A founder's pace for sports administration

The biggest gift a founder brings to a federation is not money. It is pace. Decisions weeks, not years. Data, not anecdote. Players treated as customers whose lifetime value the institution must maximise.

I came to chess administration from a different lane — from running a strategy firm, co-founding ventures in digital news, payments and consumer audio, and investing in start-ups. The biggest gift a founder brings to a federation is not money. It is pace. Decisions in weeks, not years. Data, not anecdote. Players treated as customers whose lifetime value the institution must maximise.

We have tried to bring this discipline to the AICF without losing the dignity that public office demands. Tournaments are scheduled and announced months in advance. Contracts are honoured. The federation publishes what it will do, and then is held to account for what it has done. That is the bargain a modern sporting institution must offer its players, its sponsors and its public.

A founder's pace inside a public institution is not about disruption. It is about removing friction so the talent India already has can travel further and faster.