SY Exclusive: Tracxn COO Amit Agarwal on Why Operating a Business Requires Decisions You Cannot Undo

Amit Agarwal has seen businesses from two vantage points. Early in his career, he analysed companies through equity research and advisory work with private equity clients. Today, as Chief Operating Officer at Tracxn, he operates on the other side of the table, carrying full P and L responsibility while driving growth across the US, EMEA and APAC markets. The shift from analysing industries to building within one has fundamentally reshaped how he approaches decisions, risk and accountability.

In conversation with Kathakali Dutta, Editor, StrongYes Media, Agarwal reflects on the transition from advisory roles to operational leadership, the realities of scaling a global SaaS platform, and the discipline required to stand out in an increasingly crowded AI landscape. He also offers a perspective for young professionals navigating fast evolving industries. Strategy can be debated and refined on paper. Operations, however, turn choices into commitments that are far harder to reverse.

You have moved from equity research and PE-facing work into operating and scaling a SaaS platform. At what point did you realise that understanding markets and actually running a business require completely different decisions?

Amit: The difference became obvious very early. In equity research or consulting, decisions are largely reversible. As new data comes in, you can update your thesis, adjust recommendations, or change your perspective. There is flexibility built into the role.

In an operating environment, especially inside a startup, decisions become far more permanent. When you define processes, hire teams, or set up departments, changing direction later becomes expensive both financially and culturally. You cannot keep revisiting those decisions every few months. The shift from analysis to execution is really about realising that operational decisions carry long-term consequences.

You have grown within the same organisation from operator roles to COO with full P&L ownership. What was the most difficult transition in that journey, especially when you moved from execution to accountability for outcomes?

Amit: Early on, I was focused on optimising individual departments. The goal was to improve efficiency or outcomes within a defined function. Once you move into a full P&L role, the lens changes completely. You are no longer optimising for one department. You are balancing trade-offs across the entire organisation. Sometimes, decisions that are not ideal for a specific team become necessary for overall business outcomes. Aligning departments around shared priorities, especially when cost and revenue goals intersect, becomes the biggest challenge. Accountability shifts from execution to alignment.

You work closely on GTM across regions like the US, EMEA, and APAC. When entering or scaling in competitive markets, what do you optimise for first: speed, differentiation, or unit economics?

Amit: Differentiation comes first. We start by understanding what customers are willing to pay for and what gap exists in the market. Once that is clear, we look at the unit economics to ensure the model is sustainable.
After that, we run pilots to test adoption and see whether customers come back and pay repeatedly. Speed comes later. Scaling only makes sense once product-market fit and margins are clear. Moving fast without clarity usually creates inefficiencies rather than growth.

The AI and SaaS intelligence space is becoming crowded. From your vantage point, what will separate companies that sustain relevance from those that plateau?

Amit: Companies that survive will solve high-value problems exceptionally well and embed themselves into customers’ daily workflows. If a product becomes deeply integrated into how clients operate, it becomes harder to replace.
The second factor is retention. Technology is evolving rapidly, so companies that continuously adapt and integrate customer feedback will stay relevant longer than those chasing only new acquisitions. Sustained relevance comes from solving real problems and evolving with technological shifts.

In private markets, access to the right opportunities has always been uneven. As AI improves deal discovery and diligence, does it genuinely level the playing field or just make the fastest and best-resourced firms even stronger?

Amit: Private markets are still relationship driven. Deals are rarely public, and access depends heavily on networks. AI is unlikely to change that dynamic significantly.
Where AI will help is in diligence. Once you have a deal, analysing financials, competitor landscapes, or market data becomes faster and more efficient. But AI will not necessarily level access. Firms with stronger relationships will continue to dominate deal flow, while AI improves efficiency after access is already established.

For young professionals entering tech and business today, what should they understand about how industries evolve and how to stay relevant when roles and skills keep shifting?

Amit: Two things matter most. First, focus on solving problems rather than chasing tools. Technologies change quickly, but the ability to understand customer problems remains timeless. AI and other tools are enablers, not replacements for thinking.

Second, always understand how your role contributes to either the top line or the bottom line. You should either help grow revenue or improve efficiency. If your role does neither, technology will eventually replace it. Relevance comes from measurable contribution and strong problem-solving ability.

The Shift From Strategy to Ownership

Amit Agarwal’s journey from analyst to operator reflects a lesson many professionals only recognise once they step into business leadership. Markets often reward ideas and analysis. Building a business, however, demands execution that can endure over time.

In advisory roles, perspectives can change as new information emerges. In operating environments, decisions leave deeper marks. They influence how teams are structured, how costs are managed and how culture evolves inside the organisation. For leaders scaling SaaS and AI driven businesses, the real test is not simply moving quickly. It is recognising which decisions will shape the company long after they are made.