Aditya TotadeBusiness & AI systems consultant · Claude agent workflows · Zoho One · Power BI · Political writing

Your team has a CRM. Nobody trusts what’s in it.

I’m Aditya. I work with growing teams whose CRM, reports and SOPs haven’t kept up. I start by mapping how the work moves today, then fix it with Zoho One, Power BI and SOPs written with your people. AI comes in only where it saves someone time.

Book a free Workflow Audit call See the work

Free · 15–20 min · No pitch. If it’s a fit, the next step is a written proposal. Or write to aditya.totade@gmail.com

Where I’ve worked and trained Mumbai · open to remote
See case studies

I sort out the process first and choose the tools after: Zoho One, Power BI, written SOPs, and AI where it saves someone time.

Five signs your systems haven’t kept up with the business.

If a few of these sound familiar, each one points to a service further down.

Run my audit
#Warning signWhere I’d start
01Your CRM exists, but nobody trusts it and follow-ups still happen by hand.Zoho CRM
02Critical process knowledge lives in one person’s head, or in WhatsApp threads.Process & SOPs
03You’ve heard “we should use AI”, but nobody has worked out which tasks it would help.AI automation
04Every week someone scrambles to put the report together, and leadership never sees live numbers.Power BI
05Every new hire learns the same undocumented process by word of mouth.Process & SOPs

Customer and vendor records I moved from Tally into Zoho Books for one client, with opening balances reconciled to the trial balance.

ARK Meditech, 2026 · part of a Zoho One implementation I led as a freelance consultant.

A few numbers from past work

DHL figures are internship results as reported, May–Jul 2025
01DHL Express India+17%

Employee productivity after the Training & QCC workflow redesign.

02DHL Express India+30%

Shipment-classification accuracy from new DHL and Blue Dart SOPs.

03DHL Express India−20%

Misrouting delays, plus a separate, further 20% cut in overall delivery delays.

04IIT HyderabadRank 1

National AI hackathon, 2024: a real-time disaster-detection classifier, 86% accuracy.

What growing teams bring me in for

Explore services

Six services, each tied to work I’ve already done.

These are paid engagements, each scoped in a written proposal. The free Workflow Audit call comes before any of them; it’s just a short conversation.

  1. 01

    Business Analysis & Process Improvement

    Find out where the work gets stuck, then fix that.

    5–10 business days

    I map how the process runs today, find the bottlenecks and the handoffs that break, rewrite the SOPs with the people who run them, and test the change before it goes live.

    ProofDHL Express India, internship, May–Jul 2025: a Training & QCC workflow redesign lifted productivity by 17%. Shipment-bifurcation SOPs for DHL and Blue Dart raised classification accuracy by 30% and cut misrouting delays by 20%; a wider bottleneck review of the DHL–Blue Dart flow cut overall delivery delays by a further 20%. Results as reported from the internship.

  2. 02

    AI Architecture, Agents & Automation

    AI systems that do the repetitive work, built on Claude, with rules and a person checking anything important.

    One workflow first · coaching available

    I design and build AI workflows end to end: Claude Code agent set-ups (project instructions, skills, agents matched to the right model, scripts for the exact steps, and a review gate before anything goes out), automations that connect AI to the tools you already use, and scheduled daily runs. I also teach founders and teams to build and run their own with Claude Code.

    ProofMy own Claude agent system, 2026, own use: 24 agents and 8 skills, with scripts and review gates, run my job search, client outreach, research-and-writing desk and LinkedIn posting, plus a daily cloud run. ARK Meditech, client, 2026: integrated AI into the client’s Zoho CRM for their automation goals; delivered as agreed, with a written recommendation. AI Operations Manager prototype (Google Sheets + Apps Script, built for an Allo Innoware hiring assignment): recurring tasks, pending reports, manager alerts and leadership escalation; passed all 8 offline test scenarios. Prototype, not deployed. Rank 1, IIT Hyderabad national AI hackathon (a classifier with 86% accuracy).

  3. 03

    Zoho CRM & Zoho One Implementation

    A CRM your team keeps up to date, linked to your accounts and stock.

    Tally → Zoho Books migration from ₹24,999 · larger roll-outs scoped in the proposal

    Requirements first, then pipeline, fields, automation rules and clean data. Where it helps, I connect the CRM to Zoho Books, Inventory, Analytics and Creator, and bring your history across from Tally.

    ProofARK Meditech, client, 2026: configured Zoho CRM end to end as a freelance consultant (paid in full, written recommendation), then led the wider Zoho One rollout. Migrated about 980 customer and vendor records and their opening balances from Tally to Zoho Books, reconciled to the trial balance; built Zoho Analytics dashboards and a Zoho Creator delivery-tracking app, piloted on test deliveries. The stock master and the GPS tracking link are still in progress.

  4. 04

    Data Analytics & Power BI

    Numbers leadership can look up without chasing anyone.

    5–7 business days

    I build each dashboard around a decision someone has to make, check the data behind it, and hand it over properly so people can rely on the numbers. Power BI, Excel, SQL or Zoho Analytics.

    ProofDHL Express India: replaced manual reporting with live Power BI dashboards, validated through user-acceptance testing before rollout. ARK Meditech: executive, vendor-analysis and migration-control dashboards in Zoho Analytics.

  5. 05

    Market Research & Business Strategy

    Research to test a decision before you commit to it.

    Scoped in the proposal

    I deliver consumer and retailer research, sector and competitor analysis, positioning, go-to-market plans and the unit economics behind them, written up as a brief leadership can act on.

    ProofThe Glück Bistro, client, 2026: growth and brand strategy, an acquisition and retention system, unit economics (CAC, LTV, contribution margin) and a weekly KPI system; recommendation letter drafted, with the founders for signature. Framework figures are modelled projections. Gatorade go-to-market study: consumer and retailer interviews (159 reported in the team deck), projected +25% first-time trials. China+1 framework: six pillars comparing India, Vietnam and Mexico. Luxury fashion and FMCG sector analyses, team projects: one-page briefs. These are academic or self-directed research, not client work.

  6. 06

    Political Research, Public Policy & Geopolitical Analysis

    Clear, sourced writing on politics and public policy.

    Scoped in the proposal

    I provide research-backed political analysis, public policy insights, and geopolitical research covering Indian politics, Maharashtra governance, Mumbai civic affairs, and international relations. My services include op-eds and ghost-written articles, speeches, policy briefs, election and issue research, governance reports and political consulting. Every piece lists its sources, and my own published analysis stays non-partisan.

    ProofFive political writing samples, self-directed, October 2026: the BMC’s accountability gap, Maharashtra’s drought response during its council polls, the cost of India’s strategic autonomy, Maharashtra’s drought, exam-leak and policing disputes seen from every side, and five outside pressures (oil, weather, shipping, the border and an unsigned EU trade deal) on one Mumbai household, each with a source list, linked further down the page. All five are governance-first and non-partisan.

Not sure which of these fits? We can work it out on the call.

Book a free Workflow Audit call

Two client engagements, and what came out of them.

Independent engagements in 2026: one in healthcare distribution, one in hospitality.

Written client recommendation ARK Meditech logo
ARK Meditech
Zoho CRM + AI integration, then Zoho One · 2026

“Technical expertise, responsiveness, and a thorough understanding of business requirements.”

ARK Meditech
Healthcare distributor · client engagement, 2026
Read the ARK story
Independent client engagement The Glück Bistro logo
The Glück Bistro
Malad West, Mumbai · 2026

A brand, growth and commercial blueprint for a founder-led bistro.

  • Positioning built around “Vermont Trained · Mumbai Loved · Founder Cooked”.
  • Customer journey from stranger to ambassador, with retention and referral as the growth levers.
  • Discovery Pass and QR discovery cards to turn first visits into repeat visits.
  • Content and campaigns, including “Glück Goals — Eat the World Cup” and a reel/script bank.
  • Financial model: three-scenario P&L, contribution per order, CAC, LTV, break-even and a six-month ramp.
  • Weekly KPI dashboard and a 90-day execution roadmap.

Framework figures are modelled projections, not measured outcomes. A recommendation letter has been drafted and is with the founders for signature.

Glück Goals campaign concept: Eat the World Cup
The Glück Bistro master poster concept

Campaign concepts from the engagement · AI-assisted visuals

Read the Glück story

Two client projects, a DHL internship and a design that hasn’t been deployed.

Hover or tap a card, then read the full story below.

Book a call
~980records migratedClient · 2026From Tally and spreadsheets to one Zoho One system, led as a freelance consultantRead the story +30%classification accuracyInternship · 2025The delays weren’t a routing problemRead the story AI-assisted visualCAC · LTVunit economicsClient · 2026A growth system and the numbers to run it, for a Mumbai bistroRead the story Designnot deployedProposalTurning foremen’s messages into checked daily reportsRead the story
Zoho OneDelugePower BIApps ScriptSQLPython
ARK MeditechHealthcare2026Client engagement

From Tally and spreadsheets to one Zoho One system, led as a freelance consultant

Independent consultant · implementation coordinator

The situation
A distributor of medical gases and supplies ran its accounts in Tally and its deliveries by phone and paper. Nobody handed me a spec.
What I did
I scoped the requirements with the client and designed their Zoho One setup. I migrated about 980 customer and vendor records and their opening balances from Tally into Zoho Books, reconciled to the trial balance. I connected Zoho CRM to Books and built a product catalogue in Zoho Inventory. I built dashboards in Zoho Analytics and a delivery-tracking app in Zoho Creator, then designed its link to the client’s Sahaj GPS vehicle tracking.
Outcome
The Books migration, dashboards and Creator delivery app are live; the Creator app was piloted on test deliveries. Still in progress: the full stock master (waiting on the client’s stock data) and the GPS link (waiting on Sahaj’s technical details). The first phase, the CRM and AI integration, was delivered as agreed and paid in full. The client put their recommendation in writing:

“Technical expertise, responsiveness, and a thorough understanding of business requirements.”

ARK Meditech
ARK Meditech as-is process diagram
Before: how sales requests were handled, with the pain points marked.
ARK Meditech delivered intervention diagram
What I delivered: the CRM + AI engagement, step by step.
DHL Express IndiaMumbaiMay–Jul 2025Internship

The delays weren’t a routing problem

Operations & Product Analytics Intern · Training & QC Cell

The assumption
The team believed delivery delays were a routing-speed problem.
What I found
The cause sat further upstream. At the handoff, DHL and Blue Dart were sorting shipments by different, inconsistent rules.
What I did
I wrote new SOPs for both carriers and redesigned the Training & QC workflow. I replaced manual reports with live Power BI dashboards, and I ran UAT (user acceptance testing) with the staff who would use them before rollout.
Internship results
+17%employee productivity
+30%shipment-classification accuracy
−20%misrouting delays
−20%a further reduction in overall delivery delays

Internship results from the Training & QC Cell, May–Jul 2025.

DHL Express as-is process diagram
Before: manual classification and reporting (operational detail generalised).
DHL Express improved process diagram
After: the intervention and its self-reported results.
The Glück BistroMumbai2026Client engagement

A growth system and the numbers to run it, for a Mumbai bistro

Strategy & Growth Consultant · independent, paid engagement

What I did
I worked on growth and brand positioning and mapped the customer journey. I designed an acquisition system built on discovery passes, QR codes and referrals.
The decision tools
I built a unit-economics framework covering CAC, LTV, contribution margin and break-even, plus a weekly KPI system to run it.
A note on numbers
The figures in the framework are modelled projections, not measured outcomes. A recommendation letter has been drafted and is with the founders for signature.
A field-services businessDesigned, not deployed

Turning foremen’s messages into checked daily reports

Proposal & architecture

The problem
Foremen send unstructured daily updates by email, WhatsApp and text.
The design
  • A language model reads the messages and pulls out what was said. That is its only job.
  • Fixed rules handle matching, duplicates, arithmetic and required fields.
  • A person approves anything billable, such as potential change orders.
The principle
Each part does only what it is reliable at, and a person keeps the final say.
Field-services daily report design: AI interprets, rules validate, humans approve
Proposed design. It has not been deployed.

Also

Earlier work, a self-initiated project, and research I did on my own or for my degree.

  • Prime Digital Agency · Jun 2022 – Jun 2023Task management & digital content

    I helped the team start using AI tools.

  • Project · not paid client workNitro Knight

    A 15-slide, 12-chapter commercial narrative and brand system.

  • Self-directed / academic research · not client-commissionedStrategy & analytics studies

    A six-pillar China+1 framework comparing India, Vietnam and Mexico. A study of India’s logistics costs.

  • Self-directed / academic research · not client-commissionedExplainable-AI classifier

    A classifier with Grad-CAM explanations, which show what the model based each decision on.

Recognise one of these problems in your own team?

Book a free Workflow Audit call

Team research projects from my PGDM.

Three group projects from the Business Design programme at WeSchool, Mumbai. They are academic work, not client engagements, and each card gives the team size and my role.

  1. FMCG · 2025

    Heritage vs challenger: Dabur and Patanjali under trade shocks

    We compared the two companies’ business models, FY2025 results, stakeholders and international exposure, then looked at each before and after the 2025 US tariff changes.

    Team of eight; I was one of the authors.

    Read the one-page brief (PDF)
  2. Luxury fashion · 2024–25

    How luxury fashion houses compete

    We benchmarked Gucci, Dior, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hermès and Chanel on six parameters, ran Porter’s five forces and a buyer segmentation, and interviewed staff in luxury stores.

    Team of four; I was one of the authors.

    Read the one-page brief (PDF)
  3. Sports drinks · 2025

    Why Gatorade sits on the shelf: buying behaviour in Mumbai

    We interviewed consumers and retailers across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai (the team deck reports 109 consumers and 50 retailers). Many in both groups mixed up sports drinks and energy drinks, and 15 of the 50 shops offered Red Bull or Sting instead. We proposed a clearer front label, a tangy-sweet flavour, branded coolers and a QR loyalty prototype.

    Team of six; I was the team’s analyst.

    Summary only. This was a WeSchool Global Citizen Leadership project, so the materials stay with the institute.

The briefs are my own one-page summaries. The original decks used third-party photographs and some charts I could not trace to a source, so they are not published here.

Political writing on how well government delivers.

Five self-directed opinion pieces: one on Mumbai’s civic body, two on Maharashtra’s governance (the drought, an exam leak and law and order), one on India’s foreign policy and one on five outside pressures on India, with reporting as of 11, 17 and 25 October 2026. They are non-partisan; any criticism is of how processes work, whoever runs them.

  1. Mumbai / BMC

    Mumbai Does Not Need More Civic Spectacle. It Needs a BMC That Can Be Measured.

    Three episodes in three weeks show a corporation that announces, reverses and fines. What is missing is a way for anyone to check how it is doing.

    Read the piece (PDF)
  2. Maharashtra

    Maharashtra’s Biggest Political Question Is Not Who Wins the Next Contest. It Is Whether the State Can Deliver.

    Five council seats are absorbing both alliances. Meanwhile, 265 talukas are in drought.

    Read the piece (PDF)
  3. India and the world

    Strategic Autonomy Is Becoming More Expensive for India. That Is Exactly Why It Matters.

    In one week, a trade-talks “plateau”, a peace proposal and a rupee defence turned a foreign-policy slogan into a bill.

    Read the piece (PDF)
  4. Maharashtra

    Drought, an Exam Leak and Protest Policing: Maharashtra’s Three Tests Come Down to Trust

    What the government, the opposition, farmers, students, officials and the courts each said and did in October, and which missing figures would settle the disputes.

    Read the piece (PDF)
  5. India and the world

    Five Outside Pressures Reach India Now. Most of the Relief Is Expected in 2027.

    El Niño, the war around Hormuz, a half-open Red Sea, face-offs in Arunachal and an unsigned EU deal: what they mean for one Mumbai household.

    Read the piece (PDF)

Self-directed writing samples, not commissioned. Drafted with AI assistance; the choice of topics, the opinions and the final edits are mine. Every fact is listed with its source.

Sources for every fact (PDF)All five pieces in one PDF

How a project with me runs, step by step.

Most system problems I see turn out to be process problems. So I start with how the work happens day to day, and nothing counts as done until the people who use it have tested it.

  1. A free Workflow Audit call Free

    We talk for 15–20 minutes about how the process runs, including the parts nobody wrote down. I won’t try to sell you anything on the call.

    Want a roadmap before committing? A Systems Health Check From ₹9,999 gives you two sessions, a map of how the work runs today, the main bottleneck and a 90-day plan. The fee is credited in full if we go ahead within 30 days.

  2. A written proposal

    If it’s a fit, I send a scoped proposal: the problem, the current state and the desired state, then the deliverables, timeline and price. You know exactly what you’re getting before anything starts.

  3. Fixed-timeline delivery

    I work to the agreed timeline, and the people who will use the system test it (user acceptance testing, or UAT) before we sign it off.

  4. Handover you can own

    You get documentation and a walkthrough, so your team can run it without me. I’ll also tell you what I finished, what I tested and what I left out.

AI interprets. Rules validate. Humans approve.

— The principle behind every workflow I design
  • Diagnose before building
  • Validate with real users
  • No black boxes
  • A person approves what matters
  • Be clear about what’s finished and what isn’t

Skills, certifications & training

Formal training in AI engineering, process quality, agile delivery, supply chains and sustainability. In practice, it’s why I test SOPs with the people who use them and run UAT before anything goes live.

Download the full résumé (PDF)
AI & Emerging Technologies (Professional Certification)
IIT Hyderabad · Feb – Jul 2024
Scrum Foundation
Certified
Agile
Delivery methods
Sustainability & ESG
KPMG India
Supply Chain Management
Certification
EXIMpreneurs
Udyami Maharashtra, 2026

Consulting skills

Business systems & process
  • Business analysis
  • Requirements analysis
  • Process mapping
  • SOP development
  • Workflow design
  • UAT
  • Root-cause analysis
Strategy & consulting
  • Business strategy
  • Growth strategy
  • Customer journey mapping
  • Commercial & unit-economics modelling
  • KPI system design
  • Market entry frameworks
  • Competitive intelligence
  • Go-to-market strategy
  • Market research
  • Cost-reduction strategy
Data & platforms
  • Zoho One
  • Deluge
  • Power BI
  • Advanced Excel
  • SQL
  • Python
  • KPI tracking
  • Agile Scrum
  • Lean

AI tools I work with every day

  • Claude CodeHow I build and test systems. Used on the ARK Meditech Zoho One work, and to build this site (booking with Calendly, security headers, automated checks), a Gmail-labelling automation and a proposal platform with e-signing and payments.
  • ClaudeResearch, analysis and writing: process maps, SOPs, proposals and the prep briefs for every call.
  • Claude DesignVisual design drafts and layouts, for example brand and banner concepts.
  • Gemini & PerplexitySecond opinions and source-checked research.

AI helps me draft and check. The decisions are mine, and anything important gets a person’s sign-off.

Aditya Totade in a light blue shirt, smiling
Mumbai

I trained as an engineer, then studied business design.

I’m Aditya. I studied IT, trained in AI at IIT Hyderabad, and then did a PGDM in Business Design to formalise the strategy side.

During my internship at DHL Express, I redesigned operations workflows that were in daily use. I’ve also led a Zoho One implementation for a healthcare distributor on my own, from Tally migration to a custom delivery-tracking app.

What I enjoy most is taking a vague, messy setup and leaving behind something a team can run without me.

Education & training

  • PGDM, Business Design — Welingkar Institute (WeSchool), Mumbai2024–2026
  • Professional Certification in AI & Emerging Technologies — IIT HyderabadFeb – Jul 2024
  • B.E., Information Technology — Atharva College of Engineering, Mumbai University2018–2022
  • Rank 1, IIT Hyderabad national AI hackathon: a real-time disaster-detection classifier, 86% accuracy2024

Tools & methods

Zoho One (CRM, Books, Inventory, Creator, Analytics, Projects) · Deluge · Power BI · Advanced Excel · SQL (analytical querying) · Python · PyTorch · Claude, Claude Code & Claude Design, plus Gemini & Perplexity, for AI-assisted research, building and workflow design. Methods: Agile/Scrum, Lean, UAT, SOP development.

Languages

English · Hindi (fluent) · Marathi (native) · Spanish (working)

Book a free Workflow Audit call, or just write.

Tell me which process costs you the most time. Maybe it’s a CRM nobody updates, a report that eats every Monday, or something only one person knows how to do. We’ll start there.

You’ll be talking to me.Free · 15–20 min · Google Meet

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Step one is a short call about how the work runs today.

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