N. S. Anand

A born accountant

"When I was 10 years old, I told my parents I wanted to be a financier." Anand never lost sight of this vocation, born from contact with an uncle working in finance as well as one of his parents' friends. He went on to study business and then accounting. Freshly qualified from the New Delhi Institute for Chartered Accountants of India in 1998, he returned to his native town of Chennai (formerly Madras), where his first job was with an Indian aluminium producer.
In 2001, he was recruited by Saint-Gobain Glass in Chennai as controlling manager for a brand new glass factory. After two years, he was sent to spend six months in England, "My first international assignment," he says. The aim of the mission was the delicate task of reducing a factory's Working Capital Needs (WCN). "That was where I learned to use psychology, tact, and even offer instruction, to make myself convincing, while at the same time being able to make compromises," he explains with his imperturbable calm and poise.

Strategic vision

With this valuable experience behind him, he returned to Chennai to take part in the launch of a second production line before being invited to come to France in 2005. Now, 22 years after first becoming aware of his vocation, he is controlling manager of Saint-Gobain Glass non-Europe. From Paris, and during his regular trips to the 15 or more production plants under his responsibility in Asia and South America, he ensures these sites are managed smoothly.
His current position also includes an aspect involving the Group's development. For he contributes to setting up new "strategic" projects in countries as widely different and sometimes difficult to penetrate as Egypt and Colombia. "This is very interesting because it gives me an overview of the Group's future during the next five years."

Acquiring new skills

Anand feels that he is now "on track" to achieving his childhood dream far beyond anything he could have imagined when he was just a 10-year-old budding financier. In the future, he is planning to explore other fields such as marketing or procurement. Ultimately, he would like Saint-Gobain to give him the opportunity of, "Developing other areas of expertise outside financial management as such. I would like to see what I can do beyond my current field and possibly, in say, five years or so, steer my career in another direction."