Professor Vachani received his Bachelor of Technology degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and the Postgraduate Diploma in Management from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He received a D.B.A. in international business from the Harvard Business School.

He has extensive managerial experience, having worked as a research engineer with a subsidiary of the Dutch multinational, Philips, and as a finance manager with the Tata Group in India. He has also worked as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, where he was involved with designing business strategies for American, Japanese, and European multinationals.

Professor Vachani's research focuses on multinational-government relations, management of diversified multinationals, management in developing countries and internationalization of small firms. His research has been published in the Journal of International Business Studies, International Business Review, Harvard Business Review, International Marketing Review, Long Range Planning, Journal of Enterprising Cultures, Small Enterprise Development, and other publications. His book, Multinationals in India: Strategic Product Choices, was published in 1991. He is currently studying the internationalization of small- and medium-sized Japanese firms.

Professor Vachani served as the Director of Boston University ,International Management Program in Kobe, Japan, for five years. He is currently Chair of the Strategy & Policy Department and a core faculty member for the Executive MBA program. He was awarded the John Russell award for teaching excellence by the Executive MBA students in 2001.