Most founders add headcount.What they need is rhythm.
Vishnu BalasundaramFounder and execution architect, The Ops Layer
Senior leaders he has worked for describe him as a force multiplier.
In practice that means one thing: he designs the ownership models, decision rights, and operating rhythm that let a company grow without every critical issue routing back through the founder.
Enterprise scale and agency delivery, both
Most operators in this field have one of two backgrounds.Some come from the enterprise, where governance and scale are the job. Some come from agency delivery, where the work ships under client pressure every week. He has both, and The Ops Layer is built on the overlap.
SolarWinds
Strategic program leadership, enterprise data
The operating model The Ops Layer now installs was built here.
- $2M+ enterprise data program across BI, Engineering, and Product
- Org-wide Agile cadence: delivery slippage down 30%
- Global teams on three continents
The full record
Led execution across a $2M+ enterprise data program spanning BI, Engineering, and Product, covering governance and Databricks. Installed an org-wide Agile operating cadence that reduced delivery slippage by 30%. Built delivery rhythms, governance layers, and roadmap clarity across global teams on three continents. The Head of Enterprise Data described the work as a force multiplier for the analytics organization.
OLIVER Agency
Regional program lead, APAC operations
APAC program delivery for Netflix, 3M, Reckitt, and Unilever.
- 90+ workflows redesigned into playbooks adopted globally
- 1,000+ manual hours removed every month
- Written endorsements from the APAC CEO and COO
The full record
Ran APAC-wide program delivery for enterprise accounts including Netflix, 3M, Reckitt, and Unilever, reporting to the APAC COO. Redesigned 90+ workflows into operational playbooks adopted globally. Automated reporting across 200+ recurring reports, removing 1,000+ hours of manual work every month. Built the APAC contract lifecycle system on Salesforce with automated expiry tracking. Presented GenAI and sustainability strategy at the senior leadership conference and was commended directly by the APAC CEO. Exited with written endorsements from both the APAC CEO and the APAC COO.
Earlier
Dassault Systèmes, India, a family enterprise
Channel marketing at Dassault Systèmes, Waltham, Massachusetts.
- Demand generation across the North American partner ecosystem
- Client servicing and account management in India
- Named a top performer at three separate organizations
The full record
Channel marketing at Dassault Systèmes in Waltham, Massachusetts, running demand-generation programs across the North American partner ecosystem. Client servicing and account management in India. Two years advising a family enterprise on operations and business development. Named a top performer at three separate organizations.
Building through execution instead of credentials
That was a position, not a compromise.
The thesis of The Ops Layer is that execution beats theory.A company's operating layer is designed by running programs, not by studying them. The two years that followed at OLIVER, and the eighteen months at SolarWinds after that, were the education.
- Education
- MS in Project Management, concentration in Analytics, Northeastern University, Boston
- BE, University of Mumbai
- Admits to HKUST Business School and Rotterdam School of Management MBA programs, 2022, declined
From enterprise programs to founder-led companies
The failure modes he fixed inside SolarWinds and OLIVER are the same ones that break a 90-person company.
- Decisions with no owner
- Handoffs with no definition of done
- Escalation with no threshold
- A weekly meeting that produces updates instead of decisions
Expensive, and slow to fix.
Cheaper to fix, and far more dangerous to leave, because the founder is the only routing layer the company has.
AI made the gap urgent.Small teams now generate more work, more decisions, and more exceptions than the operating layer around them can absorb, and the founder absorbs the difference. The Ops Layer exists to design that layer before it becomes a Chief of Staff job posting.
The practice is founder-led and senior-led.Clients work with Vishnu directly, on every engagement, with the institutional rigor of the enterprise programs the method came from. It is built to carry that standard as it grows.
How to work together
Based in Mumbai. Works US business hours, by design.
Write to vishnu@theopslayer.com
On LinkedIn he publishes on execution architecture and writes The Routing Layer, a monthly letter on execution in AI-era companies.
Questions before working together
Do you work alone?
Clients work with the founder directly on every engagement. The practice is founder-led and senior-led, which means the person who diagnoses your company is the person who designs and installs the fix. It is built with the rigor to scale beyond one operator over time, without changing that principle.
Are you a fractional COO?
No. The Ops Layer sits at the stage before a full-time COO hire and makes that hire more effective when it comes. It is not a coaching practice, not a course, and not a tools consultancy.
What kinds of companies do you work with?
Founder-led technology companies, typically 60 to 200 people, that are adopting AI in their operations and feeling the coordination load that comes with it. B2B SaaS, fintech, healthtech, logistics tech, marketplaces, vertical software, and tech-enabled services are common. The filter is operating characteristics, not industry label.