Making every decimal earn its rightful place

ATUL DAGA likes fast cars and waits eagerly to get his hands on the latest gadgets because he simply cannot resist cutting-edge technology.

- URVI MALVANIA

When it comes to balance sheets, however, he's a lot more grounded, a purist—disciplined, meticulous. For the chief financial officer of UltraTech Cement, "cash is reality." That's a mantra that has guided his decades-long career in finance all the way to his current role.

His taste for cars and gadgets may appear at odds with conservative financial philosophies, but for Daga, they are united by the very traits he values most—responsiveness, control, and precision. He has converted his workspace into a paperless zone. And his latest possession is a set of Google's AI-enabled earbuds that can translate content real-time from a variety of languages.

"Always exploring," he chuckles, adding quickly that his passion for state-of-the-art technology never impinges on his core belief in frugality and value creation.

Daga's relationship with numbers began early. His father, an engineer at a steel factory, taught him to calculate weights and volumes manually, often using production registers long before the era of spreadsheets.

"Compare, be frugal, but make the right decisions," his father advised him—a value that Daga holds close to his heart.