Nayak is the former Chairman and Managing Director of Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL). He has over 40 years of experience in senior roles at premier Central Public Sector Undertakings in the power sector, including PGCIL and NTPC. At PGCIL, he led a team of about 10,000 employees through an extraordinary turnaround, more than doubling the company's assets, revenue and profit in just over three years.

Nayak currently serves on the boards of several companies, including Odisha Power Transmission Corporation, TP Northern Odisha Distribution , TP Western Odisha Distribution, GRIDCO, Diamond Power Infrastructure, Yash High Voltage, IMP Power, OHPC, GEDCOL, Powerica and Future Smartec (OPC). He is also a consultant to the World Bank Group in Washington, advising on international cross-border projects, and provides services to leading national and international consulting companies. He holds a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kharagpur and a Bachelor's degree from NIT Rourkela.