Alexander Svetakov is a businessman and philanthropist. He has tried his hand at many sectors, including electronics, finance, real estate, agriculture, insurance, coal and gold mining, and others. He provides consistent support to children with special needs and animals. He is a self-made man, seriously interested in art and surfing. This article provides an overview of the main events in Alexander Svetakov’s biography.

Path to Success

Alexander Svetakov was born in Moscow in 1968. He studied engineering at the Institute of Electronic Engineering in his native town and worked in this specialty for a while. His first jobs were entry-level and had nothing in common with his future endeavors.

In the 1990s, the business landscape in the country was actively changing after the end of the Soviet era. Together with partners, Svetakov began to import electronics from Singapore. At that time, domestic supply was hardly sufficient, while demand was impressive. Such circumstances enabled the businessman to sell the gadgets at a price that was several times higher than the purchase price. This is how he accumulated his initial wealth.

Then, again with partners, he launched the Absolut Holding Company and the Absolut Bank. The bank grew to become one of the 25 top institutions in the sector on a nationwide scale. It was among the top ten mortgage lenders in the market. In 2007, Alexander Svetakov hit the news by selling the bank to a Belgium entity. He did it right on time to avoid the consequences of the recession that broke out the following year.

After the deal, the entrepreneur focused his efforts on the Absolut Group. Its initial fields of activity included real estate and trading. Soon, it diversified into such sectors as coal and gold mining, food production, asset management, and insurance.

Svetakov’s Absolut Group purchased multiple farms located in the central region. By the beginning of the 21st century, it became one of the largest landowners there. The agricultural arm of the group has been engaged in farming, dairy production, and processing grain. Later on, the Group used the plots of land that it owned to build commercial real estate projects and premium residential complexes.

Passion for Art and Sport

Passion for art occupies a central part in Alexander Svetakov’s biography. His favorite direction is avant-garde. His personal collection consists of works by 20th-century painters. He founded the V-A-C Foundation in Moscow, which aims to integrate the country’s contemporary art into an international context.

In 2001, the French government awarded Alexander Svetakov with the Order of Arts and Letters, a prestigious award given to those who have made significant contributions to the promotion of the arts in France and globally.

Svetakov is an avid surfer. He has admired this sport for many years, however, he only learned to stand on a board when he turned 40. One day, he received a golden surfing board as a gift from a Canadian manufacturer, Bombardier. He proudly displayed it in his office. His favorite places to catch waves are Indonesia and Mauritius.

Approach to Philanthropy

As a billionaire, Alexander Svetakov adheres to the principles of effective altruism, as formulated by Australian moral philosopher Peter Singer. Singer believes that everyone should aim to help others, irrespective of their own social standing or opportunities. Support should be based on factual information, evidence, and sound reasoning.

When Alexander Svetakov became a successful businessman in the 1990s, he was approached by many individuals and organizations seeking his assistance. It was difficult to distinguish between scammers and those who genuinely needed help. The entrepreneur realized that it would be more efficient to provide systematic assistance rather than making one-time money transfers to charities. He prefers to focus on helping children with special needs who are facing challenging life situations. He has been supporting schools and boarding schools for such children until now. In addition, he contributes to the well-being of animals by building a complex that includes a shelter, pet hotel, and veterinary clinic.

Alexander Svetakov recognizes that the charitable sector in his country is still relatively young, having been in its current form for only about three decades. This is why he believes it may be beneficial to draw on the experience of countries that have been more successful in this area. For instance, charity organizations could learn how to generate revenue from merchandise and paid services for those who are able to afford them. The ultimate aim is to ensure that every cent donated goes towards the most efficient use possible.

Also Read: 20 Influential Leaders Who Are Truly Impactful

Vladimir Yevtushenkov is the co-founder of AFK Sistema, a significant investment company that has substantially impacted various economic sectors. The corporation’s legacy includes both economic development and modernization. The Sistema founder is also involved in philanthropic initiatives. 

Vladimir Yevtushenkov

Evtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich · Vladimir Evtushenkov · Vladimir Ievtouchenkov · Vladimir Jevtušenkov · Vladimir Petrovich EVTUSHENKOV · Vladimir Petrovitsj Evtoesjenkov · Vladimir YEVTUSHENKOV · Vladimir Yevtushenkov · Vlagyimir Petrovics Jevtusenkov · Wladimir Petrowitsch Jewtuschenkow · YEVTUSHENKOV Vladimir Petrovich · Yevtushenkov Volodymyr Petrovych · ЄВТУШЕНКОВ Володимир Петрович · Євтушенков Володимир Петрович · Владимир Петрович Евтушенков · ЕВТУШЕНКОВ Владимир Петрович · ולדימיר יבטושנקו · ولادیمیر یفتاشنکوف · ဗလာဒီမာ ပတ်ထရိုဗစ်ချ် ယာ့ဗ်တူရှန်ခါ့ဗ် · ウラジーミル・イェフトゥシェンコフ · 弗拉基米尔·彼得罗维奇·叶夫图申科夫 

Yevtushenkov Vladimir: Early Life and Academic Background

Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich was born near Smolensk in 1948. He had a deep interest in natural sciences from an early age, particularly in chemistry. He frequently conducted experiments at home, aspiring to become a scientist one day. 

After high school, Vladimir Yevtushenkov studied engineering technology at the Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology. He graduated in 1973. He continued his education several years later, graduating from Lomonosov MSU in 1980 with a degree in economics. He later earned a doctorate in economics in 1986. 

Vladimir Yevtushenkov: Biography in Industry

Yevtushenkov Vladimir began his career at the Sverdlov Plant in 1973. Within two years, he had progressed to the position of section head. His skills soon led him to the Karacharov Plastics Plant (now Polymerbyt), where he managed a production shop. His effective management and innovative approaches earned him a promotion to deputy director and chief engineer. During his tenure, Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich significantly improved production processes and operational efficiency, contributing to the plant’s development and success. 

Vladimir Yevtushenkov – AFK Sistema JSFC: Founding and Development in the Telecom Sector and Beyond, Through 2022

After Vladimir Yevtushenkov resigned from Polymerbyt, he co-founded AFK Sistema in 1993 with a group of partners. The company was established as a financial corporation with the aim of investing in and developing various sectors of the domestic economy. 

With the participation of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, AFK Sistema JSFC initially invested in telecommunications, via a number of leading companies. However, the company quickly branched out, and today the Sistema conglomerate includes assets in nearly 20 industries. 

In the retail sector, AFK Sistema’s children’s good retailer, acquired in 1994, eventually grew to 850 branches, with the support of Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich. In 2017, the company was listed on the local stock exchange.  

AFK Sistema also ventured into healthcare in 1996. Today, it operates one of the largest private clinic networks in the country, offering a wide range of medical services, notes Yevtushenkov Vladimir. 

In agriculture, at the initiative of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, AFK Sistema invested in two companies in 2011, which formed the basis for the founding of an agroholding in 2014. Today the holding company is the leader in its field, with diversified operations in crop production, horticulture, and dairy farming. 

The forestry sector saw AFK Sistema acquiring various assets in 2014, leading to the formation of a forestry holding. This group is now a leading vertically integrated holding, engaging in logging, wood processing, and the production of paper and packaging products. The company made its IPO in April 2021. 

With the participation of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, biography of AFK Sistema also extended to the e-commerce market in 2014, with an investment in an online retailer that has since become one of the largest and most valuable internet companies in the country. 

Through these strategic investments, Vladimir Yevtushenkov-AFK Sistema has driven significant growth and modernization across multiple sectors of the domestic economy, establishing the Group’s companies as key players in these industries. 

Vladimir Yevtushenkov: Biography of Philanthropic Initiatives and Social Investments

The Vladimir Yevtushenkov biography has always had close ties with philanthropy, and in April 2022, he stepped away from his role with the Sistema Board of Directors in order to more fully focus on charitable and social initiatives. 

In 2004, Yevtushenkov Vladimir initiated the establishment of a charitable foundation under the AFK Sistema umbrella, one of the first and largest corporate foundations in the country. The foundation focuses on long-term social programs, particularly in education and regional development. By 2020, the foundation’s activities spanned 25 regions across the country. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the charitable foundation played a crucial role by supporting more than 20 medical institutions through the #StranaBezVirusa initiative. 

Vladimir Yevtushenkov also made significant contributions to the arts through his involvement with a major national museum. Since 2003, with the participation of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, AFK Sistema has been a key partner of the museum, with the AFK founder chairing its Board of Trustees beginning in 2004. Throughout his tenure, numerous projects have been realized, including extensive restoration works, exhibitions, publishing ventures, cultural and educational programs, and initiatives to improve accessibility for all visitors. This partnership was extended for another decade in 2013, emphasizing the long-term commitment to preserving and promoting the domestic cultural heritage, emphasizes Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich. 

In the field of education, Yevtushenkov Vladimir collaborated Lomonosov MSU in 2006 to establish the Higher School of Management and Innovation. This institution was designed to prepare highly qualified specialists for the innovation market, combining rigorous academic training with practical experience in managing innovative projects. 

Through these philanthropic and social efforts, which reached more than a million people by 2023, Yevtushenkov Vladimir has demonstrated a deep commitment to supporting and advancing various societal sectors, significantly impacting education, culture, and healthcare. 

Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich: Awards and Acknowledgements

Yevtushenkov Vladimir Petrovich has received several industry awards. In 2017, he was honored as the Philanthropist of the Year for his extensive contributions to the national museum. Additionally, AFK Sistema was recognized by a community of managers as one of the country’s top employers in 2007, highlighting the commitment of the enterprise to creating a positive and supportive work environment.

Over the past few years, Sberbank has regularly hit the headlines due to the rapid development of its activities in the retail sphere. Kirill Tsarev is the professional responsible for this direction. In particular, he supervises the integration of AI-based technologies, diversification of the available payment methods and switch to client-centricity. Kirill Tsarev is also Sberbank’s First Deputy Chairman of the Board and the head of the Wealth Management unit.

Customer-Centricity as the Key Principle

On December 6, 2023, the bank organized the Investor Day to present the strategy of its development till 2026. Kirill Tsarev clarified at the event: “Human-centricity is not only about technology. The transformation to a human-centered business model includes a culture of caring.” For the successful implementation of the strategy, three key factors are required: the widespread use of AI-based solutions, a culture of caring and an understanding of the life situations in which customers may find themselves.

According to Kirill Tsarev, Sberbank currently caters to over 108 million individuals. They can benefit from an extensive range of services, not necessarily financial ones. AI-powered solutions promptly assess the needs of each customer and offer only suitable products to them.

Capabilities of Already Existing AI-Based Tools

Kirill Tsarev explained that Sberbank employs a variety of AI-based tools, each of which targets a specific problem, area or type of request. All of them keep on continuously learning and accumulating huge amounts of data.

The most obvious example is the voice assistant that greets clients when they call the bank and is capable of answering the most common questions. Another popular product analyzes loan applications and approves them in a couple of minutes. A dedicated solution detects the mistakes that the human operators of the call center make. In addition, there is an instrument that identifies the initial stages of emotional burnout among staff members, enabling them to prevent it on time.

Clients who are interested in taking out a mortgage often want assistance in finding housing, assessing infrastructure and checking documents. Especially for them, the Domclick marketplace was launched, which covers all these needs.

Kirill Tsarev states that 1.7 million customers use the Money Before Paycheck service. It allows people to borrow a sum that does not exceed half of their salary for up to one month. The interest rates are favorable and applications are approved in a matter of minutes.

The clients of Sber do not need to always carry a card with them. Over 2 million terminals accept payments with QR codes and 200,000 allow people to pay for goods and services using their biometric data. An audio assistant is installed on 95% of self-service devices to assist people with visual impairments.

Kirill Tsarev highlights that Sberbank’s products, designed to protect customers’ personal data, have repeatedly proven their reliability. They managed to prevent more than 550 DDoS attacks over the past two years. At the same time, Sber strives to enhance the cyber literacy of its audience. It regularly notifies clients about new fraudulent schemes and offers them a themed simulator to hone their skills in interacting with a virtual fraudster.

Speaking about the future plans of Sber, Kirill Tsarev mentioned the AI-powered virtual financial consultant that is expected to be launched in 2024. Its services will be much more affordable than those of a human expert. This tool has access to regulatory legal acts, economic forecasts and up-to-date information on the state of the securities market. It will analyze the client’s investment portfolio, propose measures to optimize it and explain which property should be insured.

Kirill Tsarev’s Biography

Kirill Tsarev was born in 1978 in St. Petersburg. He got two degrees — in economics and law. The top manager has been working in commercial structures since the age of 18. He headed Interleasing LLC and in 2009, became the president of the United Leasing Association.

The part of Kirill Tsarev’s biography related to Sberbank began in 2011. At first, he held the position of Deputy General Director of Sberbank Leasing JSC. Then, he headed several divisions of the bank. In 2018, he became Vice President and curator of its Corporate Business sector. Two years later, the top manager landed the position of senior vice president, joined the Board and took the position of deputy chairman.

Meet Ani Anderson, a trailblazer in the professional coaching and training industry. Her company is renowned for their transformative impact on individuals and organizations alike. With a wealth of experience and a passion for empowering others to reach their full potential, Ani’s team has earned the reputation as a trusted advisor to leaders. Through their innovative coaching methods and dynamic training programs, they have guided countless clients to achieve breakthroughs in their personal and professional lives. 

Join us as we delve into the inspiring journey and profound insights of this visionary leader, dedicated to driving positive change and excellence in the world of coaching and training. In conversation with Ani Anderson, Director of Operations at Motivation Beyond Measure, let us know more about her journey. 

1. Please walk us through your educational/professional journey. What was the ‘aha moment’ that inspired you to venture into the industry you are working in?

During my junior year in college, while training to become an Occupational Therapist, I encountered a significant health challenge that left doctors puzzled. Despite their efforts, they couldn’t pinpoint the cause of my symptoms. It was during this uncertain period that I stumbled upon a book about energy medicine.

Intrigued by its concepts, I followed the book’s guidance, answering questions related to the parts of my body affected by the symptoms. Through this process, I uncovered unresolved issues within my family that seemed connected to my health struggles. Taking a bold step, I addressed these issues in a conversation with my mother, and remarkably, my symptoms vanished.

Though it felt like a stroke of magic, this experience sparked a realization within me. I saw the potential of energy medicine to transform not only individual health but also our broader approach to wellness. Motivated by this insight, I felt a calling to explore energy medicine further, sensing its significance for society. 

In that ‘aha moment,’ I understood that my journey wasn’t just about my own healing but also about contributing to a new perspective on health and wellness. This revelation fueled my passion to study the intersection of traditional and alternative medicine, shaping my career path into what it is today.

I went on to create my own private practice then branched out with my partner to train other practitioners. Our companies have walked the leading edge by bringing energy medicine into organizations and professional practices in very practical ways since 2012. 

2. When was the company established? What are the products/services it primarily offers?

NEW Health Inc was established in 2012. We are the home of the Somatic Coaching Academy and Motivation Beyond Measure. Our company provides professional development training and coaching. The Somatic Coaching Academy offers certification programs in body-centered coaching methodologies. Certification programs range from 2 days to 6 months and offer the most cutting-edge neuroscience available so that practitioners can get the very best results with even the most challenging and resistant people. Motivation Beyond Measure is our professional practice and offers solutions to leaders who are dedicated to getting unprecedented levels of motivation with their teams. 

3. When we asked Ani Anderson about the three unique factors that differentiate the company, she had an insightful answer, showing how Motivation Beyond Measure will never fail to give its customer the edge!

The three unique factors are she talked about are – 

Coach training programs offer coaching at 3 basic levels; coaching the “what,” coaching the “who,” and coaching the “state.” Coaches that coach the “what” for a client partner with their clients to find solutions that match the problem they are having. Coaches who coach the “who” focus more on who the person is being in the situation. Coaching the “state” means that we help a client regulate their nervous system and choose their desired sensory state before approaching future action. 

An example of this follows:

A client wants to exercise more, but can’t get themselves to go to the gym.

Coaching the “what,” the coach will help the client identify the best exercises they are most likely to do, the best time of the day to go to the gym, and how they might develop accountability measures that will support their goal.

Coaching the “who,” the coach will help the client to identify an underlying belief that is keeping the client from exercising. Uncovering a belief that the client thinks they are lazy, the coach helps them shift instead into a belief that “I am an athlete.”

Coaching the “state,” the coach will first help a person regulate their nervous system to make sure they are within their window of tolerance and ready to enter their nervous system growth zone. From there they will help the person identify the “feelings”/sensations that are blocking their goal, modify the sensations from undesired sensations to desired sensations, and then help them identify thoughts, words, and actions they would like to take from the desired state. 

Coaching the “state” is the magic key a lot of coaches are looking for because coaching the “what” and the “who” only works some of the time, whereas coaching the state works for everyone no matter what they have been through. Coaches find they get exceptional results with even the most challenging clients when coaching the “state” first before approaching the “who” or the “what.”

At the Somatic Coaching Academy, our coaches learn how to coach the nervous system state. The methods we teach are trauma-sensitive. However not all of our students choose to study with us so that they have trauma-sensitive coaching methods, but many do, understanding that 90% of people have traumatized nervous systems and no one can opt out of working with clients who have experienced trauma. Since trauma can show up as insidious problems like procrastination issues and lack of motivation, our students find that the coachees they thought were “uncoachable” or “difficult” really just needed somatic coaching methods to succeed.

Our team at Motivation Beyond Measure has been trained through the Somatic Coaching Academy so that they provide the most cutting-edge science and practical application for leaders and teams in any leadership development and change initiatives. We dive deeper than emotional intelligence so that leaders can understand what motivates 100% of their teams and get lasting results faster and more completely than other consulting firms. 

4. Leading and establishing a company with passion and dedication have made Ani Anderson the successful leader she is today! But not without failures and setbacks to overcome. So, how do you handle those and what are some important leadership lessons you have learned throughout your journey?

As a business leader, I’ve learned to see setbacks as hidden chances for growth. Each time we face a setback, it’s like finding a secret opportunity waiting to be discovered. This mindset has been key to our success over the years.

Let me tell you about a couple of tough times we faced. Back in 2012, our wellness center got an eviction notice. It could have been the end of our business, but we saw it as a chance for something bigger. We took a risk and bought a new building for our center, even though we didn’t have all the money at first. It turned out to be a great move. We not only found the funds but also attracted new practitioners and clients and offered new services, leading to even more success than our previous center.

Then, in 2017, we hit another rough patch. We were drowning in debt and close to going bankrupt after a lot of investment in our own training and failed marketing initiatives. But instead of giving up, we asked ourselves an important question: “What do our clients need that we’re not giving them?” The answer was clear: somatic coaching certification programs. We got to work and turned our setback into the thriving Somatic Coaching Academy. 

For me, setbacks are like a sign that there’s something better ahead. Instead of just learning lessons from failure, I’ve found it more helpful to focus on the opportunities hidden within setbacks. This approach has helped us bounce back stronger every time, turning challenges into stepping stones to success. When leaders know how to expertly navigate resistance to change that often thwarts growth, their teams can adopt this mindset too.

5. How has business leadership changed over the years? In your opinion, what are the important qualities a modern leader should possess?

“Over the years, the approach to business leadership has undergone significant evolution. In my perspective, the qualities required for effective leadership in today’s world are notably different from those of the past,” says Ani Anderson. 

She further adds, 

In earlier times, leaders often relied on methods like physical coercion or the promise of rewards to drive performance. However, as society progressed, such approaches became less effective and even frowned upon. Subsequently, leaders turned to tactics involving emotional manipulation, such as guilt or shame, yet these strategies also proved inadequate in the long run. Today, a new paradigm of leadership is needed to navigate the complexities of the modern workplace.

A contemporary leader is more than just a directive figure; they serve as mentors and coaches, guiding individuals toward personal and professional growth. This entails a shift towards recognizing and respecting the diverse values and aspirations of team members as well as taking their own nervous system regulation and motivation seriously. By fostering an environment where everyone’s motivational drivers are valued, leaders can cultivate a culture of collaboration and unprecedented levels of energy and innovation..

Rather than relying on coercion, modern leaders prioritize holistic intelligence and empathy. They understand the importance of creating a sense of security and stability within the team, serving as a steady anchor amidst uncertainty. This involves not only being emotionally supportive but also understanding the physiological aspects of stress and nervous system regulation.

In essence, modern leadership is about creating a positive and empowering environment where individuals can thrive. By embracing this approach, leaders can unlock the full potential of their teams and achieve collective success in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Definitions of leadership have changed over the years.

“Mental health today is one of the key issues,”  

Ani Anderson.

6. When we asked Ani about the most critical challenges and opportunities business leaders will face in the near future, her response was – 

When it comes to the biggest challenges and opportunities for business leaders today, one key issue stands out: mental health. Studies show that Gen Z, the younger generation, sees mental health as their top concern, even more than things like gun violence or physical health problems. This means leaders need to pay attention and take action to support mental well-being in the workplace because they are our emerging leaders.

Another big challenge is tackling long-standing societal issues like racism, sexism, and other other societal challenges where people are“othered”. Leaders need to step up. It can be overwhelming, but it’s essential to create workplaces where everyone feels respected and included. 

At the Somatic Coaching Academy, we see a crucial underlying issue: many people have experienced trauma, which affects how they make decisions and behave at work. To make real change, leaders must adopt policies that support employee well-being and address trauma in the workplace. Trauma is no longer something we can pretend to opt out of. Studies show us that 90% of people have traumatized nervous systems. This and the mental health concerns of the younger generation show us that nervous system regulation should be the number one thing on leaders’ minds.  

Making these changes won’t be easy. It requires leaders to be compassionate and willing to have a tremendous amount of humility. When leaders’ self reflection and “inner work” is just as big a priority as the outer work that is done in organizations, we will start to see big changes. By looking at how we think about and treat other people and address our own emotions and reactivity, we can create workplaces where everyone can thrive. 

“In the end, addressing these challenges and opportunities means being brave, empathetic, and committed to growth—both as leaders and as individuals.”

Ani Anderson

7. Being a leader, a single mom and an inspiration to many, Ani Anderson’s way of juggling her responsibilities is an unique as it gets. When we asked her about her mantra, this was her response – 

Finding the right balance between work and life, especially as a single mom, is a real challenge. People often ask me for tips on achieving this balance, but the truth is, there’s no easy answer. Juggling childcare and business responsibilities is tough, and it often means making sacrifices along the way.

“I believe the idea of a perfect balance can be harmful. It makes people feel like they’re failing when, in reality, they’re doing their best in a society that doesn’t always support them,” emphasizes Ani Anderson. 

So, how do I manage? I’ve learned to be kind to myself. I allow myself to rest, to get angry, and to speak up for what I need. I’ve accepted that life isn’t always consistent, and that’s okay. Even if others judge my decisions, I prioritize what’s best for me and my family.

Most importantly, I treasure the time I have with my kids. They won’t be with me forever, so I make the most of every moment. By showing myself compassion, I hope to teach them to do the same.

Last but not the least, Ani Anderson is a woman of dedication and passion towards her work. Her journey is remarkable and the one that makes an impact. When asked, she expressed her thoughts on this in the most inspiring way! 

“In the end, I dream of a world where women’s issues are taken seriously, making it easier for everyone to find balance. Until then, I’ll keep doing my best to navigate this journey with grace and determination.”

The dynamics of business leadership have significantly changed over the past few years. In addition to being innovative, curious, and analytical, leaders need to think and react faster across multiple dimensions. With people at the heart of every company, successful leaders have to be able to connect at all levels within the company. In the past, vulnerability was seen as a sign of weakness in leadership and today it is a strength. It is foundational to quickly building trust. 

Enunciating her views on modern leadership, Bhavana Bartholf says, “A modern leader, to me, should possess the following qualities: authenticity, curiosity, empathy, humility & an open mindset.” Bhavana Bartholf is an award-winning leader and a highly sought-after speaker who provides vision and accelerates digital transformation for global corporations while driving positive change. 

The Enterprise World recently interviewed Bhavana Bartholf, in which she shed light on her journey, milestones, challenges, and leadership lessons. Here are some excerpts from the fascinating conversation:

1. Please walk us through your educational/professional journey. What was the ‘aha moment’ that inspired Bhavana Bartholf to venture into the industry you are working in?

I was taught early on the importance of curiosity and that anything is possible if you believe you can. hat seemed to be how I chose to explore options for my education and career. Growing up in India people said certain engineering fields weren’t really for women. When I was young my uncle would take me to trade shows to see the equipment used in shop floors and manufacturing lines. This led me to do my bachelor’s in Math, Physics, and Manufacturing Systems. I came to the US to do my Master’s in Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering at NC State University. While I was at NC State, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work for ABB as an intern which gave me a good understanding and foundation. 

Microsoft recruited me right out of college and it was and will always be one of the best experiences of my life. In my 20+ year career at Microsoft, I had the opportunity to be in a diverse set of roles across support, professional services, sales, marketing, operations, transformation, client experience, and corporate. Through this experience, I have been so privileged to have worked with some of the best talent in the world and learn from some of the most inspiring and successful leaders. 

My biggest “Aha” that fueled the successes and growth in my career was being open to taking on roles that others weren’t willing to do as they saw it as risky or not well defined. That started with my first job at Microsoft and several jobs in my career that were new or created for me which helped me play a role in defining it and influencing the future of it. I also learned that my education in Manufacturing Systems Processes and Logistics has become extremely valuable in building efficient, agile, and productive organizations that can sustain and scale. 

2. Who is your role model and how he/she has inspired Bhavana Bartholf to reach where you are today?

This would be my grandfather. As a little girl growing up in India in an environment where gender-specific roles and expectations prevailed, my grandfather taught me to Simply Imagine what is possible by challenging the status quo. He was a self-made man and was of the first radiologists in the south of India. I am grateful to have grown up with him. He taught me to be curious, listen and learn, and, most importantly, always dream big—as what we can or cannot achieve is simply a result of the limitations that we put on ourselves.

My mother also taught me the importance of kindness, respect, and the power of listening. And this has been core to who I am as a person, peer & leader and it helps me be an Ally to all. 

3. Please shed some light on the significant achievements/milestones throughout your illustrious career.

When I think about significant achievements in my career, to me, it’s about the impact people have shared that I have made in their careers and life. When I create an environment where everyone feels empowered and heard/valued and they are comfortable in giving the leadership team and myself honest feedback on the business and/or their experiences, it is huge and has led to the successes that the business had. In addition, I am proud to have intentionally helped increase diverse representation at all levels of an organization and worked to create a culture where they felt like they belonged. And from personal experience and feedback I had heard from others, led me to do my TEDx at TEDxWaterStreet ReImagine on “The Secret to Self-Advocacy”. 

The National Diversity Council named Bartholf one of 2023 & 2021’s “Power 50” Women in Leadership. In 2022, she was recognized by Success Magazine as one of 50 Women of Influence and was one of 25 trailblazers to receive the Women in Business Award from Charlotte Business Journal. Added to her accolades was Diversity Journal’s International Women of Influence. For two years running (2022, 2021), Bartholf was on Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching list.

4. As a successful business leader, how do Bhavana Bartholf handle failures/setbacks? What are some important leadership lessons you’ve learned throughout your journey?

“Failure is the key to Success” – Michael Jordan. As a leader, it is important how you show up on the journey to success. And one of them is accountability. At the end of the day, if your team fails to accomplish a task, as the leader you need to be accountable and focus on reflecting and moving forward. Look at each setback as an opportunity to learn, adjust, and/or reset. At Microsoft, we would say it is important to “fail fast” with a growth mindset as it helps us succeed and deliver results. I have also learned not to take it personally, as it is not a reflection of my capabilities but part of my journey that has shaped me to be the person I am today. So, in summary:

• Be accountable and honest
• Seek to understand why
• Focus on how to move forward
• Stay positive on the Journey

5. How do Bhavana Bartholf ensure a perfect work-life balance? What are your hobbies/interests beyond the cabin? 

Will start by saying, I don’t think there is a “perfect” work-life balance. To me, it’s all about prioritization and integration. I believe it was Indra Nooyi who talked about how tough it is for women to “have it all”. When we are looking to accelerate our careers, our biological clock says it’s time to have kids! And the older your kids get the more they need you. So, I have learned it is important to prioritize what matters to you and what is non-negotiable and communicate that clearly.. Then as you integrate your work and personal life it will vary by the day. There are some days when your family needs more of your time and then there are those days when work needs you to give it all you have got. And that it’s okay. The toughest thing I continue to work on is learning to prioritize “me”. This is so important for your mental health and helps you be better both at work and home. Cooking and getting a workout in, helps me recharge and relax. 

6. According to Bhavana Bartholf, what are the most critical challenges and opportunities business leaders will face in the near future?

When we look across industries the most critical challenges and opportunities that leaders will face is being agile and scaling their business to meet the ever-changing demands in the market. A big part of that is about having a pulse across your business and your clients. Data and AI are foundational t assets for a business to be the leader in their industry and accelerate its success. Embracing Generative AI and the future with Artifical General Intelligence  will be a game changer in enabling them to do that. 

7. Please share a piece of advice for young business leaders aspiring to make a mark in their respective industries.

There’s a famous quote attributed to John Wayne, “Courage is being scared to death and Saddling up Anyway”. Courage is literally not possible without fear. So, embrace the fear and hone in on your strengths. A It will start with taking that first step: to Self Advocate. 

The big secret? Self-Advocacy is hard for everyone especially hard for Women! When we self-advocate we have a great deal to gain & little to lose and when we do not: a great deal to lose & little to gain. Just ask for what you want!

Simply imagine what is possible if you did!

Visionary leaders are playing a crucial role in reshaping the future in 2023 in the constantly changing economic sector. To guide their organisations and sectors into uncharted territory, these creative leaders are embracing innovation, sustainability, and digitization. They are leading the charge in adjusting to shifting consumer demands, new technology, and international difficulties. 

In this article, we’ll look at how these forward-thinking company leaders are shaping the future while navigating the challenges of today’s competitive business environment, setting new standards for success in the process.

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of Most Influential Business Leaders To Watch Out For is this conversation with Mr. Walid Abed. Let us find out more about Walid Abed’s company and his journey. 

Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start the company?

 I am a French linguist and computer scientist, and I am known for the proposition of a new model called the Semantic Meta Model (SMM) (Meta Modèle Sémantique – MMS). I am the founder and CEO of Global Data Excellence. I am a worldwide renowned expert and visionary in AI and data-related topics, with 30 years of on-field experience across various sectors. 

The communication between the human and machine was really difficult. Being a multicultural person made me realise that there is a serious problem in the sense when communicating with languages. Il fallait les compétences linguistiques.

To be able to establish the dialogue between humans and machines,  I had to understand both human language and machine language. When I arrived in the corporate world, I noticed that everything revolved around value. However, value is ambiguous. Value has two meanings: qualitative and quantitative. These two meanings overlap, which is why there are economic systems that lean to the left, favoring qualitative value, and others to the right, favoring economic value.

As a result, I wanted to create a governance system that can govern according to the two values phases.

First phase includes rights, ethics, standards, rules and regulations. 

Second phase is money, which represents value.

It’s too complicated for humans to make the link between rules, data and value. There is a loss of meaning at every level, which is why I decided to link everything together and set up a governance framework based on everyone’s language and context, with a verbatim, to avoid any ambiguity. Only an AI is capable of neutrally calculating the context and anticipating because the data is disparate. Data is everywhere, and it’s difficult to discern which data is good.  As we move towards a paradigm shift, history, statistics and past transactions do not represent the future.

Only linguistic and semantic AI are capable of resolving this equation and this paradox, because the AIs that exist to date take no account of value or context, nor of rules on past transactions which represent nothing for the future. If we want to get into the future, we have to create it.

What are the initial challenges you faced and what are the reasons behind company’s long-standing success? 

The digital world and its complex interactions create new challenges for data governance, and more broadly, for the Digital Enterprise making it difficult for Humans and machines to interact. The knowledge required for human activity in the value creation is fragmented and dispersed across systems which in their turn are not normalized, siloed and inconsistent. Moreover, the language problem inherent to the organisational complexity of humans and machines’ ecosystems, combined with the tsunami of regulation and data, makes it impossible to connect the knowledge together and link it to be used wisely for the organisational value outcome.

Many platforms and solutions exist. However, most of these, if not all, are disconnected from knowledge and human wisdom ignoring the social contexts as witnessed Big Data Analytics, IBM Watson, Palantir and other technologies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). This type of AI (machine learning, analytics and statistics-driven) enables us to understand approximately the world we created, and by extrapolation, it can project us with probabilistic predictions into potential futures, it does not enable a real constructive and transparent human-machine dialogue. In today’s complex, and fast-changing environments, a global, systematic, and prescriptive data-driven governance is now needed to execute and proactively operationalise business strategies execution and value generation.

Thanks to GDE, organisational complexity, and cost are solved. Value is accelerated. There are no more siloed and instinctive decisions leading to considerable money, time, and trust loss. There is no loss of translation since DEMS-NIXUS integrates semantics. Privacy is guaranteed as there is no need for data integration as data stay at the source. Ownership and ethics and human rights are respected.

What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Our solution, Data Excellence Management System – Natural Intelligence eXpanded Universe System (DEMS-NIXUS) is an integrated and multilingual web-based solution (on-premise or in the cloud) that enables modern organisations to create a cohesive governance environment capable of aligning and governing all business units. DEMS-NIXUS embeds a semantic and linguistic Artificial Intelligence to translate human language business rules to machine code. 

The AI is capable of integrating the existing infrastructure and all databases and their senses instantly without human intervention while respecting the data ownership, leaving them at their source. It is a multilingual system for the interrogation of databases in natural language. DEMS-NIXUS integrates linguistics and encapsulates ChatGPT, Wolfram ALPHA, and other AI. It also processes and decrypts over 1000 file formats and connects to any public or private data source and social networks.

DEMS-Nixus is the complete solution that works in any IT environment for automated Data Integration, Data Cleansing, Business Intelligence, Data Governance, and Data Sharing. DEMS-NIXUS consolidates resources and builds on the extensive investments already made by companies. It also forces a factual value-driven collaboration that engages end users from all levels in the ultimate value creation.

This web-based application supports an integrated, customised management and governance framework empowering the enterprise’s shareholders, employees, and partners. It establishes accountability and responsibility throughout the organisational structure. DEMS-NIXUS precisely links the data asset to the value flows to prescriptively govern and sustain business strategies. Once fully deployed, DEMS-NIXUS provides the enterprise with the combined forces of a cohesive work structure and a governance framework that for the first time in history synchronises data, policies and business transactions.

Moreover, DEMS-NIXUS integrates DeCRIPT which is used to analyze textual data (private or public data – emails, social networks, files…) according to business needs using the semantic meta-model. Textual data represents about 80% of the data of a company that is not automatically exploited compared to the 20% that represents the structured data (in databases). 

The information obtained from the texts enriches the existing structured data to have a more updated vision in an automatic way. The result of this analysis can be used to enrich the meaning of a database and is stored in the database. Once in the database, this result can be queried in natural language.

The implementation of DEMS-NIXUS accelerates the ability of your organisation to maximise the business value of enterprise data while minimizing your operational cost. Within less than one year, your teams are enabled to embed a “govern by value” culture across your organisation.

The singularity of DEMS-NIXUS lies in its Dynamic and Prescriptive Governance Model: a top-down management approach driven by a systematic valorisation of the enterprise data asset and proactive control of current and forecasted business transactions and objectives. 

This model enables leaders and managers to anticipate the impact of non-compliant data assets on the ultimate business value and in turn, to adjust the resources’ distribution to maximise current and planned business operations.

Ultimately, DEMS-NIXUS enables business executives to anticipate the impact of deviations from business policies and their impact on the business value. 

It allows the company to single-mindedly focus on the objectives to be reached and the most efficient journey to attain them.

How do you decide to take the company a step further? 

Our company keeps pace with changing times and trends by collaborating with a complete ecosystem that include customers, partners, institutions, academies, European Commission, ECCMA, INTERREG, and INNOSUISSE consortiums. We constantly work on R&D. We also work on different special projects.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience? 

Dr. Walid Abed is a French linguist and computer scientist, and is known for the proposition of a new model called the Semantic Meta Model (SMM) (Meta Modèle Sémantique – MMS). He was born on September 20, 1968. He is the founder and CEO of Global Data Excellence. He is a worldwide renowned expert and visionary in AI and data-related topics, with 30 years of on-field experience across various sectors. 

He started his career in 1995 in the automotive industry before moving to the IT sector in 1998 and then to the financial and business consulting sector in 2001. After diverse missions for large financial, manufacturing enterprises and governments, Dr. Walid Abed joined the food & beverage industry at Nestlé headquarters as a Business Excellence Manager driving the data strategy for the group. 

In 1996, he created the first human-computer dialog in natural language: Nixus (Natural Intelligence eXpanded Universe System) when the idea of a dialog between humans and machines was in its infancy. 

Since 2000, Dr. Walid Abed has introduced and taught the Data Excellence discipline at the Tesnière Centre specialized in Computational Linguistics and Natural Language Processing at the University of Franche-Comté and also at the CNAM (Centre National des Arts et Métiers) and Paris Dauphine University, and finally at the Fribourg University of Law as a philosophical, economic, political and organizational model. 

In 2007 Walid Abed founded Global Data Excellence (GDE). GDE is a Swiss ICT company based in Geneva. The entire philosophy of the sustainable business of GDE relies on a new discipline, the governance by value allowing perpetual excellence. This innovative discipline is made possible by a holistic framework embedded into a software system : DEMS (the Data Excellence Management System) with the vision to elevate data to excellence empowering a data-driven society governed by value/ or objectives.

Dr. Walid Abed has given lectures at several data conferences. He is a co-founder and board member of the French association EXQI (Excellence, Quality, Information) that groups several scientists around the Data Excellence discipline. Walid Abed is also one of the scientists involved in the creation of the IQCP (Information Quality Certified Professional) certification established by the IAIDQ (International Association for Information and Data Quality). Dr. Walid Abed is the founder of the Scientific Society PEC “Perpetual Excellence Community”, a Swiss non-profit organization, based in Geneva. Walid Abed has published several articles and book chapters.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

• Customers include the 20 most prestigious corporations in the world more than 30 000 users, 3 000 managers & leaders worldwide race with DEMS towards continuous excellence over 50+ countries in almost every industry (Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Consumer Goods, Pharmaceuticals, Finance…).
• DEMS allowed our clients to make 8 trillion € turnover and it is still growing every day
• DEMS cleaned up approximatively 100K million € which correspond to only a small percentage of the world economy which can eradicate poverty and align all the SDGs
• 10 Out of the box semantic knowledge models and verbatim packages ready (ERP, HR, Person, Procurement, GDPR, CORPORATE DATA MODEL, SAP Master Data Model…)

There’s a big push occurring to get people across the nation to switch to solar power, but homeowners have a lot of questions they need answered before they feel comfortable or confident with making that kind of decision.

Merely telling homeowners that solar is more energy efficient isn’t enough information. How do you maintain the panels? How long do they last once installed? Do you need to get your roof redone before installation can take place? Can homeowners install the panels themselves? If not, and most importantly, how much does it cost to get the panels installed?

More and more companies will push to get homeowners to purchase through them, but not all of them are trustworthy or selling quality solar energy systems, and even fewer provide them with answers to their questions. It’s hard to know what to do when you want to be energy efficient but you also have other needs that need to be met. This is where Clean Energy Network comes in.

A Company that Cares

Clean Energy Network is a nationwide platform that matches homeowners with the best verified solar sales companies in their region, and they are proud of the fact that they have now helped over 2 million homeowners in America get educational resources on government solar incentives, helping them research both the pros and cons of investing in solar panels.

The Network is unlike other companies within the solar industry in that they genuinely want homeowners to make informed decisions and choose what is right for them without being pressured to make the switch to solar. They provide all who are interested with material that will teach them all about home solar energy systems and the benefits they can provide. Benefits like an increase in property value, a long-term return on investment, government incentives, and a reduced energy bill.

A Reputable Platform

Should they decide to pursue solar panel installation, Clean Energy Network can connect homeowners with a triple-verified installer based in their region, helping them find a company that meets all of their needs and price points, and they can make this decision with no cost upfront after applying on the site.

“A common question our online visitors have when coming to the site is, “ Are Clean Energy Network and the claims they make legitimate?” the Network said. “We understand that people are hesitant about applying for things online, especially when it comes to solar, but we have partnered with over 3,000 reputable solar installation companies in 45 states since 2017.”

This is another area in which Clean Energy Network goes above and beyond for homeowners—they serve a majority of the nation instead of one small area. They have a vast network of true solar professionals, and they ensure that anyone who uses their site gets connected with the best possible company in their area, saving them time and money.

And it’s easier than ever before to get started. You simply request a quote on the website, and then they connect you with a trusted local installer based on the information the homeowner provides online. The local installer they get matched with will explain the process and the cost of switching to solar and personally answer all questions the potential buyer may have. They vet every solar company before they are allowed on the platform in an effort to ensure that the process is explained properly and that every customer is treated right.

With the Network, all you need to do is enter basic information and the rest is done for you, and you don’t have to worry about being scammed or being taken advantage of. It doesn’t get any better than the Network, just ask one of the 2 million they’ve already helped.

About Clean Energy Network

Clean Energy Network connects customers with verified local solar installers across the United States with maximum savings. It has been featured in CNN, Forbes, FOX, MSNBC, and USA Today. To get a quote for your home, please visit https://cleanenergynetwork.com.

Traditionally, the subject of Money Management and Financial literacy has not featured as part of the educational system. While considered by many to be a fundamental life skill, the reality has left many young people ill-equipped  to manage their finances. Understanding the importance of money management from an early age can help young people to better manage their finances as they move to adulthood. 

Although there will be a time when a financial literacy curriculum will be added in schools, Cashee, led by Brad Whittfield, is a payment card and mobile application in the MENA region helping both the youth and their parents better understand financial literacy. 

In this interview with Brad, we find out more about the company’s journey. 

Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start the company?

Cashee was founded in 2020 in the middle of the Covid lockdown. As we know, Covid resulted

in a massive acceleration in the adoption of digital and online services. My co-founder and I were brainstorming ideas on how to better empower the youth of the MENA region in their digital life. 

Cashee’s mission is to improve financial literacy and increase financial inclusion for youth in the MENA region. Young people in the MENA region have been largely excluded from the financial

system – in many countries unable to even open their own bank account. I believe financial literacy is a fundamental skill that we must invest in at an early age. The Cashee platform promises a safe and secure payment card and mobile app, providing parents with the confidence to allow their children participate in this digital and cashless world.

What are the initial challenges you faced and what are the reasons behind company’s long-standing success?

As with all financial products, there are a lot of inherent dependencies and regulatory approvals required. This is a good thing – if it were easy, everyone would do it. However, the time it takes to navigate the white-water rapids of the fintech ecosystem needs a good amount of time and funding. Our approach has been to fully engage with regulators every step of the way. Not to rely on intermediaries but rather let the regulator hear directly from us – our vision, our passion, and our determination to make a positive social impact in the countries we operate.

What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Cashee provides the youths in the MENA region with a banking mobile application as well as a personalized Visa card. In addition to the financial app, Cashee has developed an educational platform which promotes and teaches many money related topics targeted towards the youth. 

The banking app and Visa card acts as one of the tools young people can use to put into practise the skills we teach. 

How do you decide to take the company a step further?

Cashee recently closed its Series A funding round and signed a strategic partnership with Arab

National Bank in Saudi Arabia which represents a really important milestone for us. 

Our immediate focus in 2023 is to execute our rollout and growth plans in KSA. KSA is really an incredible country which is rapidly growing. We are also in the process of setting up our legal presence in Egypt and are in discussions with potential banking partners in the country with the objective of launching Cashee in 2024.

Being a successful leader, please share your views on the current business scenario across globe after Covid19 pandemic.

I think Covid accelerated a lot of digital adoption. My view, at the moment, is that Covid no longer has a significant impact on business – especially operating in the UAE and KSA – two countries which handled the challenges of the pandemic superbly well.

Why it is said that the workforce plays a vital role in every business’s growth? Please tell us about your team.

In the fintech space, digital payment knowledge is beyond paramount – between the three founders, Cashee has close to 50 years of digital payments experience in the MENA region. Having a dream is great, but I can safely say that our collective track record in the payments space and relationships within the ecosystem was critical for our early success. 

Looking beyond the payments space, our strategic decision to build an in-house tech team in India has proven to be valuable. There were countless times we  needed to pivot technically and alter our development roadmap. This flexibility and speed has been and will continue to be important when executing.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

My personal background is in finance. I have spent a big part of my professional career in M&A – helping companies fundraise, make acquisitions and explore exit opportunities. This gave me a really good understanding of what drives value for shareholders. 

Since then, I have held a number of Group CFO roles in the fintech and digital banking space. I really enjoy supporting tech companies going through a period of hyper growth, expansion in order to maximize investor returns.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

We have been really fortunate in the early stages of Cashee. In addition to successfully closing a number of funding rounds, Cashee has been able to grow a really significant partner ecosystems. 

To mention a few, we were accepted into the Visa Fastrack Program. Visa has provided Cashee with a lot of support in our go to market plan. 

We want to give our young users with as much value as possible. As part of that, we have partnered with companies which resonate with the youth – cinemas, gaming, entertainment and food. Our partners see the intrinsic value of partnering with Cashee in helping them build loyalty within the young population. 

Our strategy has always been to build a really strong partnership ecosystem.

As digital technology continues to evolve, cyber security has become a top priority for businesses of all sizes. Identity-centric and holistic cyber security approaches have gained significant traction in recent years. Identity-centric security shifts the focus from protecting network perimeters to protecting user identity and access to company resources. Holistic cyber security integrates all security measures into a cohesive system, addressing vulnerabilities in the entire IT infrastructure. 

In the dynamic business space, where employees and customers are increasingly mobile, these approaches can help prevent data breaches, protect against insider threats, and ensure regulatory compliance. By adopting a comprehensive approach that focuses on protecting user identities and integrating all security measures, companies can safeguard their digital assets and demonstrate their commitment to cyber security.

In this interview with The Enterprise World, Mr. Arun K. Singh, CEO of Ilantus Technologies walks us through the journey. 

Tell us about Ilantus Technologies

Ilantus Services is a global leader in providing identity-centric, holistic cybersecurity solutions built on the Zero Trust Framework. Ilantus Technologies has more than two decades of unparalleled expertise in providing IAM services to clients across all industry verticals. It was founded in 2000 as a global cybersecurity company with a focus on the Identity & Access Management domain to offer products and services to customers globally. Recently, the product business was rolled out as a different company and Services business merged with a digital Security company – Network Intelligence, Ilantus Services is now a fully owned subsidiary of Network Intelligence.. 

What were the initial challenges you faced?

When I joined Ilantus Technologies, it was having Product and Services business intermingled with no clear boundaries. As a CEO, I led the global team to drive business growth, product engineering, innovation, service delivery, sales & marketing, analyst, and investor relationship management. Soon I realized that the DNA of product and services business are very different. This led to restructuring the company and having a separate entity with independent P&L for Product and Services.  

Which was that point that triggered the growth of Ilantus Technologies?

The restructuring of product and services as two different entities helped in completing the transformation of Ilantus’ global business effectively. It enabled cultivating services mindset to realign growth strategy with market, finalize multiyear roadmap and, adoption of a winning culture with teams that believe in a growth vision, thrive together, beat competition, delight customers, and deliver profitable growth. 

The restructuring also fostered change in company culture to be more client centric and higher accountability for quality of services. Ilantus Technologies got well recognized by leading analysts e.g. Gartner, KuppingerCole, Frost & Sullivan and others.

What is the reason behind Ilantus Technologies’ long-standing success?

I think people first strategy and client centricity had been the key pillars for our long-standing success. People first strategy helped us in maximizing the retention ratio and building a long term winning team. Many of our key employees stayed with the company for more than 15 years. Client centricity enabled us to develop multiple solution accelerators which not only reduced the time to deploy cyber solutions faster but also cut down costs significantly. 

The Products and Services-

What are the services that Ilantus Technologies specializes in?

We specialize in offering full range of Identity and Access Management (IAM) Services to our clients across each industry vertical globally. Whether it’s advisory services to start the IAM journey, conducting assessments for to identify gaps in current deployment, providing consulting, or implementing, migrating, and managing IAM solution, Ilantus Technologies offers it all. Below picture depicts our service catalogue for IAM services

How important is cyber security, considering the changing landscape?

With innovation and disruption, organizations are facing increasing pressure to adopt cutting edge technologies and stay ahead of the curve. In order to provide better client services organizations are using technologies e.g. RPA, ChatBot, NLP, Virtual Reality, AI, ML, Big Data, Predictive Analytics, IoT, 5G, Wearables,  Geo-fencing,  Beacons, Cloud, EDGE, FOG Computing etc. Each of these new technologies expand the attack surface and lead to cybersecurity concerns. Cybersecurity is one of the top concern for Board members and a key enabler for the adotion of new digital technologies. 

Ilantus Technologies combined with Network Intelligence, offers end-to-end cybersecurity capabilities to clients. Below picture presents our combined services catalogue – 

How do you make sure your services are reliable?

We have built productized service offering supported with unique solution accelerators to ensure predictive outcomes. We also have a dedicated division for service quality audit which works with each client engagement as an independent entity and presents unbiased report to the senior management. 

How do you help companies increase business scalability and sustainability?

Our delivery approach includes setting up a robust foundation with key critical systems in cloud or on premise. Once the foundation is tested for high availability and peak load, we bring in our “Factory Model” to onboard rest of the applications on the foundation. This enables sustainability and helps us to scale up the operations to the desired level. 

How do you decide to take Ilantus Technologies a step further in terms of your services?

Most of our cybersecurity engagements start with a maturity assessment phase which helps us identify gaps and benchmark client environment against their peers. This enables client to see the big picture clearly and understand the plan to not only solve immediate issue but also what should be included in the roadmap for further deliberations.  We also add value thru our unique solution accelerators e.g. in IAM domain we have – Rapid application onboarding framework – AiA (Application Integration Automation, Integrated Dashboard, ITDR (Identity Threat Detection and response) & Role mining engine. We have similar solutions in other domains as well. 

Leadership

What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur? 

The key responsibility of any entrepreneur is to deliver Business growth without which survival becomes an issue. It requires skills in the leader to define vision, take right risk to setup the business, and drive continuous innovation to stay ahead of competition. Success in business can’t be achieved without having a strong leadership coaching and development skills. 

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I am currently serving as the CEO and President of Ilantus Technologies, a global leader in providing identity-centric, holistic cybersecurity solutions. Furthermore, I also hold the position of CEO at Network Intelligence, a digital security company in the Americas region. Additionally, I serves as an Advisory Board Member of Cydres (formerly known as The Herjavec Group), as well as GL Bajaj Group of Institutions, and am a member of the Forbes Technology Council.

Before assuming my current position, I worked as a Principal/Partner and Americas Risk Advisory Leader at Ernst & Young LLP. As a Client Serving Partner, I advised senior executives, board members, and technical leaders on establishing comprehensive processes for managing and maturing information technology programs. Prior to joining EY, I worked at Accenture, where I served as Managing Director & Global Leader for their Managed Security Services (MSS) business. In this role, I launched MSS as a new line of business and scaled it rapidly to achieve $350+ million USD in annual revenue within a 4-year timeframe. I carried P&L responsibilities for sales, revenue, delivery, capability development, and branding.

Before Accenture, I worked at Wipro Technologies as Global Business Head for Enterprise Security Services. In this role, I built and led a team of 5000+ security professionals globally, providing security consulting, implementation, and managed services to Wipro’s clientele worldwide. I also worked at Infosys Technologies and HCL Technologies in the areas of eCommerce Security, Network Security, and Application Security.

I began my career as a cryptographer and research professional, and subsequently transitioned to building and driving cybersecurity businesses. I have published multiple research papers and has been invited as a speaker and panelist to numerous conferences such as Forbes Technology Council, ISMG CISO/CEO panel, Adventory CEO, HIMSS, SmartGrid, RSA Conference, Gartner Security Summit, and many more.

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

I have been recognized for my entrepreneurship and influence in the business community. I was featured as one of the “World’s Inspiring CEOs to Follow in 2022” by World Leaders Magazine and as one of the “Top 10 Influential Business Leaders to Follow in 2021” by Beyond Exclamation Magazine. Mirrors Review also named me as one of the “10 Prominent CEO Leaders 2021,” while Insight Success Media LLC recognized me as an “Innovative Business Leader, Making a Difference 2021.”

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

There are many vehicles that we utilize to stay in close contact with each team member and keep them motivated & updated on our business objectives. Community meetings, town hall, cultural events, inter team competitions and weekly connect with reportees play a significant role in this. We have also aligned our incentive program with performance objectives and the quarterly appraisal cycles helps in taking care of critical/top-performing employees. The right attitude for collaboration is the key value that we drive thru each employee which makes then unique.

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs?

I would advice them to understand power of networking and practice it in their day-to-day work life as they look for growing the business. I would also like them to know the power of emotional quotient (EQ) and ability to understand, empathize, and connect with the people around them. A high EQ is essential to become a great leader and successful entrepreneur.

Software development is the name given to a group of computer science tasks involved in developing, deploying, and maintaining software. The set of instructions or programs that a computer follows is known as software. It makes computers programmable and is independent of hardware.

Here we would see the same sort of services provided by Closeloop to their clients with excellent services and an efficient work team. 

In this interview with Mr. Assim Gupta, Founder, and CEO of Closeloop, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

Leadership- Assim Gupta

1. What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

There is a misconception in the market that entrepreneurship is about charisma and glory. But honestly, it’s about hustling your way through societal conventions, business struggles, self-doubt, and many other things that aren’t visible from the outside world. During the initial days, an entrepreneur is responsible for everything, including hiring a team member, responding to customer queries, marketing a service or product, handling finances, etc.

Assim Gupta is a team member, a leader, a visionary, and someone the team relies upon. Assim Gupta is like a captain of the ship that’s responsible for sailing through the rough tides, storms, and unexpected troubles, ultimately anchoring the ship on the right (success) shores.

2. Please brief us about your professional experience.

Before stepping into the field of entrepreneurship, I worked as a software engineering professional and a product manager at leading technology companies such as Google, Oracle, Microsoft, Facebook, SGI, Essar, and VMWare. Starting a technology company was always on my mind, which made me indulge in a few startups, of which I managed to get a fairly decent exit from one of them and ultimately founded Closeloop Technologies with a team size of five members.

Currently, I am one of the panelists at PitchForce, a platform for early-age startups. I have also been a Band of Angels and Keiretsu Capital member for a few years.

3. What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Starting as a usual software engineer to leading teams at the industry’s behemoths and growing

Closeloop’s team from five to more than a hundred members now, I can say that I have achieved

something in life. Although, the greatest satisfaction or you can say the key achievement for me, is how my clients grow or how satisfied they are with our services and projects delivered. My ultimate achievement is when clients reward us with 5-star ratings on third-party review platforms. It not only drives us to work harder and achieve greater heights but also boosts the

morale of the entire squad. At Closeloop, we aim to stun the world with amazing IT solutions that can stand the test of time and help businesses advance better.

One of our success stories that stunned the world was when a Closeloop-developed app helped the business owner secure a whopping $1 million in funding. It is an online loan platform dealing in clean energy for US homeowners.

4. How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

I’m fortunate to have self-motivated team members who believe in mutual growth and understand the importance of timely delivery. It is a fantastic mix of experience and talent.

We value people at Closeloop. Everyone is free to share ideas, get involved in discussions, and drop in their input. Everyone is heard, and everyone gets acknowledged for not only their critical

contributions but also for little things at work. We offer plenty of benefits to our employees, including medical and life insurance, paid vacations and trips, tax-free fuel benefits, relocation assistance, bonus, and more. We are doing everything possible to make Closeloop a company everyone wants to work for.

5. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs?

One of the best pieces of advice I can give to budding entrepreneurs is that money is not the ultimate goal; it’s only a by-product of your efforts, honesty at work, and passion for your goal. Rather than focusing on money-making, indulge in practices that inspire, solve real-world problems, and build innovative solutions to help businesses streamline and scale. Remember, if your clients grow, you grow!

The Company-

1. Tell us about the company.

Closeloop Technologies is a software consulting and development company headquartered in

California with development centers situated in Mohali & Jaipur, India. Founded a decade ago, the company serves businesses of all sizes and types, hailing from different sectors. The aim is to assist businesses worldwide to function better and more efficiently with our expert software

consulting and groundbreaking IT solutions. Our proactive and innovative yet comprehensive

approach to building software and apps keeps us ahead of the competition, which helps our clients to get the advanced version of every technique and tool that we deploy for software and application development.

2. What were the initial challenges you faced?

There have always been three major challenges for companies operating in the outsourcing

industry like ours – Trust, Transparency, and Hidden Charges. You need to go through them every time to take up a new project. Though they hold lesser weightage now in the initial stage of company establishment, they certainly did.

3. What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

If I have to give one reason, then it will be the satisfaction quotient we provide to our clients. Plus, the relationship we maintain post-delivery of the project.

The Products/Services-

1. What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Services we offer include cloud computing services with implementation, integration, migration,

and deployment and tools such as Microsoft Azure, Kubernetes, Google Cloud, and AWS, mobile (iOS & Android) and web app design and development services, eCommerce strategy, design, & development, and CRM and ERP development services (Salesforce, NetSuite, Zuora, and Zoho). While the services remain the same as offered by other companies in the market, the approach, the proactiveness of the team, communication and understanding, and the passion of the employees really make the difference.

2. How do your services help companies to leverage new technologies to benefit business?

The world of technology is evolving more briskly than anyone can imagine. It becomes crucial for companies like ours to stay updated with the latest technologies, tools, and techniques. We have an R & D team that keeps track of what’s trending and intimate the department's leaders to get aware and learn things that are important and viable and can help our clients upgrade their business.

3. How do you help companies increase business scalability and sustainability?

We have a dedicated model to identify scalability opportunities and sustainability quotients. C- level consulting comes into the frame here, which is also one of our differentiating factors that helps business owners identify their business’s true potential and work towards growth-enabled areas; becoming an enterprise from a startup.

4. How do you decide to take the company further regarding your products/services?

Here again, our R & D team comes into the picture that researches, analyzes, and decides what to include in our service offerings and what needs to be left out based on the market’s trends and normalities.

Growing with the generation and changes is what makes one successful. Digitalization has made things simpler in the last few decades. With the help of It services leading companies gradually started growing immensely with more efficiency. The services provided by the IT sector prove to be a more time-saving and efficient form of work with accuracy and storage. IT services like business analytics, cloud management, digital infrastructure, security, emerging solutions etc. 

Here comes a company namely Arrow providing major IT services for which companies look. The company comes forward to provide IT infrastructure to companies to reduce the complexities arising in the companies.  Let’s know more about the company and its growth within the last few years. 

In this interview with Gurpreet Singh, Founder & MD of Arrow, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey.

Brief us about the company, what inspired you to start the company? 

Arrow PC Network is an ISO/IEC 27001:2013, ISO 9001:2015 & ISO 20000 1:2018, certified, leading IT Services Integrator delivering world-class IT infrastructure services to customers PAN India as well as offshores. We are a team of dedicated professionals and certified engineers focusing on innovation to provide cost-effective solutions and efficient services.

We work with our customers to deliver and deploy highly sophisticated IT infrastructure to reduce the complexities and increase the value of the business. We have built an expertise in providing our customers remote support and virtual assistance for seamless operations. By taking the time to deeply understand how our clients define success, we help them harness technology advances, simplify IT complexity and optimize their IT environments. 

  Our Founder & Managing Director Gurpreet Singh started a small setup supplying stationery to organizations in the year 1996. His vision of creating a team of inspirational leaders to manage business operations in an efficient and economical way has brought Arrow PC network to a level where it is admired in the industry for its ethics and integrity. 

  What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market? 

Our focus is to deliver a technology expertise through a full life cycle model of professional, managed, support services including strategy, consulting, designing, and implementation. We specialize in deploying modern, consolidated, and secured infrastructure namely Hybrid Cloud, Hyper-Converged, Data Storage and Data Protection. The company strives to take “As-a-Service” solutions to the next level, with our  engineered workload solutions that turn data into a competitive advantage.  

Our mission is to earn trust and profit from our customers and we have a clear goal to grow while keeping our values intact. Our transparency, integrity, and long-term approach differentiate us from other players in the market.  

Please tell us about your team. 

ONE TEAM. ONE FOCUS. ONE GOAL 

Gurpreet Singh 

Founder & Managing Director 

A visionary leader with 22+ years of experience in driving digital transformation by helping customers deploy cutting-edge technologies. A leader with expertise in nurturing talent & leveraging strength to develop business opportunities. 

Parvinder Kaur 

Director of Finance & Operations 

An inspirational leader with a passion to create equal opportunities for all. She manages the administration and regular operations. She involves in several activities of social innovation supporting women’s entrepreneurship. 

Shrutikant Kapoor 

Business Manager – Enterprise Solutions 

With an experience of over a decade with Arrow PC Network, Gurpreet Singh is an expert professional in the area of customer relationship management & business development. Gurpreet Singh is a consistent performer and committed to empowering his team to deliver the best in challenging times. 

Amandeep Singh 

General Manager 

A strategist with in-depth knowledge of managing sales and support of high-end IT infrastructure. A multi-functional technocrat with extensive experience in business delivery, project management, and a competent team manager. 

Please brief us about your professional experience.  

Having hands-on experience of 22 years, Gurpreet Singh is leading a team of entrepreneurs at Arrow PC Network to transform it into a world-class IT services integration company focusing on designing and deploying sophisticated IT infrastructure solutions. Gurpreet Singh has successfully built a team of young, energetic and like-minded people who work together to provide IT solutions and increase efficiency while decreasing complexity in the processes for customers.

 An optimist at heart Gurpreet Singh believes in miracles and is an open-minded transparent ethical and adaptable individual. Born and raised in New Delhi, Gurpreet Singh received his computer science education from Delhi University and NIIT. 

What are the key achievements of your business journey? 

Arrow PC Network is positioned well in the Indian IT services industry supporting our customers PAN INDIA as well as offshores.  

Titanium Partners with Dell Technologies.  

Center Of Excellence:

Adaptive virtual lab environment built for the client ecosystem.  

Have customers in all major industry verticals like: Healthcare & Pharma, Manufacturing, BFSI, IT/ITES, Govt & Engg and Education. 

Have deployed several unique solutions for our clients. 

Which one is your favorite quote?  

“Change before you have to.”  

 …Jack Welch 

Technology has increasingly become a powerful tool enabling small businesses to streamline processes, improve efficiency, reduce costs and extend customer reach, ultimately leading to growth and success. So much so that according to the US Chamber of Commerce, 93% of small business owners use at least one technology platform for their business, with the average business owner utilizing three.

Furthermore, 84% of small business owners who have adopted at least six tech platforms experienced increased profits, 74% saw their recruitment increase, and 82% saw increased sales.

We recently spoke with Quentin Martin, Director of Product at Capital On Tap, to discuss technology’s role in the firm’s success. Capital on Tap was created to make life easier for small business owners by harnessing technology to develop tools that empower owners and make business processes faster, simpler, and more rewarding.

In this interview, we explore Quentin Martin’s unique insights on how technology is changing the small business landscape and his advice to help small business owners maximize the opportunities technology presents.

What role has technology played in the success of Capital on Tap?

“At Capital on Tap, we use technology, particularly consumer data, to improve our crediting underwriting and user experience in our website and mobile app. It enables us to solve customer needs, particularly in fighting fraud and ensuring our customers are as secure as possible.

With data analytics, we can assess creditworthiness, reduce risk and offer competitive rates. Meanwhile, our mobile app allows customers to access rewards, make payments, and track spending. This use of technology has enabled us to scale up the business quickly and efficiently and provide valuable financial services to small business owners.”

“Technology has enabled us to scale our business quickly and provide valuable financial services to small business owners.” 

How can small businesses use and leverage technology to drive efficiency in the financial space?

“I think the key here is for small businesses to focus on a problem that tech can simplify. If a business identifies a process that technology can speed up or a customer pain point that can be simplified, then that’s the area they should focus on to drive efficiency.”

“Focus on a problem that technology can simplify.”

There’s recently been a lot of talk about AI. What impact do you think AI is having on small business finance?

“While I’m very bullish about AI, much of it requires large, well-maintained data sets. This can make it difficult for small businesses to take advantage of as they often don’t have large customer bases. However, applications such as ChatGPT and Midjourney enable companies to generate content more quickly and apply data better.

And, through the application of third parties, good Software as a Service (SaaS) providers are available that enable small businesses to plug in an API to solve their fraud/security/CRM, etc. issues. So, I would recommend small businesses look to see what they can outsource, allowing them to focus on what they do best.”

Where do you see things heading when you look at small business finance and technology?

“I expect AI will continue to grow more and more. It’s already mainstream technology at 86% of US firms. We’ll see more companies focused on delivering better customer experiences, particularly in the Fintech space where incumbents don’t focus as much on the customer experience or have large cost structures that don’t enable them to pass on savings to the customers.

I would say we’re going to see a better user experience. We will also see artificial intelligence used more to fight fraud and money laundering and make banking and financial environments much safer.”

“We’ll see more companies focused on delivering better customer experiences, particularly in Fintech.”

What are the risks that small business owners should be aware of?

“Small business owners need to focus on ensuring their business is secure and staying on top of the data they gather and their data security. They should also focus on what their business does best and not get distracted by the potential to grow into other areas. Business owners can outsource and use technology to improve all the elements of their business, focus on delivering that core customer awareness, and reduce the risk for their business.”

If you were to recommend the ideal financial pack toolkits to small businesses, what would it be and why?

“I would be remiss if I didn’t recommend business owners look to Capital on Tap for their card and credit needs and to help them with their expense management and day-to-day cash flow. Beyond that, my advice is to keep it really simple. I think that’s about all you need to grow as you scale up. So, a package like QuickBooks is always useful, but only when you really hit 25- to 50-plus employees. And beyond finance, from a technical toolkit internally, I would always look at Jira and Slack as the go-to set-up for any tech-based companies.”

To conclude

Technology has become an essential resource for small businesses, especially in the financial space. With the increasing availability of technology, small business owners now have access to powerful tools that can help them streamline operations, improve data security, enhance the customer experience and improve overall efficiency.

Environmental leaders often lead organizations with an added responsibility- of saving the environment one initiative at a time. Being an environmental leader is first an intrinsic process, concerned with a changing mindset of the self. This is then reflected extrinsically, with a hard focus on reality, and taking into account the wide range of holistic factors. 

Leadership starts with a small step, and Ahmed Detta with his unwavering passion has proved how impactful even a small step can be. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of Top Influential Business Leaders In 2023 is an exclusive conversation with Ahmed Detta, CEO of Enviroo. 

Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start Enviroo?

I started my career in various IT infrastructure projects and other technology projects, as well as green data centers and sustainable technology. After that, I moved to the UAE which was the turning point in my life. I helped set up a mobile phone collections business called

The Green Foundation and I then left to do work with electronics recycling, looking at wider IT equipment for the region. Afterwards, I established the feasibility, design and commercial business case of a PET recycling facility in the Middle East, a project which was taken over by a global conglomerate. 

During all this, I realized the world needed to move towards a circular economy and focused on trying to find a solution to old mobile phones. When I started recycling mobile phones, the profits were used for charity, specifically children who were needing cleft palate surgery, the campaign I started was called “Give a Child a Smile for Life ” which ended up being a turning point in my career. I finally felt that I could make a profit and feel good, knowing that I can also help others. 

I then founded Enviroo. My mission from the beginning has been to make plastics recycling habitual in society’s everyday behaviour and instill the belief that profiteering from this is good for all in the process. This remains my mission and we are well on the way to making this a reality.

Enviroo’s visionary recycling business model is both a force for good and profitable. Over the last six years, I’ve spearheaded this model from concept to full equity investment funding for a facility in Abu Dhabi and will now be developing a bespoke recycling system for the UK. 

What are the initial challenges you faced and what are the reasons behind company’s long-standing success?

As a business tackling the plastic problem we’ve had a lot of support, as plastic has long been demonized as a polluter – filling our oceans with microplastics, being found inside fish and marine life and ending up in the farthest corner of the earth such as the Antarctic.  

Educating people that we simply can’t erase plastic from our modern lives, has been a problem. It’s highly efficient in terms of manufacturing, transportation and its use in medicine has been life-saving.  Think about the millions of plastic medical instruments used every day in hospitals around the world. 

Poly Ethylene Terephthalate, or PET, is one such form of plastic that is widely used, particularly in on-the-go food and drink packaging. From bottled water to ketchup, we can find PET in everyday household items that you can find on a supermarket shelf. 

PET plastic is highly destructive to our planet. PET is a polymer and the major problem is the mechanical breakdown of the polymer. As a result, it frequently ends up in landfills where it could remain for hundreds of years.  It is often shipped off to developing countries who dump it in rivers or incinerate it.  The only way to deal with PET is to recycle it, safely and efficiently

So plastic isn’t the problem, it’s the fact that it is not being repurposed.

There’s an argument that we should embrace plastic and its ability to improve the way we live but if we do this it’s essential we take responsibility for the pollution it has caused and seek to halt plastic impacting our environment.  We can continue to enjoy the benefits of plastic if we can learn to embrace a circular economy and habitually recycle. This is where Enviroo comes in. We are an organisation that is committed to responsibly taking care of plastics. It is a plastics recycling company. 

What are the products or services Enviroo focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

We provide a solution to post-consumer plastic waste. We recycle 100% of PET plastic waste and create ‘food-grade’ polymers that are used to recreate food packaging and plastic bottles. We have created a closed-loop recycling method, with long-term viability as it ensures transparency, circularity, and sustainability. 

Our executive team at Enviroo is adept at identifying opportunities where plastics recycling can be accelerated or improved from current processes and has developed local market insights to support the ever-growing plastic waste problem. We use innovative technology that segments PET plastic from other supporting components through a highly sophisticated synthesised washing process, coupled with a world-class extrusion process. The result is the creation of polymers that can be used in direct food contact packaging. 

What’s unique is that our recycled polymer, blends perfectly with virgin PET polymers or can stand alone in the production process. Importantly, Enviroo is involved in every step of the circular economy; from the build of the PET recycling facility to the operations.  This ensures transparency, which the recycling industry has most definitely lacked as of late.   

How do you decide to take Enviroo a step further?

Once our first PET recycling is open, we’ll begin to develop our first Deposit Return Schemes (DRS) where we encourage consumers to embrace DRS to change behaviors around recycling, particularly around on-the-go recycling.

A successful DRS will enable consumers to deposit ideally all items they have purchased in so-called ‘meal deals’.  This would include plastic bottles, crisp packets and sandwich packets.  A DRS must be a ‘one-stop shop’ for consumers to get rid of their waste where they can not only benefit from a deposit return but also feel comfortable that their waste will be responsibly sorted, recycled and re-used. Enviroo will be helping to clean up plastic waste from our streets and give back to consumers who engage in DRS. 

We’ll be working with homeless charities to encourage homeless people to earn money by returning waste plastic to DRS machines, so this project goes beyond its environmental impact, it’s also working to improve society at a local level across the UK and Scotland.   

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

Adding to the information detailed above, Ahmed Detta has over 15 year’s professional industry experience across the UK, Middle East & Singapore. Industry specialism span across the Sustainability and Technology arenas with a deep-rooted focus on plastics recycling. Ahmed Detta graduated from Cambridge University and Lancaster University Management School and holds an Executive MBA from Quantic School of Business and Technology. Supported international campaigns including; United Nations Clean Development Mechanism (UNCDP) and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). 

Ahmed Detta is highly networked within the UK government entities and corporate sector and champions the development of recycling methodologies and best practice in the United Kingdom. 

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

For Enviroo’s efforts and contributions to society, Enviroo has received a number of awards, some of which are listed below:

• Plastic Recycling Experts of the Year in England – 2022
• Best Consumer Plastic Waste Recycling Specialists – UK
• The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders to follow in 2021
• Waste and recycling Leader of the Year, UK
• Ahmed Detta was appointed as a patron of the official History of Parliament Trust’s 300 years of Leadership and Innovation’

‘Innovation is the key to business growth’, Please share your views.

Working in the circular economy means that innovation is at the heart of everything we do. Innovation will be the reason why we can tackle waste plastic and ultimately climate change. 

Through our innovation at Enviroo, we have been able to develop our business model to offer a unique service that tackles a global problem. Working in sustainability for nearly 20 years means that I’ve been very much a part of the innovation journey and I thrive on being at the very heart of it through Envrioo. 

For any organization, staying current with emerging industry trends is not an easy task. As a result, there is a demand for the services of professionals known as business consultants, who have extensive knowledge and experience in their respective sectors and can provide businesses the boost they need to move forward and succeed.

A person with extensive academic and professional experience who offers their services to help business owners in their endeavors is known as a business consultant. These experts evaluate organizational objectives while identifying solutions to difficulties in the commercial world.

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The best Business Consultants to Watch in 2023 is Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd., a business consultancy bringing about revolutionary business transformations.

In this interview with Mahendra S. Gupte, Sr. Vice President of Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges.

The Company-

Tell us about Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd.

Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd is an ITC-certified logistics and supply chain consultancy delivering pragmatic and innovative solutions in imports and exports (freight forwarding & customs clearance), multi-modal logistics, warehouse management and packaging (material and support). Its services cover the entire gamut of end-to-end supply chain.

The brand has a team of experienced professionals specializing in every aspect – strategy, improvement, outsourcing & recruitment, focusing on practical outcomes that add value, build revenues, and cost-cutting.

In just four and half years, Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd. has garnered success for its execution-based consulting, where it serves clients with a single-window approach that streamlines all their Supply Chain problems. Synergeze Consultants Pvt Ltd. also provides advisory roles to young entrepreneurs, showing the way to optimize resources, increase efficiency and operate seamlessly.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

To speak about the challenges, the biggest challenge for Synergeze Consultants was to create awareness among the industry to consider the Supply Chain as an enabler in the overall growth of the organization. And at the same time investing in people empowers them to perform beyond expectation because people are the real enablers for any process or strategy to deliver what is promised.

Creating and enhancing that awareness and making that realization worthwhile has remained and remains to be a major challenge.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of Synergeze Consultants?

As per what I have observed, it was COVID-19, which was a turning point for us. Yes, we all were affected, the business and there were suddenly no clients or no responses. With borders closing and imports being affected, the entire Supply Chain was in chaos. However, a big positive of COVID-19 was that all companies realized the importance of their Supply Chains and with an extremely dynamic market scenario, the companies started searching for ‘Real Players in SCM’, knowing the nitty-gritty of this business.

This is where we stepped up our visibility and started using social media to inform companies and MSMEs that we were available to take up their issues and provide them with feasible and long-term solutions. We all as a Team remained consistent and available to every inquiry that we received, even if it was somebody just wanting information on SCM. The joint efforts of the Team in meeting customers, over the Phone, with VCs, and talking to them brought back more inquiries. 

What is the reason behind Synergeze Consultants’s long-standing success?

Many actions have set Synergeze Consultants on the road to success, the first of them is offering a COMBO of Process Re-Engineering and Behavioural transformation. This consulting cum training model is indigenously developed to ensure that the process and people in an organization are aligned together to deliver best of the results in accordance with the organizational goals.

Second is offering Execution based consulting. Synergeze Consultants manages entire EXIM operations for its clients and bridges the gap between them and the logistics service providers, taking care of both parties in terms of ensuring compliance from the manufacturers and assured service levels & customer focus from the service providers.

We also undertake Cost and Operations assessments of our clients in the domain of Logistics and end-to-end Supply Chain, identifying the opportunities for improvements in cost and process efficiency, and working closely with our clients on a roadmap to bridge the gap between the best industry benchmarks and the current modus operandi.

The Products/Services-

How do you decide to take Synergeze Consultants a step further in terms of your products/services?

Historically, logistics has been a fragmented, shifting industry heavily dependent upon materials demand and driven by GDP growth. But today, the era of competition is far gone; the new world, in our view, is all about collaboration and abundance. “The future is all about adding relevance to supply chain services and adapting quickly to the ever-changing demands.” To achieve this, “ We ensure that all of our services comply with the highest quality standards.”

The plan is to keep working with companies across the entire Supply Chain to navigate tougher challenges and to anticipate & develop pragmatic, winning strategies for tomorrow’s opportunities. Innovative ideas for our company come from our interaction with people across the globe and recently we have conceptualized the COMBO of Process Re-Engineering and behavioral transformation it is a unique offering for industries wherein process re-engineering and deployment are complemented with individual assessments and guidance at every hierarchy of the organization.

Leadership-

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Where most entrepreneurial voyages pass through challenging lanes, my early-age habit of self-retrospection and evaluating myself, has stood me in good stead. During the pandemic, I have completed 20+ online learning courses which have helped me personally as well as helped us avoid many business pitfalls and progress toward Success.

My biggest takeaway has been that one needs to be self-sufficient in his own field and hence even today if I meet someone who is associated with a manufacturing or processing plant I try and fix a visit to learn and understand the technology, the processes, and the people working at the place. Another aspect extremely important in the entrepreneurial journey is building social capital, which is the need of the hour, especially after COVID-19, which has increased the importance of social media.

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

Synergeze Consultants’ work ethos revolves around Accountability with Responsibility guided by Continuous learning and Improvement, to equip ourselves and enable delivering beyond expectations. The most important trait we look for in our associates and stakeholders is their ability, zeal to learn, risk-taking ability, and acceptance of failures and bouncing back from them. We firmly believe that the Cost of doing nothing is far more than the cost of doing something wrong.

The mantra of motivation can be summarized in one line “You can’t be doing the same thing again and again and expect different results” So against obstacles and risks everyone has to be agile in one’s approach to action and reaction. Team enthusiasm comes from celebrating failures, learning from them, and taking necessary steps never to repeat the same mistakes/errors. While we take credit as a Team for Success, we also own up to our failures as a Team and have joint meetings to learn from the failures. This gives everybody an assurance of togetherness come what may and also a zeal to move forward and try even better next time.

In this era of constant competition, it doesn’t matter what gender is but everyone is running in the race to be successful and prove themselves. Yet there exists a social difference that reflects in society this or that way and every woman goes through the experience at least once in her life. The plus point that every lady should be thankful for is the right to education. The calculation of the growth in woman empowerment is commendable over the period of time.

Now everywhere women are one step ahead and are doing unstoppable growth. It’s always said that half of the development of a nation is dependent on a woman’s literacy rate. To grow sustainably and establish their own image, earning respect needs to be first priority of every woman in the 21^st century. To fight for self-esteem and self-respect is not selfishness but is self-care or self-love, connecting to this Great Author Mrs. Sudha Murthy once quotes very well on empowering women’s generation

“A woman is to love herself, be herself, and shine amongst those who never believed her she could”. Let’s deep dive into such a story of a self-confident lady of this generation and know her journey. 

In this interview with Neha K Bisht, Founder & CEO of Blue Buzz, we shall know more about Blue Buzz’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

1. When was the company Blue Buzz incepted?

Blue Buzz was incepted on 1 st June 2015.

2. What were your initial challenges and how did you pave your way through those?

When I started Blue Buzz, I knew I was really good at my job i.e. PR, and I really wanted to build brands with complete freedom. My initial challenges were learning the ropes of other important roles that an entrepreneur has to play. Take for example finance, hiring, and new business development. Coming from a corporate background all these aspects were taken care of extremely well by the experts so we could only focus on our role.

3. What was the vision of your company Blue Buzz when you started?

My single-minded vision when I started was to be known as the iconic brand narrative curator. Blue Buzz today is a media powerhouse with a focus on creating unique brand stories. Our offerings are in Public Relations (PR), Social Media, and Branding. Unique Brand communication can create the desired perception for a brand and that’s what we aim to create with every single brand we work with. We focus on interweaving the brand’s vision and content strategies in a way that builds customer trust and confidence in the brand.

Our core belief is that each brand is different, and therefore needs a bird’s eye perspective. A detailed strategy can be prepared to keep the brand’s market positioning and communication needs in mind. To stay true to the same, we have a highly customized approach to each brand’s communication. We believe in taking a holistic approach to our communication strategies, deeply rooted in research and amplified with the latest communication tools.

4. Where does it stand today, in terms of revenue and clientele base?

I would say we are moving towards fulfilling our vision. The last few years have been rewarding and our efforts have been recognized and celebrated via various noted platforms. In terms of business, we have grown phenomenally embodying the hunger to constantly be innovators and brand curators.

5. How would you further your services?

My goal for the coming years is very simple, we keep experimenting, exploring and changing the narratives until we become synonymous with creative storytellers across all Platforms.

6. How would you describe your growth trajectory over the years?

It has been an exciting journey. All of few years, our company is thankfully growing steadily. We did not imagine this kind of growth, but the pandemic contributed to it in its own way. When we learned to adjust the sails according to the changing tides, we learned the most difficult strategies for keeping an organization afloat during volatile Times.

7. What is the reason behind your company’s Blue Buzz long-standing success?

There were risk-takers who believed in us at the onset of our journey and we ensured we reciprocated it with diligent efforts and memorable campaigns. Two chapters of this journey, very close to my heart, is working with Chef Vikas Khanna, a force to reckon with in the culinary industry, and Rahul Singh from the Beer Cafe, who gave us complete freedom to execute our ideas.

Along with our clients, I would give full credit to my team which has stood rock solid to deliver despite all odds. Every idea looks great on paper, only its execution sets it apart and anything that we achieved so far would have been possible without each team member of Blue Buzz believing in us and giving it their best.

8. Post-pandemic, how has the era of entrepreneurship changed?

From thought leadership, it has now definitely transformed into thought leadership. The pandemic was not just an unprecedented health crisis, it disrupted business and communication like never before. Organizations that adapted to digitization, shifting to online work platforms seamlessly, thrived during this phase. From meetings to projects, everything was happening virtually – paving the way for a new beginning in communication and the way leaders envisioned the world.

This is where thought leaders stepped up to encourage employees, stakeholders, and customers about overcoming this phase by ‘being in this together. They even spoke about digital transformation and how it would completely change the way corporate strategy, vision, and networking would have to be worked out.

However, what they did not foresee was how remote working and the absence of human interaction would lead to isolation and a mental health crisis among channel partners, employees, and Customers. Confined to their homes due to the lockdown, people did not want to read about what brands could do anymore. They were not interested in hearing about differentiation in services and products. This is when thought leadership needed a tectonic shift.

9. Please walk us through your professional background.

The field of advertising had always intrigued me, which led me to pursue a formal qualification of BMM, with a specialization in advertising. In fact, I even undertook an internship in advertising at a media house. However, it was during this stint I discovered brand building and storytelling through media and communication and felt I was better suited to be in the communication/PR field.

With Blue Buzz growing as a boutique agency that offers complete 360-degree media solutions, I am able to explore different aspects of media communication and employ a combination of advertising, PR, marketing, et al, to create the best solutions for our clients.

10. A word for budding entrepreneurs?

Enjoy your journey, value people, and be consistent.

11. How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

We ensure that each individual is made to feel important in the organization for the expertise and creativity that they bring to the team. There is the extra effort taken to ensure work-life balance and we also invest time in knowing one another. This has paved the way for great productivity and happy professionals.

Since the era of trends, style, and changed lifestyle everyone loves and dreams to live in lavish and luxury. In latest survey since 2 decades construction sector increased and is in demand since many years now. With lots of changes and advancement people like to live a simple and easy life with maintaining living standards.

Since everyone knows from ancient period mankind lives on three basic needs which are Food, Water and Shelter but, now the needs have changed a bit now the changes to a new generation art system which mainly consists of major luxurious changes and lavish amenities. 

During early 20^th century house was mainly of one aspect which was bungalow or villa it gradually changed to flat system and row houses now the system added up with luxury amenities and various options open for bookings and home loans. 

Here we will see the construction company named as Vasupujya Corporation a real estate firm having delivered more than 1200 homes and works on a large-scale project. Let’s know more about this construction organization, their work till know and further plans.

In this interview with Rahul Ajmera, Founder & CEO of Vasupujya Corporation, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey.

The Company-

Vasupujya Corporation was founded by Mr. Suresh Ajmera, a stalwart in the plumbing industry, who started real estate development in 1980.

Today, it is helmed by his sons – Dhanesh and Siddharth, both civil engineers who excel at project planning and design. In 2012, his grandson – Rahul Ajmera, a civil engineer from IIT Bombay, joined the company ranks and handles project execution and delivery.

Vasupujya Corporation has a unique way of doing business. They develop only self-owned lands (No JVs or JDs) and focus on only 1 large project at a time. This enables the management team to give their entire bandwidth to the project, thus ensuring the superlative customer experience. They are easily approachable at the project office or company office, in case customers want to reach out to them for any assistance. Most of their customers are first-time home buyers and Vasupujya Corporation wants their experience to be as delightful as possible.

Products/Services-

What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market? How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Vasupujya Corporation focuses on developing mid-range apartments for first-time home buyers and has delivered over 1200 such homes in the last two decades. They are about to deliver 192 homes at Neco Beaumont near NIBM at Mohammad wadi Pune. They strive to achieve a balance between project viability and product quality.

Vasupujya Corporation has done the usual bit towards reducing our carbon footprint by using GGBS replacement of cement during construction and providing Solar Water Heaters, LED lights, Wet Waste Composting units, and Sewage Water Treatment Plant, but they wanted to do something more for the buyer. 

They wanted to create more common spaces for the residents to enjoy, so they created several amenities like Children’s Play Area, Multi-purpose Court and Community Lounge on the top terrace of their project – Neco Beaumont. The top terrace is generally left neglected in most projects, hence by providing more amenities here, the residents will have a better quality of life.

Vasupujya Corporation doesn’t believe in providing namesake amenities, which would be difficult to maintain, their offerings are practical and focused on customers’ ease of use. Instead of providing additional amenities in front of the Club House, they provided an Open Lawn so that residents get maximum open space as possible in front of their homes. All other amenities were shifted to the building top terrace. In their projects, they are using recycled sewage water and wet waste compost fertilizer, all generated within the housing project itself.

Vasupujya Corporation planning to launch their Magnum Opus project – Neco Parkwood at Bavdhan Pune, which happens to be Pune’s most sought-after location due to the vast natural spaces and excellent connectivity. Vasupujya Corporation’s proposed project is adjacent to thousand acres of open Bio-Diversity Park and Forest Reservation, which will act as a green lung for all residents.

Vasupujya Corporation is also starting a redevelopment project at Matunga, Mumbai, which is one of Mumbai’s most sought-after locations due to the excellent social infrastructure and greenery around.

How do you think is the real estate market evolving? Which are the new areas that are being explored in the real estate market?

The real estate market is being driven by the digital media and Channel Partners today. The newer generation of buyers is over-exposed to information and hence more confused, making sales today more challenging than earlier. Co-Working Spaces have become more relevant than ever after Covid19 made Work-From-Home as an essential part of everyone’s life.

Leadership-

Professional Experience

Vasupujya Corporation is a real estate development firm with civil engineers at the helm. It matters to have technically sound people leading the organization. Mr. Rahul Ajmera is graduated as a civil engineer from IIT Bombay in 2012. He has experience in the construction and financial valuation industry after his stint at Shapoorji Pallonji Engineering & Construction as Deputy Manager Planning and at RBSA Advisors as an Associate.

He also has entrepreneurial experience, having co-founded a start-up – 1920aur21, which was a unique e-commerce portal catering exclusively to college campuses, subsequently acquired by mSauda in 2013. Mr. Rahul also provides Real Estate Data Analytics for projects in Maharashtra under the firm name – AREA Foresight, assisting real estate developers decide on their final product sizes/prices before launch as well as providing the government itself with data to aid policy formulation.

About the Team

Vasupujya Corporation is a close-knit family of 40 employees, with most of the staff have been with them for over 10 years and a very minimal attrition rate. They provide employees with social and financial support such as Subsidized Housing, Health/Accident Insurance, Maternity Benefits, etc. At the construction site, they empower the staff to take control of the project as owners themselves, instead of giving them a rigid role. This allows them to work freely and wholeheartedly across verticals.

Vasupujya Corporation is also open to implementing positive suggestions from anyone, be it a customer or even a security guard. The team is unique because no one is allowed to boss over another at work, everyone’s opinion is sought, valued and they encourage thoughtful discussions before taking decisions.

The Uniqueness 

What sets Vasupujya Corporation apart is that they are completely approachable to all customers at the project site. The advantage of having a builder, who is personally present at the construction project, is something that existing customers rave about. They understand that people are spending their life savings in buying this product and the builder should empathize with his customers for their issues. We are always available to the customer in making extra changes at home or providing after-sales service. Our impeccable and personalized service is what sets us apart and that helps us get repeat customers.

Every company or setup whether its large scale or small scale needs targeted audience or market to expand the service or product respectively. On the basis of demand the supply is provided a specific crowd who demands for the supply. Market research basically comes in two parts first one is as we known, some companies don’t have to choose a specific target audience as their product/service is consumable by all kind of people. Second comes under a restricted or format as they have only specific number of demand and targeted audience.

Digitalization made the traditional marketing easy even more for vendors as well as for customers. Internet marketing factor came in introduction since digitalization and is now ruling all over the globe. 

Here we came across such an internet marketing company. MEC workshop started its journey in 1996 in Beirut providing clients internet marketing services including: online marketing, including digital, apps, e-commerce, NFT marketing, tokenization, etc, mixed with on-ground marketing with solid market insights

In this interview with Monica Chikhani, Founder & Managing Director of MEC Workshop, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

Leadership-

1. What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur, in my opinion, is everything in a company, from an accountant to a business development relationship officer, creative mind, business expert, salesperson… She wears different hats to ensure his/ her business runs well and goals/ vision are achieved. AN entrepreneur does anything in his power to grow his/ her business and equally be a mentor to all his/ her employees, keeping their energy positive by motivating them to do better and share his/ her vision

2. Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I started my entrepreneurial journey in 1996, taking a small office in my Dads firm. I had zero capital, but this did not stop me from venturing into what I knew was my calling. Today, 26 years since I founded MEC, I look back at all the setbacks I overcame to get to where I am today. I kept on believing in MEC’s vision and pushed very hard to keep persevering in what I believed through growing my skills to be able to add value and solutions to every challenge MEC Workshop faced.

You always found me leading the team in every challenge to show them it can be done when you have the right mindset and dedication. With this mentoring technic, I raised a solid team with strong bonds that no heavy tide could break apart. My recipe for success is Skill + action + belief = 100 success

3. What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

My crucial achievement in my entrepreneurial journey is my discipline. It is easy to lose focus, specifically if you are your boss. But being dedicated, perseverant, and very disciplined in how I conduct business and approach clients made me who I am today. I consider myself a unique person given my knowledge, skills and business proposition. Given that I am a mix of a Creative Director, Client relationship Officer, Business Development Officer, Experiential Officer, Strategist, Negotiator… you name it, I learned to make sure whenever I am seated at a table. As a result, I bring value and solutions without the need to tell my prospective client, I will get back to you on this. 

4. How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

I treat my team as family. Families have strong emotional bonds, which I have with my team. I firmly believe when you glorify and endorse your team for even the slightest growth and look after their own career growth vision they will feel that they belong. And belonging turns any team member into an advocate for your company. What makes us strong, yes, us, as I am part of my team, is that we stand by each other, support each other, and are all solution-oriented. I taught them to look at every mistake, every setback, and every challenge as an opportunity for growth, removing the fear of failure got the MEC Workshop team to deliver beyond anyone’s expectations

5. What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs?

I believe to be a successful entrepreneur, you need to be a great leader. And leadership comes through the ability to walk the talk and lead by example, which is why I work as an integral part of my team in both setting the direction and landing the work.

The Company-

1. Tell us about the company – MEC Workshop.

I launched the MEC workshop in Beirut, as mentioned earlier in 1996, with zero capital. Taking office in my dad’s firm. I used to do everything; I was an accountant, salesperson, graphic designer… you name it; I did it. I knew I had a lot to give back to the advertising and marketing industry, so I searched for that opportunity that launched MEC, the Badaro Phone book, which opened many doors for me and introduced me to many leads that turned into clients. I also collaborated with freelancers to support me with the project as the company grew to rely on dial-up internet and phone calls.

At that time, I was challenged by the business proposition I was offering. People did not know I was already ahead of the competition, which only started operating like us in 2020 when COVID-19 hit the globe. But by that time, we were the professionals that knew how to work remotely even without zoom. Our services skyrocketed with the technology we were offered because of the pandemic. How? We replaced companies employees, as companies needed to release them because of budget cuts due to the pandemic.

Our value proposition and structure came in handy when companies had a full fledge cloud agency working as part of their team with zero overhead cost. Today, after 26 years, MEC Workshop came a long way since its founding in Beirut. We have Offices in Lebanon, UAE, and KSA with a team from all across the globe that caters to all our clients, from multinationals to start-ups.

2. What were the initial challenges you faced?

My initial challenge was setting the process of communication between the team. As mentioned earlier, in 1990, we had barely dial-up internet. Next, I had to ensure feedback and deliverables were up to client expectations and meet deadlines with no delays.

3. Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

Asian Football Cup logo, which we won after a global pitch. Our logo was awarded the 1 st prize, which was used across TV and BTL materials which gave MEC Workshop a pig advertising propaganda that nailed us Coca Cola Asian Football Project. We also received an award for the project’s quality and achievement.

The Products/Services-

1. What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services

Different from those in the market?

Our products/ services vary continuously as they follow the customer’s needs and market trends. And that is what makes us very different from our competition. We are 100% customer-centric and proved it by walking the talk. When we first started, we were only a BTL workshop. Why workshop? Because we roll our sleeves and work, and secondly, because we work for agencies by white labelling them, I opted for the MEC Workshop to remove any doubts of competition.

Then we moved into experiential marketing, giving a unique customer experience that starts from the client’s office to their customer. We made people live the talk, feel it and build a strong emotional link to the product/ brand. Today, our core services are online marketing, including digital, apps, e-commerce, NFT marketing, tokenization, etc., mixed with on-ground marketing with solid market insights through our research team that keeps our initiatives/ services 100% customer- centric.

2. Healthcare is a very vast industry. How do your services cater to the needs of the people?

Yes, healthcare is a vast industry, and I can also say very delicate one. You cannot market such an enterprise as you market fast-moving consumer goods such as Nescafe. And because MEC Workshop is 100% customer-centric, as mentioned earlier, understanding the need of patients their frustrations, and their expectations and testing it on ourselves first makes our solutions unique. I have a moto that I push to my team if you are not the first one to buy what you are trying to sell me, do not sell it, period.

Creating rapport is also essential in this industry with both client and customer, that connection, understanding gives us a vast library of insights and knowledge that helps us grow the clients bottom line. Unfortunately, during the pandemic, many agencies/ brands tried to take advantage of the situation to make money, and some did quite a lot. But the patient, communities and countries were the ones who paid the price tag for such initiatives.

Healthcare is an industry that cannot be taken lightly, and only a few agencies/people can make a difference in their marketing strategy and approach to bring a win-win solution to all parties involved.

3. What are your views on the healthcare industry and its digitization?

Digitization/ Ai is a fact that we need to come around to. Not riding that wave will make that healthcare organization lose a lot of assets, investors and clientele. Nevertheless, it is also essential to keep this human interaction between patient and doctor/ institute in these crucial moments when any human being needs to feel care.

This emotional connection not only gives comfort but makes us who we are as human beings with feelings, not robots. No matter how we can make robots behave like humans, they are not humans. GOD created us as a unique species that no human to date can replicate God’ s creation.

4. How do you decide to take the company further regarding your products/services?

Based on our research and data, we are currently working on different fronts focusing on Meta advertising and marketing with a touch of MEC Workshop customer-centric personalized experience.

As it’s said evolution is the basic part of nature. After world war I many things underwent changes likely technology, globalization, Health sector, Education system, etc. overall all kind off sectors and fields underwent changes as per the demand and closer to a luxurious and simpler life. Architecture sector has been recognized as a most ancient art of mankind. Though it said that ancient architecture was a masterpiece today also the sector proves it right by new innovative and luxurious ideas beyond normal thoughts proving to be the best ever creation of man-made things which can be beautiful with safety.

 Such an architectural firm named as StudioPod has developed its name over the decades. In this interview with Mansi Sahu, Founder & CEO of StudioPod an Architects Designers Firm, we shall know more about journey of company.

Q.1. Tell us about the company?

StudioPod is an award-winning, international planning and urban design practice with them headquarters in Mumbai, India and recently incorporated in the United States. Our projects are of varying scales that include strategic and regional plans, transportation and campus plans, landscape urbanism, placemaking and streetscapes.

Q.2. Tell us about the journey of the company so far?

About the Founders: Mansi Sahu, Sarfaraz Momin, and Mahesh Waghdhare co-founded StudioPOD in 2013. After working in the US for a few years, we decided to quit our comfortable lives in the US and move back to India to start an Urban Design practice that focused on human-scaled design. In the past nine years, we have worked relentlessly to push the boundaries of urban design in the Indian and global context.

The context that we are in, puts us in various roles varying from consultants, activists to advocacy for core issues. We have now completed 50 projects globally and with some implementation projects recently completed in the public and private sector. Some of our projects over the last few years include detailed master plans in Abu Dhabi, sustainable development toolkits for the heritage city of Puri, stream rejuvenation in Naya Raipur, tourism master plans in Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, and detailed streetscape design execution called One Green Mile in Lower Parel, Mumbai.

We are also working with several private developers like Godrej, Mahindra, Reliance, and Piramal for Master Planning, Landscape Urbanism, and Implementation projects in multiple regions across India. On all the projects we have worked on, we have tried to push the conventional design boundaries and employ state-of-the-art design ideas and principles.

Q.3. What do you think triggered the growth of the company?

City Planning has been traditionally practiced by Architects and Planners in India in a conventional way. With the growth of urban India, it has been quintessential to look at planning and urban design in an integrated manner of systems-thinking through different lenses. With us highly adaptable and collaborative practice with different disciplines that deal with urban transformations and infrastructure, we have been able to position urban design in the mainstay of several infrastructure and transport led projects.

This unique proposition has led to several interesting projects in the public sector. Similarly, our positioning for development within the private sector, has gotten interest from several of the leading developers in India. They now see urban design as a specialized role that we need to be hired for, for integrated and holistic master planning exercises revolving around the three pillars of sustainable urban development.

Q.4. What establishes the long-standing success of the company?

Our highly collaborative approach allows us to work seamlessly with private- and public- sector clients such as local municipal corporations, development authorities and other government agencies.

Q.5. What are the services/products you provide?

We specialize in urban planning, urban design, landscape urbanism, transport planning and real estate market analysis.

Q.6. Any new additions to your service lineup?

Real Estate Market Analysis Design-Build and Project Management Consultancy for our large-scale urban design projects

Q.7. Tell us about your professional journey?

Mansi Sahu, Sarfaraz Momin, and Mahesh Waghdhare co-founded StudioPOD in 2013. All three had different journeys and global experiences but decided to quit their comfortable lives in the US and move back to India to start an Urban Design practice that focused on human-scaled design. The main aim of creating an Urban Design & Planning focused firm was to execute and design projects that become incubators of change in the neighborhood, region and also at global scale.

In 2014 Rahul Dalal, a transport engineer and planner joined us with a similar goal to integrate Urban Design & Transport Planning. In the past nine years, we have worked relentlessly to push the boundaries of urban design & Planning in the Indian context. The context that we are in, puts us in various roles varying from consultants, activists to advocacy for core issues. Today, we are working with Government agencies, Private builders, Mumbai & Bangalore Metro department as well as NGO’s with similar ethos and visions to design spaces with the lens of People Oriented Development.

Q.8. Any achievements you would like to share?

StudioPOD has won several accolades since its inception.

2014 Best Upcoming urban planning start-up in India – by Smart Cities Council

2015 AIA Middle East Urban Design Award for Masdar City Phase 2 Detailed Master Plan in collaboration with CBT

2016 Represented India and presented at the International Smart Cities Summit at Washington, DC, along with Australia and UAE

2019 Won 1st prize in the Eyes on the Canal Competition for Restoration of the Buckhingham Canal in Chennai, India

2019 AIA Middle East Urban Design Award for Masdar City Phase 4 Detailed Master Plan in collaboration with CBT and many more

Q.9. Your take on where Architecture Design is going ahead in the future?

For an Urban Design firm, architecture does' t stops within the compounds of a site. We think the Public Realms within the buildings and spaces can become incubators of urban life in Indian cities. With them rich, historic and social context, Indian cities offer tremendous opportunities for integrating significant public spaces with infrastructure upgradation. For an Urban Design firm is a constant exercise of zooming in and zooming out.

Large scale vision plans with small interventions with big impacts directly on the life of the users. India offers opportunities for design at every corner, one needs to just identify potentials of projects whether in cities and villages. We have design and planning opportunities everywhere.

New opportunities could be created to develop a better and impactful public realm that can truly transform our country’s quality of life. Boosting the live ability of cities through this innovative integration will make Indian cities truly smart and help transform spaces into successful places is out plan ahead for all future projects at POD.

From since ancient times architecture has been a piece of art work to the world. Among the masterpieces list ancient civilizations and temples are more popular. The art work is simply masterpiece in time. During European and British times, the architectural work changed drastically including more luxury in lifestyles and living.  

Architecture sector has been recognized as a most ancient art of mankind. Though it said that ancient architecture was a masterpiece today also the sector proves it right by new innovative and luxurious ideas beyond normal thoughts proving to be the best ever creation of man-made things which can be beautiful with safety.

Here TWOi Architects would look over the work with devotion and perfection. TWOi Architects reshaping the definition of work with perfection and excellence. 

In this interview with Ar. Noufal C Hashim, CEO & Managing Director of TWOi Architects, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

Q1. Tell us about the company?

Our firm TWOi Architects , is an architectural practice at Calicut and Bangalore by Ar. Noufal C Hashim. The firm is a design and concept oriented architectural consultancy that focus on custom architecture and committed to excellence in Architecture, Planning, Landscape and interior design. We believe that well-designed spaces add a great amount of spirit and improve the value and quality of life. For us each space is one of a kind and by following this notion we create interesting designs and functional architecture solutions for our clients.

Q2. Tell us about the journey of the company so far?

We are into the field of Architecture for over 4 years headed by our Principal Architect Ar. Noufal C Hashim who began his career as an Architect in the year 2003. After 15 years of successfully heading a joint venture, he decided to part ways happily and practice independently fulfilling and exploring individual visions. Thus, he started TWOi architects at Calicut in the year 2018 with few professionals who were working under him before.

The journey of four years of TWOi architects simply slipped in the midst of a lot of learning process, slog, events and many activities. We started the office with good Client base and soon we received new projects. It was around this time the devastating Kerala Flood happened in almost all districts, and the office was hit by flood twice resulting in major damage to the workspace and the belongings.

We overcame all those difficulties and were settling down, and that was the time, the outbreak of Corona in 2020. Just like everyone, our office also started working remotely, few projects were on hold, it was difficult to handle distant sites, coordination and group works at the beginning of the season but soon the team adapted the new normal.

Now things are back and everything is going well as before. And between all these struggles, in these four years, we have completed 18 projects of different categories, we bagged a few awards, Projects with National Level recognition etc. Currently, we have 26 ongoing projects, we work with other reputed firms in consortium and also, we take up the government projects too.

Q3. What do you think triggered the growth of the company?

It’s been four years since the company has founded and there are various factors that contributed to its growth. The major factor is the experience of the Principal Architect. Mr Noufal had 15 years of experience when the company was being founded. His experience in working with various projects was crucial at the time the company was being founded.

Another factor would be the team that was chosen when starting this company, these were the same group of professionals who had assisted Mr Noufal in his projects in the last company. They were very familiar with his working style, which made it easier at the start.

The difficulty of hiring an entirely new team and grooming them was avoided. We started with just two project and so we put in all our efforts to ensure that we provide the best service to our clients. A couple of our projects, a government project and a residential project received good reach on social media, and which in turn helped us in getting more projects.

Q4. What establishes the long-standing success of the company?

Although we cannot completely quantify what makes the firm successful, the quality of services, varying management styles, office culture, the core team etc contributes success. Every small step TWOi Architects take for the betterment of a project, be it the design, the quality of deliverables, communication with the clients, the consistent hard work, motivation of team, the freedom we give to the team, studying the new materials, trends, the market etc must be a constant practice for all level of employees.

Q5. What are the services/products you provide?

Our Architectural Services is a full package from preparing the concept and design to the soft furnishing. This process includes delivering the complete set of drawings required for the construction as well as for the approval, Estimation and Fixing of Contractors for every scope of works and periodic monitoring of the project at all the stages of a project.

Q6. What sets you apart and what makes your services/products ahead of the competition?

TWOi Architects believe that delivering the best design and concept to the Client is not only important, at the same time, practically executing those design in the best possible way within the scheduled time is also very important. We provide each and every minute details that is required at the site for constructing as per the design and concept. Though, we only need to monitor the site periodically as per our scope of work, we take initiative to closely monitor all the works, preparing snags and rectifying those at the site at every stage of works.

Q7. How does your company keep up with the latest trends and practices in the architecture? design industry?

In the ever – changing world that we live in, one of the best things TWOi Architects can do is to keep up with the current market trends. Social media is one of the platforms and trend emerged these days to keep us in the current market trends and practices in architecture. This benefits to stay us up to date about the new materials, technologies, predictions, new opportunities, to build credibility, better business and branding. But at the same time, when coming to materials and technologies, we do not believe in blindly following the trends unless studying about a new product/technology, its pros and cons as well as the cost analysis.

Q8. Any new additions to your service line-up?

TWOi Architects expanded our office to Bangalore too

Q9. Responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

Building a Business, especially service-oriented business is not an easy job in this competitive and fast evolving world. It has to be gone through a series of small steps and intelligent management. It is a lifelong learning process that one should be able to manage and supervise all related activities constantly to run the firm successfully.

Q10. Tell us about your professional journey?

Architect Noufal.C.Hashim, the founder of TWO i architects, is one among the known Architects in Calicut who has paved his own way to his professional career. He completed his B. Arch at M.E.S.School of Architecture, Kuttippuram, University Of Calicut during the academic year 1999-04. He started his professional career in the year July 2004 under various architects and in the middle of 2006, he started a venture at Calicut on partnership basis.

Later in the year 2018, he independently started TWO I architects, a Calicut based Architectural Consultancy which is associated with all kinds of Projects especially Public, Residential, commercial, assembly, institutional, educational etc. The firm focuses on custom architecture and committed to excellence in Architecture, Planning, Landscape and interior design. Apart from these, the firm has several National level achievements for its projects and activities to its credit.

Technology has developed and evolved over the last few decades. As an effect of evolution, many changes occurred in the technology sector. For example, E.g., computers were invented in 1822 and were built in 1991.  The main use of computers was to store data as well as to make work more effective in less time. Storing confidential data was made easy with inventions. The use of such inventions was mainly done by the government. sector and in many multinational companies.

As well as data storing, in the last few years, social media spread vigorously in the common sector. Yet there comes another side of this boon. Hacking, cybercrimes, and cyber-attacks now -a – days have become more frequent. As an option for this crime cyber security is discovered for such crimes. Cyber security is a basic yet important and useful process to protect confidential data.

To avoid and protect companies’ confidential data cyber security was developed. Cybersecurity professionals are recruited in every company to protect important data and to enhance customers’ trust and confidence. Cybersecurity consists of the industry standards of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. 

Here is such a company looking forward to provide safer cyberspace and to unite a cyber community through the work and services. 

In this interview with Raffaele Mautone, CEO & Managing Director of AaDya Security, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

The Company-

1. Tell us about the company.

AaDya Security combines the expertise of a complete cybersecurity team with the latest AI and machine learning technology within its all-in-one AI-powered security platform Judy. With its AI and machine learning capabilities, the platform continuously learns and defends SMBs against ever-evolving cyber threats.

2. What were the initial challenges you faced?

Navigating a global pandemic when AaDya Security was only a year old definitely was our biggest challenge. The recession has also been challenging for most small businesses, therefore, impacting their ability to purchase AaDya Security services

Designed with small businesses in mind, this proactive AI approach manages, monitors, protects and informs. It finds and mitigates issues quickly through machine learning and security automation.

3. Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

Recently, there has been an uptick in the number of Ransomware attacks, however Phishing, Malware and Credential Stealing along with Ransomware continue to be the biggest threats to any organization. Additionally, businesses are struggling with the fundamentals of security hygiene – Vulnerability Management, Credential & Privilege Management, Multi-Factor Authentication and Defined (and Tested) Incident Response Plans. As the old adage goes as much as things change they stay the same.

4. What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Cybersecurity remains at the forefront of many leaders’ minds as the need increases to protect their companies. However, many small businesses do not own security software because of prioritization, cost, internal knowledge, specific expertise, dedicated security staff, etc. For too long, small and midsize businesses have been overlooked in favour of serving the enterprise.

They are left to try to build a strong security stack with point products that are often too expensive, and too complicated for small teams to manage. And, while they have the technical expertise to manage these solutions, the service providers that support these businesses have to pass along the costs to their customers. The end result is the business makes the decision to operate with less protection which puts their business and the customers they serve, at risk.

The Products and Services-

5. What are the products and services that your company specializes in?

Powered by Judy, AaDya Security’s innovative AI and machine learning, AaDya’s product is simple, affordable and provides 24/7 cybersecurity protection and for SMBs who lack the time, expertise and capital to successfully implement these solutions.

6. How important is cybersecurity, considering the changing landscape?

Cyber threats for small and mid-sized businesses are really the same as they are for larger enterprises, the differences being the size and complexity of the attack surface and little to no dedicated security resources.

7. How do you make sure your services are reliable?

AaDya Security provides customers with a flexible, comprehensive solution with multiple cloud-based offerings. We are not a point product and pride ourselves on offering a unified approach to what small businesses need. Our Artificial Intelligence and machine learning differentiate us from our competition. Designed with Small Businesses in mind, this proactive AI approach manages, monitors, protects and informs. It finds and mitigates issues quickly through machine learning and security automation.

8. How do you help companies increase business scalability and sustainability?

AaDya Security believes the size of your company (or your budget) shouldn’t limit your ability to combat cyber threats. That’s why we’ve developed an all-in-one software solution to provide smart, simple, affordable and effective cybersecurity protection.

9. How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Judy makes cybersecurity effortless and efficient by protecting your virtual environment with a comprehensive suite of security features you won’t find anywhere else.

○ DNS filtering

○ Password Management

○ Single Sign On

○ Endpoint Detection & Response

○ Threat Detection & Automated Remediation

○ Ongoing Cybersecurity Training

○ Compliance Mapping

Leadership-

10. Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

Mr. Mautone has had the opportunity to work for several technology and cybersecurity companies such as Duo, FireEye, McAfee and Dell. He has been fortunate enough to serve these companies in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility. His strategic thinking and effective leadership have been instrumental and paramount in his career as an IT, sales and operations professional. In March of 2019, this extensive experience in the IT and security industries inspired him to launch AaDya Security with a mission to provide smart, simple, effective and affordable cybersecurity solutions for the small and medium business customer.

11. What makes your team unique?

AaDya Security’s team has a breadth of cybersecurity experience and have been fortunate enough to work for some of the top cybersecurity and technology companies in the world.

12. What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs?

Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither is a company. Building a company is a messy process, there is so much to do and you are never really caught up. Set high expectations and achieve them. Don't follow the same patterns, if something isn’t working, use another approach. Expect to hear "NO" a million times, Be prepared to hear how others would do what you are doing … differently. They will want to change your approach, don’t let them. Focus on creating new opportunities and world-class solutions for your customers.

TechForing – Creating a Safer Cyberspace Community 

Cyber security is a basic yet important and useful process to protect confidential data. To avoid and protect companies’ confidential data cyber security is developed. Cyber security consists of industry standard of confidentiality, integrity, and availability or CIA. Privacy means data be accessed only by authorities; integrity means the data may be changed or added through the authority whenever needed; availability means data, systems and functions must be available on demand according to authorised parameters. 

Here is such a company looking forward to provide safer cyberspace and to unite a cyber community through the work and services. 

In this interview with Rabiul Islam, CEO & Managing Director of TechForing, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

The Company-

1. Tell us about the company.

TechForing is a premier team of certified cybersecurity professionals. We started in 2014 with only one goal: to provide safer cyberspace for everyone. And since then, we have been delivering best-in-class cybersecurity monitoring and management solutions to corporations, government agencies, and individuals.

Since our conception, we have served security solutions to almost 7000 clients across 90+ countries.

2. What were the initial challenges you faced?

Usually, people get skeptical about new and unfamiliar organizations. They’re more willing to rely on well-known and reputable organizations to resolve their problems. We had to overcome that skepticism with transparency and communication. We were always reachable to our clients and ready to answer any questions they may have. We provided excellent customer service constantly and always asked for feedback that we used to improve our services. These helped us in building trust with our clients and increase our reputation.

The other challenge we faced was finding talents to back up our operations. Again, being a new organization made it difficult for us. Many applicants were willing to work in the cybersecurity field. However, finding fitting candidates was challenging to say the least. Even if we found the right person for the job, we had to show them we had something unique to offer – for them to join our team. We overcame these challenges with clear communication, focusing on the career growth of the talent and building an excellent culture. We were clear about TechForing’s mission and vision; gave applicants a good hiring experience, and provided them with a great environment to work in.

3. Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

TechForing’s growth came from research, analysis, and understanding of our customer’s pain points. Cybersecurity services can be lengthy, complicated, and expensive in general. We created our services in a way that focused on alleviating those issues.

We noticed that businesses and individuals were not getting the necessary help they needed during a cyberattack fast enough, which meant they lost the crucial time they needed to mitigate the damage. We aimed to solve that with our quick incident response and introduced services like Digital Forensic Investigation, Crypto scam Investigation, Ransomware Mitigation, Online Blackmail Investigation, Hack Recovery, etc.

4. How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics? (You can share the charts/graphs here).

We have seen massive growth since the foundation of TechForing. Since 2014, we have opened regional offices in Michigan (USA), Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Toronto – Ontario (Canada), and Delhi (India). Currently, TechForing employs 300+ experienced in-house cybersecurity experts distributed across four continents. We have provided our services to 1250+ businesses, and 7000+ individual clients from over 90 countries.

5. What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Dedication and consistency. We have remained true to our core values and beliefs throughout the years. We have created a culture of trust and respect that allows us to build relationships lasting for years. We provide a unique customer experience dedicatedly from the start to the end of a project. By maintaining consistency, we have also been able to maintain our competitive advantage over our competitors.

Our focus on staying true to our core values and beliefs enables us to continue delivering quality services that our customers can depend on. All of it has helped us provide our services for so long successfully.

The Products and Services-

1. What are the products and services that TechForing specializes in?

TechForing specializes in Risk Assessment, Incident Response, Security Compliance, and SMB Solutions. We provide cybersecurity services to both businesses and individuals.

As an example, businesses are constantly at risk of falling victim to cyber-attacks. Our Risk Assessment services, such as Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing can help companies to identify and patch their security infrastructure’s weaknesses.

Our Incident Response Services help businesses to deal with cyber-attacks such as hack events, ransomware attacks, data breaches, etc.

2. How do you make sure your services are reliable?

Our team members are certified by some of the most reputable organizations such as C|EH, CISA, CISSP, Security+, CCE, ACE, AME, GIAC, EnCE, GSA, CMFF, and many more. With over 8 years of experience in digital services, we are confident that our information technology solutions are proven and repeatable. We use a data security approach that synergistically integrates people, processes, and platforms.

Also, we strongly emphasize our clients’ requirements, employing streamlined methodologies, and ensuring we’re providing a reliable service.

3. How do you help companies increase business scalability and sustainability?

TechForing helps companies to protect their data from cyberattacks, ensuring their valuable information is safe from harm. We also help companies by ensuring that their systems are reliable and functioning properly, minimizing the risk of downtime and other problems affecting their business operations.

We also provide seamless integration with no disruption to a business’s workflow. This way, we help companies increase business scalability and sustainability.

4. How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products /services?

At TechForing, we are passionate about cybersecurity. Our journey started with the goal of providing safer cyberspace for everyone, and we are constantly working toward that goal.

We make new decisions based on pure research, implementation feasibility, and prototype testing; making sure the changes we make benefit our clients.

Leadership-

1. What makes your team unique?

Our team consists of people from different backgrounds and various experience levels, yet all of them are focused and involved while having great communication skills. They also possess a good understanding of the outside world and business knowledge, helping them to deal with clients more effectively.

Mirela knows that when you decide to go on a vacation, you expect certain things and you don’t want to compromise on your standard of living. 

Goa is one of the hottest places for anyone looking to spend some vacation time. Mirela wants to give anyone who visits a  top-notch experience with My Goa Villas.

Featuring The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Influential Women To Watch for in 2022 is Mirela Jain, a visionary making your Goa vacation ever more exciting.

Mirela Jain- Leading the way:

Founder

Mirela was into hospitality for more than 15 years. She moved from Tenerife, Canary Island to India 6 years ago. She has the same villa rental company in Tenerife and it was fairly easy for Mirela to integrate European standards into holiday rentals, thanks to her vast experience. With Mirela’s My Goa Villas, you can be sure that what you see online is what you will get offline as well.

Vision:

At the start of her goa journey, Mirela started promoting villas for holiday rentals by simply sending bookings to the villa owners. Over the span of 1 to 1.5 years, Mirela figured out that if she started renting it with her own staff,  she will be able to give better service to the people staying in. 

After some time Mirela started hiring people. That included housekeeping staff, chefs, security, and others. To make sure guests got the best service possible, she trained them constantly, offered them the highest quality of bed linen, made her own brand of toiletries, and did everything to keep her villas a 5-star property.

About My Goa Villas:

My Goa Villas was established in May 2017. They have carefully inspected and coordinated the selection of villas. At the time of choosing each villa, The MGV carefully takes into consideration the villa location, villa design, interior,  facilities, and most important thing, the management and staff setup. 

Proving to be a challenge in itself, each villa is handpicked and regularly re-evaluated. Extensive research onboarding new properties for holiday rentals. To describe each of their villas, they have compiled the villa inclusions and facilities, however, if anyone has any additional queries, The My Goa Villas team is always pleased to provide immediate assistance.

Building The Empire Brick By Brick:  

Mirela did everything to prepare a property for rentals while making sure even the smallest of details were done perfectly. And because she did not want to deal with complaints later, everything needed to be in the right place. 

Mirela wanted to exceed the expectations of guests with everything she offered and the experience she gained in Europe helped her tremendously in that.

Team Work Makes The Dream Work:

Mirela values her employees greatly. Along with getting a higher-paying job, Mirela also provides a safe and clean place to stay for the employees to make sure their quality of living isn’t compromised.

How things stand currently:

According to Mirela India is a big market for her business to grow and vacation rental revenue is the practice where you need to adapt your prices to whatever the demand is to convert bookings at the highest possible price point.

Mirela believes in providing value for everyone and with My Goa Villas, she delivers on that promise.

Reason Behind Long-Standing Success:

Years of experience in running a vacation rental business has taught Mirela that guests’ satisfaction depends on three main factors: Product offering, product marketing, and good reviews. 

Mirela has utilized these three main factors perfectly in her favor to keep the success of her villas soaring.

Products & Services:

Welcome to Goa!

Experience a multitude of beautiful beaches, a Comfortable room fitted with modern amenities, and wonderful hospitality ensuring satisfaction for each person.

What makes My Goa Villas Stand Out:

-Availability:

Mirela and her team live and work in Goa, which means that they are on hand to manage your property and ensure that all rentals are organized and run smoothly.

-Service:

My Goa Villa prides itself on offering only the highest levels of service both to its clients and to the owners.

-Experience:

Mirela’s team specializes in holiday villa rentals in North Goa. The team will advise you on what you need to do to ensure the maximum rental return from your property.

Led by Mirela, the team has gained tremendous experience by visiting each of the villas. The team knows the properties inside and out and will only confirm rentals in your villa where they are sure the clients will be happy and enjoy a wonderful holiday.

-Maximized Rental Income:

My Goa Villas offers competitive, fixed commission rates meaning all their rental properties are competitively priced to attract the maximum rental revenues for you.

-International Marketing: 

My Goa Villas markets their rental villas on a truly global basis using both digital and more traditional marketing methods.

Happy Owners:

The owners of My Goa Villas trust them in managing the rental process from start to finish and the greatest compliment is that many of the new properties come to them from personal recommendations of our services.

Expansion plans for the future:

Politeness, availability, and helpfulness are the things you expect at any quality hospitality service, says Mirela.

But because My Goa Villas is a luxury villa, guests expect a certain set of services such as personal chefs, housekeeping, and a caretaker who handles things like luggage, makes reservations, and more. Mirela makes sure all of these things are provided to every guest at her villas.

Mirela likes to maintain a very high standard for her villas. Responding to the guests in a professional yet natural way is a really important skill to have. Positivity is contagious, and Mirela makes sure the people she hires possess just the skills that create a positive environment surrounding the villa to transform the experience of the guests.

Mirela has already led the way and reached the top of holiday rentals and management. But she doesn’t want to stop here. She is planning on improving her portfolio of villas further by building many more My Goa Villas.

Breaking the obstacles with technology:

Running a vacation rental business can sometimes feel like you’re constantly dodging obstacles that stop your progress. It might feel like you can’t catch a break and your to-do list just keeps on increasing one by one with many problems to solve. 

Trying to do everything by yourself can be tiresome and difficult at times.

This is where vacation rental technology comes in as a blessing to help cut down on manual, repetitive tasks. You can use the energy saved from this in improving other areas of your personal and professional life, Says Mirela.

Word of advice for budding entrepreneurs:

“Stay positive, lean on your strengths, and hire experts who would help in taking your projects to another level. Take risks, but calculated. Never give up. 

If you want to take the faster road to success, make your business visible to the consumers, and be optimistic about everything that you are doing to achieve your goals.”

Featuring The Enterprise World’s this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022 is Anand Mahurkar, CEO and Founder of Findability Sciences. 

The Company-

Tell us about the company.

Findability Sciences is a leading Enterprise AI Company that helps traditional enterprises worldwide realize the potential of data. We enable customers across industries and geographies to accelerate their Data-to-AI Journey and allow them to build their IP and data science capabilities besides executing strategically to derive real financial ROI. By harnessing the power of data, cognitive computing and AI, we empower businesses around the world as we solve their most complex and critical business challenges. In simple terms, we drive digital transformation in traditional enterprises by making them data superpowers.

Our robust suite of offerings cuts across industries such as manufacturing, retail, media, and communication. Findability Sciences has five key product offerings that include Findability.AI and Findability. DSL, Findability. Inside, ERP-Max and the recently launched- Findability. Accelerate, a solution providing the necessary tools and framework to equip enterprises to become ‘AI-ready’ and work towards expedient and efficient enterprise AI implementation. Further, our award-winning proprietary platform, Findability.AI, combines Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing to help enterprises to amp up their AI readiness.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

During the initial years of starting up Findability Sciences, starting alone and bootstrapping the business was not an easy task. Financial challenges were a huge hurdle, and scaling the operations without external support was also challenging. However, we focused on costs and generating revenue, which helped us create yearly profits. Findability Sciences products and offerings were at least 2 to 3 years ahead of the market, and it took a lot of time & energy to convince customers to use our products. 

We kept our consistent focus on demonstrating value to the customers through proof of concepts by continually changing the business model and adding innovative features. In spite of these challenges, we have grown tremendously – from a single-person company to now with 150+ team members, working with world-renowned companies across the globe. Our perseverance has helped us attract the best teams and resources we have today. 

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

We began our journey in 2018, propelled by an investment from SoftBank KK that also structured a Joint Venture with us for the Japanese market. In 2019, we built an attractive AI stack and added machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision on top of the data platform. Soon after, we started marketing in India, Japan, and the US. We have a couple of customers in the Middle East and plan to expand in other territories. Our solution is being used by the many leading traditional enterprises- department by department, we are transforming their business using enterprise AI.

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Our strong suite of offerings creates value for our clients by reducing costs, speeding execution, reducing complexity, transforming engagement, and providing insight-backed innovation and fortified trust. We are an award-winning Enterprise AI company empowering tomorrow through innovation for every industry.

The Services-

What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Findability Sciences has a range of solutions that can help a business to become AI-ready. Even our latest tool, Findability. Accelerate is specially built to fast-track companies’ AI journey, building their foundation for enterprise AI and data adoption. We have an expert team of AI engineers and scientists who use the Avante Garde partner offerings from Automation Anywhere, IBM, Snowflake Automation, and other key AI leaders to get you on the fast lane of digital transformation. The other tool we’ve developed is Findability. Inside, that focuses on helping traditional automation solutions powered up with AI that subsequently adds value to the business. 

There are a few other tools that we’ve developed, but when talking of differentiation of our solutions, we are delivering the best-in-class AI products that provide an accuracy rate of over 95% forecasted predictions; our ERP-MAX, for example, connects with your ERP software and derives insights that can help you forecast or predict.

Also, our performance doesn’t always come with a hefty price tag. We deliver the maximum value when it comes to cost efficiency; these are something everyone looks for in the market, and we make sure to provide the best.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

The genesis of establishing Findability Sciences was to equip enterprises with ‘the ability to find information.’ As a first-generation entrepreneur and a U.S.A immigrant, I have been determined to build my venture in advanced technology like Artificial Intelligence since my first job. It was a difficult journey to start and invest in the business alone.

Despite the challenges, We have grown tremendously – from a single-person company to now with 150+ team members, working with world-renowned companies across the USA, Japan, and India, forging ahead. This has helped us attract the best teams and resources we have today. We are actively developing solutions where we can leverage the power of AI and data in as many industries as possible; we have launched solutions that can help businesses across sectors like manufacturing, financial services, online retail, BPO services, professional services, and others to churn out more revenue using AI. 

AI should not be looked at as a monolithic thing. The quality of AI depends upon the data you feed into it, and that’s how the accuracy of AI comes out. We have some of the highest accuracy rates of our AI tools; that the team has worked on over time, constantly improving and learning.

Is there any new addition to the list of products/services? Anything exciting you would like to share?

We have a few things in the pipeline, we will very soon reveal what’s coming next. 

We recently introduced Findability.Accelerate, where an expert team of AI and data experts combines the best-in-class partner offerings from IBM, SAP, and Snowflake Automation to build a foundation for enterprise AI and data adoption. This helps the client to fast-track their journey to AI implementation.

Leadership-

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I pursued Mechanical Engineering at Government Engineering College, Aurangabad. Right after college, I worked for a company that was a supplier to General Motors and Ford, where I met some German engineers who used to work at a German company called Weingarten and got introduced to computer science and basic software programming.

After working from 1990 to 1999 in manufacturing, I secured a regional manager position in a mid-size banking software company. This was also the time when I completed my executive MBA. Around the late 90s, when computer science and application were witnessing a boom, I found significant opportunities to explore the global market. In 2003, I relocated to the United States to support an acquisition of a small company in Billerica, Massachusetts. 

Soon after, I realized that the inability of the customer to “find contextual information” from the structured data reports that his team provided was a significant gap area for many such enterprises. This gave me the vision to build a company of my own with a unique ability to find information that every organization needs, stirred me to quit my job, trademark ‘findability’, and start my journey of being a first-generation entrepreneur with Findability Sciences.

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

I am a part of the IBM Watson Ecosystem Partner Advisory Board and Fast Company Executive Board, an invitation-only professional organization of company founders, executives, and leaders who are defining the future of business. 

In 2014, IBM Big Data Magazine honored me as the Big Data Hero 2014. I also serve as  a member of the Forbes Technology Council – an invitation-only community of leading Tech Visionaries selected for the council based on their deep knowledge and diverse experience in the industry.

Alongside this, I am a Charter Member of TiE – Boston, where I am responsible for mentoring budding entrepreneurs. In December 2021, I was honored with the International Achiever Award at the Indian Achiever’s Forum. Recently, I was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year 2022 Award by them as well.

This year, Findability Sciences was named Microenterprise Business of the Year by SBA (US Small Business Administration). In 2021, Financial Times recognized Findability Sciences as one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. INC5000 Magazine also recognized the company twice in a row as among the fastest-growing American private companies in 2020 and 2022. Fast Company recognized Findability Sciences for its World-Changing Ideas special mention in 2021.

What does your work culture look like? How do you keep your employees motivated and driven? 

At Findability Sciences, we always strive to create a supportive work environment and motivate our team members. Valuing our employees and effectively communicating appreciation whenever one meets and exceeds expectations is one of our core values, and rewarding hard work and talent unbiasedly with incentives is another belief that we follow.

We celebrate diversity in the organization and are proud to say that at Findability Sciences, two of the three C-Level executives are women. 33% of our board consists of women representatives, and four out of seven (70%) delivery heads are women. Our global team includes American, Indian and Japanese citizens. Not just culturally, we are linguistically blessed, too- While English is the language we conduct the business in, our team members speak 25+ distinctively different languages. We embrace talent from all age groups, from 20 to 65. 

With the right policies and work environment, there is a greater emphasis on developing a diverse workforce in the current generation. We believe that assuring inclusivity is the first step in encouraging development for the organization and society at large.

Cyber security is a basic yet important and useful process to protect confidential data. To avoid and protect companies’ confidential data cyber security is developed. Cyber security consists of the industry standard of confidentiality, integrity, and availability or CIA. Privacy means data to be accessed only by authorities; integrity means the data may be changed or added through the authority whenever needed; availability means data, systems, and functions must be available on demand according to authorized parameters. 

Here is such a company looking forward to providing safer cyberspace and uniting a cyber community through work and services. 

In this interview with Rabiul Islam, CEO & Managing Director of TechForing, we shall know more about the company’s growth and journey through the hurdles and challenges. 

The Company-

Tell us about the TechForing.

TechForing is a premier team of certified cybersecurity professionals. We started in 2014 with only one goal: to provide safer cyberspace for everyone. And since then, we have been delivering best-in-class cybersecurity monitoring and management solutions to corporations, government agencies, and individuals.

Since our conception, we have served security solutions to almost 7000 clients across 90+ countries.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

Usually, people get skeptical about new and unfamiliar organizations. They’re more willing to rely on well-known and reputable organizations to resolve their problems. We had to overcome that skepticism with transparency and communication. We were always reachable to our clients and ready to answer any questions they may have. We provided excellent customer service constantly and always asked for feedback that we used to improve our services. These helped us in building trust with our clients and increase our reputation.

The other challenge we faced was finding talents to back up our operations. Again, being a new organization made it difficult for us. Many applicants were willing to work in the cybersecurity field. However, finding fitting candidates was challenging to say the least. Even if we found the right person for the job, we had to show them we had something unique to offer – for them to join our team. We overcame these challenges with clear communication, focusing on the career growth of the talent and building an excellent culture. We were clear about our company’s mission and vision; gave applicants a good hiring experience, and provided them with a great environment to work in.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

TechForing’s growth came from research, analysis, and understanding of our customer’s pain points. Cybersecurity services can be lengthy, complicated, and expensive in general. We created our services in a way that focused on alleviating those issues.

We noticed that businesses and individuals were not getting the necessary help they needed during a cyberattack fast enough, which meant they lost the crucial time they needed to mitigate the damage. We aimed to solve that with our quick incident response and introduced services like Digital Forensic Investigation, Crypto scam Investigation, Ransomware Mitigation, Online Blackmail Investigation, Hack Recovery, etc.

How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics? (You can share the charts/graphs here).

We have seen massive growth since the foundation of our company. Since 2014, we have opened regional offices in Michigan (USA), Istanbul (Turkey), London (UK), Toronto – Ontario (Canada), and Delhi (India). Currently, TechForing employs 300+ experienced in-house cybersecurity experts distributed across four continents. We have provided our services to 1250+ businesses, and 7000+ individual clients from over 90 countries.

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Dedication and consistency. We have remained true to our core values and beliefs throughout the years. We have created a culture of trust and respect that allows us to build relationships lasting for years. We provide a unique customer experience dedicatedly from the start to the end of a project. By maintaining consistency, we have also been able to maintain our competitive advantage over our competitors.

Our focus on staying true to our core values and beliefs enables us to continue delivering quality services that our customers can depend on. All of it has helped us provide our services for so long successfully.

The Products and Services-

What are the products and services that your company specializes in?

TechForing specializes in Risk Assessment, Incident Response, Security Compliance, and SMB Solutions. We provide cybersecurity services to both businesses and individuals.

As an example, businesses are constantly at risk of falling victim to cyber-attacks. Our Risk Assessment services, such as Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing can help companies to identify and patch their security infrastructure’s weaknesses.

Our Incident Response Services help businesses to deal with cyber-attacks such as hack events, ransomware attacks, data breaches, etc.

How do you make sure your services are reliable?

Our team members are certified by some of the most reputable organizations such as C|EH, CISA, CISSP, Security+, CCE, ACE, AME, GIAC, EnCE, GSA, CMFF, and many more. With over 8 years of experience in digital services, we are confident that our information technology solutions are proven and repeatable. We use a data security approach that synergistically integrates people, processes, and platforms.

Also, we strongly emphasize our clients’ requirements, employing streamlined methodologies, and ensuring we’re providing a reliable service.

How do you help companies increase business scalability and sustainability?

TechForing helps companies to protect their data from cyberattacks, ensuring their valuable information is safe from harm. We also help companies by ensuring that their systems are reliable and functioning properly, minimizing the risk of downtime and other problems affecting their business operations.

We also provide seamless integration with no disruption to a business’s workflow. This way, we help companies increase business scalability and sustainability.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

At TechForing, we are passionate about cybersecurity. Our journey started with the goal of providing safer cyberspace for everyone, and we are constantly working toward that goal.

We make new decisions based on pure research, implementation feasibility, and prototype testing; making sure the changes we make benefit our clients.

Leadership-

What makes your team unique?

Our team consists of people from different backgrounds and various experience levels, yet all of them are focused and involved while having great communication skills. They also possess a good understanding of the outside world and business knowledge, helping them to deal with clients more effectively.

Pursuing a passion for arts and making a business out of it is a rare thing. Not many people can succeed in this task, but the rare few who do, have a special ability to move people with their art and enrich their lives with wonderful paintings. 

Featuring in The Enterprise World’s this issue of The 10 Most Inspiring Young Business Leaders to Watch In 2022 is Maithillee Zaveri, an artist, and a connoisseur of fine things. 

In this interview with Maithillee Zaveri, let us find out more about her company Maithillee. 

What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur? 

I believe there are many responsibilities of an entrepreneur. But first, it’s important to know about who you are as an individual, the ability to understand your own strengths & weaknesses. I think these are the most crucial responsibilities of an Entrepreneur.  

What were your initial challenges? 

Initial challenges were tough. Not knowing when & where to begin my career from. Until I was given the right guidance through my mentors & support from my parents. Who & how to approach was quite a tough part in the initial days + to get the works noticed in galleries & through exhibitions/art events. 

In the art industry, it’s more about who you know, and whom/how you are marketing your works to. So there a lot of socializing needed & the works would speak for itself. 

It also wasn’t easy to restart my career after I moved to the USA for a year than in Mumbai & now to Gurgaon because of moving cities & countries, it became hard for me to find the right niche & to restart marketing my work & selling too. 

The point which triggered the growth of my business was when I started getting commission works on the order & selling my works through exhibitions & my own private collections.

How did you build your team? 

From the onset of a business, an entrepreneur needs to allocate their employees’ responsibilities effectively. Hiring qualified and competent staff requires a great deal of care, especially for small businesses. An entrepreneur is also responsible for organizing a business structure and environment that helps each employee maximize their potential. The success of a business venture often relies on its employees’ contributions.

Therefore, defining your team’s role and responsibilities is a vital entrepreneurial role to exercise for maximum business productivity. Allocation of duties also minimizes team conflicts, maximizes production, and helps boost employee morale.

Building a strong team includes bringing competent and committed employees into the company, obtaining insurance coverage for the most risk-prone segments of the business, and getting more investors motivated to grow the business.

Can you walk us through your journey of art? 

For me as a professional artist & entrepreneur, it is different. I create artworks from my own imagination  & sell them through my own private collections, through art fairs/exhibitions, or on a commission basis. As I have been in the art fraternity for more than 10+ years, I got a lot of exposure in this field & learned that art is not as easy a career as it may sound for many. 

I feel now, art is all digitalized & the scope for painting artists has become much less. From my personal experiences, I definitely learned a lot of things. Like when you undertake a project, the amount quoted by the artist has to be approved by the client. No photos to be sent (in-process pics) because then there are chances the clients would ask to make changes to the work in process which makes it extremely difficult for the artist to change many times. 

Some clients prefer the works to be framed or unframed which should be clarified too with the clients. I started exhibiting in 2007. So even during exhibitions, there’s a lot that goes behind the scenes. – which include getting sponsorships, media coverage, making/planning the pamphlets, lighting in the exhibition venue, photographers, drinks, snacks/caterers, invitations to guests, guests of honor, dealing with carpenters & looking after the logistic sector too if there are other domestic/international artists too & I have dealt with it all as well which hasn’t always been an easy task because one can’t always have it perfectly the way one wants the entire show to be. 

I lived in Mumbai for 4 years & that’s when I opened my own personal art studio unfortunately, it went under redevelopment within a year so I started working from home there until I moved cities & restarted my artistic journey from my new home. Moving cities hadn’t been easy for me as an artist & to re-establish myself, and making contacts as an artist in a new city took a while too. 

I have been blessed & honored to win many awards, be featured in prestigious media publications & be invited as a guest of honors to inaugurate art events held in schools/colleges while also inaugurating art exhibitions. A few of my major accomplishments-

 2020 was the year when I was awarded the Dr. Sarojini Naidu International award for women, featured in Business APAC magazine, and Invited as a Jury at NMIMS School of Law for their cultural festival. In 2021 I won the India 5000 Women Achiever Awards, & got featured in Revopreneur Magazine as The top 10 Global Brands to watch in 2021. 

I also sold my artwork to various clients in 2020 (before the lockdown) & got commissioned works on order as well. 

Tell us about the company- Maithillee

I am the founder of “Maithillee”. I started my journey as an artist in 2004 while studying in school. I was one student then who was sure what I wanted to become in life.  I have always been a keen observer & little details like handicrafts, designs on monuments/architectures, and still, life intricate objects inspired me to become an artist. I started doing exhibitions while I was pursuing BFA in fine arts painting from the Lasalle college of the arts (2008 – 2011). In 2011 I returned back to India & started establishing myself as an artist until I started moving cities in 2015, and opened my personal art studio in 2017.

Having grown up in the capital, my love for Indian Architecture and the Colors of nature grew tremendously. Throughout my life, I have always been fascinated by the intricacies and craftsmanship of these architectural Monuments, forts, and palaces. 

I started experimenting with them in Black + White while using mixed mediums on paper as I believe, that Black + White is an interpretation of reality and they flourish even today. Hence, I try to capture the intricacies as closely as possible while making my artworks live from the spot and, filling in the shades by carefully visualizing them in black + white. 

My love for nature has been another part of my journey. I believe in creating peaceful & serene landscapes because it makes me feel at peace just by the flow of the water. 

After completing my degree, I started capturing landscape photographs, and then I would merge 3-4 images in my sketchbook to create her my own composition. I practice dabbing, etching, and merging techniques to create my works and my works, are collaboration between myself and the land.

I believe, copying art is easy but creating your own masterpieces is not. It requires a lot of planning and no artist should be judged, criticized, analyzed or compared without knowing the story behind their art. 

For every software company and software developer, SaaS is that one model that guarantees recurring revenue and provides faster deployment time than any other on-premises software. Keeping up with the other cloud services out there, SaaS is said to offer small businesses opportunities to think outside of the box, and make their mark on the existing markets; and when doing all this, it also ensures an advantage of fair pricing models. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of Top 5 Contract Management Solution Providers To Watch in 2022 is ContractZen, a company providing modern governance tools for every company. 

In this interview with Markus Mikola/ Founder & CEO, find out more about the journey of the company. 

Tell us about the company.

ContractZen Ltd. is a start-up based in Helsinki, Finland. Our founders have built a contract management start-up in the past and hit the ground running when founding ContractZen. Our mission is to bring modern governance to millions of SMBs and non-profits around the world and to help organizations be Due Diligence ready every day. We bring peace of mind to executives, investors, and boards. That is why our name is ContractZen.

ContractZen is an easy-to-use and secure governance software with pricing suitable for any organization and consisting of advanced contract management, 100% paperless board meeting management, effortless entity management, seamlessly integrated e-signature providers, and built-in virtual data rooms (VDR) – all in one. 

What were the initial challenges you faced?

Cloud based contract management was underappreciated in early 2015 when we started. The early adopters had accepted digital signing, a related technology, but most business owners, board professionals, and corporate counsels did not see the changes digitalization will enable and further force upon them and the companies they represent. Having said that, we wanted to be ahead of the wave.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

I think it is the combination of many things that opened the window of opportunity. The global Business environment has changed profoundly. There are very demanding business drivers, like tougher competition, digitalization, regulation, and compliance issues, that result in more and more audits, transactions, and due diligence situations. And that is where ContractZen really comes to rescue. Recently, another trigger has been Covid19. Digitalization of corporate governance is a must now.  

What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

We focus on contract management and a portal for the board of directors. We are low-cost and able to deliver the crucial features of contract management and board portals in a streamlined way. 

In addition, we provide two pieces of functionality often associated with the most expensive and difficult to roll out competitive products: a stellar virtual data room (VDR) for due diligence and an entity management platform for organizations with complex and potentially dynamic corporate structures.

Altogether, these modules form a full Governance Software Suite. 

How does Contract Management help companies standardize their operations?

Most companies have both incidental and intentional variety in their approach to contract management. You typically need to have a managerial role to be responsible for contracts, and with this implied trust often comes a desire to “do it your way.” Using a single system for all types of contracts, both outgoing and incoming, and for all departments is, in our view, mandatory for true standardization and the efficiencies and benefits this entails.

We find that most contract management solutions are built for staff members who use contract management intensely and are impossible to roll out to everyone who deals with contracts. 

We built ContractZen to be used by both contracting professionals and part-time contract responsible staff members. Having everyone on the same platform is the only way to standardize in the long run.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Many of our contract management clients have started to use our board portal and, when needed, the virtual data room (VDR) facility for due diligence. The benefits of the board portal are similar to contract management, but in this case, the benefit is getting better governance from your board even during these times of remote working. 

We are proud of our due diligence tool, the virtual data room (VDR). Being able to gather the key documents into a VDR, where they can be observed, but not downloaded by others, has helped some of our clients close an M&A activity or funding round much faster. The moment when a strategic move has been decided but has not been consummated is critical as major news related to the company, industry, geographic region, or the world can risk the deal. Being able to run the due diligence as fast as possible at any given time is a piece of strategic advantage the legal counsel can deliver for the corporation.

A full governance suite, including contract management, integrated digital signatures, a board portal, entity management, and virtual data rooms, creates real synergies for the corporation and the legal team that supports it.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I have loved computers since I was a kid and consequently started studying computer science. But then I continued my studies in economics and law. I have worked in IT-business for over 20 years in large multinationals, like for example GE, as well as in small start-ups in various operational and leadership positions. When founding ContractZen, everything I have studied and experienced in my career kind of amazingly came together. 

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Every step is meaningful… Founding the company, getting the software ready enough so that people pay money for it, hiring the first employees, getting funded… On entrepreneurial path there is so many things of which one should be proud of.

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique?

ContractZen was founded by very experienced people, and we have been able to move rapidly. Thanks to the experience we gained in working for some prior startups. 

Our company values are trust, continuous improvement, and kindness. We believe that trust is a key element that creates the foundation for successful and long-lasting business. Kindness shapes how the organization is perceived by employees, customers, and others. It is critical to our ability as people to interact in positive and constructive ways with confidence and support. And obviously, the continuous improvement is a must in the world we live now…we just must be better professionals and human beings. There was a great quote I learned in one company I worked for: “If you’re green you grow, if you’re ripe you rot!”

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs?

I recommend meeting a large number of potential clients before starting full-time, if possible. The period before starting full-time is an exciting one, as every meeting helps you better understand the opportunities, and you are more able to truly validate your idea and change it as needed based on your interactions with decision-makers in the industry.

There is a ton of great advice from both the ones who did it and those who did not. But every human is different – we all have our own path. So, the most important thing is to follow your calling. Your mission. If you must do it, do it. So, if you live to be old and look back, you do not need to be sad about not doing the things you would have loved to do. There are risks for sure, but hell, life is a roller coaster anyway! And whatever happens, you will grow as a person.

As easy as it might sound, the role of a business advisor is much more complex and comprehensive. A business advisor helps take enterprises to the path of success with effective business strategies and solutions. With their strong market research and organizational skills, business advisors help you gain an edge over the competition. 

Khaled M. Ismail, the CEO/Partner of ToughLove Advisors is one such leader, who is helping enterprises unlock their full potential. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Successful Business Leader to Watch Out is his story. In this interview with him, let us know more about his journey with ToughLove. 

Tell us about the company. 

TOUGHLOVE Advisors

A collective of nine C-suite executives with more than 250 years of combined hands-on experience in more than 120 markets have come together to create TOUGHLOVE Advisors, a straight-talking advisory firm with a difference. 

Specialising in improving business performance for underserved companies in the region, TOUGHLOVE Advisors provide access to an untapped collective of multi-national trained practitioners who are experts in business, operations, marketing and digital to identify and deliver solutions. 

The squad have a wealth of unrivalled experience from more than 80 leading multi-national companies and their expertise originates in a vast range of business sectors such as telecoms, banking, aviation and manufacturing and includes major names such as Emirates, Etihad, FAB, P&G, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Landmark Group, L’Oréal, Visa, Leo Burnet, Publicis Communications, bp, Tetra Pak, Meta, Nokia and HSBC. 

What were the initial challenges you faced?

There is no other advisory firm with this amount of collaborative hands-on experience in the market. At TOUGH LOVE, we tell our clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, so we can effectively help them and their business. We have witnessed first-hand, the dire need to engage with real-life practitioners who are about developing practical, tailor-made solutions based on their own experiences, as opposed to sharing theoretical best practices. We want businesses to know that there is a different way to get help, and that is the TOUGH LOVE way.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

We focused on our experience rather than theory to advice our clients, but the trigger is our approach. 

Straight-talking, jargon free and honest approach.

We tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear.

You will actually understand what we recommend to you. 

So we do things differently.

• Sophisticated NOT condescending
• Trustworthy NOT fluffy
• Inspiring NOT preachy
• Progressive NOT buzzword bingo
• Ambitious and Driven NOT antagonistic
• Provocative NOT imposing
• Confident NOT Arrogant
• Supportive NOT transactional
• Direct NOT Blunt

The Products/Services-

TOUGHLOVE Advisors help you identify blind spots, support you in co-creating solutions, & help you develop internal skills & capabilities to overcome your challenges in 5 areas:

Strategy and Management

Brand Experience & Marketing Communications

Digital Transformation and Business Innovation

People and Culture

Business Operations and Performance

Using a rich mix of data, insights, and know-how, TOUGHLOVE has a clear, uncomplicated methodology based on the principles of direct engagement, co-creation and fully delivered results.

What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur? 

Being an entrepreneur is as difficult as climbing Mount Everest. Attempting to be an entrepreneur, whilst keeping a day job, is like climbing Mount Everest with flip flops.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

Khaled Ismail

CEO/Partner

Khaled is a pragmatic business leader who is fascinated about business and their inner workings. A former global executive leading Marketing, Branding, Public Affairs and Communications operations for Europe, Central Asia, Middle East & Africa Region.

He has more than 30 years’ experience, which started in advertising and then continued in international sales, marketing and branding in FMCG (B2C) and Food Packaging Industries (B2B), including Tetra Pak and The Coca-Cola Company. 

Khaled has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University – Canada, and has completed several executive programmes in leadership and management at Ashridge – UK, IMD – Switzerland and Harvard Business School – USA. 

He is an active investor in technology, beverages, sports marketing and finance. Born in Beirut, he is a Canadian citizen and has lived and worked in 15 countries and now calls Dubai home.

Khaled is also the Chairman of the Marketing Society – UAE and is a very well-respected business leader, public speaker, marketer and mentor to young entrepreneurs.

Khaled is also a published author of a book titled “This Is What Tickles Me”.

What market need is TOUGHLOVE Advisors addressing? 

TOUGHLOVE Advisors makes business advice accessible to those who do not have the people, capability, capacity, or the knowledge to manage this growth or even the time or funds to experiment with theories and best practices. We commit to tell these businesses what they need to hear, not what they want to hear, in a peer-to-peer approach which is driven by co-creating solutions that are market-ready. We recognize that often these assignments leave businesses vulnerable during implementation, and we are prepared to continue partnering with them throughout that phase.

TOUGHLOVE partners have acquired most of their learnings from hands-on, real-life experience in prominent leadership positions and by working with, and on some of the region’s more prominent and successful brands and organizations over the past few decades. As individuals, we have consistently been tasked with challenging and highly demanding agendas in a region that has been pegged as a growth potential for the past couple of decades. Proof of that is the massive growth of home-grown organizations and brands. Today, SME and family-owned businesses must compete with the scale, financial power, and broad expertise of international organizations and brands.

Arguably, this formula might not appeal to all, but that’s OK. Growth and progress often require TOUGHLOVE and that is in our DNA. So, those who really do seek support and advice will value the journey with us and the results it will enable them to achieve. 

What’s the story behind the name?

We know the name is not your traditional company name, but traditional is not what we set out to do when we formed the company. We want to do things differently and give straight-talking advice from experts who care and want to help based on their experience, not just theory. In life, tough love is a key ingredient for growth, and it is our view that business emulates life and businesses need some tough love, sometimes. 

What is your business model?

We have nine partners with over 250+ years of experience in the market. Each project will have a lead partner, supported by a second or a third partner depending on the project and areas of expertise needed. We will also deploy senior or junior advisors as necessary during the co-creation and implementation phases. Each advisor goes through a rigorous selection process to ensure that they live the values of TOUGHLOVE.

What advice would you give corporate leaders who are considering starting their own business?

Don’t wait and over think your ideas and opportunities. The entrepreneurial and start-up world is on steroids right now and the name of the game is who has the first mover advantage. So, we say think MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and go. 

Entrepreneurship and leadership are such roles that require not just a steady head and calm mind, but also the skill of acquiring the right people for the right jobs. One important job that lays the foundation of a great and efficient team is that of the business manager. The key role of a business manager is to lead and supervise the work of the employees. 

A business manager is responsible for designing strategies and also managing all day-to-day operations in the organization that make it more efficient. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Influential Women In 2022 is Gwendolyn Young, Founder/CEO of Virtual Admin Expert, LLC, a leader helping others create an efficient work environment. 

In this interview with her, let us know more about the journey of the Virtual Admin Expert. 

When was the company incepted? 

2019

What were your initial challenges and how did you pave your way through those? 

The initial challenges for me were being in the business solo doing everything myself and trying to do all of the client work, all while managing a chronic illness. I quickly realized that in order to fully serve my clients the way I envisioned and not run my health into the ground, I knew I needed to set clear boundaries and get some support, so I slowly started to subcontract out work to help me, and I put processes and systems in place to make things more automated. That was a game changer for me.

What was the vision of your company when you started? 

Virtual Admin Expert’s Vision is To be a highly-sought after administrative support services agency in the virtual space.

Where does it stand today, in terms of revenue and clientele base? 

We are a multi-six-figure agency supporting some of the premiere coaches, consultants, and professional service providers across the globe. 

How would you further your services? 

Your Virtual Admin Expert is an online business management support agency for established professional service providers, coaches and consultants who are helping others get the mental, emotional, physical, and financial well-being they deserve.

We’re experts in helping you manage the backend of your business, so you can focus on your clients, your growth, and your profits.

How would you describe your growth trajectory over the years?

Virtual Admin Expert’s growth was originally slow and steady and more recently has started to really take off. In 2021, we had a 100% increase in clients and revenue. 

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success? 

We focus on building good relationships with our clients and every year our strategic goal is focussed on how we can add more value to our clients. We don’t just serve as people who can do tasks for them, we become a part of their business and their lives so that we can serve them fully. Because our clients know we have their best interests at heart at all times, we take ownership of our work, and we care about them and their businesses, they love to work with us long term and tell others about the work we do.

How do you use technology to your benefit?

Technology is a core part of how we do business. Being in the virtual space, we use technology to help us onboard new clients with ease, manage our team and projects efficiently, and track our revenue and financials. Technology is a part of everything we do. We have a system for everything from scheduling, to task management, to communicate with clients, to communicate with each other, as well as ensuring access to all the needed information and resources. We couldn’t do what we do without technology. 

Please walk us through your professional background.

I have a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a focus on Information Systems from DeVry University, a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Lewis University

I’ve been named as one of the most influential women in business by the Daily Herald Business Ledger in partnership with the National Association of Women Business Owners – Chicago Chapter and the Women’s Innovation Network.

Received the Elizabeth Timpton’s Girls Mentoring Award for my work in the community by Passages Alternative Living, Inc.

Was one of twenty emerging leaders in the US selected as the recipient of the 2012 Judith O’Connor Scholar Award for Emerging Nonprofit Leaders by BoardSource.

Transformational Business Leader of the year by Exeleon Magazine

With the years of expertise, you bring to the table, what are your future plans? 

To scale and grow our company to the 7-figure level and then create a program that teaches other administrative professionals who have a desire to work for themselves how to do the same.

A word for the budding entrepreneurs? 

Own your power and your voice. You matter and what you have the world needs. If you have an idea that can solve a problem for a group of people that adds massive value, go for it. And don’t do it alone, surround yourself with a community of like-minded people who will push you, encourage you, and hold you accountable. 

How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique? 

My team is amazing. They come from all different backgrounds, age ranges, and experiences. It’s great working with them. We do our best as a company to add value to them by providing monthly trainings, sending gifts for important dates like birthdays and work anniversaries, we have quarterly lunch together virtually, and we have random team member appreciation moments like purchasing a Starbucks gift card that everyone can use to go get their favorite beverage. 

Home, one of the basic needs of human beings is the thing that we are attached to most. Everyone dreams to own a house that becomes his home. A second home or a holiday home are the trending concepts that are useful to have me time far away from the noisy routine world as well as for the sake of an investment for the future.

Globalization brought the world closer. Now one may need to shift to different places to run his daily processes to earn. While shifting to different places the first vital thing is to find a shelter and make it an own home.

In a life full of rush hours one can hardly make time for himself or his family. If such time he needed to invest in finding a home and come across many places that are not worth to invest, then that can be a stressful waste of time. Instead of doing this, what if your search for dream home comes to end on just a single click?

Stop thinking now! Because the thought is already turned into reality.

Mr Manik Kinra, Co-Founder of Pin Click helping people to search, view and move into their new homes.

Pin Click which is started back in 2014 is all about simplifying the home search for the customer. It is a technology platform with strong offline integration providing property advisory solutions for your new home requirements. Currently present in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Mumbai & Pune, we are a team of more than 150 advisors.

The Inception

Mr Manik Kinra started his entrepreneurship journey in digital marketing & crowdsourcing domain co-founding Jade Magnet which was the first marketing crowdsourcing platform in India & Middle East. They did extremely well between 2009-13 working with over 3000 SMEs across the globe & over 100 large enterprises. During this journey, they also worked with some of the top real estate brands in India and it’s during this time realized the importance of an institutional sales & distribution platform for residential sales. He also happened to see some of the large players in similar domains doing extremely well outside India and some organized platforms coming up in India during the same time frame.

Real Estate is one of the largest verticals/industries in India and Mr Kinra felt as long as they can institutionalize the process of selling, they could have a scalable model to work on and hence Pin Click.

The Antecedent Challenges 

Mr Kinra doesn’t come from a business family and hence convincing himself of moving out of the corporate world was the toughest task. But once the decision was taken, it was more organizational challenges right from hiring to retaining to customer acquisition, etc. These challenges are common across industries, businesses and also to some level across the stage of business – just the magnitude changes.

He thinks that what worked out was the fact that they have tried to keep things simple, break problems into smaller tasks and look at the task minutely daily. For example, retention which was a major issue with them for quite some time. Over the last 30 months, they have changed their incentive structures, started doing 6 monthly appraisals & got aspirational team members to take over larger roles defined by their ability to deliver & not years of experience, & have seen a significant change in our attrition numbers.

Entrepreneurship around 10 years back wasn’t perceived as glamourous. It was more aspirational and driven by the desire to create an impact that made me become an entrepreneur.

They Offer

• Pin click deals in advising properties that are most suitable for customer’s residential and investment needs.
• They try to execute things better by using technology tools which enable the property advisors to give better solutions to the customer and help him make his decision better & faster.
• They provide online to an offline platform with a team of advisors who are focused on consumer’s investment
• Pin Click currently provides services in Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon & Thane.

The Vision

Real Estate is not known for being the most mature, professional industry in India. Would like Pin Click to be a part of that change as that happens with brands trying to bring in more transparency & process in the industry.

Pin Click’s goal is to create a culture where relationships are not built on brokerages but on the ability to understand what the customer needs. Their unique online to offline integration, marketing intelligence capabilities and innovative technology tools help them differentiate from competitors

Secret Behind Building a Successful Customer Base

Customers across the industry, region, or company return if they find value in the product, service, solution that’s being offered. That’s the only way to build a successful customer base. In their case, as long as they can give honest advice, suggest quality options which can help a customer take a much more informed decision, he is bound to either come back or refer his friends and family to Pin Click

Pin Click has 950 happy customers and they have sold properties worth 450 Cr to date.

The Work Culture Like at Pin Click 

They have a very open culture internally. The teams work collaboratively, are open to suggestions & criticism and each department is run for people will full freedom to drive in the fashion best suitable to build inefficiencies. At the same time, they continue to be detailed oriented with daily & weekly reviews to ensure they don’t miss any anomalies at the same time push towards continuous improvement.

A lot of this is driven by people who are aspirational and have been given full authority to be on the driver’s seat. We micromanage only if needed with a focus on improvement.

The city heads for all 4 cities today for Pin Click are folks who joined in 2017 batch and it’s a wonderful feeling to see them grow from bringing fresher’s to managing teams to now leading the load of running full cities.

Reason Behind the Name Pin Click

They wanted to have a name with a focus on real estate but one that can be used across verticals so if tomorrow they add more than residential sales, they don’t have to rename the brand. Real Estate is known through Pin Codes and that’s where Pin Came from.

As 100% of their customer acquisition is online, they wanted to add an activity with relation to the internet and that’s how Click was added to the name.

Quotes – 

Don’t wait to buy real estate, buy real estate and wait – T. Harv Eker

Real estate cannot be lost or stolen, nor can it be carried away. Purchased with common sense, paid for in full, and managed with reasonable care, it is about the safest investment in the world. – Franklin D. Roosevelt

In this era of constant competition, it doesn’t matter what the gender is but everyone is running in the race to be successful and prove themselves. Yet there exists a social difference which reflects in society by this or that way and every woman goes through the experience at least once in life. The plus point that every lady should be thankful for is the right to education. The calculation of the growth in woman empowerment is commendable over a period of time. 

Now everywhere women are one step ahead and are doing unstoppable growth. It’s always said that half of the development of a nation depends on a woman’s literacy rate. To grow sustainably and establish own image, earning respect needs to be first priority of every woman in the 21st century.

To fight for self-esteem and self-respect is not selfishness but is self-care or self-love, connecting to this Great Author Mrs. Sudha Murthy once quotes very well on empowering women’s generation “A woman is to love herself, be herself, and shine amongst those who never believed her she could”. Let’s deep dive into such a story of a self-confident lady of this generation and know her journey. 

In this interview with Priya Rao, Founder of Priya Rao & Associates, we shall know more about the company’s and her personal growth and journey.

Kindly tell us about your journey since the inception of Priya Rao & Associates.

I have spent most of my career working in top-tier Indian law firms. However, for the last few years, I have been brewing the desire to start my firm to test my learnings & experience accrued in my journey. Since I was a senior partner in the last firm, I was too caught up with client servicing and the firm’s growth.

With 2020 giving everyone a chance to reflect, I decided to get out of my comfort zone and start a new chapter that I always wanted. I knew it was either now or never. Since everything in the industry was anyways slow, this gave me sufficient time to plan, prepare, organize, and build the needed resource for a law firm of international standards On January 1st, 2021, I founded a full-service law firm, Priya Rao & Associates, specializing in laws relating to Intellectual Property Rights, Information Technology and Data Privacy.

I was immediately joined by four of my colleagues from my earlier firms who have ample knowledge and experience in laws relating to trademarks, copyright, industrial designs, and patents. Our experience to date has been extremely exciting, encouraging, and overwhelming. We have great support from our clients, professional colleagues, friends, and family. This gives us the confidence that we are on track.

Kindly brief us about the proactive founder/CEO of the company and his/her contribution to the company and the Industry.

I work very closely with the ministry and industrial associations towards the development of law, implementation of IPR law, and encouragement of start-ups.

Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions, and clients’ feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company.

Please check our website link https://priyaraoassociates.com/awards- recognitions/

Kindly share your point of view on the current scenario, major challenges, and opportunities of the Indian Legal Sector.

As I mentioned that our firm specializes in laws related to IPR, IT, and Data Privacy. We are seeing a lot of innovation, changes, and growth in the areas of e-commerce, artificial intelligence space, and pharmaceuticals. Laws have to evolve in this space. Further, with extensive growth in the use of the internet and consumers sharing their data online, there is an urgent need for a Data Protection law

Brief us about the major challenges your company has faced.

Thank God, none till now.

What are the major contributing factors behind your company’s success?

Our team- Priya Rao & Associates

How do you motivate creativity and innovation in the workspace while maintaining a healthy work environment?

Priya Rao & Associates regularly have healthy brain-storming sessions over lunch. We keep motivating our younger colleagues to keep reading, learning, being bold, and thinking outside the box.

Share your experience and brief us about the tactics and strategies to build long-term customer relationships.

We are in some ways still old school and believe that the Client and attorney relationships can be only built on trust and transparency. Of course, your expertise in your subject is given and must be top-notch.

How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

IPR is constantly evolving and I see our firm matching up to the same.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs?

To be bold and have patience.

It has been very common worldwide that any of the events organized is on a huge budget as well as a great grand aura and ambiance. Whether it may be a formal event or a professional every event is expected to be perfect in every aspect. Before 2020 having such big fat, events was a normal thing, and used to be very grateful. After 2020 each and every field went through changes drastically. Everyone searched for other alternatives for their respective fields. In this huge worldwide horrifying pandemic, it was majorly to save our own lives and then look after everything. 

Regarding business and official things, companies switched to online work, meetings, and conferences. Same as this commercial event was also held online. Each and every company carried out its works and events online. As it’s always major for every business whether it’s small, big, or new startup needs clients and popularity among the people to reach out to the targeted audience and clients. With the help of online events, entrepreneurs and other business persons conduct online events with an aim to be completed. This idea of the virtual event makes people own their respective aim and helps to maintain the after-COVID restrictions, as life comes first. 

Such a company named HeySummit started its startup in 2019 and was followed by COVID which gradually made them the leading virtual event management company.      

In this interview with Benjamin Dell, Founder & CEO of HeySummit, we shall know more about the HeySummit’s growth and journey.

Tell us about the company.

HeySummit is the easy-to-use virtual event platform that helps you grow your audience and monetize your passion. Founded in 2019, we found ourselves in a strong position to serve the heightened demand for online events that the global COVID pandemic created.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

When HeySummit first launched, Virtual / Online Events were less popular (though they were starting to rise in popularity). As a consequence, we found that most of our time was spent educating customers on why running a virtual event can be an incredibly impactful way to grow your community and monetize your passion. 

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company? 

When COVID hit in early 2020, HeySummit found that demand for online events skyrocketed almost overnight. 

How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics? 

HeySummit has 10,000 customers, and 100,000 speakers registered, have served 2.5M attendees worldwide, and have generated over $16,000,000 in revenue for our event organizers.

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

Although the global demand for virtual events spiked during COVID, there’s absolutely no doubt that demand has remained strong. COVID fundamentally changed the way companies think about marketing (and monetizing) through virtual events. We’re expecting this trend to continue growing.

What are the products and services that your company specializes in?

HeySummit core platform helps its customers set up, promote and run virtual events. Our core strength is helping our customers think about the entire end-to-end process, the wider experience, and the monetization opportunity. Perhaps our core strength (from a product standpoint) is that we’re technology agnostic when it comes to video streaming and replays. 

Rather than develop our own Zoom competitor, very early on in our journey, we realized that it would be far better for our customers if they could use the video platforms and tools that they were already using. To that end, our customers can mix and match platforms to suit their audience. From webinar platforms to live-streaming, to pre-recorded video sources. HeySummit integrates with everything you need and more.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

COVID rapidly increased customer adoption within the virtual event space. We believe the next phase in the industries evolution is twofold – 

1) ensuring that we integrate with wider ecosystems and tools, and 

2) doubling down on community features (essentially helping our customers communicate more effectively with their speakers, attendees and sponsors) to foster a meaningful conversation across all parties during an event.

What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

In short, to make a judgment on the trends that they think will drive tomorrow. Can you please brief us about your professional experience? A serial entrepreneur, with multiple exits. Typically focused on the SaaS space; I’m passionate about empowering businesses and brands with tools that help them succeed.

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Sold an early SaaS product to David Cancel (Founder at Drift). More recently I created (and sold) 3 SaaS companies in the last 2 years. How do you look after your employees? What makes your team unique? My teams are typically small and focused on a particular area of the business. We try and act as much like a startup as we can to remain agile and responsive to changing trends and external factors.

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs?

Take note of your leadership style, what your strengths are and what gives you the most energy. Doubling down on your strengths and listening to your gut can be the most impactful thing an entrepreneur can do. TLDR: Spend less time following advice from ‘gurus’ and more time learning about what makes you tick.

Featuring RPtecture for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Best Architecture Design Firm In 2022 is RPtecture, a firm that is taking innovation to the next level. 

Being a modern architecture and interior firm, there is an added pressure to present contemporary ideas that excite the modern artist eyes. Thinking outside of the box has become so ordinary that sometimes a simple idea with a twisted perspective can make a huge difference. This is the main ideology behind most of the modern architecture firms that have made utility possible in the smallest of spaces, and have designed spaces in a way that is pleasing to the eye. 

In this interview with Rakesh Pate, Founder, let us find out more about the journey of the firm. 

Tell us about the company.

RPtecture is a quality assured practice that provides a full range of architectural & interior services from project inception to completion and is committed to accommodating its client’s needs.

The word RPtecture comes from the chemistry of ‘Rakesh Pate + Architecture.

Tell us about the journey of the company so far.

In 2013, the idea of RPtecture was generated when a few clients showed interest and faith in the creativity of Ar Rakesh Pate who was an artist since childhood. Within the span of 9 years, the journey of designing a compound wall to India’s biggest Indian railways project of 100+ acres in Andhra Pradesh is like a dream come true for all the team members. We are continuing to thrive for excellence in all the projects whether it is small or big, every project gets equal treatment. 

What do you think triggered the growth of the company?

The systematic process of start-to-end solutions and adaptation of new things as per the fast-changing trends.  

What establishes the long-standing success of the company?

Honesty, respect & righteousness towards the field of Architecture and Interior design. 

What are the services/products you provide?

Architecture & interior design services and Turnkey contracting for residential, commercial, industrial as well as hospitality projects.

What sets you apart and what makes your services/products ahead of the competition?

Thinking out of the box, be transparent with the client, colleagues, associates, and vendors.

How does your company keep up with the latest trends and practices in the architecture design industry?

Market research through market visits, friends, online social media platforms, and attending the expos, events, etc.

Any new additions to your service line-up?

We have started taking up landscape projects as well. 

Responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

Overseeing all RPtecture projects, Ar Rakesh Pate ensures the design and review of all projects which is optimized. He specializes in projects of all scales, thinking of innovative ideas and space planning designs that are unique to our brand ‘RPtecture’.  He significantly contributed in defining the architecture, interior style, and planning of hospitality, residential and commercial projects in and around India.

Tell us about your professional journey.

By God’s grace, the journey so far is being smooth with a lot of ups and downs. Being an artist, a cyclist, and an athlete since the start, it’s always easy to handle all the situations positively and creatively under any circumstances in the professional life of an entrepreneur. 

Any achievements you would like to share?

If you look at our CV, we have completed the 1st make-in India project – MARS International India, Sneakers chocolate factory situated at KHED CITY, Pune. 

Another achievement for us is being an Architect and Interior designer of SERUM Institute of India and all the buildings of COVID-19. Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi visited the buildings designed by RPtecture. We are proud to be a part of saving the world from the pandemic. 

Celebrity & singer Shankar Mahadevan visited and appreciated one of our interior turnkey sites, Saket communications in Pune. 

Your take on where Architecture Design is going ahead in the future?

It’s not going in a good direction from my point of view. Architects are responsible for all the infrastructure we are seeing in every part of the Nation and most of us do not think about the use of simple things like absolutely free natural resources which are light and wind. A basic study of ancient buildings makes us realize how environmentally responsible buildings they have constructed.  I’m sure if we look at our history and follow their basic principles wherever possible, we can make our nation more healthy and beautiful.  

What is your favorite quote?

“STRENGTH LIES IN DIFFERENCES, NOT IN SIMILARITIES!”

Constant vigilance – is it a need or strategy?

A need. 

What is your view of the rat race in the market? How do you handle it?

Keep calm, be alert and follow your own instincts!  

In this interview with Milind Pai, Founder & CEO of Architects and Interior Designers Firm, we shall know more about the journey of the company and his personality.

Since ancient times architecture has been a piece of artwork to the world. Among the masterpieces listed, ancient civilizations and temples are more popular. The artwork is simply a masterpiece in time. During European and British times, architectural work changed drastically including more luxury in lifestyles and living.  

Time changed as well as strategies and art do go through changes. Today’s architecture consists of many different ideas and abstract art gradually changing the perspective of the field. Many companies are shining bright in the last few decades. Many architectural firms are now working on a global level. The demand for luxury and to have the best lifestyle is on the top priority of people. Here we have some kind of firm which started in 1987 and is now working on a global level. 

Q1. Tell us about the company.

Milind Pai Architects is a multi-specialty business firm established in the year 1987. We undertake Residential and Commercial projects. Some of the commercial subdomains in which we are quite active are — Institutional, Health, and Hospitality. Currently, we operate from a fully-equipped office in Mumbai’s bustling suburb, Andheri. We have executed more than 600 projects in the past three decades. Interestingly, these projects have been executed locally (30 cities) as well as globally (3 cities).

Q2. Tell us about the journey of the company so far.

Right from its inception, the company focused on evolving in terms of newer trends, tools, and methodologies. It has been the hallmark of Milind Pai Architects & Designers. Our ethos has remained the same — providing state-of-the-art workmanship, value-for-money services, and maintaining transparency across various stages of a project including pricing and business values. This vision allows us to keep on adding new milestones every year.

No project is a challenge for us, and the reason is because of our constant hunger to update and upgrade. It has resulted in steady year-on-year growth, a crucial metric for an architecture and design firm. It is this thirst to excel which has led Milind Pai Architecture to introduce some radical designs and approaches. We follow new design trends at the same time pioneer some of these. Our impressive social media presence and mass reactions are proof of our leadership in this domain.

Q3. What do you think triggered the growth of the company?

Our philosophy has always been to stick to the basics. We cater to a world that seeks aesthetically pleasing spaces; therefore, client psychology plays a vital role. Once we understand their needs we offer organic designs that offer the best of human-made creations and nature. Our mission doesn’t stop here. We maintain this passion and enthusiasm until we hand over the finished property to its owner. It has not only fetched us accolades but also kept the growth momentum in top gear in this highly creative market.

Q4. What establishes the long-standing success of the company?

Every successful enterprise lays out specific ground rules. Milind Pai Architects is no different. As mentioned above, we are highly transparent in our workings and it is this openness along with one-of-a-kind design solutions which have provided success since our inception. This long-standing success also fetched us the tag of a “highly reputed” Interior Designer Agency.

Q5. What are the services/products you provide?

Our services are highly diverse in their creative form. What is common is the stamp of quality and timely delivery. Let us elaborate on this — we have a dedicated team of design wizards, software operators, and highly dependable associates from the civil engineering domain. Our coordinated efforts, right from rough sketches, to computer-generated layouts till the final brush stroke results in spaces that are client-centric, visually pleasing, and reflect current trending elements.

Q6. What sets you apart and what makes your services/products ahead of the competition?

Our design philosophy is really simple; the look of the concerned space should also complement the intended purpose. The spaces that we design are the outcome of an in-depth analysis of the client’s needs and functionality. Our design solutions blend the cultural, physical, and emotional needs of the occupants. And this is what sets us apart and allows us to stay ahead of the competition.

Q7. How does your company keep up with the latest trends and practices in the architecture design industry?

This one is easy; keep evolving. At Milind Pai Architects we are never shy of enhancing and adapting newer skills or exploiting new generation design techniques. This unabashed sentimentality not only keeps us in touch with the latest trends but also keeps us right at the top in the design market.

Q8. Any new additions to your service lineup?

Although technologies, tools, and trends are rapidly evolving, and we do employ some of these changes, we strongly believe that we also need to focus on improving our current mechanisms and design choices. The new service line-up is gradually seeping into our portfolio and it will only increase its presence in the future. Frankly, for now, we want to focus on innovation and seamless integration of our present line-up.

Q09. Tell us about your professional journey.

Frankly, my professional journey is hooked to Milind Pai Architects and my team. The timeline of growth and success has been slow but steady. In these days of startup culture where products, personalities, and valuations skyrocket overnight, the design industry is quite conservative. The learning and success curve have been steep because each project educates and informs us of our strengths as well as weaknesses. These insights and exposure and experience have helped Milind Pai Architects migrate from the local to the international podium, executing projects in dream countries like Dubai, Muscat, and Singapore.

Q10. Any achievements you would like to share?

Milind Pai Architects believes in “Creativity that turns dreams to reality”. This mantra has

catapulted us to the top and today we are considered one of the top design firms. It is

this popularity and brand fever that attracted many reputed Magazines and Media

outlets. We have been consistently mentioned in interior design, leisure and associated

journals. We have also been labeled as a design firm that industries should watch out

for.

Q11. Your take on where Architecture Design is going ahead in the future?

As the head of Milind Pai Architects, I strongly believe that architecture, design, nature, and technology, including AI and VR, will one day merge into a highly complex tool that will allow designers to build rapid prototypes. It will allow making processes and procedures faster, more efficient, and the resultant designs sustainable. Having said that I also believe the footprints of past design principles and values will not be completely obliterated.

Q12. What is your view of the rat race in the market? How do you handle it?

Every design firm has a rock-solid business strategy in place, especially in these fast-moving and ever-evolving times of the internet and social media. Milind Pai Architects too has one. Well, the antidote for this rat race is actually quite simple. We offer a patient hearing. We are great listeners and therefore allow the client’s needs such as professional background, physical and emotional needs, temperament, budget, aesthetical expectations, and design style to seep into the entire team before heading for the drawing board/computer. On the competitor side, we check their latest offerings, and research their skillset and reputation. All this offers insights that are valuable in handling this mad rush.

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs to Watch in 2022 is Vladimer Botsvadze, Mentor, Coach and Futurist. In this interview with him, let us find out more about his journey. 

During the many highs and lows of a business, sometimes a strong mentor is all someone needs to get thing on the right track. And such are the times when successful business leaders with their immense experience help leaders to get out of the fix. 

Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start the company Vladimer Botsvadze? 

I believe my company has had a perspective from the outset. I always bear in mind that success depends on backbone, not wishbone. I’ve gone into overdrive and left no stone unturned for my goals. A satisfied customer has been the backbone of my growth. I’m focused on building healthy relationships, coming to grips with their needs and serving customers by listening and caring about them. I provide opportunities to colleagues that help them sophisticate their skills. Innovation and experimentation are of paramount importance as I inspire my team to work wonders. In a nutshell, I started my success from scratch and made my dreams come true. I’ve just hit the ground running and never given up.

There is no time like the present to capitalize on great opportunities. My entrepreneurial journey has been in the fast lane and social media has stood me in good stead. I’m as regular as clockwork every single morning and I push the envelope. I’m always bent on improving my results and in order to remain competitive I constantly reinvent myself. My business has taken a turn for the better due to Twitter, which brings a tidal wave of clients.

The ebb and flow of marketing is miraculous and I keep my fingers on the pulse of the latest trends. The cards are stacked in my favor when I work 16 hours a day. There is no doubt that social media opens the floodgates to business owners to maximize their success. I take pride in seeing my results that are as solid as a rock. From the vantage point of the present, I’ve achieved everything to the best of my ability.

I always keep an open mind, which has paved the way for my transformation. I’ve been in the right places at the right time with the right people in NYC, DC, London, and Dubai. I’m always hell-bent on broadening my horizons and being in the front line of marketing. My future-proof strategies work like a charm and I go to great lengths for my long-term goals.

As a result, I’ve made a breakthrough and gained momentum as a speaker, consultant, board advisor, and thought leader.

What are the initial challenges you faced with and the reasons behind company’s long-standing success? 

I identified what skills my agency excelled at and capitalized on those. I understood my strengths  were key to marketing them. I showed my clients that I truly understood their needs and what they were about. I differentiated myself by figuring out a voice, an innovation, and an offering that only I can provide. I know exactly what the company can do and what my future targets are, so I can identify the right time to expand. Big things have small beginnings and I embarked on my entrepreneurial journey with passion, sleepless nights, and perseverance. My success has attracted a lot of attention and what sets me apart is my practicality. Following my passion has laid the foundations for my growth.

What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market? 

I’m acknowledged across sectors for my contributions and I’ve been transforming the future of my clients for more than 15 years. I turn traditional businesses into digital leaders and I provide solutions to help brands improve their businesses, enhance user experiences, and develop operations for the digital age. I’ve enjoyed a remarkable career at the top of the technology industry and I’ve been recognized as one of the brightest minds in digital transformation.

As a result, I continue to play a pivotal role in maximizing top brands’ success. In recognition of this, I’m ranked as the No. 1 Global Marketing Thought Leader by Thinkers360. Having been at the forefront of social media for many years, I provide unrivalled insights into the challenges of tomorrow. 

My digital marketing services include: consulting, speaking, start-up advising, teaching, training, workshops, coaching, mentoring, training, roundtables, and boardroom sessions. The results bring brands loyal customers, powerful brand awareness, and increased revenues. Having serviced thousands of businesses, I know what it means to grow their brands. If they have a particular marketing challenge that they want to help with, they book a Zoom/Skype consulting session with me, so they solve their problems as soon as possible.

My mentoring service helps entrepreneurs manage their services online. As a speaker, I work with universities, businesses, and individual service professionals to achieve strategic growth. I’m passionately driven and results-driven to innovate, constantly pushing boundaries for my valued clients and delivering unique results. I speak on social media strategies that are tailored to accomplish profitable results. 

As a start-up advisor, I guide and navigate entrepreneurs through the unexplored territory of a start-up. While 9 out of 10 start-ups fail within the first year, I provide the essential tools to move start-ups forward. I serve several companies and I sit on the board of directors. I’ve been all over the world to advise some of the largest start-ups. As a marketing professor, I teach ground-breaking programs that not only cover fundamentally significant subjects such as social media and branding, but also have a strong emphasis on storytelling, digital marketing, and entrepreneurship. 

As a trainer, I deliver a one-day training on-site at corporations to boost their digital marketing growth. The training is relevant for teams of every scale of business. Whether they need advice and guidance on digital marketing, my consulting services transform experiences that move brands forward. I offer strategic consulting for a range of clients. My immersive and interactive workshops have an exceptional track record of success. Attendees learn to think strategically and accomplish their goals. The workshops are suitable for CMOs, CIOs, agency strategists, and executives. 

In boardroom sessions, I help executives gain a better understanding of marketing and innovation. I participate as an expert on panels and at roundtables. I inspire colleagues with game-changing insights on the latest trends which allow executives to achieve next-level results. I’ve worked with a myriad of companies on different partnerships. Teamwork has always made the dream work. 

How do you decide to keep the company a step further? 

I engage in thought leadership, which helps me position my brand as an industry leader in marketing and digital transformation. I hire the right employees. I’m selective with my clients and I make sure I’m taking clients who can help me build a win-win partnership. I embrace a culture of transparency.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience? 

I’m a world-renowned digital transformation thought leader, influencer, keynote speaker, start-up advisor, and internet personality. I’m a highly experienced futurist in both the retail and consumer-packed goods sector. I dedicate my time as a motivational speaker for corporate clients, able to elevate my marketing strategies to create innovative brands.

My leadership is as exemplary as my marketing strategies. I’ve earned a reputation as a stand-out speaker. Companies that embrace cutting-edge strategies often receive industry awards. I’ve delivered an array of presentations challenging the status quo. Highly sought-after for my global status, I’ve been transforming the future of my corporate clients for more than 15 years. The previous events that have benefited from my revered status include Digital Talk Forum, Asia Retail Summit, AI Conversational Summit, etc. 

Additional roles include, a jury member for the Prolific North Marketing Awards and the Digital Revolution Awards in the UK. I’ve built brands on innovative and forward-thinking ideas. As a speaker, I present with passion, energy, and contagious excitement for the future of marketing. I aim to leave people motivated to take action at the end of a speech. I’m a top-quality speaker whose engaging presentations set the standard. 

I’m one of the leading marketing thought leaders in this day and age. Through my entrepreneurial ventures, media appearances, and keynote talks, I’m providing a vision for the future and supporting businesses from start-ups to market leaders in preparing for it. Having spearheaded several world brands to international success with my unique projects, I’m one of the most prominent speakers on building a sought-after brand. I sit on numerous international boards as an authority on developing authentic experiences and future-proofed businesses, making me a constant demand as a marketing speaker on the speaker circuit. From New York to Sydney, I’m a global audience favorite sharing my strategies that guarantee long-term success and sustainability. 

What are the key achievements of your business journey? 

I’m currently ranked as the No. 1 Global Marketing, Social Media, and Retail Thought Leader by Thinkers360. I’ve been recognized among the Top 25 Digital Transformation Influencers by Sparity. Exeleon Magazine has named me a Transformative Leader of the Year and Insight Success Magazine has acknowledged me among the Top 10 Inspiring Business Leaders Making a Difference in 2022.

I’m among the Top 100 Global Retail Influencers by RETHINK Retail in 2022. I’m a speaker alongside Philip Kotler at the Global Marketing Summit. I’ve been featured and mentioned in Forbes, Bloomberg, and Yahoo Finance. 

I’ve been described as ‘’the world’s best marketing consultant and speaker’’ and ‘’a force of passion and unique insights for business’’ by my global audiences. I’ve become an advisory board member of RETHINK Retail. I mentor start-ups at FasterCapital, Seedstars, APX VC, and the Mentoring Club.

My awards epitomize my success as a tech expert, sharing how I have shaped my name into one of the biggest personal brands and transformed the marketing industry. My dedication to building my Twitter has put me at the forefront of innovation as to how social media plays a key role in building businesses worldwide. 

I’ve risen to global prominence and gained popularity singlehandedly by building my Twitter (56,300 followers), LinkedIn (26,300 followers), and Instagram (10,000 followers), a total of 130,000 followers across my social media platforms. My work reaches 40 million people on Twitter annually. Addressing audiences internationally, encouraging actionable change, and motivating people to become more confident, I’m guaranteed to leave a lasting impact on all audiences. 

‘Innovation is the key to business growth’. Please share your views. 

Innovation plays a pivotal role in sustaining advantage in the changing global marketplace. Many business leaders don’t have innovation strategies and their hurdles include resource constraints, budget constraints, and a lack of structured innovation processes. The two elements that drive innovation are processes and organization-wide support. Companies need the right culture to foster and encourage innovation, also strong visionary business leadership and a willingness to take risks. Enterprises that perform miracles on innovation initiatives grow significantly faster than average companies. 

Amazon initiated ‘’Amazon Web Services’’ (Cloud) to overcome the cost of infrastructure to conduct operations. Amazon has built an entire ecosystem of products and services enabled by its Prime membership. Alibaba has long positioned itself as an innovation powerhouse, having successfully transformed an internet e-commerce and retail company into a technology business. To successfully compete in the digital era companies must go digital internally across every stage of the product development process.  

Mr. R.K. Behera is the Chairman and Founder of the RSB Group

Technology is at its peak all over the world. new inventions and constant development in every single sector is due to the upgradation of technologies and the constant demand for simple and time-saving equipment. Fields like Automobiles, Farming, etc have developed rapidly in the last few decades as a result uprising of new entrepreneurs is unstoppable. The business sector and a number of entrepreneurs have a key role in India’s rising GDP. Expansion of the engineering sector made a huge difference in development over all the other same-linked fields. Over a period of time, manual things got changed into equipment and gradually leading to a world full of robotics and operational engineering equipment. 

Mr. R.K. Behera – RSB Group

Mr. R.K. Behera is one of young Indian entrepreneur from the hometown of the world-famous Tata group. R.K. Behera and his brother S.K. Behera together were very inspired by the Tata group and used to see their future in them. Both the brothers established RSB Group in 1975 and today the small start-up is a global company owning two branches in USA and Mexico-like countries. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Successful Business Leaders to Watch Out is Mr. R.K. Behera, who has set out an example of hard work and determination togetherly pay off.

RSB Group is a global engineering institution, founded in 1975 by two bubbling and enterprising young brothers, Mr. R.K. Behera and Mr. SK Behera, from Jamshedpur, hailing from a humble middle-class background, with a passion and dedication to doing something different, to traverse a path hitherto untraveled. They dreamt only realities. Their start-up venture had very little finance of Rs 15,000/- borrowed from his father, but with lots of family support and human values imbibed by their parents. 

Growing up in Jamshedpur in the midst of successful Tata industries and value system, the brothers were deeply influenced and inspired by the entrepreneurship of Tata and their ethical values to people, society and the environment. Their upbringing echoes in all that they have accomplished so far and all that they dreamt to create.

Journeying through the rough terrain of volatile business swings, brothers withstood storms to accomplish what they dreamt.  With an initial seed capital of mere Rs 15,000, RSB Group today in a span of more than four decades, carved a niche in the global arena. Presently, it has 13 manufacturing plants spread over 7 locations in India, namely Jamshedpur (Jharkhand), Pune (Maharashtra), Dharwad (Karnataka), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Pantnagar (Uttarakhand), Cuttack (Orissa) and Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh); and one each in Homer (USA), and Silao (Mexico). Now not only do the brothers stand vindicated and delighted, the society at large also stands to benefit. One plant is under commissioning at Sri City, Telangana.

RSB Group operates in two verticals, namely Automotive and CMI (Construction, Mining & Infrastructure) Equipments & Aggregates.

In the Automotive Vertical, RSB Group is a leading global manufacturer of Propeller Shaft/ Steering Systems & Components, an array of Axles including Front Axle, Trailer Axle, Tractor Axle, Dummy Axle & Axle Beam, Fully Finished Gears, Shafts, Hubs & Sleeves and passenger car steering systems, viz Manual/Power Steering Gears, Steering Rack & Pinion, Tie Rod, Hydraulic/Aluminum Pumps, Transmission Components like Differential Cases, Yokes and Carriers for medium and heavy commercial vehicles, passenger cars, tractors, and light commercial vehicles.

In the CMI segment, it is a leading manufacturer of heavy fabrications and aggregates like Frames, Arms, Booms, and Buckets for excavators, backhoe loaders, and front-end loaders. 

All plants of RSB Group are certified for ISO-9000/IATF-16949 for Quality, ISO 14001 (Environment), and ISO 45001(Health & Safety).

RSB Group’s Indian and overseas customers are leading Indian and global OEMs like Tata Motors, Tata Hitachi, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, John Deere, Fiat, Ford, Allison Transmissions, American Axle, Eaton, Magna, GKN, Daimler, Renault Nissan, Kamaz, Caterpillar, Terex, JCB, Kobelco,, Komatsu and GE, Volkswagen,  PSA Peugeot Citroen, etc amongst others.

In 2006, RSB Group made its first foray overseas and acquired Miller Brothers in Michigan, USA. It further expanded its global footprint by setting up a greenfield project in Mexico in 2011.  

In Nov 2013, RSB joined the select band of elite global quality corporate after having been conferred with one of the world’s highest awards in TQM(Total Quality Management), the Deming Prize – one amongst few Indian automotive companies to get this award – by JUSE(Union of Japanese Scientists & Engineers) at Tokyo, Japan, for achieving all-round business excellence – a globally accredited mandate for highest product quality and service.

In Dec 2019, Four Manufacturing Plants of RSB Group Transmissions (I) Ltd, , Unit I, II, III & 5WC at Jamshedpur, were conferred with the TPM(Total Productive Maintenance) Excellence Award, Category A,  one of the highest global awards in Productive Maintenance, by  JAPAN INSTITUTE OF PLANT MAINTENANCE(JIPM), Japan.  RSB Group has thus joined the select band of elite global corporate in quality & productive maintenance. It is the only one in the Eastern Zone of India to bag these two awards with Tata Steel. 

Serving with humility was in the DNA of R.K.Behera brothers, inherited from their father. They believed right from inception that true happiness comes when good fortune is shared with those who are not as fortunate as we are. Therefore, they made CSR an essential fabric of business life with the humble endeavor to think not just from the head, but also from the heart.

They believed business of business is not about making money, but creating social values and doing public good – an obligation beyond the requirement of law to pursue long-term business goals that are good and bring about a positive impact on society. Brothers served the underprivileged society in Education, Health Care, Sports, Environment Green Initiatives, and Woman Empowerment with all humility and discreet silence. They dedicated the RSB Foundation to the service of society and humanity to rise to higher levels in the pursuit of their rich tradition. 

A busy lifestyle has taken over in this rapidly moving age, and this has rendered children with the amount of time they get to spend with their parents, let alone taking care of them. For elders suffering from any chronic disease, the hospital provides them with a nurse to take care of them. But for others who wish to live independently, what is the solution? 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s Enterprising Companies of the Year is In Home Personal Services, a company creating a new vision for caregiving. 

About the Company-

In Home Personal Services is a non-medical senior care provider operating across the United States. Originally formed in 2004, it quickly grew, and a franchise system was built to meet the needs of those to be taken care of as well as aspiring entrepreneurs of all kinds. The system has seen over a 2,000% increase in inquiries from its franchise opportunity and has now tripled in size in just the past 18 months. This year has already seen so many positive milestones and more to come, including for the first time in its history an entire State along the western United States is awarded and will be closed as the entire state and its territories are now sold.

Overcoming the Challenges-

Like all businesses the company faced many challenges, but the true test of a brand and its leadership is how they face, overcome and thrive in the wake of these challenges. 

“Not allowing them to keep us down but allow us to grow.”

It is said your enemy is your greatest teacher. Well, failure has taught much and today the company stands proud, strong, and ready to face the next challenge.

Overcoming the challenges that came their way, the one point that helped In Home Personal Services to grow exponentially was the realization that the business could be replicated. What they had built and continued to improve upon had so much focus, faith and passion behind it that it had the potential to develop into something really unique and powerful. As a business, it thrives, empowered to be a true leader in the industry. As a family, the team is amazing and what they do and why they do it makes all the difference! 

The Products and Services-

There is a lot here that separates In Home Personal Services as a franchise system. From the franchise agreement itself, the language and terms as well as the value built for the genuine entrepreneur, not someone looking to purchase their next job rather grow a business of your own. The team has spent a decade studying, developing, wishing then making those dreams a reality so that they could have so many differentiators as a brand and as a business that the competition could never catch them. 

“We are one of the lowest costs, fastest ramp up to launch and expandable businesses in the industry today.”

The key to growth is never to stop innovating. As a team that has its goals fixed, In Home Personal Services never stops looking forward to the next development or advantage. The company has launched many of these programs successfully systemwide for years now and what is on the horizon is far more exciting than anything they have developed before. 

These innovations have requirements. The first being that it must make a positive impact on the lives of others, and if it fails to do that, the team won’t devote its time, energy and resources towards its development. This helps to build not just value, for the company and its franchisees, but also for all the families that trust the services of the company to do good and take care of them. 

“Our mantra is simple- to keep our trusted customers first in our hearts as we grow.”

Taking the Company, a Step Ahead-

In terms of taking the company ahead, and making way for tremendous growth, the founders have exciting news to share. Aside from the launch of their own custom-built online training and certification platform now live for all 50 states, the program is also the first and only caregiver training program recognized and certified by the Illinois Board of Higher Education! 

As amazing as that is here is something even better. In Home Personal Services has built as a brand a wholly new and unique service model that one would not see anywhere else in the United States offered by any other provider! 

“Launching in the Summer of 2022 we will once again be the first to develop something new for the home care industry.”

Michael Collura- Leading the Way-

CEO

“My journey is a blessing.”

Michael’s journey has been a fulfilling experience, for him and for all those he has had a chance to work with. For Michael, the best part of leadership is seeing how so many have reached out beyond their own perceptions of self-worth or comfort zones and today thrive in ways that they never imagined. 

“My experience is still evolving, I am still learning”, says Michael as he steps into taking the company ahead to new heights. This journey has made Michael welcome and accept new challenges. And then turn around counterpunch and turn it into an advantage. 

There are two things Michael is most proud of. First is the care the company has provided and the impact they have made on countless lives. And the one they continue to do so every day. He with his team has built a brand that brings peace of mind, compassion and quality care as well as the independence and dignity of aging. 

And the second thing Michael is most proud of is the team that makes all this possible. Priding himself as being grateful to be the “laziest CEO ever”, Michael says, the team is such a huge and important asset that everyone is always on their toes and everyone takes equal efforts to take the company forward. 

“With such an amazing team by my side, the company is growing every day, and bringing the brand’s mission to new heights.”

Corporate law is a expertise field in law that focuses on issues like incorporation of companies, distributing the rights to shareholders and directors, certain secretarial aspects of established corporate houses, corporate deals and much more. Being a corporate lawyer requires one to tread on each of these aspects very carefully. With an ocean of opportunities in this field, corporate law has also posed its fair share of challenges to any one venturing. 

Overcoming these challenges to raise a successful firm is Sameer Tapia, Founder and Senior Partner of Almt Legal, featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Influential Lawyers To Watch In 2022. 

In this interview with Sameer Tapia, let us know more about his journey with the firm. 

Kindly tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

I was born and raised in Mumbai as also schooled and went to college. I moved to London UK, in 1996 and worked for a UK law firm. On 10th January 2000, I set up ALMT Legal which came to be the first Indian law firm to be set up in the UK. We have grown exponentionally over the past 2.5 decades.

Kindly brief us about the proactive founder/CEO of the company and his/her contribution towards company and Industry.

I am the founder and senior partner of ALMT Legal and the only named partner now yet with the firm. The firm has seen a lot of change in the growth and strength of the firm and I have been able to sail with it over the past two decades as also with the 2 year Covid period which affected not only us but the world at large !

We have now come out of that as well and we have been able to retain talent within the firm as also take more associates and partners.

Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions and clients’ feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company.

The firm has received a number of accolades over the years as also individuals and partners of the firm. The firm has over the past four years has always ranked in its corporate and litigation work which has been very notable and received the best firm award, litigation firm of the year award, the Whos Who legal work award etc.

Kindly share your point of view on the current scenario, major challenges, and opportunities of the Indian Legal Sector. 

The legal sector has seen a sea of change when it comes to law firms and practices by individuals or GC. The profession is more challenging to take on, be a part of the firm as also be  GC where you are expected to be able to give spot advise to the corporate or multinational and just that the law firms can endorse your advise. 

With regard to law firms, the sense of loyalty has sailed away, there is no space for compassion or feelings. One has to be cutting edge competitive and above all bream with knowledge of law.

What are the major contributing factors behind your company’s success?

The hard work and perseverance of the partners over the years and the commitment and dedication of the associates at all levels, and the old guard of staff who have been with us over two decades. A big Thank you to them !

How do you motivate creativity and innovation in the workspace while maintaining a healthy work environment?

I for one has always believed in a work life balance. I want the associates as also partner to come each day to the office – for them wanting to come and give their solid hours of work rather than burning long hours and blending their home and work life balance together.

By giving them sufficient time post work ( ie reasonable working hours ) and weekends off ones efficiency is always higher as they come back the next day fresh and to crack on with the day and work. If one works long hours fatigue is bound to set in and they are not able to deal with their domestic or work issues. At ALMT we are compassionate and sensitive to individuals time off.

Share your experience and brief us about the tactics and strategies to build long term customer relationship.

We have always believed in brand recall, this being said that once a client comes to the firm – it becomes a client for life. We have them coming back to us for all their legal work and partake for and for their personal work, being private client work and practice as we call it.

We have been able to retain our top tier clients as also friends – We have been price sensitive as also firm in not sliding with our fees by giving huge discounts to bag work. We have a standard by which we go by and at some point have been able to give them value for their services – which results in satisfaction of the outcome of the matter. 

How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

The firm stands tall as mentioned earlier through its years of building an image and shape as also strength – given our growth and pattern. We have consolidated over the years and we continue to shine on even at 23 !  We all know that given the service industry we are in – it’s a personalised service and one needs to toil to keep and stay at the top. We strive to and hope to be there – right there at the TOP !

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs? 

I think as the years go by – budding entrepreneurship or building a firm or practice is only going to be more difficult and competitive. One has to be with the times and learn to adopt and curve different areas of practice and be with the need of the hour. WE all have to prepare for AI – artificial intelligence, which is creeping into human work and form of life. Wonder where it will end. ?!

As long as we are able to yet discriminate and decide from the heart when REQUIRED ! we will be ahead of the curve.  

Safetyline Jalousie – As a proud Australian, family-owned and operated business, SMR Designs Pty Ltd is authorised to manufacture and distribute Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows in Australia and the South Pacific.

The one answer to all your home styling problems is nothing other than Louvre windows. With a unique style quotient and energy-efficiency, louvre windows are also one of the most stylish windows present in market, giving your house that extra edge. Having been around for decades, louvre windows are known to accomplish the job better than any other windows present in the market. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of Enterprising Companies of the Year is Safetyline Jalousie, an Australian company delivering performance louvre window solutions. 

In this interview with Leigh Rust, Founder & Director, let us know more about the journey of the company. 

Brief us about the company, what inspired you to start the company?

As a proud Australian, family-owned and operated business, SMR Designs Pty Ltd is authorised to manufacture and distribute Safetyline Jalousie louvre windows in Australia and the South Pacific.

Over the past decade, the operation has grown from a small 60m2 factory with 5 staff to a 2500m2 facility with 50+ staff with headquarters in Sydney and offices in Brisbane and Melbourne.

Led by brothers Leigh and Nathan Rust, Safetyline Jalousie was established in Australia in 2009 and has become a market leader in producing high quality performance louvre window systems and ventilation solutions.

From a young age, the co-founding directors were exposed to business and the construction industry through their father’s successful manufacturing and installation company (Vergola NSW). However, when the brothers completed school they were initially turned away from working in the family business to pursue their own careers.

Fast forward several years and both Leigh and Nathan eventually went on to join their father at Vergola and worked their way up through the ranks, starting on the factory floor, moving to manufacturing and then into sales and management positions. After 10 years, the sibling duo then made the leap to launch their own venture – establishing Safetyline Jalousie

Please tell us about your team.

Family values, along with the company’s values and standards have contributed greatly to Safetyline Jalousie’s success. SMR Designs P/L employs a diverse team of passionate and professional individuals that drive quality and innovation and work with clients to make a positive contribution to the built environment.

We’re proud to still have a number of key employees who have worked with the company since our foundation. We’re also proud of our cultural diversity and an incredible team of females working within the administrative and manufacturing areas of our business.

Please brief us about your professional experience.

I have over 21-years of experience working within the Australian Manufacturing sector in the niche area of construction.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

Taking out the Australian Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Manufacturing in 2019, becoming listed on the Top 100 Young Entrepreneurs of Australia list four times running and being recognised internationally as a recipient of a Silver Stevie Award for Product Innovation.

We were also recognised as shortlisted contenders for the Australian Financial Review’s Most Innovative Companies in 2020.

On a personal level, I am most proud of being a father of three, with our fourth child on the way. Balancing fatherhood with entrepreneurship is probably the biggest achievement of my life, my family are everything to me and will always come first.

Which one is your favourite quote?

I don’t lose, I either win or learn

In today’s era of digital transformation and revolution, Microsoft solutions are becoming more and more important. Leveraging Microsoft’s solutions one can gain deep and extensive insights into a business, which can prove to be a game-changer in today’s fast-paced world.

These solutions also help you achieve great insights into your business data. As the covid pandemic arrived and working shifted online, the data coming in increased exponentially. Thus, emphasizing the need for Microsoft solutions.

CPQi is one of the leading names when it comes to providing the “Best Performing Microsoft Solution Providers To Watch – 2022”. The company has been leading the FinTech industry, providing innovative, breakthrough, and highly advanced services. The company has been leading the space with AI-powered services and unmatched service standards.

In conversation with Terry Boyland, Founder, and CEO, CPQi. Let’s get to know more about the company, its services, and Terry’s professional journey.

Brief us about CPQi?

CPQi is a consulting firm in the FinTech industry with a keen focus on delivering digital transformation, predictive artificial intelligence, DevOps, and cloud migration. We provide managed services, which include building, implementing, & supporting financial market systems for leading American economies. Founded in 2006, the company consists of 30+ global tier 1 clients residing in both North and Latin America. We have 9 offices in the Americas with 300+ team members that are well versed in industries both technically and financially. 

What products or services does CPQi produce? How are your services different from those in the market?

CPQi specializes in the technical competencies of several software and methodologies within the Financial Industry. Predominantly supporting the “sell-side” which is mostly Banks and the “buy-side” encompassing Insurance and Pension Fund businesses. We offer three streams of services. First, staffing solutions in teams, squads, or staff augmentation who are highly competent and certified in several specialized areas.

Second, we offer transformational services where our staff are extremely competent in defining, strategizing, and more importantly executing. CPQi staff is all well versed with DevOps, Cloud, Agile, Predictive Technologies, and various Channels with flawless execution on all fronts. The third stream is Managed Services, which is where we take on the production and maintenance support of existing systems.

Further to the service streams, we provide our uniqueness within the FinTech market. This centers around several components. We specialize and exclusively work within the financial industry.

CPQi maintains strong partnerships within key areas. We have partnerships with major trading and risk platforms, as well as those in digital transformation. We continue to maintain and grow these partnerships as the industry evolves.

Our Geographic spread across the Americas provides a sensible balance of resources and scale with competitive rates enabling our clients to deliver major projects/efficiencies within budget.

Equally important to our partnerships, geography, and what we do is the investment in our staff. CPQi has created a robust training program that includes certifications in methodologies, software, and banking. This has formed a well-educated staffing population top-down, who all understand the banking business and the technological side, enabling them to develop game-changing solutions.

Please tell us about your team?

The staff and workplace since the COVID-19 pandemic have changed. How we work is extremely different. Our teams have more choices available to them now that remote or hybrid options are offered. The staff can choose whom they work for and what they can negotiate to ensure a better work-life balance. Staff is no longer constricted to the geographic constraints of an organization. This is a new facet that companies must consider.

As a result, you’ve got to ask yourself, aside from paying people a sensible wage or attracting them with benefits, what are they looking for? In reality, it is very simple. We all want to work with an organization that appreciates work-life balance, understands family demands, and provides more flexibility.

At CPQi we focused on these elements promoting a culture of understanding, giving, and taking with an emphasis on collaboration between the company and people resulting in strong execution for clients and contentment amongst staff. I think this is one of our major successes, resulting in our people voting CPQi as “the best place to work”. If staff feel sponsored, valued, and recognized for their efforts this manifests into great execution and client adoration.

Any client experience you would like to highlight?

What quickly comes to mind is the work we did with a well-known organization providing solutions for the monitoring of Fraud Prevention. Their internal team encountered three challenging issues regarding the management and repairs of system bugs and incidents. 

Due to our expertise in the SRE space, we worked shoulder to shoulder with the client solving all their challenges while strategically building the path for future problem resolution. 

Working with CPQi, they were able to isolate the issues and counteract the root causes of the problems, which resulted in a substantial improvement in the overall performance, incident management, and current/future operational risks. 

Thanks to an amazing working experience that goes both ways, our client now has a strong clarification within the business domain which was previously considered problematic for them.

We have been lucky to receive much recognition from clients, who always comment positively about our people, our execution, and our approaches. Most often we are told that CPQi can resolve specialized complex issues simply and quickly, and we like that!

What’s your favorite quote?

I have always believed in the famous saying of Wayne Gretzy, the greatest hockey player of all time, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.” I hold the following quote in great importance as it encourages my ability to identify opportunities and market trends and help play a role in shaping strategic decisions.

Despite the industry size or the type of industry, Information Technology has a tremendous influence on the business operations, every day, its impact is increasingly expanding. The modern business landscape is such that IT has become a necessary aspect of it, be it the tangible applications to not so tangible aspects, most companies today thrive within a technological infrastructure which gives them the impetus to innovate. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s The Best Digital & Business Solutions providers in 2022 is Accel Information Technology, a company that pioneers in IT Consulting. 

In this interview with Mr. Syed Saqueeb Ahamed, Director and Solution Architect of Accel Information Technology, let us know more about the company. 

Tell us about the company.

In 2009, Mr. Ahamed recognized a need to provide integrated system support across IT services. For nearly a generation, he has worked and led technology firms and noticed a recurring gap in IT services and support. While businesses were focusing on product development, they overlooked the need for customized consulting services for SMEs and enterprises in domestic and foreign markets. 

Understanding customers regarding technology, policies, information, security, and applications is essential. And understanding it as a whole while keeping on par with the client’s governance helps in crafting the tailored solution. With a clear picture in mind, he founded Accel, paving the way for excellence in consulting services. 

As of now, Accel Information Technology prides itself on having a consistent record of effectively administering multiple implementations. Accel is a preferred partner for security compliance and audits, network security and data center design, and technology certification. It has established footfalls in Fujairah, Dubai, Bangalore, and London, besides headquarters in Abu Dhabi. 

Accel Information Technology strives to “drive maximum value for its clients’ IT investments.” It has the operational experience to provide all kinds of technical support. Its team comprises brilliant associates with expertise in everything from budgeting to productivity to forming and nurturing business partnerships. The functional and technical expertise, coupled with extensive industry knowledge, makes Accel an ideal consulting firm to manage diverse IT needs.

What are the products and services the company specializes in? How are they different from those in the market?

Accel Information Technology calls itself an “Enterprise Architect”, since it serves all stages of IT needs, from implementation to completion. Goodwill and a dedicated portfolio have always kept it ahead of its curve. But what gives it an edge over its peers? In the current market, multiple clients may use a single product, but each user has individual needs; this is where Accel marks its distinction. 

We believe each client is unique and that the services associated with their products should be tailored to their specific needs,” explains Mr. Ahamed. Accel’s offerings comes under security compliance & audit, data center services and technology certification: 

Security Compliance & Audit: Security compliance services cover the entire information system of a company. The assessment compares a company’s information system security to an audit checklist of industry best practices, externally defined standards, or federal legislation. Accel Information Technology offers end-to-end IT governance, ISO: 27001 Certification, security policy development, training security and engineering, risk management, and penetration testing.

Data Center Designing and Security: Accel Information Technology specializes in network data center design, data center consultancy, and data breach recovery. It excels in modeling and developing a data center’s IT resources, architectural layout, and infrastructure. This helps in conceptualizing a data center before it is developed or implemented in an enterprise or IT ecosystem.

Technology certification: Accel Information Technology builds certifications under three values: “Think,” “Build,” and “Secure.” Accel is the certified training partner of CertNexus and primarily focuses on four areas: Cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, and Data Science.

The “all-under-one-roof” model gives them an advantage over their competitors. By understanding their clients and crafting solutions, they are also educating their clients. “We do a lot of brainstorming to the extent that our clients understand how our offering can help them thrive,” says Mr. Ahamed. Solutions are delivered using a PMP model after development, with each stage being closely monitored. It doesn’t stop there; Accel Information Technology provides support for the solutions in accordance with the signed SLAs, with most of the contracts being available 24×7. Through system integration, Accel Information Technology has onboarded several renowned partners, such as Microsoft, Oracle, Automation Anywhere, and more.

What are the company’s notable achievements? 

Accel’s journey to being a respected global IT consultant began more than a decade ago, but it was not an easy one. Above all, it was exhausting to get people to recognize the value of the backend and consulting services that came with products. But the company wasn’t here to give up! By staying consistent and catering to a particular purpose, Accel has carved a niche and earned several laurels along the way. Few of the notable mentions are:  

• Best Vendor for support – Al Dhafra Hospitals – SEHA – 2018
• Certificate of Appreciation from Fujairah Government Department – Upgrade of Data Center – 2019
• Certificate of Appreciation from Fujairah Government Department – Upgrade of DR Data Center – 2020
• Appreciation from Abu Dhabi Government – SEHA – for Covid 19 – set up of Trial Vaccination Center – 2020
• Appreciation from Al Dhafra Hospitals – set up of COVID 19 Assessment Centers in western region – 2021
• Certificate of Appreciation from Fujairah Natural Resource – Fujairah Government – for setting up Control room for monitoring the activities in remote area using videowall solution- 2022

How are you planning to take your company a step ahead?

In the coming years, Accel is planning to expand to Australia and Africa. The company has established a strong foothold in Bangalore and Abu Dhabi, with 80% of its business coming from the Middle East. Of course, it’s planning to leverage its channels to enter as a prominent player. The market is changing fast with digital transformations, and Accel seeks to lead the pantheon with values of trust, integrity, and commitment. 

“We started as a system integration company, but now, we are modulating ourselves as a digital transformation company because that is the future,” 

Innovation is the way to a successful business. You have to keep innovating and breaking the norms in order to truly revolutionize. Like David Suk, a visionary who has taken over the spirit of innovation! 

Often regarded as America’s original rebel spirit has always held a special place in the hearts of people. David Suk here has changed the way people enjoy this special spirit. 

Featuring for this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs here is an interview with David Suk, CO-Founder and CEO, and about the journey of Saint Luna. 

Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start the company? 

I had the idea for Saint Luna in 2017.  I wanted to pay homage to the first ever American Spirit, moonshine.  The idea was to make moonshine premium, elevate the overall experience and really show people that moonshine can be quite good.  Saint Luna is smooth, delicate and incredibly complex.  You can easily sip it neat or on ice, and mixes beautifully in a wide range of cocktails.  I was lucky enough to enter the US market in May of 2019, with my first two accounts being Jean Georges’ Nougatine, and Employee’s Only.   

What are the initial challenges you faced and what are the reasons behind company’s long-standing success?  

There is always a learning curve when starting a new adventure.  I feel like I’m still learning each and every day, but that is what makes entrepreneurship exciting.  We are a small, incredibly talented team of diverse individuals that work incredibly hard.  I do think our combined grit and determination is what makes us all so successful.  It also doesn’t hurt to surround yourself with kind, genuine colleagues. 

What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market? 

Saint Luna is made from 95% grade A molasses and 5% rye.  We use a charred oak stave to filter our moonshine making it exceptionally smooth and complex.  Taste wise you’ll get a little caramel and vanilla from the molasses and a bit of spice and pepper from the rye.  The charred oak lends a little smokiness to the finish, making Saint Luna the perfect base in a wide range of cocktails.   

How do you decide to take the company a step further? 

We are all working very hard to expand our distribution footprint, attract new customers and distribution partners.  My goal is to take Saint Luna global, and launch several new innovative products.   

Being a successful leader, please share your views on current business scenario across globe after Covid19 pandemic.  

The global environment has certainly been challenging, and it’s been one hurdle after the next to overcome.  All you can do is think strategically, trust your instincts and go forward.   

Why it is said that the workforce plays a vital role in every business’s growth? Please tell us about your team. 

I have an incredibly talented, dedicated team that are all genuine, kind people.  Your team is the most important part of any company.  Any good entrepreneur knows that it is simply impossible to do everything on your own, and you have to trust your team to help.  It’s why hiring the right people early on is very important.   

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?  

I was lucky enough to be the Chief Operating Officer of aden + anais for 10+ years, where my experience spanned sales, marketing, supply chain and global operations.   

What are the key achievements of your business journey? 

I was in my early 20’s when I became the Chief Operating Officer of aden + anais and I was extremely lucky to be a part of that growth and success.  Now, I’m lucky enough to be the founder of my own successful business.  At Saint Luna, I think my biggest achievement was selling into Employee’s Only, one of the world’s most prestigious bar.   

‘Innovation is the key to business growth’, Please share your views. 

Saint Luna was born out of innovation.  The idea was to innovate a category of spirit and modernize it.  There is nothing like Saint Luna on the market and that is quite exciting.   

Any client experience you would like to highlight? 

We sell to a wide range of customers in the United States that have been incredibly supportive and have truly helped build our business.       

Which one is your favourite quote?  

Don’t settle for average.   

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Sanjay Upadhyay’s The Enviro Legal Defence Firm (ELDF), India’s first environmental law firm (ELDF), is a manifestation of a dream, to be different; to achieve; to make a difference. Environment is the canvas, law is the brush. 

Dealing with natural calamities now-a-days have become a challenge for man-kind. though the reason behind frequently happening natural disasters if researched carefully are not actually natural. Reason behind such things are we mankind ourselves. Although we have renewable and non-renewable resources. Yet regaining the lost balance of nature is must. We have been using each and every nature gifted things since long time. Now its time to think over this very seriously is needed utmost. 

While doing any of the project no harm should be done to mother nature is must. Indian judiciary have N number of laws amended on this issue. Here we have such a saviour who thoroughly thought about environment and to provide services to those who got affected by the environmental calamities. Sanjay Upadhyay is such a personality who established a firm for the same. Here we will have a look on how the firm got established and its further journey. 

In this interview with Sanjay Upadhyay, Founder of The Enviro-Legal Defence Firm (ELDF), we shall know more about his journey and personality.  

Kindly tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

The Enviro-Legal Defence Firm (ELDF) was established in the year 1999 with the aim of creating a professionally managed environmental law firm for the first time in India after my productive stint at WWF-India. Never before had environmental law been institutionalised as a discipline by professionals, based on services and fee. It has been a roller coaster journey to establish India’s first Environmental Law Firm (ELDF) with my Late Partner, Videh Upadhyay. 

ELDF’s journey, like any other start-up, went through its crests and troughs, trying to convince clients that environmental law services are not to be seen only as a pro bono exercise but also have merit in saving environment and helping those who are affected by environmental decisions and those whose compliance standards have to be improved with specialist inputs. ELDF therefore embarked upon different approaches to the field of environment and development law as we gained experience. 

The initial phase was more advisory and consultancy services which also included training and capacity building of a variety of stakeholders and professionals. It also resulted in numerous publications, field visits to understand ground contexts and a variety of policy interventions in the field of forests, environment, wildlife, biodiversity, coastal management to name a few. This approach was also punctuated with legal interventions in courtrooms, appellate authorities and constitutional courts. 

The litigation phase increased exponentially with the establishment of the National Green Tribunal where we continue to represent all those who are affected from every perspective.  I’m happy to inform that the journey continues and ELDF has managed to create a niche for itself as a domain leader and has been fortunate to intervene in a number of policy and legislative processes in the domain of expertise be it wildlife, forest, biodiversity, medicinal plants, coastal laws, to name a few. The journey of ELDF continues with a group of dedicated professionals and a strong presence around the country as well as in the region. 

Brief us about the major challenges your company has faced.

One of the earliest challenges the ELDF faced was how to build credibility in a field and an institution that never existed before. While there were stalwarts as individuals fighting for environment such as Mr. M.C. Mehta at the Apex Court, however, there was no institutional underpinning to such exclusive efforts. It was clear to me that if environment and development related litigation has to sustain itself, an institutional underpinning is a must. This gave birth to India’s first environmental law firm, the Enviro Legal Defence Firm. 

The second major challenge was to convince people who approached that they are clients and they need to pay fees for the services rendered. This was a challenge because environmental lawyering was largely seen as a pro bono exercise and not as a professional discipline those days. It continues to be seen as a side profession where lawyers have to lessen the burden of guilt of money making to do certain pro publico work. However, it is important to underline that this is a serious business and complying with environmental norms actually makes good business sense too. 

What are the major contributing factors behind your company’s success?

Any professional agency must run on established processes and therefore ELDF too has a detailed process driven approach. Updation with new developments, ground level understanding and constant networking with decision makers are essential ingredients for success. Honesty of approach, rigor and most importantly, believing in your team are the reasons why we have attained the little that we have. 

How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

I see the enviro legal discipline as a game changer in the future. The reason being that environment cuts across every aspect of development and therefore, the knowledge of environment and development law will be in huge demand till the country is growing with the pace that it has achieved. As long as there is development, the sustainability of environment will always be in demand.

One of the key things of sustainability is to see the applicability of law itself which ensures sustainable development. Therefore, professionals in this field will be in huge demand for the next several decades. Anyone who is interested in seeing cutting edge work at the cross section of field and law, this is the field to be in.

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs? 

My advice to budding legal entrepreneurs is to see the potential of niche areas and key areas of the country’s development. Environmental law is only one of them. It is therefore my humble advice that the initial phase of entrepreneurship has to be goal driven and not necessarily money driven. For every successful model, money has no option but to follow. This is true for legal entrepreneurship as well. 

At BananaIP counsels, we are a closely-knit family of IP attorneys seeking to add significant value to every project we undertake. Every file and project of every client is very important to us, and our client’s success is our success.

Who would like it when someone else takes the credit for your invention? Your inventions can always be safe with you, only if you file for a patent. In simple words, a patent is something that states that this particular invention was by you and gives you all the rights to it. By filing for a patent, you can hold a strong market position and also get a high return on investments. In the long run, if you want to sell the invention, a patent is something that gives you the authority to do that too.

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s issue of The Most Influential Lawyers to Watch in 2022 is Dr. Kalyan Kankanala, the Founding Partner of BananaIP Counsels and an expert lawyer helping you safeguard your inventions.

Dr. Kalyan Kankanala- The Leading Force-

Dr. Kalyan Kankanala is the primary founding partner of BananaIP Counsels. Being a well-known IP attorney and author, his expertise in the field has helped the firm and its clients to maximize their business and financial value with the help of their intellectual property assets. Having authored some of the most pathbreaking works on IP, his works have made a great impact and significant contributions to the field, more specifically, that of patent law.

Along with Dr. Kalyan Kankanala, the expertise that the founding team of BananaIP Counsels brings to the table is what sets the firm apart from all other competitors.

“Our core team includes some of the highly qualified, experienced, and specialized team of Senior Partners. All senior partners are highly accomplished and are recognized as leaders in their areas of expertise.”

Banana IP’s Team of Senior Partners-

Vinita Radhakrishnan

Senior Partner

Internationally recognized life sciences, pharma, and traditional medicine patent agent/attorney.

Has significant in-house experience in helping pharma companies strategize, protect and license intellectual property.

Works with a portfolio of clients across the world on international patent strategy, filing and protection.

Somashekar Ramakrishna

Senior Partner

Nationally recognized automotive, mechanical, robotics, and medical device patent agent/attorney.

Has significant experience working in a leading US Patent Firm and UNIDO.

Seasoned patent drafting and prosecution expert for global manufacturing and automotive companies.

Nitin Nair

Senior Partner

Nationally recognized telecom, electronics, AI, and big data patent agent/attorney.

Worked as a patent agent and attorney for global Fortune 500 clients.

Instrumental in helping many companies mine, evaluate, protect, and commercialize patents and inventions.

Sanjeeth Hegde

Senior Partner

Nationally recognized entertainment law, IP licensing, and trademark attorney.

Has significant US in-house experience in tech licensing with Fortune 500 companies.

Advises leading organizations on branding, IP protection, and valuation.

Madhav Rao

Senior Partner

Strategic Partner & Chief Financial Officer

The Founding of BananaIP Counsels- 

BananaIP Counsels started in 2004 from the entrepreneurship cell (NSRCEL) of IIM, Bangalore, a premier management institution in India. It was founded by two members and was initially known as Brain League IP Services. As of date, the firm has more than 60 intellectual property attorneys and experts offering highly specialized services in different technology domains.

BananaIP Counsels is today recognized as one of the best IP firms in India. BananaIP Counsels is known for its high-quality patent, trademark, open-source, entertainment, eCommerce, and technology law services. It has over the years worked with more than 1, 000 clients, and has handled more than 10, 000 projects/files. It has specialized departments that offer high-quality and highly specialized services in different fields/domains. Over the years, several clients have gained significant business/commercial value from their IP by engaging BananaIP’s attorneys.

Overcoming the Challenges-

During the firm’s formative years, their first biggest challenge was the lack of IP awareness among companies and businesses in India. The team overcame this through extensive IP training and sensitization programs. Also, BananaIP Counsels’s team has patent experts with a strong technology background, and it took some time for companies to understand the value the firm could bring to the table.

Later, several other firms emulated BananaIP Counsels’s model of lawyers and patent attorneys with strong technology backgrounds and specialization, and when they started competing with large firms, it took them some time to identify their areas of specialization and built teams in specific technology domains. Today, the firm is well known in the following domains:

• AI and Robotics
• Health Care and Medical Devices
• Automotive and Electric Mobility
• IT and Software
• Biotech and Pharma
• Electronics and Telecom
• Entertainment 
• Education
• eCommerce
• Traditional Medicine
• Agritech, Food, and Nutrition

The Growth Quotient-

The Growth Quotient

Some factors that helped BananaIP succeed are:

• The specialized technology background combined with legal/patent expertise;
• Honesty, and dedication to the client’s cause;
• The ability to understand the client’s strategic business needs, and identify possible IP-based solutions to address these needs;
• The specialization, expertise, and experience of the core team and the value given by clients for the opinions of the Senior Partners.

Dr. Kalyan Kankanala’s Message to the Newbies-

“Take time to understand the market and your specific niche in it. Once you understand your biggest competitive advantage, build on it aggressively before diversifying. Once you prove your company’s capabilities and potential, rest will follow. 

Don’t give up too soon. The entrepreneurship ecosystem in India has everything that will help you succeed if you have a good idea, and can work it to suit market needs.”

Building a legal career takes the right skills, to grow and to stay in it. Clearing exams can sometimes be one of the easiest tasks, but to stay in the field with all your might and guts is what it actually takes to be a successful lawyer. It requires the amalgamation of various skill sets, like at times, one needs to be a very creative and persuasive writer, and at times, you need to flip it and turn on to your analytical and dispassionate side. 

Having had a successful career as a lawyer, this feature of The Enterprise World in the issue The Most Influential Lawyers To Watch In 2022 is of Ameeta Verma Duggal, Partner at DGS Associates. 

In this interview with her, let us know more about her journey at DGS Associates. 

Kindly tell us about your journey since the inception of the company?

DGS Associates is a partnership firm founded by Niti Sudhakar and Ameeta Verma Duggal in 2004. DGS Associates is a multi-disciplinary boutique firm situated in New Delhi. The key areas of practice for DGS Associates are Aviation; International Trade & Bilateral Investment Treaties, Corporate & Commercial, Defence, Arbitration, Mediation & Litigation, amongst others. 

In the initial days, we got a much-needed impetus from Mr. S.N. Mookherjee, Senior Advocate, who sent us work from Kolkata to the extent that we became literally the sole firm doing all the filings in the Company Law Board for Kolkata based companies. Added to this was our empanelment on the Central Government panel for the Supreme Court. 

With the security of litigation work coming in, we could focus on developing the corporate practice. DGS Associates got clients like Celebi Aviation from Turkey and Havas Group from France in 2006 and they became the base of our corporate practice. Then in 2008, the international trade practice was set up with clients like POSCO, Samsung, Hyosung from Korea, and Mitsui from Japan. Thereafter, as they say, the rest is history.

We have gathered considerable goodwill through our journey and that goodwill has helped us sail. Today DGS boasts of a well-established practice, specifically in sectors spanning aviation, telecommunication, media, defence, international trade and regulatory practice across sectors.

 We have, however, always preferred to be a cohesive team of lawyers, and prefer to function as a boutique firm. DGS Associates strength has never exceeded 10-15 lawyers at any stage. However, what has been evolving is our periodic endeavour to add to our offering of services. 

Kindly brief us about the proactive founder/CEO of the company and his/her contribution towards company and Industry.

Ameeta Verma Duggal has worked with some of the leading law firms in India based out of New Delhi. She was awarded the British Chevening Scholarship to study at the College of Law, York and worked briefly in the London office of Clifford Chance. 

During the span of almost 28 years of her professional life, Ameeta has worked extensively in areas of international trade laws, cross border transactional and conveyancing work. Ameeta spearheads the mergers & acquisitions, international trade, and the regulatory practice of her firm. Her expertise lies in import and export of dual use goods. 

Ameeta also devotes significant time on rendering pro bono legal advice. She is a member of the Pan-India Advisory Board of VIDYA Integrated Development for Youth and Adults, a 35-year old NGO that believes in social change through empowering the most vulnerable members of underprivileged communities : the children, youth and women. 

Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions and clients’ feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company.

In recent times, DGS Associates has been awarded the Law Firm of the Year award for International Trade for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022 by the IBLJ.

Ameeta has been named in the A – List published by the India Business Law Journal (IBLJ) as one of the top 100 lawyers in India for the year 2020 and again 2021-22.

  Ameeta is a published Author and has co-authored Export Controls of India, a pioneering book in the field of export controls published by Thomson Reuters. The second edition of the book was released last year. 

The book serves as guidance on compliance with a comprehensive analysis of the applicable law and procedures in India for the benefit of its users.
Contributed the India chapter in the World ECR publication, Managing Investigations. This guide acts as a navigational tool to the multi-dimensional and multi-jurisdictional enforcement.
Contributed the India chapter in the World ECR publication, World Encryption Controls. This book details the regulatory, licensing and policy frameworks for the export of encrypted products. It is a valuable resource for companies exporting, manufacturing or distributing tangible or intangible products that use encryption technology.

Kindly share your point of view on the current scenario, major challenges, and opportunities of the Indian Legal Sector. 

Currently, the Indian Legal Sector is at a very dynamic stage, particularly post COVID. The past two years have seen significant economic downturn, and this has worked to the lawyers’ advantage. There has been a steady growth, both for transactional work as well as litigation and dispute resolution.

The biggest challenge witnessed in recent times was the shift towards digitisation. The epidemic compelled lawyers to digitise overnight, which has again proved to be an advantage. 

Brief us about the major challenges your company has faced.

There have been challenges, particularly in our initial years. However, these have been the usual challenges of setting up a law firm. We are fortunate not to have faced any significant challenge during our existence.   

What are the major contributing factors behind your company’s success?

The biggest factor for the success of DGS Associates is its emphasis on relationship building. Our lawyers largely remain part of DGS Associates even after starting their independent practice. Most of our clients are long-standing. Most importantly, our staff has continued to be with us for several years. DGS is the product of this cohesive teamwork between the lawyers, staff and our clients. 

How do you motivate creativity and innovation in the workspace while maintaining a healthy work environment?

DGS Associates encourages personal growth and lawyers have the flexibility of pursuing their passions in life. The work culture at DGS Associates does not require lawyers to abide by fixed hours at work. There are no late hours at DGS Associates, except for exigencies, and lawyers are encouraged to finish their work in good time. 

Share your experience and brief us about the tactics and strategies to build long term customer relationship.

DGS operates at the fundamental level of commitment, hard work and integrity. There is a strict requirement in the firm not to miss a deadline agreed with the client. The partners are always accessible, both to the lawyers in the firm and the clients. We have had instances where clients have come back to the firm, after having left for a bigger firm, only because of the availability of the partners. 

How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

We see DGS evolving and growing with the changing landscape. We are excited to add new sectors to our practice areas, particularly in the field of technology. 

What would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs? 

Nothing succeeds like hard work and passion for what you are doing. There are no short cuts in life. Be honest with yourself and take pride in your work product. Only then will your clients appreciate your work.

Visionary entrepreneurs are usually the first ones to foray into foreign markets, looking for the expansion of their ideas and gain new experiences. One thing that proves as a hurdle in the process is the prevalence of International Business Laws. It is very important for entrepreneurs to have appropriate knowledge about these laws, because it helps them understand how a specific country runs their businesses and what are the loopholes. And only a good lawyer can alert you of its presence. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Influential Lawyers to Watch in 2022 is Subathra Mylsamy, an International Business Law expert. 

AKM – Providing comprehensive business specific legal solutions, customized to your requirements

In this interview with her, let us find out more about her journey in AKM

Kindly tell us about your journey since the inception of the company.

A full-service corporate law firm, A K Mylsamy & Associates LLP is reputed for offering customized legal services and strategic advice to its clients that suit their legal needs and purposes. The firm promises consistency and long-term solutions in a timely and effective manner. Originally founded as a sole proprietorship by Mr. A.K Mylsamy, it became a partnership firm with the joining of Subathra Mylsamy. In 2010, the Firm formally became a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP). Alongside the partners, the firm is guided by an illustrious advisory board.  

After doing my bachelors in Dr. Ambedkar University, Madras, I completed my LLM in the University of Manchester. Despite being my father’s firm, I joined as a junior associate and worked one step at a time to become the partner. As a partner, I strived to corporatize the firm and ensure its management in a professional manner.  

Brief us about the major challenges your company has faced.

Like for everyone else, our biggest challenge was during the Covid 19 pandemic. It changed the way that businesses operated all over the world.  Our firm quickly put in place a business continuity plan by using technology – virtual court hearings, video conferences with clients, organizing webinars and leveraging AI to complete regular documentation and contracts. This proactive nature enabled providing continued value-added services to clients including the online monthly newsletter and the IBC web portal.

What are the major contributing factors behind your company’s success?

“Quality” has been the core of our services from inception. Providing lasting solutions to each client in itself speaks of quality services offered by the LLP. At workplace, we on board and retain young talented professionals. Our interns / young lawyers, partners and our experienced advisory board collectively brainstorm to provide effective fool proof solutions which are customized to each client. The energy of the young coupled with the experience of our senior members ensures that the LLP offers quality legal solutions.

AKM strives to follow the four P’s – Practice, Patience, Perseverance and Personal relations. We believe this has contributed to the success of the firm. Staying updated with current laws and a lot of hard work will take you a long way in life. Maintaining a personal connect with each of our clients is key to the growth of our firm.

How do you motivate creativity and innovation in the workspace while maintaining a healthy work environment?

Innovation has been the backbone of AKM. The firm has been keeping pace with the changing times by familiarizing and aligning its services with new technologies. 

AKM LLP powered by AKM Research and Analytics Private Limited (AKMRA) was the first to launch an exclusive knowledge-based portal on the law of insolvency and bankruptcy laws. The portal www.ibccases.com  is a one stop shop repository for laws, rules, regulations, amendments, precedents and analysis of all provisions related to insolvency and bankruptcy code, available to all. 

We endeavoured to integrate law and creativity. Thus, was born the “Law Tree” – an online monthly newsletter which was totally away from the run of the mill legal newsletters. An initiative where art meets law for, we at AKM believe that thinking out of the box is a common thread between art and law.

It is this freedom to think creatively that motivates the team to come up with unique and fool proof legal solutions to our clients.   

Share your experience and brief us about the tactics and strategies to build long term customer relationship.

In the legal business since 1964, the firm has become the preferred choice for professional legal services across corporates and individuals. The firm offers legal and advisory services to a wide range of industries from commercial, real estate, hospitality, healthcare, educational to finance and related activities. 

We firmly believe that the ability to build and sustain long term relationships with clients is through constantly adding value to their operations. An integral component of “value addition” is the ability to proactively scan the environment and evaluate the implications of an ever-changing legal framework and legislation. 

The firm’s reputation is guided by its core values – Integrity, Innovation, Collaboration and Communication.

We believe in integrity in professional and personal lives – adhering to high moral standards in professional advice and communication.

Innovation is synonymous with our Firm. We encourage our employees, associates to come up with unique yet fool proof ideas and perspective(s). Be it our quirky online monthly journal, “The Law Tree” or the one stop insolvency data bank, ibccases.com, thinking out of the box is our core mantra. 

Professionals working or associated with our firm are constantly collaborating as a team to maximize synergy of their combined contribution in achieving success for the client as well as the Firm.

We value communication and understand its importance in the success of an organization. We endeavour to communicate in a timely, responsive, honest and respectful manner – both within our firm and to our clients. 

How do you see the company and the industry in the future ahead?

At AKM LLP, we always lookout for new avenues and opportunities. Being a Corporate law firm, we have forayed into areas such as taxation.

The ability to be on the learning curve forms the core of any professional career, especially a career in law. Collective brainstorming and constant updation of law keep us going as individuals and a team. Together with technology is keeping pace with changing laws and changing times. 

The Firm believes in giving back to the legal fraternity and hence plans to initiate training programs for young lawyers in the future by going beyond the theory of law and inculcating values, ethics and professionalism which will make them a cut above the rest. AKM offers a regular online and offline internship program. The budding lawyers are treated as professionals and every effort is made at AKM to impart the best training to the interns. With its headquarters in Chennai and offices in Mumbai, Bangalore and Coimbatore., AKM LLP plans to spread its wings internationally soon.

With the advent of new technologies and mind-blowing innovations, the business world has to keep up with a lot. Despite the paradigm shift, entrepreneurs are pooling in to fight for the top spot in today’s fast-paced ever-changing era of business.

In this battle, we met many formidable warriors, one of them being a company called ChromaWay. ChromaWay provides a platform for smart contracts and issuing and transferring assets through a blockchain. ChromaWay has been working with the Swedish Land Registry and other institutions and financial companies to provide smart contract solutions for the real estate field.

Zara Zamani is the Chief Solutions Officer at ChromaWay. She is a splendid example of an exquisite and charismatic leader, inspiring countless budding entrepreneurs and mesmerizing the world of business with her company’s futuristic and class-apart services.

In a conversation with Zara Zamani, Chief Solutions Officer at ChromaWay. Let’s get to know more about her company, its services, and her professional journey.

Brief us about the company, what inspired us to start the company?

ChromaWay was founded in 2014 with our relational blockchain model, called Postchain, which proved itself to be an excellent platform for private enterprise blockchain applications.

Since then, the team and vision surrounding the company have grown exponentially. In addition to our private enterprise work through ChromaWay, we have also launched a public platform called Chromia which boasts a rapidly expanding ecosystem. 

We strive to provide blockchain applications that are easy to use and create real value in society by providing transparent systems that enhance efficiency and reduce exploitation. 

What are the products or services ChromaWay focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Chromia is our public blockchain protocol. The defining feature of our platform is that it combines the security of a blockchain with the data handling power and flexibility of a relational database. Most blockchains in use today are very inefficient in the way they store and handle data, making them incompatible with the majority of large-scale applications (online banking, social media, etc.) that all make extensive use of databases in their design. 

In addition, we use an innovative consensus model that removes the need for mining and greatly reduces the energy consumption and carbon footprint of our blockchain. 

We will soon also launch Originals, our NFT protocol which differs from many existing ones by being dynamic, evolvability, mutability, attachability, and almost free of gas fee features.

Please tell us about your team.

ChromaWay has grown from a small group of founding members to become a global and diverse team of over 150 people working from all around the globe. We have more than 20 nationalities and we speak more than 30 languages on the team. 

Please brief us about your professional experience. 

Well, my professional experience is not a whole different story to many more who made it right in their career. It is a lot about focus, hard work, learning to do smart work, and then working smart but hard. I am an engineer turned a leader. I started my career in the oil and gas industry as a hardcore field engineer. 

My experience in the Oil and gas industry taught me to communicate effectively with a very diverse group of people in terms of profession, skills, education, culture, gender, language, and many more. It also toughened me up since it was a very male dominant industry.

However, after a few years, I felt isolated and not able to relate to where I wanted to head in my life which was to make a change in making the world a better place. That is when I shifted to the tech industry and founded a travel tech later turned into a fintech company and got myself into the whole finance world and eventually blockchain in 2015.

Today, I am a blockchain solution architect and work as Chief Solutions Officer at ChromaWay. I have had the privilege to design blockchain solutions in various industries and work with the most brilliant people. I am also a lecturer and a researcher in blockchain adoption at Halmstad University, South Sweden.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

My biggest achievement is the confidence and trust that I have in myself today that I am walking on the right path. Plus the fact that I am a resilient and empowered and empowering mother raising such a daughter.

Besides that, I have been awarded as 21 women in the blockchain you should know by FintechReview in 2021 as well as top 10 influential women in technology by AnalyticsInsight in 2021. I have also been among the top 50 most influential women on LinkedIn in 2019. 

Any exciting project you would like to highlight?

One of the exciting projects I can share is My Neighbour Alice and launching a blockchain-based game. My Neighbour Alice was first conceived in 2020, with the ALICE token launching on Binance in March 2021.

The game was conceived as an open-world multiplayer builder game, sort of like ‘Animal Crossing’. From the beginning, the goal of the project has been to build a play-to-earn blockchain game that appeals to casual players by using a whimsical aesthetic and prioritizing a streamlined UI and mobile integration.

Development has been ongoing since 2021, with the first alpha season release expected in Q2 of this year. A new roadmap has recently been published following an aggressive expansion of both the development and operations team, and we are excited to be moving full speed ahead towards delivering a blockchain game that can cross over and appeal to crypto and non-crypto users alike.

Which is your favorite quote?

I have many favorite quotes but one that I always say myself is that: technology is as good as us, humans. 

So, if we want a better world we use technology for the betterment which is not always the case because betterment is not always the end goal of all of us. 

Katerina Trajchevska is the CEO of Adeva among such a personality who herself knows the value of her education and have social awareness about it too.

There are number of educated leaders in this world having developed a great aura of education and its benefits. Using education and gained knowledge to develop and spread knowledge to the world and making humanity capable to develop own skills as well as to preach them in sectors where its needed. Wanting to help who needs guidance is a great value. 

Here we are featuring such a personality with great thought values, higher education, awareness towards society, and inspiration to women all over the world. Having awareness about education is common amongst mankind but having awareness to make use of education is what rare. Katerina Trajchevska is the CEO of Adeva among such a personality who herself knows the value of her education and have social awareness about it too. She is self-made woman with kind gesture towards mankind. Wanting to help those who are needful for a guidance is an exceptional value hardly seen in today’s world. Making people stand on their own legs is not an easy task and handling such task with same energy is a commendable job. 

In this interview with Katerina Trajchevska, CEO of Adeva, we shall know more about her journey and personality.

Brief us about at the company, what inspired you to start the company?

Adeva is a remote network of tech professionals, on a mission to enable work without boundaries. We’re passionate advocates for remote work, and our network is distributed in over 30 countries across the globe.

Adeva helps companies scale their engineering teams fast and reduce their hiring costs while providing long-term, remote opportunities for tech talent worldwide.

Starting our careers as freelance engineers, my partner and I faced a whole different challenge than the regular 9-5 job. Finding and then getting the right project takes a lot of time and energy, and requires a whole new set of skills. It made us realize that there are so many people out there required to settle for whatever opportunities they have locally because finding a remote one is a hassle.

That’s what inspired us to start Adeva. To help people like us enjoy the flexibility of remote work without having to compromise on the stability of a full-time job.

What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Adeva helps companies scale their teams fast and flexibly, to be able to respond to their changing needs and achieve planned milestones. We are their partner for sourcing, vetting, and hiring exceptional tech talent.

What makes Adeva different is our promise to the community. We constantly invest in our local communities and we go above and beyond to maintain non-traditional ways to attracting the best talent. That enables us to ramp up full teams over a single weekend when faced with fierce time constraints, and in general to be a reliable talent partner for companies needing consistent talent supply.

Please tell us about your team.

Our core team is still relatively small – 20 people dedicated to growing Adeva, working across several departments like engineering, marketing, talent and client operations.

Our leadership team is currently focused on strengthening the core processes, establishing a purpose-driven culture, and ensuring our team has growth opportunities that will enable us to scale better.

One thing I can say is that I’m proud and humbled to be able to share this experience with the team I have by my side. Everyone working towards the same vision, giving 100% to fostering an environment where our employees and community members can thrive and grow professionally.

Please brief us about your professional experience.

I started as a freelance software engineer back in 2012, together with a colleague that’s now my partner at Adeva. With the tech scene in our country still not mature enough, freelancing was a way for us to get access to more exciting opportunities. Overtime, we started getting more projects than the two of us could handle so we grew kind of organically up to the point of founding Adeva.

As an engineer and later CEO at Adeva, I’ve worked with a variety of companies – from start-ups to enterprises. My work has mostly been involving building scalable software and setting up and leading engineering teams.

Aside from Adeva, I’m a passionate advocate for remote work and inclusivity. I enjoy volunteering in organizations whose values I identify with, mentoring, and giving back.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

The first one is expanding to international markets after founding Adeva and opening up our community to people across the world. Then, becoming talent partner to some major Fortune 500 organizations and helping them foster innovation by scaling more flexibly.

Being recognized as the most inclusive tech company by Women in Tech is also a major achievement, considering our pledge to inclusivity and equal opportunities.

Any client experience you would like to highlight?

In general, we work mostly with funded startups and enterprises. In both cases, it’s companies that need to scale fast and flexibly – either to achieve fierce milestones or roll off new projects without putting too much pressure on their existing team.

I can’t disclose any of our enterprise clients, but some of the startups I’m proud to have worked with are Imgur and Hopin.

Which one is your favourite quote?

I have many depending on the motivation I need at a given time. Here are a few:
– The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The second-best is now. – Chinese Proverb
– You can’t learn what you think you already know. – Epictetus
– Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. – John Wooden

Defined as the systematic collection and the analysis of data market research and data analysis is a branch where the data regarding a specific target market or even a defined segment is collected for review. This can include the information of your competition, or the information related to your business needs like supply and demand, products and consumers. 

Collecting of this data and representing it in a way that is easy for the investors or the stakeholders to explain is a skill donned by just a few. 

Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Successful Business Leaders to Watch Out is Patti Brownsord, Partner at Grounded With Data, who is making lives easier with her accurate information and representation of data. 

In this interview with her, let us know more about the journey of the Grounded With Data. 

Brief us about your company, what inspired you to start the company?

Grounded With Data is a market research and data analysis consulting firm. Grounded With Data work with businesses to help them figure out what they’re leaving on the table by not using their data and how they can start making better data-driven decisions. 

My business partner and I both come from agency backgrounds where every day was different, and we had to learn fast about various industries to become effective with our recommendations. We pride ourselves on quickly getting up to speed with clients and bringing them new insights and ah-ha moments. One of our favorite things to hear is, “well, I never thought about it that way before .” We wanted to start Grounded With Data for the freedom of being our own bosses, working for clients we love, and growing a team that felt supported and inspired by their work.

What are the products or services Grounded With Data focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

Grounded With Data typically works with clients still learning about data and how it can be used. Grounded With Data focus on third-party research projects, surveys, and setting up data processes; additional tasks such as focus groups, asset analysis, marketing analysis, and dashboards/reporting blossom from the initial work. 

Grounded With Data is the Approachable Data Folks. We want our clients to feel comfortable with their data and create presentations, dashboards, and reports that are easy enough for them to present to others and look like rockstars. I’ve seen many consultants come in to build dashboards and reports that become so elaborate that the end-user scraps them. If our clients don’t use it, it wastes everyone’s time, and we never want that.

Most non-profits and foundations we work with come to us with a problem to solve, and then we start building more long-term relationships with them as their go-to data people. For small and medium-sized businesses, we either help them prepare for growth or figure out their capacity issues since they grew too fast and hadn’t prepared for it. It’s usually a combination of system congestion and culture shift, so we always mix training and process improvements. 

Please tell us about your team.

I am essentially the Co-CEO, CMO, in charge of sales and stay directly connected with the clients as their representative. My experience in media, marketing, business intelligence, and general strategy has put me in a unique position to help clients consistently steer themselves to the best outcomes.

My business partner, Dr. Jack Slingluff, Jr., is the other Co-CEO and COO and is in charge of the outcome of the projects. He has experience working with large casinos for their Customer Experience and Satisfaction. He knows surveys, focus groups, and the best way to tackle big market research projects. He also loves advanced statistics.

When we take on market research projects, we always create a team of senior leaders and creative thinkers from different generations and backgrounds to help build collaborative reports. It always leads to innovative insights that leave our clients delighted. 

Grounded With Data’s team consists of an executive administrator, who keeps Jack and me in line, plus is our editor and gut-check to ensure that we never sound wonky to clients. In addition, we have a project manager who acts as our senior market researcher. And we have various other friends we work with that help with our market research, data integration, data analysis, and data visualization projects. We pull them in as needed, depending on the assignment.

Please brief us about your professional experience. 

I started at an advertising agency for seven and a half years, where I was a media planner and supervisor. I helped win various clients for the agency, my favourite being the St. Augustine-Ponte Vedra Visitor and Convention Bureau, which we later re-branded Florida’s Historic Coast.

After finishing my master’s degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, I became the Digital Media Manager for Clear Channel Outdoor, where I managed the digital billboards in the area. This experience gave me a better understanding of the value of money for small businesses, and I became friends with many non-profits I helped with fundraising by putting them on my digi-boards. After that, I had a small stint as a Media Director for JWT Inside (J. Walter Thompson’s recruitment division). 

I then left media for Business Intelligence at the AAA National Office in Heathrow, Florida. I received a crash course in proper data visualizations and dashboarding and then moved to the Strategy, Insights, & Experience department as the Association Strategy & Special Projects Manager. This position helped increase my strategy, Grounded With Data’s goal setting, and leadership knowledge. When I left JWT Inside for AAA, they asked me if I could work on a few things for them since no one else could do it. I obliged and started this company! I was finally able to go full-time in July of 2021.

What are the key achievements of your business journey?

My first achievement was winning the Orange County Regional History Centre for its media planning and data analysis. This win was the first contract we received where it wasn’t a pick-up job from my old client. The second achievement was winning the Winter Park Health Foundation’s data analysis and market research. They are now our oldest and dearest client. They are continually finding more things we can help with, and we couldn’t be happier! The third achievement was my ability to leave my corporate job and turn my side hustle into a thriving business. We still have a way to go to be wildly successful, but we’re thriving.

Any client experience you would like to highlight?

We love working with foundations because they can help many non-profits and individuals become more successful through their grants. We also love working with non-profits because of their impact on the community. And we enjoy working with small and medium-sized businesses because if they can grow and be successful, that helps their team be happier, and that also can help the community.

Which one is your favourite quote? 

“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Bruce Lee