From Ideation to Impact, Deepak Narayanan is Moving the Needle on Strategic Consulting

From boardrooms to the trenches, and strategy decks to measurable outcomes, Deepak Narayanan, Founder of Practus, has redefined what impact means in consulting. With a career rooted in global consulting firms, his entrepreneurial leap was driven by a bold vision: to bridge the gap between advice and action.

In conversation with Marksmen Daily, Deepak Narayanan opens up about the journey of building Practus, the leadership principles that power its performance-driven culture, and the mindset shifts required to scale a purpose-led organization on a mission to deliver real results.

Your journey from working at global consulting firms to founding Practus has been remarkable. What inspired you to take the entrepreneurial leap, and what challenges shaped you as a leader?

Thank you! I’ve always believed that consulting should move beyond PowerPoint to tangible outcomes. After years in global firms, I saw a gap between strategy and execution—clients needed real, measurable impact. That’s what drove me to start Practus. The early years were anything but smooth, but a lot of fun —bootstrapping, building credibility, and hiring people who believed in our ‘results-first’ approach. Those challenges taught me resilience and reinforced a core truth: people don’t follow a plan, they follow belief. That belief in value creation has shaped how I lead to this day.

Practus has delivered over $500 million in ROI for clients. Looking back, what are the most valuable lessons you’ve learned about creating measurable impact in consulting?

First, align incentives with outcomes—value-based pricing keeps everyone focused on impact, not effort. Second, stay close to the ground. Real change doesn’t happen in boardrooms, it happens in the trenches. And third, build client teams that win even after you leave—sustainable success is the real ROI. We measure everything, but behind those numbers are teams that deeply care. That human commitment is what makes results repeatable.

Many leaders talk about innovation, but Practus has built a consulting model that consistently delivers results. What leadership principles have helped you drive this transformation?

Three principles:

·         Extreme ownership – Don’t just advise; own the outcome.

·         Clarity over complexity – Simplify the ask, then Wow the client.

·         Culture of curiosity – We’re constantly asking “what if” and “what next,” whether in productizing services or creating IP.

As a leader, how do you balance leveraging technology for efficiency while ensuring human expertise remains at the core of consulting?

Tech is a force multiplier—it helps us deliver faster, smarter, better. But consulting is still a people business. Clients don’t buy tools; they buy trust. We use tech to remove friction, not replace intuition. Whether it’s dashboards, automation, or AI-based insights, the final mile always needs human judgment. The magic happens when tech and people co-create outcomes.

You’ve set an ambitious goal of reaching a $1 billion valuation by 2030. How has your leadership style evolved as Practus scales, and what mindset shifts have been crucial in this journey?

When we started, it was about being agile, challenging everything. Now, it’s about building engines that scale—systems, leaders, and culture. The biggest shift has been from doing to enabling. I’ve moved from being the driver of outcomes to the architect of ecosystems. That means trusting leaders, letting go where needed, and obsessing over culture as much as client success. Scaling is not just about growing revenues; it’s about growing belief.