By the age of 30, Akash Dayal had evolved from a published engineering researcher into a cross-functional business and technology leader at Siemens Digital Industries Software, with experience spanning enterprise cloud adoption, Customer Success leadership, SaaS governance, go-to-market strategy and global Simulation portfolio adoption.

His journey is distinguished by an ability to connect deep engineering expertise with customer strategy, commercial outcomes and organisational transformation.

Today, as an Adoption Advisor at Siemens Digital Industries Software, Akash operates at the intersection of industrial technology, customer strategy and enterprise transformation, with a global focus on driving adoption of the Simulation portfolio. His responsibilities bring together Sales, Presales, Product, technical specialists and customers around a common objective: translating advanced engineering technologies into sustained enterprise value.

He has now been recognised by Business Mint’s Nationwide Under 30 Awards 2026 under the 30 Under 30 – Industrial Technology, Cloud & Digital Transformation category.

The leadership journey is built upon an unusually strong technical and academic foundation: research exposure at IIT Kanpur, branch-topper credentials from BIT Mesra, three engineering research publications, an ICAMEN Best Paper Award, research published through Springer Nature, and recognition as a Siemens Digital Industries Software Rising Star.

“The defining thread in Akash’s career is an expanding sphere of influence from solving engineering problems, to enabling customers, to shaping adoption strategy and cross-functional technology outcomes.”

From Scientific Research to Industrial Engineering

Akash’s technical journey began during his undergraduate years at Manipal University Jaipur, where he was selected for the prestigious SURGE Research Fellowship at IIT Kanpur.

His exposure to nuclear science and engineering research introduced him early to rigorous scientific inquiry, complex physical systems and the power of computational methods to investigate engineering problems that are difficult to study through experimentation alone.

He subsequently pursued Computer-Aided Analysis and Design in Mechanical Engineering at BIT Mesra, graduating as the topper of his branch.

During his postgraduate studies, his work moved deeply into combustion science, computational fluid dynamics and digital engine development. He also undertook project training at Tata Motors, working on in-cylinder combustion simulation and the development and feasibility assessment of an RCCI dual-fuel engine concept.

His engineering research resulted in three peer-reviewed publications. One of his papers received the Best Paper Award at ICAMEN 2019 and was subsequently published through Springer Nature.

These experiences created the technical depth that would later become central to his career in industrial simulation and enterprise engineering software.

Engineering Depth Meets Commercial Technology

In 2019, Akash joined Siemens Digital Industries Software as an Application Engineer, bringing his background in computational research into industrial simulation.

His early responsibilities spanned presales and post-sales engineering, combustion technology, simulation science, customer training and technical engagement.

Working directly with customers exposed him to both sides of the technology equation: understanding how sophisticated engineering software works, and understanding how organisations evaluate, adopt and derive business value from that technology.

As his scope expanded, Akash increasingly operated beyond a purely technical mandate. He contributed to portfolio development, customer enablement, market-facing technical discussions and strategic simulation opportunities.

He also served as a guest speaker on Powertrain Engineering and Technical Ethics at academic institutions and start-ups, reflecting the intersection of his engineering expertise and broader intellectual interests.

In December 2022, he was promoted to Advanced Application Engineer.

During this phase, Akash also authored more than 20 internal technical and business success stories, converting customer learnings and technical outcomes into reusable organisational knowledge.

This reflected an early leadership instinct: not merely solving an individual problem, but capturing the insight in a way that enables other teams to learn, replicate and scale the outcome.

Cloud Adoption and the Shift to Customer-Success Leadership

A major inflection point came in 2024 when Akash moved into Customer Success Management, taking responsibility for enterprise customers across the DACH region—Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

His mandate expanded significantly: from technical enablement into technology adoption, cloud transformation, value realisation, renewals, expansion and long-term customer outcomes.

The transition coincided with an important shift in the industrial-software industry toward subscription-based, SaaS and cloud-enabled delivery models.

Akash increasingly focused on helping enterprises navigate that transformation — aligning technology adoption with strategic objectives, improving usage and value realisation, and connecting sophisticated technical capabilities with measurable commercial outcomes.

His responsibilities also extended beyond individual customer accounts.

He led low-touch and tech-touch Customer Success initiatives using technology and AI-enabled engagement triggers, contributed to onboarding and developing team members, represented Customer Success in SaaS governance, go-to-market strategy and product-launch governance, and led the Simulation Adoption initiative from Customer Success.

Together, these responsibilities marked an evolution from managing individual customer outcomes to influencing broader adoption strategy and cross-functional business execution.

He also received LinkedIn Top Voice recognition in Customer Retention, reflecting his professional engagement and thought leadership in customer relationship management.

Driving Global Simulation Portfolio Adoption

Today, as an Adoption Advisor at Siemens Digital Industries Software, Akash works at the intersection of industrial technology, customer strategy and enterprise transformation, with a global focus on driving Simulation portfolio adoption.

Working across Sales, Presales, Product, technical specialists and customers, his role centres on identifying adoption opportunities, accelerating value realisation and helping translate advanced engineering technologies into sustainable enterprise outcomes.

The role brings together the different chapters of his professional journey: the researcher who understands the physics behind simulation; the application engineer who understands how industrial software is applied; the Customer Success leader who understands adoption and business value; and the management professional who understands strategy, governance and organisational decision-making.

His professional contribution and growth were recognised through the Siemens Digital Industries Software Rising Star honour, reflecting a career that has progressively expanded from technical execution to cross-functional influence and portfolio-level adoption leadership.

Building Business Leadership Through IIM Kozhikode

As his responsibilities expanded, Akash complemented his engineering and customer-transformation experience with formal management education through the Executive Post Graduate Programme in Management at IIM Kozhikode.

The programme strengthened his perspective across strategy, finance, analytics, marketing, leadership and organisational decision-making, enabling him to view technology adoption not simply as an engineering challenge, but as a broader business-transformation problem.

During the programme, Akash participated in X-Culture, an international business collaboration initiative, where he received a Top 1% peer evaluation.

He also gained international academic exposure through an immersion at Paris School of Business.

These experiences further strengthened his ability to work across cultures, functions and perspectives — capabilities increasingly important in global enterprise technology leadership.

A Technology Leader With a Philosopher’s Lens

Akash’s multidisciplinary profile extends beyond engineering and business.

Alongside his Siemens career, he completed a Master’s degree in Philosophy, with a particular academic interest in Indian philosophy. He has authored and presented multiple papers through national and international philosophical forums and journals, including work associated with the Asian Philosophical Congress and Indian Philosophical Congress.

He is also a founding member of the Jharkhand Philosophical Forum.

For Akash, philosophy is not separate from technology leadership. Engineering asks what can be built. Business asks how value can be created. Philosophy asks why that value matters, how judgement should guide progress, and what responsible innovation should ultimately serve.

As artificial intelligence, digital twins, cloud platforms and advanced simulation increasingly shape industrial decision-making, Akash believes the ability to consider all three perspectives will become increasingly important for technology leaders.

Leadership Beyond the Job Description

Akash’s leadership journey also extends beyond formal corporate responsibilities.

He served as President of an Intellectual Society of more than 200 members, leading initiatives across knowledge exchange, social, cultural and technical themes and helping create a platform for collaborative intellectual engagement.

Earlier in his journey, he was also a regional winner of TCS IT Wiz, reflecting a long-standing interest in technology and knowledge.

Today, he extends that commitment through mentorship.

As a mentor in the Siemens Scholarship Programme, Akash guides engineering students through academic choices, final-year projects, career development and industry readiness.

He has also participated in education-focused CSR initiatives.

For Akash, leadership is ultimately not measured only by individual achievement, but by the capability and confidence one helps create in others.

Recognising the Next Generation of Industrial Technology Leadership

Akash’s recognition under Nationwide Under 30 Awards 2026 – 30 Under 30 – Industrial Technology, Cloud & Digital Transformation acknowledges a professional journey spanning scientific research, industrial software, enterprise cloud adoption, Customer Success leadership, cross-functional governance and global Simulation portfolio adoption.

What distinguishes the journey is the combination of technical depth and business breadth.

From nuclear-science research and published engineering work to enterprise cloud adoption, SaaS governance, global customer responsibility, management education, philosophy scholarship and mentoring, Akash has consistently moved across boundaries that are traditionally treated as separate disciplines.

His career illustrates a broader shift in industrial technology leadership: technical excellence remains fundamental, but increasingly must be combined with the ability to influence adoption, understand customer value, navigate organisations and connect technology with strategic business outcomes.

Looking Ahead: Engineering, Cloud and AI at Scale

Akash’s longer-term vision lies at the convergence of simulation, artificial intelligence, cloud technology, digital twins and industrial transformation.

He believes advanced engineering technologies are entering a period of democratisation, where capabilities once accessible primarily to specialists will increasingly become cloud-enabled, AI-assisted and embedded within broader engineering and business workflows.

The leaders who shape that transition will need to speak several languages simultaneously: the language of the engineer, the customer, the product organisation and the business leader.

Akash’s career has been building precisely at that intersection.

For him, leadership is ultimately about connecting science with strategy, engineering with business, and innovation with human purpose — and turning those connections into adoption, value and impact at scale.