Inderjeet Thareja, Head of AoEC India

Inderjeet Thareja is an entrepreneur at heart and a coach by conviction, working at the intersection of leadership, self-awareness, and real-world change. As the founder of Seagull Coaching, she has spent over a decade building coaching cultures within organisations while navigating the messy, often misunderstood landscape of coaching in India.

An ICF-certified PCC, EMCC Senior Practitioner, and Hogan-certified professional, she brings both global standards and grounded practice into her work.

Her work is shaped by a simple question: who am I as a coach, and how do I show up in service of another’s thinking? This inquiry sits at the centre of how she develops leaders and coaches — not through frameworks alone, but through deep presence, challenge, and reflection.

Having seen both the potential and the gaps in how coaching is practised and perceived in India, Inderjeet is committed to raising the bar. Through AoEC India, she focuses on bringing global standards of coach education into the local context, making it rigorous, relevant, and rooted in the realities leaders face here.

She works closely with organisations, educators, and emerging coaches to bridge this gap, building not just capability, but credibility for the profession in India.

Anu Sukhija, Academic and Strategic Director, AoEC India

Anu has spent close to three decades in the profound, often transformative work of human development, accompanying leaders, coaches, and teams on journeys of self-awareness, growth, and meaningful change.

An ICF PCC and EMCC Senior Practitioner with a Master's in Applied Psychology, she brings intellectual rigour and deep reflective practice to every engagement, working across corporate, public sector, and non-profit contexts spanning cultures and geographies worldwide.

Her practice is grounded in dialogic methodologies and systems intelligence, creating conditions not merely for behavioural change, but for genuine transformation in how people think, relate, and lead. As a Certified Coach Supervisor (ICCS UK), PCC Assessor, and GAB Certified Instructor, she works at the meta-level of the profession, developing coaches as well as coaching leaders. She has served on faculty at leading business schools and as a coach and assessor with the Center for Creative Leadership.

As part of the AoEC India team, Anu is committed to elevating the standard of coach education in the region, building a culture of reflective, ethical, and evidence-based practice. Outside of work, Anu cares deeply about the world around her, volunteering with an NGO supporting higher education for rural youth and advocating for the welfare of stray animals.

Shruti Sonthalia Faculty

Shruti Sonthalia is a highly accomplished Master Certified Coach, renowned in the International Coaching Federation for her exceptional talent in guiding executives and senior leaders towards peak performance. With an impressive global reach, Shruti has provided dynamic executive coaching to C-Suite and senior leaders across a diverse range of industries, from multinational corporations, operating on a global scale, to market leaders in technology, financial services, data analytics and legal consulting, there Shruti consistently empowering renowned department heads and senior managers to unlock their full potential. Her expertise extends to industry leaders in technology, pharma, retail, manufacturing, financial services, development, Edutech, chemical, agrochemical, and textile, among others and invitations to present at major coaching platforms, including the prestigious ICF Global Converge, are a testament to her reputation as a leading industry professional.Clients wholeheartedly endorse Shruti's compassionate, yet fiercely determined approach, as she advocates for them to embrace their true abilities and potential. With a diverse portfolio spanning organisational culture, resilience, stakeholder management, career transitions, difficult conversations, emotional intelligence, and burnout, Shruti has consistently helped clients derive tremendous value from transforming challenges into opportunities for growth. Her ability to navigate ambiguity and the unknown while embodying agility, resilience, deep listening, curiosity, and presence has positioned her as a trusted guide in the world of coaching.Beyond her impactful coaching work, Shruti has been a Coach Educator and Mentor Coach for years, equipping business leaders with coaching skills and supporting aspiring coaches worldwide in achieving their coaching credentials. Shruti also serves as a Board Member of an International Women's organisation with ECOSOC status at the UN, headquartered in Geneva. Additionally, she has designed and led coaching interventions for country heads and core teams, including Peace Corps Madagascar and Fiji.Shruti's educational background includes a sociology degree and economics diploma from the esteemed London School of Economics and Political Science. She has been a recipient of the prestigious ICF Young Leaders Award.