Draft:Ajay Chowdhury

Ajay Chowdhury (born 1962 ) is a British Indian author known for the Kamil Rahman series of crime novels set in London's East End.

Literary career
Chowdhury's debut children's novel Ayesha & The Firefish (Puffin Books, 2016) was adapted into a musical in 2020. Chowdhury's first adult novel The Waiter (Harvill Secker, 2021) introduced the Kamil Rahman series and won the inaugural Harvill Secker/Bloody Scotland award for debut BAME crime writers. It is being adapted for television. Subsequent Kamil Rahman novels include The Cook (Harvill Secker, 2022, Guardian and Times Crime Book of the Year), The Detective (Harvill Secker, 2023, Sunday Times Crime Book of the year ), and The Spy (Harvill Secker, 2024, longlisted for Wilbur Smith Adventure Prize. ). His short story The Confession was longlisted for a CWA award

Prior to becoming a novelist, Chowdhury was Artistic Director of Rented Space Theatre London and directed several plays in London, including Asian adaptations of Shakespeare's Cymbeline and The Merchant of Venice.

Early life and education
Chowdhury holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Mumbai, an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a diploma in theatre directing from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Business career
Chowdhury began his professional career at Bain & Company management consultants. He subsequently served as CEO of LineOne and Managing General Partner at IDG Ventures Europe venture capital firm. Chowdhury was Chairman of Shazam before its acquisition by Apple Inc. in 2018. After Shazam, he held CEO positions at tech companies Comqi and Seatwave, the latter acquired by Ticketmaster. He retired as a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group in 2024.

Board roles and honours
Chowdhury has served as a non-executive director on the boards of the UK Government's Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Historic Royal Palaces, and Arts Council London. He currently chairs Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialization arm of the University of Cambridge. In 2019, he was included in a list of 30 pioneers in Asian tech by a Diversity UK. He won the Dealmaker of the Year 2015 award from M&A Magazine and was honored as one of the Top 100 Asian tech stars in the UK.

Personal life
Chowdhury is married with three daughters.