Kumar is an economist with over eight years of experience working with for-profit companies, government ministries and not-for-profit think tanks. Kumar has previously worked with National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) where he was part of the research team that assisted the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC). Before joining NIPFP, he worked with Hong Kong based independent economic research company, Asianomics Limited. Until early last year, Kumar worked with Centre for Civil Society, where he created an online library of Indian liberal writings to preserve and revive the rich Indian liberal and free market tradition.

Currently, Kumar leads the research team at Free A Billion in Mumbai, where he is exploring the right set of principles-based rules that should govern a city, as well as ways to create a popular demand for the same. Kumar's research interests are in Indian economic history, urban economics and public choice economics. He is a graduate of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, Pune.