Ananthakrishnan has over 25 years of experience in the upstream oil and gas sector, holding various leadership roles at Cairn Energy and Cairn India. He has expertise in business leadership, technical leadership, and organizational skills. Most recently, he was the Director of Gas Development at Cairn India, where he led the development of a 1 Tcf gas field and oversaw a substantial increase in production. Previously he was the Director of Subsurface and Head of Reservoir Development, responsible for field development planning, reserves reporting, and the development of major oil fields in Rajasthan, India.