Celebrating Rajat Khurana: The man who ran with a vision story

As Managing Director of ASICS India and South Asia, Khurana’s journey is one of vision, discipline, and deep belief in the values that define Japanese excellence: integrity, precision, and perseverance.

When ASICS decided to enter India in 2012, Khurana was the first employee. There was no blueprint, no established office, just a belief that India was ready for a high-performance sportswear brand with a soul. A year later, ASICS was launched and since then, under his leadership, it has become one of the most respected names in India’s performance footwear and athleisure market.

A graduate of the Technological Institute of Textiles and Sciences in Bhiwani, Haryana, Khurana’s career began with Voltas Limited, a Tata enterprise, where he worked as a Senior Engineer in yarn spinning machinery. His early years honed his technical and operational instincts,  qualities that would later define his leadership style. He went on to work with the Japanese trading conglomerate Marubeni Corporation, where he managed large-scale international trade in fibers and yarns. That phase gave him not just a global outlook but also his first deep exposure to the Japanese way of doing business:  meticulous, respectful, and focused on long-term growth.

By the time he joined ASICS, he had already internalized that philosophy. “The Japanese way of working is ethical and precise,” he has often said. “There’s a quiet strength in their approach to both people and products.” It’s this mix of engineering discipline and human understanding that has guided his stewardship of ASICS in India.

Under Khurana’s leadership, ASICS built its foundation brick by brick,  establishing robust internal structures, nurturing partnerships and developing a culture where performance was not just about results but about values. He has led the company to consistent growth, focusing on both market expansion and operational efficiency, ensuring ASICS’s global ethos translated authentically into the Indian context.

Beyond the boardroom, Khurana embodies the brand he leads. He ran his first 10K after joining ASICS and has since become an avid marathoner, regularly participating in runs across India. To his team, that act symbolizes his leadership,  he doesn’t just talk about performance, he lives it. He inspires through participation, not position.

Those who know him describe him as calm yet determined, meticulous yet approachable,  a leader who listens, guides and pushes his team to think beyond comfort zones. His journey from a textile engineer to one of the most respected figures in India’s sportswear industry is a story of resilience and reinvention.