Kishlay Sharad
Bangalore
Summary
Seasoned Leader with over 15 years of experience in Customer Success, Escalations Management, Operations, and Technical Support. Demonstrated ability to build high-performing teams, manage multi-million-dollar P&L, and enhance revenue retention through effective churn prevention strategies. Recognized for leveraging customer insights to influence product strategy and achieve operational excellence in high-pressure environments.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Director – Escalations
Netskope
01.2021 - Current
- Led Advanced Technical Support (L3), Global Escalation Management, and Critical Incident Response across APAC and EMEA, supporting strategic enterprise customers and executive stakeholders.
- Built and scaled Netskope’s Support L3, Escalations and Incident Management organization from inception establishing global operating models, frameworks, and escalation governance.
- Owned and managed a $5M+ operational P&L, driving cost efficiency, workforce optimization, and service excellence across Escalations and Advanced Support functions.
- Designed and launched the Escalations program for churn Management, preventing $60M+ in customer churn within 18 months through structured crisis management, executive engagement, and rapid remediation.
- Created Netskope’s first proactive Churn Indicator Framework, enabling early risk detection, executive visibility, and data-driven intervention for high-value accounts.
- Improved Net Revenue Retention (NRR) and Gross Revenue Retention (GRR) by 6% through standardized escalation playbooks, root-cause analysis, and closed-loop corrective actions.
- Increased support ticket containment rate to Engineering by 10% over 24 months, reducing product backlog pressure and accelerating customer resolution timelines.
- Partnered closely with Product and Engineering leadership to translate escalation insights into prioritized roadmap initiatives, contributing to multi-million-dollar revenue opportunities.
- Drove structured product supportability and reliability reviews through recurring QBRs with Engineering and Product leadership, improving release readiness and operational resilience.
- Led executive-level customer QBRs, crisis communications, and recovery plans for strategic global enterprise accounts.
- Owned high-stakes executive negotiations, successfully retaining critical customers, restoring trust, and strengthening long-term strategic partnerships.
Escalation Manager – Product Reliability
Cisco Systems
10.2019 - 01.2021
- Led high-severity enterprise product escalations impacting strategic global customers.
- Owned Escalation governance, executive communications, and cross-functional initiatives.
- Partnered with Engineering, SRE, and Product teams to drive root cause resolution.
- Delivered executive-level RCAs with corrective and preventive action plans.
- Improved MTTR, incident visibility, and escalation handling consistency across priority cases.
Senior Consultant
NetApp
06.2015 - 10.2019
- Led managed services delivery for enterprise storage environments.
- Owned service stabilization, operational governance, and improved client satisfaction.
Consultant
Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd
05.2013 - 05.2015
- Team lead for an 8-member team supporting cloud, storage, backup, and network operations.
- Drove automation, preventive maintenance, and client-facing incident resolution.
IT Consultant
CGI
12.2010 - 04.2013
- Supported shared services across storage, backup, and Windows platforms.
- Executed continuous improvement initiatives with SMEs and documented best practices.
Education
PGP PRO - Post graduate program in Management for Professionals
2022
B.Tech - Electronics & Communication
2010
Skills
- Executive Stakeholder Engagement
- Enterprise Customer Success
- Escalations and Service Delivery
- Customer retention and revenue protection
- Global Support Operations
- Risk Governance
- SaaS Platforms
- Strategic planning
- Executive Negotiations and Communications
- Operational profit and loss ownership
- Data-driven decision-making
Certification
- CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional
- PMP – Project Management Professional
Timeline
Director – Escalations - Netskope
01.2021 - Current
Escalation Manager – Product Reliability - Cisco Systems
10.2019 - 01.2021
Senior Consultant - NetApp
06.2015 - 10.2019
Consultant - Accenture Solutions Pvt Ltd
05.2013 - 05.2015
IT Consultant - CGI
12.2010 - 04.2013
UCLA Anderson School of Management - PGP PRO, Post graduate program in Management for Professionals
University of Pune - B.Tech, Electronics & Communication