Hi, I'm DATTS
Co-Founder & Director, SandurTech. Bridging industrial operations, enterprise technology, and AI-driven innovation.
For nearly 27 years, I have helped industrial organizations understand complex business problems, modernize critical systems, lead transformation programmes, and turn technology into measurable operational value. Today I bring that experience to clients through SandurTech, an independent advisory and engineering practice I founded for manufacturing and process industries.
A career grounded in operations and delivery
I began my career on the steel plant floor as a Mechanical Maintenance Engineer and went on to lead enterprise software, consulting, automation, and delivery teams across eight organizations and three countries, including JSW Steel, Saksoft, Algorhythm, Essar, Broner Metal Solutions in the UK, and PSI Software SE.
My nearly 14 years with PSI took me from Project Manager at Broner in the UK through Solution Designer and Interface Lead to Department Manager and Head at PSI Metals India, with responsibility spanning resource planning, financial governance, risk, stakeholder engagement, capability development, solution design, pre-sales, and the adoption of emerging technologies. Across Level 2 automation, MES, APS, and ERP, one belief stayed constant: understand the business problem first, then build the right solution.
Why I founded SandurTech
Many transformation programmes struggle not because technology is unavailable, but because business priorities, operating realities, legacy systems, data, and human decisions are not connected. In 2026 I left PSI to build a practice that closes that gap: independent, decision-first, and grounded in how plants actually run.
SandurTech works with steel and wider manufacturing leadership teams across advisory, AI readiness and applied intelligence, MES/APS modernization, decision systems, data integration, focused industrial software, and transformation assurance, along with decision-specific solutions for long products, line sequencing, service centres, solar manufacturing, and yard management.
Explore SandurTech's services and solutions →
How I think about AI in industry
AI earns its place on the shop floor only when it is tied to a real decision, governed, explainable, and adopted by the people accountable for the outcome. That conviction shapes the frameworks I develop and publish, including SandurTech's explainable indices for multi-plant steel networks, and the way every engagement moves from AI curiosity to measurable value with humans firmly in the loop.
My vision
To turn decades of operational, consulting, and technology experience into measurable growth, robust governance, and lasting sustainability for industrial organizations, and to lead the responsible adoption of AI and agentic systems across the enterprise.
How I can help
Many transformation programmes struggle not because technology is unavailable, but because business priorities, operating realities, legacy systems, data, and human decisions are not connected. My consultancy work brings those elements together through advisory, blueprinting, modernization, delivery assurance, and focused software engineering.
01 Business and operations advisory
Make important operational problems visible, specific, and actionable.
Business analysis, plant studies, and process assessment
Operating-model, capability, and business-case development
Transformation priorities, roadmaps, governance, and risk reviews
02 AI readiness and applied intelligence
Move from AI curiosity to use cases tied to real decisions and measurable value.
AI readiness surveys for leadership, people, data, and technology
Use-case discovery, prioritization, and proof-of-value design
Decision-centric data assessment and targeted data improvement
Human-in-the-loop AI, adoption, and capability roadmaps
03 Digital transformation blueprinting
Create a practical future-state design that can guide investment and delivery.
Digital maturity and application-landscape assessment
Plant, enterprise, data, and integration architecture
Future-state capability blueprint
Phased implementation, sequencing, and dependency plan
04 MES, APS, and legacy modernization
Modernize essential systems while protecting operational continuity and institutional knowledge.
MES and APS health checks and gap analysis
Migration, retrofit, augmentation, and replacement strategies
Functional design, data migration, testing, cutover, and stabilization
Knowledge capture from undocumented legacy applications
05 Management information and decision systems
Give leaders and operating teams timely information that helps them act—not just observe.
Executive, plant, production, quality, and supply-chain dashboards
MIS applications, reporting systems, and review packs
KPI design, exception management, alerts, and drill-down views
Decision cockpits and information-integrity monitoring
06 Data and integration engineering
Connect fragmented systems and create reliable flows of operational information.
Data lakes, operational data platforms, and data models
ERP, MES, APS, LIMS, historian, and warehouse integration
Interface specifications, APIs, event flows, and reconciliation
Data quality, lineage, master-data, and reference-data controls
07 Focused software and industrial tools
Build small, useful products for problems that standard platforms do not solve well.
Python-based tools and FastAPI services
Workflow, planning, scenario-analysis, and reconciliation applications
Internal portals, automation utilities, AI assistants, and pilots
08 Transformation assurance
Improve confidence in complex programmes before risks become expensive surprises.
Independent programme and workstream health checks
Requirements, design, architecture, and vendor reviews
Interface-register and cross-workstream dependency governance
Testing readiness, cutover planning, and steering support
09 Guest lectures and learning engagements
Bring practical industry experience into the classroom, professional forum, or corporate learning programme.
Project and programme management in the real worldProject governance, risk, stakeholder alignment, and delivery leadership
Supply-chain planning, operations management, and decision-centric execution
Manufacturing systems, MES, APS, ERP, digital transformation, and AI readiness
Business analysis, careers, leadership, and lessons from a practitioner’s journey
My vision
To turn decades of consulting, IT, and process expertise into measurable growth, robust governance, and lasting sustainability—and to lead the responsible adoption of AI and agentic systems enterprise-wide. I aim to foster innovation, sharpen operational efficiency, enable evidence-based decisions, and help leadership teams build resilient, future-ready organizations with integrity.
Ways to engage
Beyond work
When I am not leading projects or exploring new technologies, I write and share insights, build an EdTech venture, study Sanskrit literature and Haridasa Sahitya, and enjoy trekking, fitness, and the outdoors. I am also a lifelong learner; most recently, I completed the Professional Certificate in Agentic AI & Applications from IITM Pravartak, applying AI, RAG systems, agent orchestration, and AI-assisted development to real-world business challenges.