Proposal · November 2026
Nine launches by March. One standard of trust behind all of them.
A proposal to be your part-time head of product and technology (a fractional CTPO), giving Goldsikka group the check and balance you asked for.
- Prepared for
- Mr Sy Taruj, CEO & MD
Mr Mohammed Mangrani, COO - From
- Kshitij Bhardwaj
- Following
- Our call on 22 October
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You are building an ecosystem around gold, from India to the world.
Global Gold City brings every stage of gold together, from mine to market and from physical to digital. Nine companies are racing to launch by March 2027.
Every one of them borrows its trust from the same place: Goldsikka's own vaults and reserves. That is your edge, and it is also what each launch puts on the line.
The big picture
Global Gold City
You asked for check and balance, not more hands.
"Whether we are the right people, working with the right team."Mr Mangrani, on our call of 22 October
We agreed that what you need now is someone keeping watch over technology. Your builders already exist. Growing that team can come later.
- The deadlineAll nine companies launch by March 2027, including the Gold ATM versions and the melting machine. DealShot goes live this month.
- The teamA CTO of about four years who knows blockchain deeply, and about 36 people, from interns to project managers.
- The gapNo regular checks on timelines, quality, hiring or handovers. Project managers coordinate the business side, so you both end up solving most problems yourselves.
- The toolsBitrix24 is being rolled out, after an earlier attempt did not stick.
- Your orderAudit every project first. Then simple processes. Then product-by-product oversight.
Days to 1 March 2027
111days
To 31 March
141 days
The clock is shorter than it looks.
Two busy calendars
Mr Taruj travels most of the time. Mr Mangrani looks after HR, operations and projects. Decisions wait in line.
Trust in gold
ATMs hand out real gold, and the wallet holds customers' value. In November 2025, SEBI warned the public that digital gold is unregulated. Your answer is your own vaults, and it has to be provable to the gram from day one.
Regulators are watching
DgCin works with Aadhaar and regulators, and plans to expand to about ten countries. Its quality has to hold while eight other launches compete for attention.
A new data law
India's data protection rules apply in full from 13 May 2027, two months after launch. Anything that launches without them will need rework in April.
Nine projects never slip equally.
The loudest product gets the attention. The quieter ones launch late, or launch half-ready.
This happens in every company running many launches at once. It is not a people problem. It is what happens when no one has a single view of all nine, and it can be fixed in weeks.
How it usually looks a month before launch
Illustration of a common pattern, not an assessment of your projects.
You don't need more engineers. You need the layer between your builders and your business.
Three hunches from one conversation. The audit exists to prove or drop each one.
Nine projects, nine separate pushes
No one has a single view of what will really launch in March.
Left alone: problems found late, launch calls made at the last minute, effort spread thin.
How sure I am
High
You described this directly
Your CTO is carrying too much
He has no technical project managers under him, so your most senior technologist spends his days coordinating instead of designing.
Left alone: rework, messy handovers and surprises at launch.
How sure I am
Medium to high
From what you described
Your gold products share one vault but are built separately
ATMs, the digital gold wallet, wholesale and the blockchain product all draw on the same gold, yet each has its own build.
Left alone: duplicated work, balances and prices that don't match, and a harder road to Global Gold City.
How sure I am
Low, for now
My own hunch, and the one that matters most long term
Three steps, three checkpoints. You sign off each one before the next begins.
Mon 23 Nov
We start, on site in Hyderabad
By Thu 3 Dec
DealShot launch check and a one-page map of all nine
Fri 11 Dec
Checkpoint 1: audit findings
Fri 8 Jan
Checkpoint 2: a call on each product
Fri 12 Feb
Checkpoint 3: ready to launch?
Weeks 1 to 3
I look at each project's plan, owner, documents, handovers and progress, working alongside your CTO, the project managers and Mr Mangrani. In the first ten days, DealShot gets an independent check before it goes live.
Checkpoint 1
Fri 11 Dec
A traffic-light view of all nine, the top five risks with what each costs if ignored, and a 90-day plan. Presented together with your CTO.
You decide: stop, continue, or switch options
Weeks 4 to 7
A weekly progress review, run on your Bitrix24 rollout so it sticks this time. Every product gets a named owner, clear milestones and an agreed meaning of "finished".
Checkpoint 2
Fri 8 Jan
My recommendation for each of the nine: go, wait, or change the scope.
Mr Taruj decides
Weeks 8 to 12
I run the weekly review against the March plan. Only what needs your decision reaches you, and Mr Taruj gets a short monthly pack.
Checkpoint 3
Fri 12 Feb
A launch-readiness review, with a gold trust check on every product that holds or hands out gold: is it backed, does it reconcile, can it be audited.
You confirm the March launches
By mid-February, you will know exactly what launches in March, and what could stop it.
- 22 DecEvery product has an owner, milestones and a clear finish line.
- 8 JanA go, wait or change call for each of the nine.
- 12 FebNo product reaches the weekly review without an owner and a dated plan.
| Product AOn plan, owner named | On track |
| Product BHandover from vendor not documented | Needs attention |
| Product CGold balances not yet reconciled | At risk |
| Product DOwner named, launch date agreed | On track |
| Product ENo clear meaning of "finished" | Needs attention |
Your real board comes out of the audit. One page, every week, all nine companies.
Technology strong enough to carry Global Gold City, run by your own people.
By November 2027, the group's technology runs as one well-managed portfolio, not a launch rush.
One gold ledger
The same rules for stock, prices and wallet balances across ATMs, the wallet, wholesale and blockchain. Decide once whether to build or buy.
DgCin ready to repeat
Written-down processes good enough for regulators, so what works in India can be repeated abroad without rebuilding.
Your team in charge
Help hiring a head of programme management and project managers who work with your CTO. Then I step back to advising.
Control and visibility
A 12-month plan with a goal for each product, critical accounts in the company's name, data-law readiness and a monthly pack.
How you will know it worked: launches land on plan, every critical system has two people who can fix it, and my role steps down to advisory.
Your team keeps building. Mr Taruj keeps the direction. I run the checks.
Sets product direction and makes the final call on each launch.
Decide budget and hiring.
Keep building. The CTO sees every finding before it reaches you.
Run the weekly checks and checkpoints, set simple ways of working, and recommend go, wait or change.
The aim is a team that feels supported, not inspected.
Built around two busy calendars.
Independent
I don't sell building work. If you ever need extra hands, I can introduce an execution team I trust, priced separately, and you are free to choose anyone, including your own people.
What I won't do here, unless you ask
Supply staff, write code as the main job, run round-the-clock support, or make hiring decisions. I help define roles and interview; the decisions stay with you.
- Every weekA 45-minute progress review with Mr Mangrani and the CTO: status, risks and decisions needed.
- Every monthA short pack for Mr Taruj, and a brief session timed around his travel.
- On siteIn Hyderabad for the first week and every checkpoint, and regularly in the run-up to launch.
- CTO firstA 30-minute introduction before we start. He sees findings before you do.
- RepliesWithin one working day.
- In week oneAccess to the team, project documents, code, cloud accounts, vendor contracts and Bitrix24.
- DisclosureI advise DP Jewellers, a listed jeweller. Each client's information stays separate, with a written promise on request.
Start with a three-week audit. Then choose how close you want me.
Step one, either way
₹5,00,000fixed, plus GST
Three-week audit, the DealShot check and Checkpoint 1.
If the audit doesn't change a decision you would otherwise have made, stop there. You will have spent one month's fee to find out.
Then, monthly
₹5,00,000a month, plus GST
- Time
- 6 to 8 days a month through March, including on-site days in Hyderabad. 4 to 6 days from April.
- Who decides
- I run the checks and recommend. Mr Taruj decides direction; you decide budget and hiring.
- Term
- 6 months, renewable
- Best if
- You want one person accountable for the checks behind the March plan.
Step one, either way
₹5,00,000fixed, plus GST
Three-week audit, the DealShot check and Checkpoint 1.
If the audit doesn't change a decision you would otherwise have made, stop there. You will have spent one month's fee to find out.
Then, monthly
₹2,50,000a month, plus GST
- Time
- 2 to 3 days a month
- Who decides
- I review and advise. Mr Mangrani or your CTO decides.
- Term
- 6 months, renewable
- Best if
- You want to run the checks yourselves, with an independent review.
For scale: one of nine launches slipping by a quarter, or one wrong wallet balance reaching a customer, costs more than six months of this, in revenue and in trust.
- 50% of audit fee counts towards the first month if you sign within 15 calendar days of Checkpoint 1.
- Monthly work runs at least three months, then 30 days' notice either way.
- Travel to Hyderabad is billed at actual cost.
- Either side can ask to change the scope at the monthly review.
- Contract and monthly invoices through NextHorizon, my consulting firm.
- At Checkpoint 1 you can stop, continue, or switch between the two options.
I have done this where the stakes looked like yours.
I advise DP Jewellers, a 90-year-old listed jeweller growing from 11 to 100+ stores, on simpler store experiences and on-ground tracking.
Led payments at Gojek across Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Singapore, working with banking regulators and bank partners.
Designed the first Big Billion Day at Flipkart as a product, alongside the business leaders.
Helped a Philippines coffee chain grow from 250 to 600+ stores and its online revenue ten times.
Grew teams from single digits to hundreds at Gojek. Founded Shuru in 2021.
About 15 years of building products and technology teams. My design training at IIT Guwahati shapes how I work: I start from how work actually happens on the ground, and simplify it until the people doing it can follow it.
Thirty minutes with you both, this week.
Fri 13 Nov
We walk through this together
Fri 20 Nov
Your decision
Mon 23 Nov
We start, in Hyderabad
Fri 11 Dec
First checkpoint, well ahead of March
Before we start, I will need four things from you
- 01The final list of the nine companies in scope (see the last page), and whether Mr Gopal Sharma or other leaders should join the walkthrough.
- 02Who I report to, and who approves decisions on my recommendations.
- 03Your preferred option and start date.
- 04One named contact for access to people, documents and systems.
In short: a three-week audit, three checkpoints you control, and nine launches you can stand behind in March.
Kshitij Bhardwaj
kshitijb.com
The nine companies, as I understand them. Please correct anything I have got wrong; this list becomes the scope of the audit.
| Company | My understanding from our call | To confirm |
|---|---|---|
| Global Gold City | The group's gold ecosystem, from mine to market | What technology work it needs |
| Gold ATM | Gold ATMs in five versions, to buy and sell; plus the melting machine due by March | Which versions launch by March |
| DgCin | Digital Credit Information: digital tracking for government, using Aadhaar, to be spun out and repeated in about ten countries | |
| DealShot | India's business OTT platform: unscripted, live-streamed deal-making; launching in November | |
| CREX | Centrex Realty Exchange: technology-based real estate | |
| One Power | Integrated healthcare: medical second opinions in regional languages for smaller cities | |
| GoldBox | Not covered on our call | What it is and its status |
| X-YUG | Not covered on our call | What it is and its status |
| Air Goldsikka | Not covered on our call | What it is and its status |
| Also discussed | ReSikka (UPI gold-back wallet), Gold Bharat (wholesale bullion for businesses), the gold blockchain product | Which company each sits in |