Akanksha S Gulia: Reframing Leadership Through Human-Centered Design
On a mission to create environments where every voice is heard, trust is built, and empowerment is possible!
Modern work confronts a constant challenge: how can we create solutions that fully honor people’s differences across cultures, backgrounds, and experiences? As systems expand and pressures mount, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the human care at the heart of every decision, which often slips into the background. Standing confidently at this crossroads is Akanksha S Gulia, whose approach is rooted in empathy, adaptability, and a lifelong curiosity about what makes people genuinely feel they belong.
Akanksha’s journey began as a child in a defense family, moving between regions of India and learning to thrive amid constant change. Human stories, subtle cues, and the need for belonging became familiar companions, she shares. These formative years instilled in her a deep sense of empathy and adaptability, shaping a strong inner compass that continues to guide her leadership today.
Her passion for understanding people naturally led her to the study of architecture, which she describes as “my doorway into understanding how environments can uplift lives.” For Akanksha, great design was never just about structures, it was about creating spaces that care for people and nurture their potential.
Her professional path has since carved a wider creative path spanning user experience, design innovation, and global consulting, each step enriching her understanding of how universal human needs are expressed in unique ways across cultures. Each transition reinforced my unwavering belief: exceptional solutions always honor the diversity, dreams, and well-being of those they serve, she affirms.
Today, as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte, Akanksha integrates this rich mosaic of perspectives to lead with intention and humanity. I integrate this mosaic of perspectives to lead with intention, and place humanity at the core of every challenge I solve, she says, illustrating her commitment to questioning assumptions and looking beneath the surface in every engagement.
Akanksha’s leadership offers a steady reminder: real progress is achieved only when people remain at the center—seen, heard, and valued wherever they are.
Growing Up in Motion
Long before leadership became a conscious calling, change was already shaping Akanksha S Gulia’s understanding of people, place, and self.
Raised in a defense family, Akanksha’s childhood was painted by constant movement, with each relocation revealing new languages, communities, and ways of belonging. With every move, I realized that genuine belonging isn’t anchored in similarity, but in the bravery to show up authentically and embrace the unfamiliar, she reflects.
Rather than facing upheaval, Akanksha saw each new home as an invitation to discover new sides of herself and others more fully. These transitions not only deepened her empathy and adaptability but also attuned her to the subtle, powerful ways people seek connection and recognition.
This formative lens became the foundation for her leadership journey. In leadership, her guiding star is clear: “Belonging isn’t about fitting in, it’s about being welcomed just as you are, and extending that welcome to others.” It’s a conviction visible in how she builds inclusive teams and consults with clients, always ensuring that every voice is heard, respected, and made to feel essential.
Each cross-cultural transition taught her that profound solutions emerge from valuing differences and fostering spaces where all voices can be genuinely heard.
When Empathy Became Non-Negotiable
That early sensitivity to people did not remain confined to her personal life, it became her most decisive asset in business.
Empathy matured from a soft skill to a core principle during a pivotal service design engagement reimagining the farm-to-table supply chain. Beyond surface metrics, we listened intently to farmers stories and unearthed complexities that data alone could not reveal, Akanksha recalls. Engaging directly with producers in the fields, she and her team uncovered silent pain points, opaque middlemen siphoning profits and eroding the dignity and agency of farmers.
Armed with these insights, the team dismantled ineffective intermediaries and built direct, transparent links between farmers and local markets. The results went well beyond operational gains: spoilage dropped, incomes rose, and the confidence of entire communities was restored.
For me, empathy became the catalyst for sustainable change. “When you design with empathy, you build not just solutions, but trust and resilience,” Akanksha affirms. That project crystallized her belief: lasting impact always begins by listening empathetically.
Design Thinking Without Boundaries
Akanksha S Gulia’s conviction in human-centered leadership is not an isolated revelation. It is rooted in how she was taught to think long before entering formal leadership roles. Studying architecture first revealed a pivotal lesson: enduring structures, whether physical or organizational, must be shaped by clear intention. Design thinking isn’t exclusive to buildings, it’s essential for shaping cultures and communities, she affirms.
True design, she believes, begins with empathy, by understanding those being served, their stories, and aspirations. Through diverse creative journeys, Akanksha discovered a foundational truth: whether crafting physical spaces or nurturing cultural ones, it is the human experience that gives any design its meaning.
People are not just participants, they are the pulse of any organization, she says. When leaders honor the full spectrum of human emotions and ambitions, culture becomes something vibrant and lived, not simply stated.
She often reflects, “Great culture, like great architecture, is built with intention, shaped by empathy, and stands strongest when it elevates everyone it shelters.” This philosophy guides her at every turn, inspiring leadership choices that prioritize humanity over mere efficiency.
Relearning What Success Requires
With greater experience, Akanksha’s understanding of structure and its influence on outcomes deepened. She believes that success is “co-created and born of shared risk,” a mindset that transforms hierarchical teams into engines of collaborative innovation. In practice, she fosters co-creation by spotlighting the value of unexpected perspectives and championing voices across all levels of the organization.
In practice, this often means challenging tradition by inviting frontline insights, flattening supply chain barriers, and building structures that are agile and resilient. She has made open forums, cross-functional collaboration, and spaces for every perspective, regardless of title or tenure, central to her leadership approach.
Akanksha encourages her teams to see dissent and diversity of thought as catalysts for meaningful change, rather than disruptions. “Innovation rarely respects hierarchy. It’s powered by the courage to listen, adapt, and act together,” she reminds others. With this ethos, she has reshaped rigid models into dynamic, high-performance collaborations where everyone has a stake in success.
Finding the Thread Across Industries
Working across industries could have splintered Akanksha S Gulia’s approach. Instead, it clarified her purpose.
Each new sector brought its own landscapes and rhythms. The challenge of constant pivots—the need to relearn, adapt, and listen felt daunting at first. Yet, through every transition, one insight grew stronger: regardless of context, every field ultimately aims to elevate human life.
This realization became her anchor. She learned that innovation takes root only when people, purpose, and environment move in harmony. Over time, Akanksha came to see leadership as more than delivering results; it is a force for vision and empathy, a purpose-driven commitment to moving both organizations and society forward. “Who does this decision ultimately serve?” became her guiding question in every context.
For Akanksha, leaders who put humanity at the heart of their actions foster truly lasting, ethical impact. She often reflects, “A leader’s greatest aspiration should be to uplift others, ensuring every choice is a step toward enriching the lives and communities we serve.”
Choosing Authenticity Before Speed
With greater responsibility came mounting pressure: move faster, deliver sooner, justify every step with numbers. In high-velocity environments where data is prized over depth, Akanksha found that authenticity is a leader’s steadfast anchor.
Transparency is her compass in every conversation, facts are shared candidly, even when they are uncomfortable. She believes sidestepping the truth only compounds consequences and erodes trust.
Prioritizing purpose and meaningful connection may require patience, but it creates the foundation upon which enduring innovation is built, she says. Through experience, Akanksha has observed that sustainable outcomes emerge when leaders strike a balance between clarity and sincerity, refusing to compromise depth of understanding for performance optics.
Her commitment remains unwavering: ensuring that every decision serves the greater good, rooted in ethical and sustainable action. As she believes, “True progress begins with the courage to be honest. Authenticity may not always be the fastest route, but it is always the surest path to impact and trust.”
When Empowerment Becomes Visible
For Akanksha S Gulia, authenticity consistently practiced has a transformative effect on how teams engage and excel. She believes true empowerment cannot be mandated, it unfolds organically when people feel safe enough to take bold steps beyond their comfort zones. “Empowerment is realized not when a leader gives power, but when individuals claim it for themselves,” she affirms.
Open, ongoing dialogue is foundational. Akanksha intentionally cultivates environments where transparency and psychological safety are the norm, ensuring every voice matters. When individuals feel seen and heard, they challenge themselves, embrace ownership, and pursue innovation once thought out of reach.
She measures empowerment as much by the questions people ask and the risks they’re willing to take as by formal outcomes. Regular check-ins and genuine conversations help her sense when someone feels both supported and stretched. Perhaps the clearest sign: when team members begin mentoring others or step eagerly into opportunities they once hesitated to approach.
Strength That Comes From Being Open
As her teams have flourished, Akanksha’s leadership focus has shifted from authority to trust. Vulnerability, she’s found, strengthens teams and deepens her own leadership. By sharing her setbacks and lessons learned, she positions herself not as a distant authority but as a fellow traveler navigating the same challenges alongside.
This openness builds robust trust and normalizes learning from failure as a vital path to growth. She intentionally crafts spaces where candid dialogue thrives, allowing team members to feel safe questioning, experimenting, and admitting mistakes. Professional boundaries are respected, for Akanksha, vulnerability means sincere honesty in pursuit of progress, not oversharing.
A belief she often returns to guides this approach: “Leadership is not about having all the answers, but about having the courage to ask the right questions.” In modeling this approach, she invites her teams to do the same, creating a culture where strength stems from openness and collective learning.
Humanity in a High-Tech Future
As technology accelerates, Akanksha S Gulia’s focus has shifted from the inevitability of change to a more essential question: what remains fundamental in the digital age?
In a world captivated by artificial intelligence and relentless efficiency, Akanksha sees technology’s highest calling as amplifying, not diminishing the human spirit. Each creative pivot and adaptation has reinforced a guiding truth: no matter how sophisticated the tools, innovation’s beating heart is always people.
“Technology is a brilliant enabler, but it’s the human experience that gives work its soul and significance,” she often reminds herself and those she leads.
Human-centered design has honed her ability to listen, empathize, and respond to lived realities. She recognizes that the future of work belongs to leaders who balance analytics and automation with empathy, curiosity, and adaptability.
The Barriers Beneath the Surface
As the dialogue around inclusion has grown louder, Akanksha has observed where these conversations often stall.
True inclusion, she’s learned, starts with recognizing the hidden barriers embedded in cultural habits, unspoken norms, and daily routines. Valuing diversity is far deeper than a checklist, it demands intentional listening across every level of an organization.
Too often, hierarchy and unconscious bias silence those furthest from decision-making and innovation. Akanksha’s journey has taught her that real progress begins with a deliberate effort to invite every voice and every story into the conversation, fueling both innovation and authentic belonging.
She believes, “Inclusion flourishes only when we dare to question our routines and actively elevate every unique perspective in the room.”
Mentorship Without Imposition
As Akanksha S Gulia’s leadership evolved, so did her perspective on mentorship, shifting from giving guidance to practicing thoughtful restraint. For her, true mentorship is not about prescribing a path, but about cultivating possibility. The real discipline lies in knowing when to highlight opportunities rather than dictate solutions.
Akanksha’s approach is rooted in asking more than advising, listening genuinely, and empowering emerging leaders to find their own insights. Some of her most rewarding moments have come from holding back, an intentional choice that creates space for experimentation, safe failure, and self-discovery. She often reminds herself: “A mentor’s role isn’t to sculpt replicas, but to embolden trailblazers.”
The Courage to Remain Genuine
Over time, Akanksha’s understanding of courage matured. What once meant pushing boundaries within the familiar now means daring to be genuine, choosing authenticity and exploring uncharted paths even when the outcome is uncertain.
She’s discovered that meaningful growth stems from stepping into the unknown and trusting that diverse experiences will ultimately come together. By embracing non-linear progress, she’s strengthened both her expertise and her sense of self. “I may not have all the answers, but I trust my ability to learn and adapt,” she reflects.
At the core, she holds fast to a guiding belief: “Originality isn’t about standing alone. It’s about standing true, bringing your full, evolving self to every challenge.”
