario planning, and bold execution. Under her leadership, cross-functional teams’ model multiple outcomes before committing to a strategy, making the decision-making process both inclusive and thorough.
Engaging with external advisors legal, financial, or domain-specific further strengthens the strategy, allowing for validation of key assumptions. While the team is operating with full confidence in “Plan A,” Pradnya Bagade ensures that contingency plans are always in place. This approach allows EPS to be agile and responsive while maintaining a strong core vision.
Driving Diversity and Inclusion with Intent
Diversity and inclusion are not just corporate buzzwords for Pradnya Bagade they are core values that shape her team structures, project groups, and stakeholder engagements. With her roots in psychology and HR, she has always believed that diverse teams bring more nuanced judgment, especially during high-pressure decision-making.
Though she may not oversee hiring end-to-end, Pradnya Bagade consciously builds project and deal teams that reflect diversity in gender, experience, and function. This diversity helps reduce group thoughts and encourages a range of perspectives to surface during strategic conversations. In her external collaborations, she also chooses to work with partners who uphold similar inclusive values, ensuring alignment not just internally but across the ecosystem.
Strengthening Inter-Departmental Collaboration
In her role, Pradnya Bagade regularly collaborates with teams across Finance, Legal, HR, Risk, Business, and Technology. Her philosophy is rooted in trust-building through deep listening and co-creation. Rather than working in isolation, she prefers a hands-on approach—walking over to the stakeholder, engaging in direct conversations, and collectively arriving at the best possible solution.
This collaborative, solution-driven style has enabled her to lead high-impact strategic initiatives with full organizational backing. She believes that innovation and alignment are born in open dialogue not in silos. By understanding each department’s challenges and aligning them with EPS’s larger goals, Pradnya Bagade has become a trusted partner across the company.
Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders, Today
Pradnya’s belief in nurturing emerging leaders is reflected in her mentoring style, which emphasizes exposure, encouragement, and trust. “The best leadership development happens in the arena that’s why I involve my team in our most challenging work. This exposure helps them build confidence and learn to navigate complexity with ease.” she says.
She also places significant emphasis on the softer skills of leadership calmness under pressure, strategic communication, and personal branding. Her own journey at EPS has been marked by steep learning curves, and she takes pride in paying that forward. By fostering an environment where her team feels empowering and valued, she is helping shape a new generation of thoughtful, capable leaders.
Staying Ahead in a Competitive Landscape
The M&A and investment space demands constant vigilance and adaptability. Pradnya Bagade remains ahead of the curve through relentless curiosity and proactive engagement. She tracks macroeconomic indicators, fintech trends, regulatory updates, and competitor movements with precision. More importantly, she seeks insights through meaningful conversations with industry leaders, startup founders, and investors.
These interactions often offer early signals about investor sentiment shifts or market realignment that help EPS’ position itself strategically. Participating in industry forums and thought-leadership spaces is also allowing her to influence conversations, gain feedback, and refine EPS’s growth roadmap. Her strategic foresight plays a vital role in making EPS future ready.
Focus for the Future: Strategic Growth and Governance
Looking ahead, Pradnya’s focus areas are clear: deepen investor relationships, explore inorganic growth, and enable partnerships that align with EPS’s core mission of financial inclusion and innovation. “I am equally focused on institutionalizing governance and strengthening the company’s capital structure to enable scalable and sustainable growth.
These initiatives aren’t just about chasing expansion; they’re about creating resilience.” she says. In today’s volatile environment, Pradnya Bagade believes that building a solid, principles-led organization is the best way to ensure long-term relevance. Her efforts are directed not only toward immediate wins but toward laying the foundation for the next decade of EPS’s success.
Leading with Vision and Heart
Pradnya Bagade’s leadership story is a powerful blend of strategic intelligence and emotional depth. “My journey reflects how personal values, empathy, inclusion, resilience can shape professional excellence. From complex financial negotiations to mentoring future leaders, my work spans the breadth and depth of what it means to lead with purpose.” she elaborates.
At a time when businesses are redefining what leadership means, Pradnya Bagade is offering a model worth emulating. She is listening more than she is speaking, acting more than she is promising, and leading not just with her mind, but also with her heart. In doing so, she continues to shape EPS and the broader ecosystem into a more inclusive, innovative, and impactful place.
