Rahul Sahai

Chief Executive Officer - Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited (KOEL)

Managing Director - KOEL Fluid Dynamics Private Limited

As Chief Executive Officer of KOEL and the Managing Director at KOEL Fluid Dynamics Private Limited, Rahul is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in international environments. He is skilled in scaling business, developing channel capabilities, leading engineering product launches, customer engagement and deploying strategic growth initiatives. Focussed on building next-generation capabilities, including cleaner fuel transitions, Rahul has played an important part in positioning the business for long-term growth in a shifting energy landscape. Closely collaborating across engineering, SCM, manufacturing, and commercial teams, Rahul has been translating strategy into execution, strengthening market competitiveness, and delivering consistent outcomes at scale.    

Currently, he is also the President of Indian Institution of Industrial Engineering which is a non-profit organization and professional body dedicated to propagating and advancing the profession of Industrial Engineering in India.  

He began his career in Sales and Application Engineering with Kennametal Inc. and has worked across India, USA, Nigeria, and South Africa in various organizations. Before Kirloskar Oil Engines Ltd., he was working with Cummins India as the Director for Marketing & Engineering. At Cummins, he has led several strategic initiatives such as India Channel Strategy, New & ReCon Business Turnaround, New Product Introductions, Analytics Deployment, and Purchasing Capacity Planning. He has also been instrumental in setting up a Master Distribution Centre in India for global supply chain.  

With an MBA from Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, Rahul is also an Industrial and Production Engineer from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal. He is a certified 6 Sigma Green Belt/Sponsor and a LUMA certified Human Centred Design practitioner. He has completed offshore safety and emergency training and is adept at First Aid, Fire Fighting, Helicopter Crash, Offshore Sea Survival, and Lifeboat Operations. 

In addition to work, he likes to research technology and analytics. He is passionate about teaching and conducts leadership sessions at multiple B‐Schools across the country. Rahul used to play squash professionally and was ranked 30th in India, a few years ago.