Aunik Bhattacharjee, the Head of Global Deal Desk at Harvey AI, is not just focused on closing big deals. He is the person who designs the entire financial structure, including the critical, often unseen framework of a tech company that enables it to grow from a rapidly expanding startup into a stable, publicly traded entity.
Building Beyond the Deal
With a background that includes a bachelor’s degree in accounting and financial administration from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Bhattacharjee’s career has been all about strategically building lasting financial health. He proves that real success in high-growth tech requires more than a great idea. It also demands meticulous preparation to make it work in the long term.
Bhattacharjee’s work at Harvey AI covers two main areas. The first is managing the quote-to-cash process. This means setting up and maintaining the systems that guarantee sales teams can accurately price and structure deals. Specifically, the framework is designed to be ready for an audit, as it must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. It can also produce the clean, reliable data that is needed for accurate billing and revenue recognition.
The second area is pure deal strategy. Bhattacharjee’s team helps sellers navigate through difficult negotiations, pricing challenges and contract structuring. Their goal is to make sure every transaction matches the company’s revenue recognition rules while still delivering the maximum financial benefits. This kind of focus is particularly important for young startups where the pressure to show high revenue growth can sometimes come at the expense of long-term financial stability.
Helping Companies Grow
Much of Bhattacharjee’s deep understanding of financial structure stems from his time at Elastic from 2015 to 2021. He joined as the 219th employee and stayed until the company grew to more than 3,000 employees and completed its initial public offering (IPO) in 2018. He feels his experience with them was transformative. It meant shifting his focus from prioritizing only revenue growth to meeting the rigors of being a public company. Suddenly, the focus shifted to core investor metrics such as committed spend, gross margin, operating margin and net dollar retention.
Now installed at Harvey AI, Bhattacharjee is applying his IPO knowledge to establish the basic financial policies and structures the company needs. His current professional mission is to guide Harvey AI through its own public offering, a challenging goal he plans to achieve within the next five to 10 years.
The Secret to Success
When asked about the secret to his success, Bhattacharjee emphasizes two qualities: flexibility and ease of working with him. He believes that tech leaders should constantly evaluate their work and strategies. As he puts it, “Decisiveness is a core principle I stand by. But being decisive with thought means being open to possibly changing your mindset about decisions made earlier, especially as circumstances evolve.” His ability to reevaluate and pivot, he explains, has been central to his whole career path.
Bhattacharjee’s professional drive is exceeded only by his personal commitments. He mentors students and young professionals, drawing on his own early challenges, such as graduating high school at 16 and then college at 20, and he enjoys offering his guidance. Looking ahead, he plans to start his own consulting company and open a nonprofit dog rescue organization, driven by his intense desire to make an impact that goes beyond the business world.
