AJ Aggarwal is a professional problem-solver who is known for delivering results.
As the director of delivery management within the Merchandising and Inventory Management department at Gap Inc., Aggarwal finds himself as part of the leadership team at one of the world’s largest specialty retail companies.
Growing up in Des Plaines, Illinois, in the 1980s, Aggarwal expected to become an architect, just like his father had been before the family emigrated from India. His path, however, was not set until he stepped foot on the NIU campus in 1998.
“NIU was perfect for me because I wanted to have a true university experience, but I wanted to be able to drive home to help my parents as needed,” Aggarwal said. “I also got my associate degree from a community college (College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Illinois) and they had a transfer agreement where, if I got my associate degree there, I would transfer in as a junior to NIU. It was in-state and reasonably priced, as well.”
Aggarwal decided to major in operations management and information systems (OM&IS) because of its mix of business and technology.
“I was not into coding, but I knew that understanding technical capabilities would be important,” he recalled. “The NIU experience is what truly made it special. The friends I made, the memories I had, the always-supportive staff and the eventful campus with plenty of things to do.”
Aggarwal noted that the College of Business was very supportive and attentive to student needs.
“The staff was amazing,” he said. “I am not sure I would have gotten the same feeling from other schools.”
Internships through his NIU connections gave Aggarwal solid experiences and a competitive edge in the workplace. In 1999, he interned with Chase before becoming an inventory intern with Ace Hardware Corporation and then landing the role of small assembly intern with Caterpillar. After earning his OM&IS degree in 2000, Aggarwal landed a job as practice lead for Accenture, where he remained for 16 years.
In recent years, he has held delivery management roles for HUB International, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Entergy and Walgreens before stepping into his current role at Gap.
“I got into retail inventory management on a whim,” Aggarwal said. “My expertise is in delivery management, and the Gap needed someone to run a major inventory management program for them,” he said. “My company is full of retail experts, but not a ton of people who know how to deliver a complex, multiyear, multimillion-dollar program.”
In Aggarwal’s new role, he oversees an inventory management program that aims to transform and modernize the process. It is made up of nine separate but interconnected projects.
“The most fun part of my work is solving different problems every day,” he said. “The most challenging part is managing teams with varying priorities, like engineering versus product management — all in an agile fashion.”
As for what he finds fulfilling in his new role, Aggarwal thrives on making progress, little by little.
“I feel like a negotiator on a daily basis, taking different challenges that evolve and finding a good middle ground on how to solve them,” he said. “My primary goal that drives my work is to move the program forward through relationships and by getting things done.”
In the last few years, Aggarwal has returned to DeKalb to continue his education. He enrolled in NIU’s master’s degree program in data analytics in 2019. His studies are ongoing, as he navigates his full-time career and family life as a husband with two small children.
Looking back at his incredible career and experiences, Aggarwal credits NIU with giving him his start and his direction.
“I never thought I would be where I am today, but that’s also what makes life great — the journey!” he said.
