Rishant Kumar
Product, partnerships and ecosystem leader with 15+ years of experience across AI-enabled product workflows, payments, enterprise platforms, Web3 infrastructure and developer ecosystems. Former CEO of KILT Protocol with experience across protocol leadership, GTM, fundraising support, governance coordination, ecosystem growth and partner strategy.
Earlier SAP Senior Tech Lead at PwC delivering enterprise transformation programs for global clients including Waymo, Nestle, Cubic Transportation, Toronto Hydro and Shiseido. Strong fit for product strategy, strategic partnerships, ecosystem leadership, fintech/payments product roles, technical program leadership and founder's office roles.
Experience
CEO, Product and Ecosystem Lead
KILT Protocol
Berlin / Remote
Led protocol-level strategy for decentralized identity infrastructure in the Polkadot ecosystem, covering product direction, governance coordination, ecosystem priorities and partner alignment.
Managed relationships with core contributors, ecosystem partners, governance stakeholders, developer communities and strategic collaborators across Web3.
Repositioned KILT across decentralized identity, infrastructure, developer adoption and partner-led growth, translating technical protocol value into external GTM narratives.
Supported strategic initiatives and fundraising activity, contributing to approximately $2M in funding across the 2023 to 2024 leadership period.
Head of Growth
KILT Protocol / BOTLabs GmbH
Berlin / Remote
Built partnership pipeline across Web3 startups, infrastructure teams, enterprise prospects and developer communities.
Led APAC growth strategy through workshops, founder engagement, ecosystem events and community programs around decentralized identity.
Translated DID protocol capabilities into market narratives, partner use cases and developer-facing adoption motions.
Strategic Ecosystem Lead, APAC
Polkadot Ecosystem (External)
APAC
Built regional ecosystem initiatives across APAC for developers, founders, funds, protocol teams and community leaders.
Organized hackathons, workshops, meetups and community-led programs that increased regional visibility and founder engagement.
Helped expand developer and community participation by an estimated 300% over two years through recurring ecosystem programming.
Senior Tech Lead, Enterprise Platforms
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
US / Global
Led enterprise SAP transformation, integration and technical delivery programs for global clients in mobility, utilities, transportation, consumer goods and manufacturing.
Delivered implementations and technical architecture work for Waymo, Nestle, Cubic Transportation, Toronto Hydro and Shiseido.
Worked with distributed engineering teams to ship mission-critical platforms across supply chain, operations and business process automation.
Bridged business requirements, technical architecture, integrations, stakeholder management and implementation execution.
SAP Consultant
Tech Mahindra
Bangalore, India
Implemented enterprise SAP systems for global consumer brands and operational transformation programs.
Delivered ABAP development, integrations, reporting and supply-chain process support across large-scale enterprise environments.
Analyst Programmer
Caterpillar Inc.
Bangalore, India
Supported enterprise systems powering global manufacturing, operations and internal business processes.
Aerospace Engineer, Internship
CSIR - National Aerospace Laboratories
Bangalore, India
Built early engineering experience across aerospace research, analytical problem-solving and technical documentation.
Education
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Polkadot Blockchain Academy Graduate
Visvesvaraya Technological University
Bachelor of Engineering
Skills
CORE COMPETENCIES
Product and GTM
product strategy, roadmap planning, partner narratives, competitive analysis, PRDs, technical documentation, fundraising support.
Partnerships and Ecosystems
strategic partnerships, developer ecosystems, founder engagement, APAC market expansion, community-led growth.
Payments and Emerging Tech
payments and FX, stablecoin settlement, wallet UX, payout rails, compliance-aware product flows, AI-assisted execution, Web3 infrastructure.
SELECTED IMPACT AREAS
Protocol leadership
led external positioning, governance stakeholder alignment and ecosystem strategy for decentralized identity infrastructure.
Payments and FX understanding
product-level exposure to cross-border money movement, stablecoin settlement, FX quote presentation, payout rails, on/off-ramp partner models and compliance/KYC dependencies.
Enterprise delivery and AI execution
shipped SAP transformation programs and uses Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, ChatGPT and Cursor to accelerate product thinking, prototyping and technical workflows.
TECHNICAL FLUENCY
Payments/FX
cross-border payments, stablecoin settlement, wallet UX, FX quote flows, local payout rails, on/off-ramp workflows, KYC/KYB partner orchestration.
AI workflows
Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, ChatGPT, Cursor, AI-assisted prototyping and product execution.
Web3 and Enterprise
decentralized identity, wallets, stablecoins, multi-chain UX, developer platforms, SDKs, blockchain APIs, SAP ABAP, integrations, supply chain systems.
EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATIONS
Polkadot Blockchain Academy Graduate
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
SAP ABAP Certified Developer
SAP Germany
Languages
English
Fluent
German
A1