---
title: "Rakesh Prasad - Vice President Finance in Bengaluru | Tal"
description: "Meet Rakesh Prasad, Business & Finance Strategy | Harvard Leadership | Global FP&A • M&A • Treasury | IICA - Registered Independent Director | Built & Led Global Teams based in Bengaluru. AI stack includes claude and gemini."
image: "https://tal.club/meet/rakesh-prasad/share-image"
---

# Rakesh Prasad on Tal

## Headline

Business & Finance Strategy \| Harvard Leadership \| Global FP&A • M&A • Treasury \| IICA \- Registered Independent Director \| Built & Led Global Teams

## About

“If you resist change, you resist life\.” I try to live by this mantra and it’s led to a decade long journey across finance, operations, entrepreneurship, and leadership\. From building an audit practice to stepping into the CFO seat of a Nasdaq\-listed company, I’ve worked at the intersection of structure and scale, strategy and speed\. The journey has been nothing short of thrilling, constantly pushing me beyond my limits\. Some defining milestones: • Taking a startup from inception to the heart of Times Square \(Nasdaq listing included\!\) in less than 3 years • CFO of a Nasdaq\-listed company \($AIRE\), contributing to capital raises, investor engagement, M&A, and compliance • Helped raise \~$30M across Reg A, debt, and follow\-on offerings; evaluated and structured deals worth over $500M • Built and scaled India operations, establishing finance, HR, marketing, and support teams in alignment with global HQ in the U\.S\. • Master Trainer for Ernst & Young \(EY\) on a $500M CPC 2\.0 tech transformation project\. • Selected by GSTN as one of 18 Master Trainers to train senior government officials during India’s GST rollout • Completed a 14,097 mile \(22,687 km\) road trip across 37 U\.S\. states with my wife and 6\-year\-old — turning adventure into habit I believe great finance isn’t just about reporting the past, it’s about building the systems, teams, and insights to shape what comes next\. I enjoy building from zero, operating across borders, and finding calm in complexity\. Change is inevitable, and it’s the fuel that drives me forward\. Always curious\.

## Location

Bengaluru

## AI stack

claude

gemini

## Work experience

Vice President Finance at Ekkow, May 2026 \- Present · 5 mos

Director at Caelen Consulting, May 2025 \- Present · 1 yr 5 mos

Director of Financial Operations at Ekkow, Feb 2026 \- Apr 2026 · 3 mos

Co\-Founder & Chief Exploring Officer at The Great American Road Trip, Feb 2025 \- Mar 2025 · 2 mos, United States, From the fast lane of corporate leadership to the backroads of the U\.S\.A\., I co\-created a purpose\-driven journey across 37 states and 22,687 km \(14,097 miles\) in just 9 weeks\. This journey wasn’t just about exploration, it was a deliberate pursuit of insight, resilience, and executive recalibration through human connection and real\-world learning\. Key Takeaways: • Strategic Renewal: Broadened my definition of success, aligning personal purpose with professional impact • Entrepreneurial Recharge: Immersed in diverse communities and stories that reignited creative and strategic thinking • Cultural Intelligence: Engaged with people across geographies, deepening empathy and adaptability essential for global leadership • Agility in Action: Strengthened decision making in unpredictable, fast\-changing environments, similar to modern business terrain

Chief Financial Officer at reAlpha, Oct 2024 \- Jan 2025 · 4 mos, New York City Metropolitan Area, Stepped in as Interim CFO during a pivotal phase of rapid growth and market activity, overseeing capital strategy, treasury transformation, and investor engagement for the Nasdaq\-listed company\. • Launched an At\-The\-Market \(ATM\) facility, expanding access to public capital under tight timelines\. • Led SEC compliance efforts and managed complex warrant inducement negotiations with hedge funds\. • Diversified treasury holdings by allocating 25% of reserves to crypto assets, aligning with evolving financial instruments while maintaining liquidity oversight • Secured improved D&O insurance with 50% lower premium and 4x broader coverage, advancing governance protection\. • Represented at LD Micro in Los Angeles, among 150\+ public companies, enhancing investor visibility and articulating the company's AI\-driven real estate strategy\. This period required adaptability and strong financial leadership in a fast\-changing environment\.

Vice President Finance at reAlpha, Feb 2022 \- Mar 2025 · 3 yrs 2 mos, New York City Metropolitan Area, I've built finance from the ground up, from structuring entities in India to steering a Nasdaq listing in the U\.S\. Along the way, I’ve led capital raises across continents, managed complex M&A integrations, and partnered with CXOs and boards to align financial clarity with business vision\. Whether navigating SEC compliance, investor relations, or acquisition strategy, I bring a sharp eye for execution and a steady hand in uncertainty\. What drives me isn’t just numbers, it’s building financial systems that scale, teams that deliver, and businesses that last\.

Director at reAlpha, May 2021 \- Mar 2025 · 3 yrs 11 mos, India, When I joined reAlpha, I was the 1st India hire and the 4th employee globally\. What followed was a journey of building from the ground up, transforming a blank canvas into a high\-performance international engine for a Nasdaq\-bound company\. I built and led an 18\-member cross\-functional team covering finance, HR, legal, marketing, analytics, and talent\. Everything was developed in full alignment with the global HQ\. This included designing scalable org structures, hiring top talent, and implementing HR, compliance, legal, and IT systems from scratch\. Beyond setup, I managed budgets and drove fund allocation across CapEx and OpEx to ensure accountability and efficiency across the India unit\. This role demanded more than operations\. It required trust\-building, leadership, and execution to transform a vision into a scalable business function ready for global growth\.

Master Trainer at EY, 2020 \- 2021 · 1 yr, Gurugram, Haryana, India, As part of a $500M technology transformation project for India’s Income Tax Department, I led high\-impact training sessions that supported CPC 2\.0, an initiative that cut tax return processing time from 63 days to just 1\. I delivered technical and non\-technical sessions to officers, service providers, and help desk teams across India\. Beyond training, I reviewed system requirement specifications, refined user manuals and FAQs, and developed readiness frameworks to ensure the success of a large tax tech overhaul\.

## Education

Strategic Leadership, Harvard University

Master's degree, FCA, The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India

[View the original profile](https://tal.club/meet/rakesh-prasad)

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