But, quoting Albert Einstein, “Pure mathematics is,
in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” Prior to Beacon, Sharda served as the senior director
of technology for Life Time Inc., a chain of fitness clubs across the U.S. and Canada. Courtenay Casaccio, the chief people officer at Beacon, hired Sharda to join her team. “He was one of my first hires,” she shared, adding that
Beacon needed someone with a technology background to head the HR system. “As soon as I met him, he came across as someone who was exceptionally kind and smart but also driven. The fact that he came from Life Time, I knew that he understood how to deal with a large workforce [consisting] of a lot of people who spent zero time in front a computer. Fitness instructors and bus drivers have one thing in common: They don’t work in front of a laptop. They work with people.” Sharda started in the role and Casaccio noted he was
instantly driven to implement a new HR system. She said he collaborated with internal customers to receive buy- in, recalling a two-day event where 40 different people across the organization attended two different presen- tations by companies each day, followed by a survey to select the winner.
“He took that mode into his whole job, where he would
go out and sit with the businesses and watch the busi- nesses do their work to figure out how to help them with systems,” she continued. “And he continues to do that as he’s moved into the chief technology role.”
Despite being a tech-savvy individual, Sharda is also
deeply focused on human connection and bridging the gap between technology and people. “Gaurav has reimagined how technology can serve
people—not just through innovation, but through meaningful impact,” wrote Beacon CEO Judith Crawford when nominating him for this year’s award. “His mission has been simple yet powerful: Use AI and automation thoughtfully to make every day experiences smoother, safer and more human.” Sharda said when he first joined Beacon, the opportu-
nity was there to solve the driver shortage. He noted the difficulty of being a school bus driver, and the industry is challenged with not only finding good people but also CDL-qualified drivers. Crawford said Sharda turned to AI to solve this problem. By launching automated lead generation tools and a text-to-apply experience across
Gaurav Sharda’s Background
While receiving his master’s degree, Gaurav Sharda said he worked with a professor in the biomedical engi- neering field on a project in partnership with the Mayo Clinic to create 3D models of aneurysms. He explained the project used angiograms or 2D X-ray data from 15 to 20 years prior and overlayed the images to create a 3D model that predicted the size of the aneurysm and the probabil- ity of its rupture. The problem-solving and research as- pect of the project piqued his interest. Next, he joined a small consulting firm based out of Texas. “I worked with clients like Microsoft, St Jude Medical and Comcast,” he said, adding that his responsibilities included working with German software company SAP and its HR and finance technology. Sharda consulted for about four years, working on hands-on transformation initiatives and leading teams. However, he noted that he was traveling a lot and was looking to settle down. He got married to Megha Agrawal in 2014, but a year earlier the couple moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota.
56 School Transportation News • JULY 2025
He started working with General Mills on a full-time basis as the senior technology consultant, to lead the SAP HR site. He said he was focused on transforming SAP into Workday, citing a global transformation with over 30 countries and 30,000 employees. “It was a very good opportunity there to lead a few work streams and get that project up and running,” he said. He worked with General Mills from
2014 to late 2017, before joining Life Time Inc., to build and lead the HR and finance technology. He served as the senior director of technology. “It was a fast-paced, high-growth organi- zation opening up 10 to 12 fitness clubs every year and on a rapid growth journey,” he said.
He went on to lead the sales and marketing tech- nologies as well. In October 2021, Sharada joined Beacon Mobility as the vice president of HR technology. He currently serves as the company’s chief technology officer. The company supports 1,000 school district customers, across 22 states using 12,000 vehicles that transport over 350,000 students a day.
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