Kiran Alla, Senior Director of Product Marketing at Plug, focuses on the development of Plug's business efforts in India. Based in Hyderabad, India, Kiran has a huge career. Plug products and services are at an early stage in India. In order to grow the business there, it is important that the government and industry know that Plug is a leader in the hydrogen and fuel cell space and can be a significant player in India. The Indian government is also developing its hydrogen – and green hydrogen in particular – policies and Kiran represents Plug in that arena. Some of the results of this work are invitations for Plug to speak at various events and meetings. Kiran also meets with various partners who can help Plug with business needs in the country. And of course, you work closely with the sales team when potential customers come to us with projects.
Kiran's diversity of work experience over his 30-year career made him well suited for this role. For many, these are some of the roles he has played. He had experience repairing electric forklift trucks while working in the chemical industry. He then spent five years in charge of learning and development at an IT company. He took a break and got his MBA in finance and marketing. He then joined a company and worked in business development at a power company. He worked for an electrical utility in central engineering services, and his work there was related to regulatory functions and technical testing of products. He spent time working on rooftop solar and fuel cell technology – helping his companies enter the Indian market.
“There is a way,” he said, “that we can remove carbon through solar and wind technology, but how do we store electricity?” I was experimenting and studying and I learned about using hydrogen to store electricity for later use. Hydrogen is the building block of any zero or low carbon fuels. Electrolysis and fuel cells can scale and solve big problems. This makes me happy. Not only can you remove carbon, but you can solve other pollution problems in densely populated areas, because fuel cells produce nothing, no NOx, SOx or other pollutants.”
While working on fuel cells, Kiran realized that hydrogen was becoming a growing solution and became very interested in taking part in driving the technology, which led him to work for Plug in early 2022. When Kiran is asked what he does with Plug, he tells them that he provides “gap-filling” work: he helps technical people understand the market; helps vendors and customers understand the technology; and helps insiders understand the customer's point of view.
“Plug is the most risky company in the market. The plug was ready to go after green hydrogen before anyone else. Plug has never hesitated to take risks, even if it hurts sometimes. But Plug stands up and does what he promised to do. If you know something is right, do it. I think that's what Plug does.”
Understandably, Kiran has had some interesting experiences in her life. Early in his career, Kiran was interviewing for a role in a forklift repair factory. One of the interview questions asked if he could fix the electric forklifts they had. He had only seen a diesel forklift until then and did not know how to repair an electric forklift. After thinking for a while, his answer was that if they could train him, he could do it. He got a job, was trained, and went on to repair many trucks. This is one of his life philosophies: one should look at challenges from the point of view of possibilities rather than limitations. This fits wonderfully with Plug's vision of growing a green hydrogen ecosystem.
To put it this way, “As an employee, you should not hesitate to talk about what ideas, what opportunities you see in the market. That will open up opportunities both internally and externally. You have to come up with a name – not to promote yourself, but to find a solution. “
When she is not working, Kiran enjoys exploring different things with her teenage daughter. She is very different from him, and he enjoys seeing things from her point of view and sharing hers with him. This can be seen in the modern and old movies they watch together. He also enjoys traveling and exploring new foods. He has been practicing yoga and meditation and yogic principles of behavior and discipline and has been doing intermittent fasting for the past three months. She is always learning and growing – and that makes Kiran a great addition to the Plug team.