88forty8 Consulting is a boutique leadership advisory firm with a core focus on hiring HR leadership talent for organisations across sectors, sizes and geographies.
Just as Mount Everest stands tall at 8848 meters, we stand resolute in our commitment to elevate businesses and careers to maximum heights by designing the most fitting trajectories. We recognise that the journey to success is intricate and very similar to summiting Everest, it requires crossing numerous hurdles, a flexible strategy, grit, muscle, motivation and the right coach.
HR leadership hiring is a highly nuanced specialty and adding value in this space gives us immense joy. Our approach is meticulous, our networks expansive, and our focus unwavering – it is about forging lasting partnerships that enable growth.
We hire HR talent across the spectrum including generalist (CHRO, BU HR Heads, Plant HR Heads, etc.) and Specialist (Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, L&D, OD, Employee Experience, IR/ ER, Total Rewards, HR Technology, etc.) roles.
Our USP
We are setting the precedent for specialised HR leadership recruitment in India. A dedicated search practice for the HR function is need of the hour and we want to lead the way!
Our consultants are seasoned HR practitioners who’ve held pivotal roles. This insider knowledge gives us an unparalleled understanding of every facet within HR and the ability to deeply comprehend the nuances of each role.
We go beyond resumes and interviews. With a sharp eye for both role and culture fit, we ensure that candidates don’t just match job specs — they match the organization’s soul.
Our extensive network of HR leaders allows us to conduct nuanced, informal reference checks that uncover insights traditional processes often miss. This reduces hiring errors and ensures more lasting placements.
HR candidates yearn for authenticity. Our consultants foster an environment where conversations are friendly, genuine, and coaching-oriented.
For us, it is never about the transaction of the role in hand but about building long-lasting relationships. We ensure every conversation is meaningful and value adding.
How we work
Our approach is personalized, strategic, and built on deep HR expertise — ensuring every move takes you closer to your leadership goals.
Back in 2022, what began as a small frustration slowly turned into a quiet but persistent thought: Why is it so hard to find a search partner who truly understands HR?
In our last corporate roles, we were hiring for two CHRO minus one level roles. The roles were exciting and nuanced, one of them was newly created. But the search? Surprisingly difficult. No recruiting partner seemed to fully grasp the role's context, complexity and layers or give it the care that was needed including the creativity required to assess senior HR talent across industries. The outcome of the search, hence, was mediocre and frustrating!
That’s when something clicked.
We started to wonder—what if there was a search firm that existed in India only for this? One that approached HR hiring not as a transaction, but as a craft. One that understood that today’s HR leaders aren’t just people managers—they’re culture builders, transformation enablers, and strategic partners for the future.
The way India is growing and the way HR is evolving, we felt there was a need for specialisation in search and for HR searches to be treated with more rigour and respect. The western world may have seen this already but maybe it was time for a HR specialised search practice in India!
That thought became our spark. And that spark became 88Forty8 Consulting.
We didn’t begin with a launch. We began with a leap—and a few people who believed in us. CHROs we had once worked with took a chance and gave us our first two mandates.
Former colleagues supported the research behind the scenes, often pro bono. We will never forget those early conversations, that early faith. And from day one, we were clear: We would know our clients deeply, map the market rigorously, speak to dozens, and present no more than 4–5 candidates.
Because quality matters. And our reputation was all we had.
By September 2023, we had officially launched. Our first few closures felt almost surreal—but deeply affirming. Soon, doors began to open: Through cold calls, warm intros, and a few unexpected referrals, we were suddenly working on five mandates at once—across Plant HR, Learning, Rewards, TA, and Employer Branding.
We travelled every quarter to a new city. Made 10–15 new connections a day. Built a pool of handpicked HR leaders—people we knew, had assessed, and could vouch for. And we did reference checks before presenting candidates. Because integrity isn’t optional.
Between January and May of 2025, six of our candidates joined as HR leaders in diverse companies across a spectrum of industries: two large conglomerates, two startups, and two mid-sized companies.
We suddenly realised that in less than two years, we bagged more than 30 roles with more than 12 clients spanning 10 industries, and counting.
But numbers were never the goal. The real win? When a client tells us, “You understood the brief better than we did.” Or when a candidate says, “That conversation stayed with me.” OR when a potential client calls and says "you have been referred to us and we understand that only you can do this complex HR search"; that’s when we know we are on the right path.
We are not in a rush. We are building something that lasts—grounded in trust, curiosity, and care. We want to keep showing up. Keep listening. Keep proving that specialisation matters. And that how you search is as important as who you find.
Anupam has over two decades of professional experience across functions, industries and geographies.
Before co-founding 88Forty8 Consulting, he held senior HR roles at Cipla, Edelweiss Financial Services, and Reliance Industries before which he spent a few years in Executive Search across Asia Pacific.
In the last 15 years, Anupam has worked across industries including Pharma & Healthcare, Financial Services, Oil & Gas, Telecom and Technology and has built leadership teams of several organizations ranging from fortune 500 companies to start-ups.
Before moving to HR, Anupam was a consultant with Tata Consultancy Services where he spent 5 years in stints across technology and sales functions.
Anupam has lived and worked in Asia, USA and Australia.
He is a computer science engineer and holds a MBA degree from Australian School of Business, Sydney.
Beyond his love for specialised executive search, Anupam enjoys travelling, playing racket games, watching cricket and tennis. He is know to be a coffee and whiskey connoisseur and can talk about food, beverages, psychology and cricket for hours 🙂
Anupam lives in Mumbai with his wife, Rati who is an entrepreneur in the media space and his daughter, Maya who is 9 years old and is part of grade 4 in an IB school.
Pooja has more than decade and a half of diverse professional experience including more than 10 years in Human Resources.
Before co-founding 88Forty8 Consulting, she held HR leadership roles at Cipla, Future Generali India Life Insurance and Tata Motors, partnering with business heads to drive talent acquisition, HR strategy and international hiring across India, Emerging Markets and Europe. She also served as the Chief Operating Officer at Play Panda — her first entrepreneurial experience — where she drove growth and built teams for a fast-growing brand.
In the course of her career, Pooja has worked across multiple sectors including Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare, Financial Services and Automotive, hiring and developing leadership teams for corporates.
She began her career as a Software Engineer with Accenture before moving into HR, giving her a unique blend of technology and people expertise.
Pooja holds an Engineering degree in IT from Thadomal Shahani Engineering College, Mumbai and an MBA degree in Human Resources Management from K.J. Somaiya Institute of Management Studies and Research, Mumbai.
Outside of work, Pooja’s favourite role is being Ruhaani’s mother. She finds joy in travelling, dancing and spending time with her family, and she places a strong emphasis on mindfulness and living with intention.
Pooja lives in Mumbai with her husband Tusshar — an entrepreneur who has built one of India’s leading toy design and manufacturing companies — and their daughter Ruhaani, who keeps them inspired every day.
