Farrukh joined Kearney as an associate, in part because of the firm’s transportation service offering and capabilities and in part because of the culture and degree of comfort he felt with the people he met. “Even though it has been two decades, I still most identify myself with my time at Kearney. It was a very meaningful part of my career, the most impactful one, and my current situation would not have happened without my experience at Kearney.”

Farrukh’s dream was to work on a project that was impactful enough to make it to the pages of The Wall Street Journal, and as a senior associate managing the Kearney project team for the Canadian National Railway IPO, he achieved this. To date, the CNR IPO is one of the most successful in Canadian history. This project was extremely visible, both inside and outside Kearney, and Farrukh worked closely with two mentors who helped shape his professional future. The first was Kearney Partner Jeff Ward, who showed Farrukh how to translate his individual talent and skills into becoming a well-rounded leader. The second was Jim Foote, a client at the Canadian National Railway and friend of the firm, whom Farrukh greatly respected and someone he would stay in touch with over the years.

Farrukh left Kearney in 2000 to pursue a venture in the tech new economy. He returned to professional services, working at two other consulting firms and eventually starting his own boutique advisory company with two other Kearney alumni. During these years, he continued to work with the transportation and logistics industry and came to deeply understand the railway industry culture.

In 2019, Farrukh was invited to work as an advisor on an engagement for his former client, Jim Foote, now the CEO of CSX. When the engagement ended, Jim asked Farrukh to stay on full-time as the chief strategy officer, a newly created position. Farrukh was excited about this role’s opportunities as “CSX is doing things differently. There’s an openness to ideas and boldness to try things that a lot of peers haven’t historically done.”

When asked about the best advice he has ever received, Farrukh quickly responded that it was a Kearney partner who shared this advice with him nearly 20 years ago: “The true test and measure of a partner is how many partners he or she created.” Farrukh carries out this mission by treating each person he works with honestly and with respect, and his obligation is to put them in a position to succeed, just as his former leaders did for him 25 years ago.

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