He is currently the Chief Economist at the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate. Prior to this, he was the Chief Economist at ABN AMRO Bank. His professional career has spanned academic and corporate assignments. He held faculty positions at Brown University, Holy Cross College, Wesleyan University, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research (IGIDR), the Indian Council of Research on International Economic Relations and Jawaharlal Nehru university (JNU).

His commitment towards social causes is also noteworthy. He is a founder member of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) that is working for electoral reforms, right to information and greater transparency of those in power, empowerment of the ordinary citizen and reform of the government and bureaucracy. He is an op-ed columnist for the Financial Express and writes a weekly column in a local Mumbai paper.

He is a member of the Working Group on Challenges and Opportunities of Globalization for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). He has served on various committees of the Reserve Bank of India, most recently in the Committee for Fuller Capital Account Convertibility.

He is a member of the Board of India Today Economists, chairs the CII West Zone Sub Committee on Economic Affairs and the Research Advisory Panel of the Indian Institute of Banking and Finance. He has been a consultant to the World Bank and the UN ESCAP. He is a member of the IIT Bombay Advisory Board and also its Senate. He has served the Board of IIT Bombay Alumni Association as Director for four years, of which the last three years he has also been the Chairman.