Crafting My Role: My 9-Month Growth Journey at CARS24

It takes nine months to bring a baby into the world, and coincidentally, I recently completed my nine-month journey at CARS24. When I joined, I didn’t have a defined role—Ruchit, our co-founder, hired me with the trust that we’d figure it out together.

The journey began with me working alongside the Loss Prevention team—a group of ten exceptional individuals with extensive experience in fraud investigations. Drawing on my past experiences, I started by diving into investigations and learning the ropes.

Soon after, Arnav, who had recently moved to another role, handed over the responsibility of leading the Internal Audit function to me. Attending my first Audit Committee meeting here gave me clear insights into the key areas that needed my focus. The next steps involved unifying the teams and establishing the Governance, Risk, and Controls (GRC) team. This team embraces a 360-degree approach, driving audits, control automation, investigations, and comprehensive governance.

Within a month of interacting with Ruchit, he suggested I connect with Vikram, the Chief Autonaut. As an introvert, reaching out to the CEO felt daunting, but I overcame my hesitation, rewriting the introduction message several times before scheduling a meeting. Our first conversation lasted over an hour and set the tone for our collaboration. We discussed culture, controls, GRC’s vision, and how we could contribute to CARS24. To my surprise, Vikram remembered every detail, and in the following weeks, we collaborated on projects to shape culture, revise policies, and launch new initiatives. Today, I often share ideas with him—whether for GRC, the business, or the broader organisation.

Another memorable experience was meeting Gajju, our co-founder and a brilliant marketeer, where our discussions evolved into a creative collaboration—we worked together on a short film that used satire to highlight and address key business challenges.

Amid these engagements, the GRC team remained focused on its core responsibilities while embracing a founder’s mindset to tackle challenges beyond our defined roles. Our mission became clear: to drive meaningful change and contribute to the CARS24 vision of "better drives, better lives".

Highlights of what we’ve achieved so far:

• Audits for Improvement: Transformed internal audits into tools for growth and development, not fault-finding.
• Sustainable Actionables: We prioritise long-term solutions while addressing immediate fixes.
• Control Automation: Transitioning from manual to automated controls for greater efficiency and reliability.
• Investigations with Purpose: We’ve shifted from ending investigations with exits to addressing root causes.
• Challenging the Status Quo: Continuously questioning practices and finding better ways to operate.
• Transparency and Trust: Cultivated a culture of openness, celebrating wins and owning up failures.
• Proactive Communication: Established firm-wide communications on culture, conduct, and policies.
• Feedback as a Gift: Our accelerator channel strengthens collaboration through shared ideas and suggestions.
   

What’s GRC’s vision for 2025?

• Enhancing GRC’s Credibility: Becoming trusted collaborators for every change across the organisation.
• Preventive Loss Management: Ensuring the Loss Prevention team truly fulfills its name.
• Building Robust Controls: Driving controls without compromising speed or agility.
• Leveraging Data and Technology: Increasing the use of analytics and automation across GRC.
• Adopting a Founder's mindset: Tackling any challenge for the greater good of the organisation. 
   

To sum up my journey till this point: the "why" is now clear, and the "how" is taking care of itself. We are only getting started.