Big Data Analytics Companies of the Year

ISSN 2582-127X

September 2021

BigData

ANALYTICS COMPANIES OF THE YEAR

ANTHONY HOWCROFT CEO AND FOUNDER SWARM Engineering

SWARM

ENGINEERING Driving The Democratization Of AI In The Agri-Food Supply Chain

How Big Data is Helping Businesses to Flourish

5 Industries that are being Reshaped

by Data Analytics

EDITORIAL

‘B

ig data,' 'Big data analytics,' and 'Data mining'

company works under a well-defined structure of duties

seems to be everywhere. Wherever we turn,

and responsibilities. Big data isn't that world. When

there is something or someone to mention big

companies avail big data analytics, it means they are

data and its effects on business and societal changes.

willing to take the roller coaster ride towards success.

Especially, when the world is moving towards a digital

Whatever data-driven decisions they take will reflect on

front and more initiatives like industry 4.0 are being

their organizational outcome.

taken, the power of data multiplies with every move. The

According to a report, the big data analytic adoption in

development of big data analytics has unlocked a

business has increased by 11% in 2021. In a year when

treasure trove of information for the business. As

the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has ravaged

organizations seek actionable insights, they have

the physical office spaces, technology still manages to

eventually opened their space for talented people in big

score a sixer without any doubt. The usage of advanced

data analytics.

analytical processes for business automation and task

In a perfect world, every employee and executive in a

optimization is dramatically spiking now. With countless

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amounts of data being generated every day, it is equally

scratch and polish it to an extent that it can be used to

important for business to have effective tools that could

make business decisions, fill market gaps, improve

bring the best out of it. The normalization of remote

marketing strategy, and unleash new products. These

working and increased business adoption of cloud

companies make use of the latest tools and software run

technologies have further accelerated big data creation,

by professional analytics experts to provide a wide

resulting in companies and governments coming up with

variety of insightful reports based on which important

a new framework to keep the infrastructure and system

business decisions can be taken.

safe. Owing to the spiking internet usage and data

Despite the increasing use of big data, the threat of data

collection from online modes, data security has become

breach still prevails. Handling big data is a complex

one of the most significant priority areas.

domain and needs constant improvement and

Big data is revolutionizing the dynamics of business and

management. However, big data analytics companies are

business decision-making. Due to the increasing

ready to combat any challenge that comes their way,

influence and high adoption of big data, the technology

even if it is related to data protection. They are well

landscape is openings its door for more big data analytics

equipped and have been successful in pre-empting such

companies. A good number of start-ups are also making a

menace by putting checks in place for optimum use and

remarkable stance in the big data market. These big data

access.

analytics companies collect and utilize data, and increase

Adilin Beatrice -

the efficiency of the business. They pick up data from

Senior Editor

CREDITS Ashish Sukhadeve

Adilin Beatrice

Apoorva Komarraju

Priya Dialani

Editor-in-Chief

Senior Editor

Senior Analyst

Senior Analyst

Monomita Chakraborty

Meenu EG

Satavisa Pati

Sayantani Sanyal

Content Analyst

Content Analyst

Content Analyst

Content Analyst

Nikita Das

Manasa Muthyala

Dharmendar Passi

Kushagra Gupta

Marke ng Manager

Research Analyst

Sales Manager

Crea ve Head

Anusha Polneni

Jyothi Pandey

Pravallika Thammana

Marke ng Analyst

SEO Analyst

Web Developer

08

Anthony Howcroft

COVER STORY

SWARM Engineering

ARTICLES

24

42

How Big Data is Helping

5 Industries that are being

Businesses to Flourish

Reshaped by Data Analytics

Company of the Month

18

24

Alejandro Martinez

Richard Johnson

SDG Group

Qubedocs

CONT

32

ENTS

Anji G Reddy VisionSoft.Inc.

38

48

Senthil Nathan Rajendran Tenzai Systems

Spencer Gracias Stefanini Group

54

Piyush Saxena

Flip Robo

ANTHONY HOWCROFT CEO AND FOUNDER SWARM Engineering 08

Driving The Democratization Of AI In The Agri-Food Supply Chain

A

C

O V

rtificial Intelligence (AI) has become a part of our lives. This

disruptive technology has transformed various business

operations and automated industries. Although, it is still

considered an unattainable goal to some businesses, the technology has made its journey towards success. But how accessible is it for business users? Not enough. SWARM Engineering has a solution.

SWARM is transforming the way people solve problems, with a vision to democratize the use of AI and make it easily accessible to everyday

E

R S T

O R Y

business users. The company is focused on tackling inefficiencies in the agri-food supply chain, reducing food waste and lowering carbon footprints, by finding more effective ways to operate processes such as forecasting yield or balancing supply and demand. SWARM is a Softwareas-a-Service (SaaS) platform designed to automatically solve challenges with a curated library of the latest algorithms. Its services help customers easily define any challenge in a way that the SWARM software can solve automatically.

09

Innovation is a way of thinking, an attitude, and relies on speed. Startups can often out-turn their competitors because they make and implement decisions faster than bigger firms. It also helps that a startup team is fully committed because everyone has a stake in the company’s success.

Anthony Howcroft CEO And Founder SWARM Engineering

10

A Business Born To Solve Problems The original concept of SWARM came from a

the analytic maturity model and solve problems

conversation between SWARM's CEO Anthony

rather than offer remediation.

Howcroft, and Dave Bartlett, who at that time was

The first pilot project involved a major food producer

the CTO for GE's Power and Light business (he is

that invited Swarm to solve product blending issues.

now a member of SWARM's Advisory Board). The

The customer wished to mix a handful of elements

discussion imagined what Facebook for machines

from 200 ingredients that were seemingly identical

might look like, and how machines could swap

but differed in quality, and it turned out there were

information to solve problems. For instance, would a

over 85 trillion possible combinations. Every day the

jet engine ask other engines about the occurrence of

company took a blending decision and the choice had

intermittent vibration at a certain temperature and

a significant impact on cost and customer experience.

humidity? Perhaps the engines would discuss where

The original spreadsheet system was being

they had travelled, what type of aircraft they were

overwhelmed, and SWARM stepped in to solve the

attached to, recent weather conditions encountered,

problem. It did this by running a multi-agent mating

ultimately identifying causal factors of the issue

algorithm, which could make the daily blend

together.

recommendation in a couple of minutes while

This initial concept sparked an investigation into

minimizing cost and meeting both taste and FDA

state-of-the-art multi-agent systems and AI. The

health requirements.

company realized that by combining these

SWARM delved into similar scenarios and discovered

technologies with the waves of data beginning to

that supply chains were filled with such challenges,

stream off IoT devices, there was a great opportunity

and the agri-food supply chain had some special

to produce a system that could learn to solve

characteristics that made it ripe for innovation. It was

challenging problems for organizations. Having come

clear to SWARM that the agri-Food sector was and

from a background in data warehousing, the SWARM

still is undergoing a huge digital transformation, with

team understood the value of analytics in identifying

new sensor technology becoming omnipresent in

actionable insights. The team also suspected there

every aspect of the value chain; from monitoring crop

was another layer of capability, where problems could

and greenhouse conditions to tracking logistics.

be solved rather than highlighted for users to fix. For

Simultaneously, consumer demand is forcing new

example, instead of pointing out a fungal infection

behavior, such as alternative proteins, on-demand

and treatment required for a damaged crop, it would

shopping and delivery, traceability, and the desire for

be better to determine in advance the combination of

local and sustainable produce. SWARM notes that

plant density, humidity, temperature, and CO2 that

established firms are being forced to transform and

are conducive to fungal infections and optimising the

adapt to compete with a wave of new, technology-

environment to keep it safe from such issues.

enabled entrants that are themselves experiencing

SWARM's goal from the start was to move higher in

tremendous growth.

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A team with Microsoft pedigree Anthony Howcroft, CEO and founder of SWARM

problems – or challenges, as SWARM prefers to call

began his career as a software developer at Kraft

them. Anthony says, “Nobody wants to list the things

Foods, working on production planning systems for

that are wrong with their business, the problems. We

coffee beans, and has subsequently worked at a mix

help find areas we can improve, challenge the

of startups and big corporates. His formal education

business to do more, to be better.”

was at the University of Oxford, where Anthony

All three C-Level executives at SWARM come from a

studied Creative Writing and went on to become a

Microsoft background. The company's Chief Data

prize-winning author of fiction, as a hobby alongside

Scientist, Shiyi Pickrell, worked at Microsoft for 8

his technology career. Last year, he published his first

years as Director of Data Science and Machine

non-fiction book 'Questions – A User's Guide', which

Learning, and at Amazon before that. SWARM's CEO

became a top-ten Amazon bestseller in its category.

and his Chief Revenue Officer Andy Mouacdie, were

The book took seven years of research, and many

both at DATAllegro, the data warehouse appliance

elements are being incorporated into the SWARM

vendor acquired by Microsoft, and were a core part

software, especially in the way the company captures

of the team leading Microsoft's global big data

and models problems. Einstein once said, “The

initiative. It is no surprise to see that SWARM have

formulation of the problem is often more essential

recently announced their availability on the Microsoft

than its solution”, and SWARM has dedicated

Azure marketplace, and are in the process of gaining

significant effort to making software that lets

certification for key Microsoft partner programs.

business users easily capture definitions of their

AI and Big Data as the Key Drivers SWARM is driving the democratization of AI in the

With so much data to analyze, often from disparate

agri-food supply chain. The company reveals that the

sources, the company believes that it can be a time-

benefits are typically measured via an ROI of at least

consuming and onerous task to make decisions.

4x, which translates into multi-million-dollar savings.

SWARM's software can do the heavy lifting, resulting

Often, though,

not just in better plans, but hours of time saved for

the biggest saving is time. Many of

the processes SWARM optimizes are those that

key personnel in their customers, which can

regularly take hours of effort from teams of domain

dedicated to other high value initiatives.

experts and those in operational roles, like planners.

12

be

www.swarm.engineering

Strong Partnerships behind the Success According to SWARM, innovation is a way of

algorithm research. The Advisory Board comprises

thinking, an attitude, and relies on speed.

Startups

experts like Naira Hovakimyan, a world-class scientist

can often out-turn their competitors because they

who won the Humboldt prize for lifetime

make and implement decisions faster than bigger

achievements, Chris Watkins, who invented the Q-

firms. It also helps that a startup team is fully

learning algorithm that kick-started the resurgence in

committed because everyone has a stake in the

deep learning, and Lawrence Henesey, who is a

company's success. “Being in a startup is really a

professor in both AI and maritime logistics. The third

lifestyle choice. For the right person it is a huge

critical group are the investors who are vital partners,

opportunity, and a rewarding environment,” Anthony

with venture firms such as S2G Ventures and Serra

says. “We are lucky to have a fabulous team who are

Ventures, along with key industry luminaries like John

fully committed to our customers' success.”

Power from the Harvard Business School Alumni,

SWARM has three critical partnerships: first, the

with deep connections into the agri-food supply

customers who have been willing to share their

chain, who have been instrumental in making the

challenges and been open to making a change.

right introductions in a market where word-of-mouth

Second, are the academics who have guided the

is so critical, the company states.

company on the latest machine learning and

A Scarcity Of Data Scientists Early on, SWARM constructed a tool that allowed

largest firms had such talent at their disposal, and

data scientists to rapidly build and deploy innovative

they were frequently a bottleneck. Instead of pivoting

solutions to classic supply chain problems, using

as such, the company created new tools built on their

advanced AI and machine learning. As the company

core platform, specifically for business users, to both

validated its approach with potential clients, SWARM

define their challenges, and execute the solutions,

discovered a scarcity of data scientists within its

using the original SWARM Solution Engine.

target customers. SWARM discloses that only the

13

From Disbelief to Recognition Some of the initial companies that SWARM spoke to

delight and the focus rapidly switches to

were concerned that they did not have enough data

implementation.

on key aspects of the business, or that their data was

SWARM reveals that it had one C-level executive at a

not clean enough. The company states that although

major US port who declared that the funds used on

data quality can always be improved, and data

the company's pilot project were the best money he

integration is typically time-consuming, the real

has ever spent, after thirty years in the industry.

challenge is often one of perception. Here, people

SWARM has started gathering some industry awards

find it hard to believe that a process that has been in

recently and was recently named one of the Top Ten

their business and continually evolving for twenty

Cognitive Solutions to Watch in 2021. Although,

years or more can be improved by 10-20%. The initial

according to the company, the best reward is seeing

reaction to many of SWARM's proof-of-concept

the value they can bring to a customer, and gaining

projects has been disbelief, and often the solutions

follow-on projects. One of SWARM's earliest

are scrutinised and heavily tested before client's can

customers now has four projects underway to

accept their veracity, at which point they move on to

improve multiple aspects of their supply chain.

Technology will Yield Quality and Sustainability in Future SWARM commented that the future will witness

doing the right thing, but they could be signing a

more disruption, more black swans, and there will be

death sentence. The company reiterates that firms

data and AI wars, where businesses rise and fall

need to stay flexible, focus on the challenges they

based on the quality of their algorithms. The

want to meet, and separate that from the solution.

company brings up the scenario when Google's

SWARM believes that it provides a great platform to

AlphaGo AI algorithm beat Lee Seedol, the 18-times

achieve this, which is delivering results now, without

World Champion at Go, and there was a huge press

taking a risky bet on the future. By separating the

fanfare. A year later, a new algorithm called AlphaGo

challenge from the solution, SWARM can test and

Zero beat the previous algorithm by a score of 100-

switch in new algorithms when required, keeping an

games to zero after learning to play Go in 3 days.

organization at the cutting edge of the algorithm war.

SWARM conveys that if a company had embedded

On a concluding note, SWARM mentions that while

the original algorithm in its supply chain software,

ultimately some companies will suffer, the result for

and a competitor had waited a year and used the

consumers will be positive. The company believes

new algorithm, then the first company would be in a

that people will see higher quality, healthier food,

tough spot. This algorithm war will be the new

delivered at a lower cost in a more sustainable

normal.

fashion. The future is bright, as AI and humans

As SWARM observes, organizations that are buying

collaborate to improve the agri-food supply chain,

applications with embedded AI may believe they are

while protecting the environment.

14

15

SWARM Engineering

SDG Group

Anthony Howcro

Alejandro Mar nez

CEO & Founder

Partner & CEO of the USA and Canada

SWARM Engineering is transforming the way people solve problems, with a vision to democra ze the use of AI and make it easily accessible to everyday business users. The company is focused on tackling inefficiencies in the agri-food supply chain, reducing food waste, and lowering carbon footprints, by finding more effec ve ways to operate processes such as forecas ng yield or balancing supply and demand.

SDG Group is a trailblazer in the data and analy cs field. For the past 25 years, the company is helping clients transform data into business decisions. SDG Group serves its vision through services and capabili es that support the whole data journey from data collec on, processing, analysis, and surfacing business insights. Today, SDG Group is a market leader and has become the data and analy cs flagship globally.

www.swarm.engineering

www.sdggroup.com

Qubedocs USA LLC

VisionSoft.Inc

Richard Johnson Founder & CEO

BigData

ANALYTICS COMPANIES OF THE YEAR

Tenzai Systems

Stefanini Group

Anji G Reddy

Senthil Nathan Rajendran

Spencer Gracias

CEO

Co-Founder & CEO

North America/APAC CEO

Qubedocs USA, LLC provides automated documenta on for IBM’s TM1/Planning Analy cs (PA) tool. Some of the USA’s largest corporate budge ng and planning models rely on the power and versa lity of the company. With just the click of a bu on, Qubedocs documents a complete TM1/PA model with no manual interven on. The company helps its consultants to complete the documenta on work at the beginning.

Visionso Inc. is one of the top big analy cs companies addressing the key challenges faced by the industry in controlling and managing big data as well as complexi es with HANA Solu ons, cloud managed services, and digi za on.

Visionso is on a mission to simplify the transforma onal landscape and offer end-to-end IT services with risk-free execu on, business transforma on, and high performance.

Tenzai Systems is a purpose-driven AI company founded by awardwinning data science leaders with the vision of helping organiza ons realize the true poten al of ar ficial intelligence. The company creates impac ul AI solu ons for clients that are accessible, scalable, and responsible by employing the purpose-driven AI approach. Tenzai helps organiza ons solve complex business problems through a hybrid approach of employing business acumen, AI exper se, etc.

www.qubedocs.com

www.visionso .com

www.tenz.ai

Stefanini Group is a US$1 billion global technology company that provides organiza ons of all shapes and sizes with a broad por olio of digital transforma on services and solu ons. The company offers ar ficial intelligence, automa on, cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and user experience (UX) services. Stefanini is co-crea ng solu ons with clients to best suit their needs through innova ve consul ng, marke ng, mobility, and personalized campaigns. www.stefanini.com

DataTrained

Cloudera

SAP

Alteryx

Janardan Tiwari

Robert Bearden

Chris an Klein

Mark Anderson

CEO

CEO

CEO

CEO

DataTrained is an edtech company that aims to leverage access to quality learning in emerging technologies. DataTrained is on a mission to shorten the educa on curve in the demographics of the Indian subcon nent and make quality professional learning accessible to all. The company is impar ng quality programs in Data Science, Analy cs, Big Data, Ar ficial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Compu ng, Development, and many more.

Cloudera accelerates digital transforma on for the world’s largest enterprises. The company helps innova ve organiza ons across all industries to tackle transforma onal use cases and extract real- me insights from an ever-increasing amount of data to drive value and compe ve differen a ons. Founded in 2008, Cloudera strongly believes that data can make what is impossible today, possible tomorrow. It empowers people to transform complex data into ac onable answers.

SAP, also known as Systems Applica ons and Products in Data Processing, is the market leader in enterprise applica on so ware, helping companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best.

SAP’s machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analy cs technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. The company’s end-to-end suite of applica ons and services enable its customers to operate profitably.

Walteryx helps customers achieve outcomes from their data to create business-changing breakthroughs every day. From designing reliable forecasts in an unpredictable economy to developing fair and equitable compensa on packages for employees, the daily business and societal challenges are addressed by the company’s solu ons. Alteryx’s human-centered analy cs automa on pla orm unifies data science, analy cs, and process automa on together to help clients harness complex data.

www.datatrained.com

www.cloudera.com

www.sap.com

www.alteryx.com

Company of the Month

SDG Group USA Leadership

18

Accelerating Business Value with Cloud, AI-Powered Data and Analytics

W

e live in a data-driven society, where digital

data and analytics flagship globally for Alten Group,

disruption has created a need for data in all

joining the firm in 2020 to achieve higher volume in more

aspects of our daily lives and in business.

countries. The company credits its growth to having a

Many still face the challenge of tapping into the massive

strategy that's aligned with its values, which has allowed

volumes of data they collect and generate to create value

them to create an environment led by meritocracy and

for the company. This is where SDG Group, a Global

teamwork that uses innovation and client success as the

Consulting Firm specialized in Data & Analytics, is

key drivers to meet objectives.

making a transformative impact with its in-depth

These values are displayed in SDG Group's agnostic

expertise and innovative vision. The company unlocks its

approach to technology and its business model. The

clients' potential and hidden value to empower their

company works with both reference technologies and

business models, enabling them to become data-driven

disruptors to develop the most cutting-edge solutions in

enterprises.

the market, and follow a unique business model that requires consultants to have business domain,

From Pioneers to Market Leaders: A Journey Led by

technology, and analytics expertise. This approach to

Values

technology and its consultants' skills are what makes

SDG Group is a trailblazer in the data and analytics field,

their projects key differentiators for clients.

beginning its mission of helping companies transform data into business decisions for over 25 years. The

Driving Long-Term Value for Clients

company realizes its mission through its services and

Client satisfaction is not enough for SDG Group. The

capabilities that support the whole data journey from

company focuses on creating client relationships that are

data collection, processing, analysis, and surfacing

not based on invoicing for every hour but on the value

business insights.

being generated. Along with the concentration on value

Today, SDG Group is a market leader and has become the

generation, the team members devote themselves to

19

The Cloud, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning will allow companies to excel in the post-pandemic, "Next Normal" world. At SDG Group, we embrace change by creating laboratories and establishing partnerships that put our clients ahead of these trends and prepare them for the future of business."

Alejandro Martinez Partner and CEO of the USA and Canada SDG Group

www.sdggroup.com

20

seeking opportunities to innovate and improve services, technologies, and solutions. For this reason, the team is a part of Gartner's Peer Insights that allows clients to reinforce the value that the company brings in projects and provides feedback that enables them to remain a leading data and analytics service provider.

SDG Group is also dedicated to building communities and creating resources that help people understand how to use data as a key component of their strategies. It facilitates the “D.A.T.A. (Data As A Transformational Asset) Society,” an ongoing forum for industry leaders to discuss challenges, trends, strategies, and technology.

In addition to creating this network, the company collaborates with Club CDO, IDC, and academic institutions to develop content that helps companies on a global scale improve data literacy strategies and create a strong data culture.

Using the Cloud, AI and ML as Enablers for Business Transformation Each year, SDG Group names the Top Data and Analytics Trends business leaders need to prioritize in their roadmap. Over the last few years, the Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML) have been included in SDG Group's annual list, viewing these disruptive them as the powers behind the future of business.

Innovating To Improve Society It is a well-known principle to never "copy and paste," or do things the same way at SDG Group. Instead, they bring

innovation to every project.

The company believes that selecting data and analytics technology partners is a key to building a practice before the market does, which is why SDG Group's alliances are industry leaders who provide added value to their services and solutions. The portfolio includes: AWS, Microsoft, Google, SAP, IBM, Informatica, dbt, Databricks, Alation, Talend, Matillion, Attunity, Trifacta,

The company believes these capabilities will create a

D a t a R o b o t , C e l o n i s , D a t a i k u , Q l i k , Ta b l e a u ,

world where all data and analytics are in the Cloud, and

Thoughtspot, Snowflake, Board, Colibra, Datumize,

AI will make surfacing insights as easy as asking OK

Cloudera, among others.

Google or Amazon Alexa a question. This new way of

SDG Group also partners and brings innovation to Non-

working with data will empower all people, regardless of

Governmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the Red

their technical proficiency, to use data as the basis for

Cross, helping them use data to power mission-critical

making decisions. SDG Group has already developed

initiatives and improve society. For example, when the

solutions and has success stories around the Cloud, AI,

pandemic impacted the world, SDG Group joined the

and ML capabilities, including use cases for creating a

"RESPONDS Plan," creating an Open Data Platform that

data-driven omnichannel experience in both Pharma and

made the Red Cross' actions in response to COVID-19

Retail, performing Customer Sentiment Analysis, and e-

transparent to the public and key stakeholders.

Commerce Analytics to name a few.

21

A Recognized Global Leader

SDG Group is also a Global Representative Vendor in

SDG Group's success over the years has led to significant

Gartner's Market Guide for Data and Analytics Service

market recognition. Most recently, the company has

Providers that highlight the top companies regionally

been acknowledged for its AI-assisted remote diagnosis

and globally, taking into account customer feedback and

app, DocDot, developed in response to COVID-19. The

capacity to execute and innovate.

solution allows doctors to track patients' vital signs

Technology leaders also recognize them for the

virtually and detect COVID-19 symptoms with medical-

unmatched value and solutions they create as a strategic

grade accuracy. The World Health Organization (WHO)

partner. This year, SDG Group won SAP's Cloud Data

called DocDot one of the most innovative digital health

Warehouse Partner Packathon in EMEA. Snowflake also

solutions worldwide. Forbes named it among its ten

welcomed the them into the Elite Services Partner Tier

examples of innovation in the face of COVID-19, and it

and the exclusive Accelerated Snowpark Program

was a nominee for an About Pharma Digital Innovation

because of their skills and knowledge in helping clients

in Healthcare award.

realize the value they can achieve with AI-powered Cloud Data and Analytics. Additionally, they have been awarded for delivering quality and excellence in implementations with Qlik, Board, Celonis, SAP, and Snowflake over the last several years and also serve as Advisory Council Members and Global Ambassadors for Qlik, Snowflake, and Matillion among others.

A Strategic & Visionary Leader Alejandro Martinez is a Partner and the CEO of the USA and Canada at SDG Group. He joined in 2009 and has created an agile organization that can manage clients' demands with proximity and velocity while simultaneously managing the company's challenges and goals. He also supports global and regional clients in building and executing large-scale, global development programs in different areas by implementing new strategies to analyze data and make the most of it.

In addition to his contributions to SDG Group, Alejandro participates as a Member of the Board of Directors in start-ups that the company supports and contributes to its technology alliances in Partner Advisory Councils and direct engagements with the R&D departments to influence the market execution and the technology roadmap. He has also participated as a Strategy Management Lecturer and Speaker in industry events.

22

Company of the Month

Richard Johnson Founder, and CEO Qubedocs, Management team 24

Transforming the Documentation Process Across Organizations

Q

ubedocs USA, LLC provides automated

resource investment by allowing developers to do what

documentation for IBM's TM1/Planning

they do well, which is building great models now.

Analytics (PA) tool. Some of the USA's largest

corporate budgeting and planning models rely on the

Adding Real Value to the Clients

power and versatility of Qubedocs. With just the click of

The large US corporate clients are suitably impressed by

a button, Qubedocs documents a complete TM1/PA

Qubedocs' ability to document hundreds of models

model with no manual intervention.

across multi servers with ease. Clients love the ability to navigate models intuitively and supply documentation to

On a Mission to Maximize Resource Investments

external agencies during auditing and SOX compliance

Since documentation is a time-consuming task for which

work. By providing automated visibility to the clients'

the customers were not ready to pay for the service,

planning environment, Qubedocs saves time and allows

Qubedocs was designed to help its consultants to

developers to focus on more important tasks.

complete the documentation work at the beginning.

After exploring the viability of Qubedocs as a standalone

Brain Behind the Company

product, the company soon realized its potential to save

Richard Johnson is the Founder and CEO of Qubedocs,

time and make organizations more efficient. So

he has worked tirelessly to get the company running in

Qubedocs pursued its dream and started building

the USA. By building and developing relationships on the

something that would eventually provide incredible

ground, he managed to engage numerous business

value for its clients.

partners that on-sell Qubedocs not only in the USA but

Since day one, the company's mission was to ensure no

around the world. The company is proud to have over 30

TM1/PA developer wastes hundreds of hours trying to

business partners globally promoting the benefits of

document a constantly changing TM1/PA model.

Qubedocs.

Qubedocs wanted to help organizations maximize their

25

At Qubedocs we document large complex planning models with the click of a button.

Richard Johnson Founder, and CEO Qubedocs, Management team

www.qubedocs.com

26

Turning Big Data Challenges into Opportunities

valuable insights that Qubedocs adapted and included in

Most large organizations struggle to manage big data,

its SAP and Oracle planning solution roadmap.

and planning has become even more challenging than ever in these unpredictable times. Many businesses

The Role of Cloud in Scaling up the Solutions

assume that full documentation of their planning

Cloud has enhanced Qubedocs and made it an incredibly

environments is an unachievable task. That's where

powerful tool. With this, the company can host client

Qubedocs comes in. At its core, it helps organizations

documentation on a multi-tenant environment, and

with the data lineages around all the data flows, cubes,

thanks to the cloud architecture that helped in scaling up

and dimensions in their planning environments. The

the solutions even faster.

company is proud to assist organizations of all sizes with documentation, so they can focus on dealing with more

Overcoming the Challenges Optimistically

significant big data challenges.

Expanding into the USA from New Zealand has presented a range of challenges for Qubedocs, including

Innovation-Driven Partnerships

the steep learning curve of conducting business in the

Qubedocs focuses on optimization and innovation. And

USA. But by building a solid team and investing in the

so, the company is developing a documentation product

right areas, the company is confident of its future

for the SAP and Oracle planning solutions since

success.

currently, there is nothing on the market that easily automates the documentation of these planning

The Future Ahead

solutions.

Qubedocs was built to be a powerful tool for large

To help Qubedocs drive innovation, it has maintained

organizations. That's why Qubedocs believes to

strong relationships with several existing business

document most of the Fortune 500 companies TM1/PA

partners. This cohort helps sell and implement Qubedocs

models in the future. But that's not the end for

as a solution to their clients across a range of industries.

Qubedocs. It aims to lead the market in documenting

Over time, the partners of the company have also gained

SAP and Oracle planning solutions as well.

27

TOP

BIG DATA IS HELPING BUSINESSES TO FLOURISH

28

W

hen it comes to getting a deeper

understanding of the target audience,

evaluate their preferences, and analyze

the market changes, big data has become the one-stop solution to all these queries. Several large-scale and small-scale organizations in the world are using data analytics to make informed decisions about their business processes and to speed up their growth.

Big data is an umbrella term that is used to signify all the processes, tools, and algorithms that help manage large data sets with primary characteristics of velocity, volume, and variability, which need a reliable structure for storage and analysis to draw insights from them.

Analytics helps discover hidden patterns, risks, and correlations that help in strategizing innovations and

better strategies. Ÿ

Increased Data Safety: Big data tools and analytics

improvements in customer services to amplify business

platforms provide security to vital business

engagements.

information. Big data security tools like firewall,

Advanced software technologies that are efficient and

monitor traffic that enters and leaves the servers. The

swift are used to draw big data analytics. Since we have

firewall provides strong filters that prevent attacks

established that big data is an integral part of every

from illegal activities and cybercriminals.

organization, let us now evaluate how it is creating a difference in business processes.

Ÿ

Regulating the Supply Chain Management: Since the supply chain involves the flow of goods and services, including finished goods and raw materials,

Ÿ

Boost Customer Acquisition and Retention:

companies need accurate and clear insights from the

Customers are the greatest assets for business

market to facilitate the availability of the correct raw

organizations. Companies are leveraging big data to

materials and products that are demanded by the

observe different customer-related patterns and

audience. Analytics monitor the movement of goods

trends. Observing the audience's behavior is crucial

and services and help businesses prevent huge

to inculcate brand loyalty in them. It also takes into

financial losses.

account the behavioral patterns of the potential

Ÿ

customers to observe them and attract them towards

Artificial intelligence and big data are some of the

the company. The basic step of customer retention is

grandest of blessings for businesses. Implementing big

to deliver what they want, and data analytics is the

data tools and applications in business processes will

perfect tool for it.

enable the companies to gain a competitive edge in the

Enhanced Risk Management: Risk management is

market, reduce operational costs and build strong

critical for any business, regardless of the type of

customer relationships. Big data will continue to play this

industry. Big data analytics has helped companies

important role for industries around the world. In the

develop risk management solutions. By leveraging

future, it will open unprecedented opportunities for

predictive analytics, companies can detect risks

businesses to enhance their productivity and become

beforehand and come up with improved solutions and

more efficient.

29

Anji G Reddy CEO VisionSoft.Inc.

32

Making Businesses More Productive with Seamless Migration Process

W

ith digital transformation and innovation,

their IT and transformation needs to VisionSoft. The

managing huge piles of information, as

company is named after the legacy company, VisionSoft

well as data (big data), has become

Consulting Inc. which has been in the business for the last

challenging for every industry. Big data analytics helps in

12 years. It offers a compelling blend of sustained

overcoming such challenges and simplify customer and

credibility, historical success, and its vision and thought

company relationships. Using big data analytics helps the

leadership to take its client's business to the next level of

industries to know their customers better and this helps

performance. Over the years there has been an increase

in minimizing or rather bridging the gap in their

in the product portfolio to include the following software

marketing strategies.

innovations:

Visionsoft Inc. is one of the top big analytics companies

Ÿ

zero down time conversion

addressing the key challenges faced by the industry in controlling and managing big data as well as complexities

HANEYA® for robotic S/4 HANA migrations with

Ÿ

DMAG & MIGRATUM for data cleansing, data

with HANA Solutions, cloud managed services, and

archiving, carveouts, system refresh, data migration,

digitization.

and data governance Ÿ

insights

High Performance and Risk-Free Execution Service VisionSoft is born to address the key challenges in the

Ÿ

VSOFT HYBRIS for web ordering and omni channel solutions

industry with the complexity of big data, S/4 HANA Migrations, salesforce, e-Commerce, and digitization. Its

HANELYTICS for big data computing and predictive

Ÿ

CURATUM for governance, risk, and compliance

mission is to simplify the transformational landscape and offer end-to-end IT services with risk-free execution and

Further, the company provides managed services in

high performance. Its goal for the organizations is to

salesforce, hybris, SuccessFactors, and Microsoft digital

enable them to focus on their core business while leaving

solutions. The motto of VisionSoft is speed to delivery

33

Put your clients first! Client value and our success go hand in hand. When we

demonstrate and realize the compelling value to our clients while adhering to our core values, success and prosperity automatically follow us.

The path might be difficult, but destiny is inevitable. Though striving for client value and our success at the same time is tough, that is the only way we can compete and thrive in this COVID economy.

Anji G Reddy CEO VisionSoft.Inc.

www.visionsoft.com

34

with 1/3 cost and high quality.

An Exceptional and Proactive Leader

Currently, the company is working with a SAP client that

Anji G Reddy is a thought leader with 27 + years of

has high volume transactions daily – an approx. of

experience in delivering technology solutions across

100000 transactions daily with a 9 TB database. It is

industries. Anji Reddy is a globally recognized domain

helping them to achieve zero down time with Unicode

expert in SAP HANA®, data management, and salesforce

conversion automation for their SAP Ehp upgrade.

across industry verticals: Pharmaceuticals,

Currently, its objective is to migrate the OS from AIX to

manufacturing, consumer products, food distribution

the Linux operating system, and the DB from Oracle to

and media industry. He is the Founder of Haneya®,

HANA.

D M AG ™, H A N E Ly t i c s ®, C u r a t u m™, a n d V S e -

The roadmap is to migrate from ECC Ehp4 to Ehp8 and

Commerce™ for robotic S/4 HANA migration, seamless

then, migrate to S/4 HANA to cash on the opportunities

data management, omnichannel e-commerce, &

with technical performance, system upgrade to the next

customer digitization.

level, kernel optimization, and S/4 digitization

Anji sets the strategy of marketing, operations, sales, and

functionalities.

managed services for the company. He develops & sustains marquee client relationships, and institutes

Delivering Value to Enterprises

technology direction by architecting innovations to meet

VisionSoft's mission is speed to deliver with 1/3 of the

client needs. Anji brings innovation and disruptive

cost and high quality. More specifically, it offers best in

technologies to the marketplace in the areas of big data,

class innovation via Robotics, VPA (Virtual Process

RPA, SAP, salesforce, and digitization.

Automation), and DSS (Distributed Strategic Sourcing) to sustain compelling value to its clients and the market

Transformation At Its Heart

automating SAP S/4 HANA migrations at least cost and

The mission of the company is to simplify the

smooth transition to a new way of life with SAP business

transformation landscape and offer end-to-end IT

and zero down time.

services with risk-free execution and high performance

VisionSoft started its journey with SAP support project

for example, with HANEYA product, it offers digitization

for a media and wholesale distribution company that has

for business process automation, cloud managed

1 million deliveries per day across the USA. SAP system

services for AMS and HANA solutions for various clients.

was mission-critical for the client delivery operations

With its Hanelytics product, clients capture the data

and even 1-hour time delay in shipping, routing and

from various sources and drive action through insights to

distribution would have been a disaster for this client.

improve their business operations like revenue, margins,

Given this challenge, VisionSoft has delivered a robust,

and operating expenses that are powered by SAP HANA.

reliable, and scalable SAP system to accomplish 1 million

HANElytics™, the solution of the company, brings in the

deliveries per day on time and budget. The client was

best of the breed– HADOOP with high storage

completely happy and satisfied with the service, team

performance and HANA that will provide real-time

commitment, and lean pricing.

analytics.

After years of hustle, today VisionSoft is one of the

HANElytics™ is a rapid-deployment solution that is

leading companies in the industry. With its best-of-breed

designed to provide real-time analytics on big data

offerings and successful projects to date, the company

distributed across several clusters. HANElytics not only

has proved that it deserves to be admired.

enables enterprise-grade real-time analytics but also gives a platform to combine structured enterprise data

35

with unstructured data at a massive scale (petabytes or

VisonSoft's SAP solutions such as its products,

eve n z e t t a by t e s ) d a t a l a ke s s u c h a s H a d o o p .

HANEYA®, DMAG™, and HANELytics® help clients

HANElytics™ provides reduced costs through cost-

navigate many challenges for S/4 HANA migration, fix

efficient data storage (commodity hardware) and

data quality, and achieves 40-50% TCO optimization

processing for large volumes of structured, semi-

going forward for managing S/4 HANA upgrades and

structured, and unstructured data such as for weblogs,

operations. HANEYA® and DMAG™ have perpetual

machine data, genome data, and much more.

license models and can be leveraged to address the

HANElytics™ provides a cloud-based framework that

above key challenges very economically.

allows to lower the costs and also quickly build the

HANEYA® is a robotic S/4HANA automated solution

prototype, test and move on setting up the actual

that encapsulates all migration activities together to

production environments. HANElytics ™ uses spark

handle the SAP HANA migration for SoH and S/4HANA

controller to leverage the power of Apache spark to

in an automated process with minimal human interaction

enable heavily recursive algorithms, machine learning,

to optimize the cost and effort.

and queries that cannot be easily expressed in SQL.

As SAP S/4HANA market picks up steam, HANEYA® will

HANElytics integrates with big data Hadoop framework

secure a strong foothold with the current SAP customers

to provide a reliable, scalable, and fault-tolerant system

in the U.S, Canada, followed by Europe”. Initially, the

to house the unstructured raw data and perform analysis

company will focus on HANELytics® delivery in the USA

by creating mashups between enterprise.

market and then, roll out HANELytics to European and

The company specializes in helping businesses of varying

Latin American markets in 2021.

sizes to realize their full potential by transforming their systems landscape, simplifying their process footprint,

S t r e a m l i n i n g W o r k fl o w s a n d Tr a n s f o r m i n g

and streamlining their workflows. By leveraging the

Organizations

expertise of a diverse team of highly qualified SMEs and

VisionSoft is agile, nimble, and rapidly adapts to market

industry leaders, the company evaluates and analyzes

trends and needs. It can quickly change its strategy to

the organizations before implementing the strategies

predict and respond to market needs. The industry is

that are most befitting to their needs. Not only does this

mystified by the lack of automation, big data, and

approach amplify the productivity of the overall

migration tools for S/4 HANA conversion that addresses

organization, but also optimizes the costs considerably

zero down time, custom code remediation, process

and paves the way forward for the business model by

configuration automation, data carve-outs, and system

predicting the future market trends.

refreshes.

SAP clients face significant challenges while migrating to

Disruptive Technologies, Way to Rebound from the

newer versions, S/4 HANA and EHP upgrades due to the

Pandemic

custom code complexity and master data mappings. The

SAP clients are looking for automation, AI, and

huge data complexities and inconsistencies with existing

cloudification to rebuild and rebound from pandemic

data while sharing it with trading partners and clients

time and thrive in the future. Using VisionSoft's process

result in pricing errors, inaccurate invoices, and stock-

automation (VPA), predictive analytics, and their virtual

outs across the supply chain.

distributed strategic sourcing (DSS) strategies enable

To help the customers navigate through the above

the clients to continue the pandemic ways to conduct

challenges, VisionSoft offers products such as

business and rebound for the future.

HANEYA®, DMAG™, and HANELytics® that aids in

36

S/4HANA migration, data quality fixes, and achieve 40-

VisionSoft has been recognized for its commitment and

50 percent TCO optimization for managing S/4HANA

partnership during the transition to HANA.

upgrades and operations. Further, it specializes in helping businesses of varying sizes realize their full

Overcoming the Challenges Through Mastering Its

potential by transforming their systems landscape,

Skills

simplifying their process footprint, and streamlining

The initial years of VisionSoft were not a cakewalk, it was

their workflows.

just like any other new-born company in the market, full

The company has partnered with SAP to bring the latest

of challenges. And one of the big challenges was to

innovations in industry solutions such as the Mining

identify the target markets and customers. However,

Industry solution and leveraged HADOOP to invent real-

with time, VisionSoft mastered its skills and faced the

time big data solutions and predictive computing

challenges that the market presented. Today, Visionsoft

technology for the SAP clients. In addition, it has

has a global footprint with a presence in North America,

partnered with Salesforce to identify and deploy SAP

Asia, Africa, Europe, and Latin America boasting 200

and salesforce integrated solutions for seamless

people across the globe with 5 innovations and

customer relationship management, sales, service, and

disruptive technologies including AI, HANELytics, and

marketing processes. To digitize various business

RPA.

processes the company has partnered with Microsoft.

VisionSoft was founded to address key enterprise-

Shaping the Future

technology challenges triggered by the changing

C u r r e n t l y, c o m p a n i e s a r e m i g ra t i n g t h e i r I T

dynamics of digitization and cloudification. With a strict

infrastructure and business applications to the cloud and

focus on the cloud, and exclusively on the S/4 HANA

digital platforms such as S/4 platform and

platform, VisionSoft provides solutions to help its clients

salesforce.com. VisionSoft believes that it will see a

migrate smoothly into the S/4 HANA cloud platform.

significant uptick in demand for its products and services in the next couple of years. The company sees its

A-List of Awards and Acknowledgments for Being

products and services thriving S/4 HANA economy

Exceptional

globally with a focus on S/4 HANA greenfield

SAP gold partner in service and build, salesforce partner,

implementations, S/4 HANA migrations, and customer

Microsoft partner, an Oracle gold partner.

digitization with SAP, salesforce, and hybris capabilities,

It is ranked among the top 50 most admired companies in

and by leveraging its foundational data and compliance

2018 by Silicon review

platforms. Also, in the next 2 decades, VisionSoft sees the

Top 10 SAP solution providers by CIO outlook

potential of a $3 billion revenue opportunity for the

Top100 tech companies by Silicon India

VisionSoft group of companies.

One of the best SAP solution providers 37

Senthil Nathan Rajendran Co-Founder and CEO Tenzai Systems

38

Augmenting the Future of Data-Driven Enterprise with Purpose Driven AI

T

enzai Systems is known as the Purpose Driven AI

institutions to ideate new products and concepts in

solutions provider to disrupt the methods of

exponential technologies.

data insights of enterprise. Companies can

Tenzai Systems helps Fortune1000 enterprises as well as

identify revenue opportunities and improve productivity

start-ups to fast-track AI maturity, turn data and insights

by leveraging the purpose-driven AI approach of Tenzai

into a core differentiator. The team has expertise in

Systems. It is designed for enterprises to excel in AI First

consulting clients in North America, India, the Middle-

future by accelerating their AI maturity.

East, Europe, and APAC and across key verticals retail, CPG, financial services, technology, education, and

Helping Enterprise with AI Expertise

healthcare.

Tenzai Systems is a purpose-driven AI company founded

The company has an expertise in decision sciences---

by award-winning data science leaders with the vision of

statistics, data mining and machine learning; language---

helping organizations realize the true potential of

NLP, NLG and NLQA; computer vision--- image

artificial intelligence (AI). It creates impactful AI

processing, image analysis and machine vision; smart

solutions for clients that are accessible, scalable, and

machines--- chatbots, virtual personal assistants and

responsible by employing the purpose-driven AI

expert systems; automation--- process automation,

approach.

decision automation and cognitive augmentation as well

The company helps organizations solve complex

as AI enablers--- data engineering, data visualization and

business problems through a hybrid approach of

high-performance computing.

employing business acumen, AI expertise, and cutting-

Tenzai offers services in three categories such as AI

edge technology. The team of data scientists and

foundations--- data engineering, data visualization, AI

engineers has strong expertise in machine learning, data

maturity assessment, AI strategy and roadmap and AI

science, research, and deploying AI applications at scale.

and MLOps; data science--- customer analytics,

Tenzai collaborates with universities and research

marketing analytics, sales analytics, risk analytics and

39

As a company, we have pledged that 20% of our time, resources will be earmarked

for Innovation and IP related activities like patents, research papers, institutional collaborations, product ideas etc. We already have active collaborations with leading global institutions to conceptualize ideas, concepts and IPs in exponential technologies.

Senthil Nathan Rajendran Co-Founder and CEO Tenzai Systems

www.tenz.ai

40

operations analytics as well as AI engineering--- NLP,

winning products in AI and data science. They strongly

computer vision, conversational AI, cognitive

believe today to succeed in AI, enterprises need to have a

automation and AI product engineering.

product mindset, coupled with multidisciplinary

The company offers two products in the market known

approach (engineering, data science, deep learning,

as Anxen that is a computer vision platform for

product management, DevOps, and business analysis),

automated compliance and facility management as well

and clarity on purpose (the role and expectation of AI

as Tenzai AWM, an AI platform for asset and wealth

within the organization).

management firms to automate investment research.

Hence, the team conceptualized the purpose-driven AI Framework to help clients realize the real purpose of AI

Identifying AI-Based Missions to Bridge the Gap

and to differentiate ourselves from other players. Today

Today, everyone is aware of the potential of AI and how it

the company helps clients across the US, Europe, Middle

is going to help enterprises unlock more than US$13

East and APAC ranging from large enterprises to YC

trillion in terms of economic value. But the reality is that

funded start-ups. We have also launched two products

more than half of the companies that have implemented

known as Anxen and Tenzai AWM.

AI are yet to realize any benefits or the purpose has not been met. This is the problem Tenzai Systems wants to

Ardent Leaders with Passion for Technology

solve. The team wants to help companies to realize the

Senthil Nathan Rajendran, Co-Founder and CEO, is a

full potential of AI and help them to achieve the very

thought leader, speaker and innovator with a passion for

purpose AI.

emerging AI technologies. He has experience in

There are multiple reasons why companies are not able

successfully conceptualizing and launching award-

to realize the full potential of AI such as rapid growth of

winning AI products.

AI technology scape, difficulty in identifying and defining

Senthil was the Director (AI, and Decision Sciences) of

use cases, complex AI solutions hindering business user

Marlabs Innovations, Head of Delivery (Retail) at Hansa

adoption, not having a multidisciplinary approach, and

Cequity, Director of Product Management at DataRPM

product mindset with lack of right talent.

as well as Head of Product Strategy at ABIBA Systems.

The answer to the above challenge is the purpose-driven

His domain expertise is in retail, CPG,

AI Framework. The framework is based on 16 decades of

telecommunications, education, financial services, and

combined experience over 1000 AI and data science

manufacturing with a geographic focus on North

projects and two years of research. It helps clients to

America, Europe, the Middle East, and APAC.

overcome challenges and adopt best practices at every

Senthil was one of the pioneers of AutoML and NLG in

stage of AI implementation right from the

India with over 6 patents in areas of AutoML, NLG, NLP

conceptualization to deployment. It is the guiding

and augmented analytics. His core research areas of

principle for all AI implementations. It is built on four

interest include NLG, NLQA, augmented analytics, and

major pillars--- purpose, empowerment, responsible AI,

conversational AI. He has launched several award-

and scalability.

winning AI and ML products both in India and the US

Tejas Gowda and Senthil Nathan Rajendran founded

markets while having hands-on experience in building

Tenzai Systems in August 2019 with a vision to help

large-scale AI and cognitive computing practices right

enterprises realize the full potential of AI. The duo had

from the scratch for global markets. The products were

worked with leading analytics firms and innovative

featured by several analyst reports like Gartner and

product start-ups and also launched several awarding

Forrester and he is known for managing large-scale AI

41

deployments spanning across multiple countries.

digital technologies. But one thing that is of concern is

Tejas Gowda, Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist of

the contribution in terms of innovation and IPs in

Tenzai Systems and is known as a Data Science Leader

Artificial Intelligence. India is lagging behind significantly

with deep expertise in AutoML, NLP and computer

when compared to other countries. This is where Tenzai

vision. He has sufficient experience in providing AI

Systems aspires to contribute. As a company, the team

solutions for Fortune 1000 companies across verticals to

has pledged that the resources will be earmarked for

solve business challenges.

innovation and IP-related activities like patents,

Tejas was a principal data scientist at Marlabs

research papers, institutional collaborations, product

Innovations, a senior data scientist at Hansa Cequity, a

i d e a s , e t c . Ten z a i S y s t e m s a l r e a d y h a s a c t i ve

lead analyst at Analytics Quotient, as well as a research

collaborations with leading global institutions to

analyst at CRISL Global Research & Analytics. His

conceptualize ideas, concepts and IPs in exponential

domain expertise is in retail, CPG, telecommunications,

technologies.

education, financial services, and manufacturing.

Today, the team can confidently say that in the last two

Tejas has consulted many Fortune 500 clients in areas of

years all AI implementations have been successful and all

AI and data science and filed over six patents in areas of

clients have been able to realize the full potential of AI

AutoML, NLG, NLP and augmented analytics. He has

due to the purpose-driven approach. Tenzai Systems is

mentored many data scientists, machine learning and

helping across verticals and some of the benefits realized

deep learning engineers including mentors' faculty and

by clients included reducing operational costs due to

research fellows in AI, machine learning and deep

efficient forecasting and optimization, enhancing

learning in many leading universities. He is known for his

customer loyalty due to customer journey mapping,

hands-on experience in architecting complex and large-

predicting payment risks and anomalies, helping

scale AI implementations across the globe while being a

companies and institutions reopen post-COVID, helping

pioneer in launching AutoML and NLG products in India.

companies accelerate their GTM for new AI products

Extending the Circle of Trust

and use cases, as well as identifying new consumer

The company's notable awards and recognitions include

insights and revenue opportunities.

top 20 start-ups selected by F10 Singapore Accelerator

Driving Innovations with Active Collaborations

Program (Switzerland Stock Exchange and Julius Baer,

As a company, the team has pledged that 20% of time,

one of the world's largest private banking firms) where

resources will be earmarked for Innovation and IP

Tenzai was selected among the top 20 out of 2000+ start-

related activities like patents, research papers,

ups across Asia and Europe and top 50 start-ups selected

institutional collaborations, product ideas etc. Tenzai

by Conquest BITS Pilani Accelerator Program where

already has active collaborations with leading global

Tenzai was selected among the top 20 out of 2500 +

institutions to conceptualize ideas, concepts and IPs in

start-ups across India.

exponential technologies. There are two successful AI

There are multiple client references where all the sales

products as a result of innovation in the areas of

are inbound through references based on the work.

computer vision and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

More than 90% of customers are repeat customers

The team also has a lot of initiatives going under Applied

which is testimony to the high quality of work.

AI research.

Reaping Technical Benefits in Unprecedented Times

Embedded AI: Transforming the Tech-Driven Future

As a country, the world has made a decent progress in AI

Earlier the industry had seen how AI / ML / Cloud / IoT

due to innovative start-ups and governments' push for

were implemented for use cases as stand-alone

42

technologies. The next generation of innovation would come from the convergence of other emerging technologies like blockchain, AR / VR, IoT, robotics, biotechnology, etc. That wave of innovation would be truly disruptive. As per reports, society is going to experience 20000 years of technological change in the next 100 years. The founders believe that there will be less standalone AI implementation because AI will be omnipresent be it any hardware such as drone, CCTV, TV, refrigerators, washing machines, wearables or software like spreadsheets, CRM, ERP, accounting software, etc. will be coming with embedded AI capabilities. AI will be the new software.

Future Prospect: Elevating the Brand The company is very excited about the future. For the first two years, the team was focused on building the foundation and culture. Now it wants to accelerate the growth. The team wants to establish Tenzai as a prominent AI solutions provider in the US and India within the next two to three years. The company has roped in industry veterans to the advisory board to help in accelerating growth strategy. According to Senthil, it is a great time to be in the tech industry as an AI solutions provider. But one must also remember that AI is also one of the fastest-growing technologies and hence AI companies must also keep up the pace to stay relevant in

Tejas Gowda

the market.

43

5

INDUSTRIES

THAT ARE BEING RESHAPED BY DATA ANALYTICS

46

T

he concept of data analytics has such potential

Real Estate

that its application should not be restricted

Real estate firms are leveraging big data for better

within the IT sectors only. The main factor of data

property analysis, better trend analysis, and a better

analytics is that it provides a new way to gain insights into

understanding of their customers and markets. On the

the challenges businesses face every day. Previously, no

other hand, property management companies are also

company could collect and analyze vast quantities of

utilizing data collected from their building systems to

data. The necessity of analyzing such a long array of data

optimize performance, surface areas of concern, and

is to analyse the condition of the company and predict

streamline maintenance processes.

the future strategies that would bring success. At present, a business generates all sorts of data – from

Telecommunications

machine data associated with the servers and networks

The telecommunication industry is using data analytics

to emails to customer purchasing trends. If the company

to improve customer experience, fraud reduction, churn

aims to stay competitive and lean, they need to leverage

prediction, and dynamic pricing. With the emergence of

that data to help move the business forward and using

5G, data plays a key role in network planning, monitoring

tools of data analytics is the easiest way to do that.

and management. With a centralized data analytics solution, the entire department's data merge into one

Banking Industry

central system. Each department can add its insight into

Retail banks are using data analytics in location

the data gathered, giving another perspective that will

intelligence to determine how to most efficiently

lead to a solution more quickly. All the departments can

manage their branch locations and set location-based

learn from each other, increasing efficiency and boosting

performance goals. They aim to understand how their

productivity.

customers use their accounts and to help identify security risks. Investment banks are also using big data to

Healthcare

understand the markets and make smart trading

Data analytics is largely used in healthcare to collect and

decisions.

handle a long array of data from blood test results to numerous other tests and records of diagnosis. Big data

Agriculture

is also used in research related to healthcare in the fields

Data analytics have now become a crucial element for

of making medicines and predicting their nature and

agriculture. It is used for predicting the weather and

effect on the human body. Data analytics also prevents

squeezing maximum productivity out of the land. Many

diseases by early recognition of risks, and the tools also

firms also use data analytics to keep a record of the

recommend preventive plans. Various smart devices

farming elements and quality of the products. Smart

using data analytics use people's genetic information and

farming uses data analytics solutions to gather

historical patterns to recognize issues before it gets out

information from multiple farming practices to create

of hand.

algorithms that can be utilised by different farms to create a crop yield that is both fruitful and sustainable.

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Spencer Gracias CEO of Stefanini Group North America/APAC Management team 48

Delivering Cutting-Edge Solutions Powered by Digital Transformation

S

tefanini Group is a US$1 billion global technology

umbrella under which the acquired companies are

company that provides organizations of all

organized by industry vertical.

shapes and sizes with a broad portfolio of digital

transformation services and solutions. The company

In 2001, Stefanini founded its North American

offers artificial intelligence, automation, cloud, internet

headquarters in Detroit, Michigan. In 2010, the U.S.

of things (IoT), and user experience (UX) services.

made its first acquisition of TechTeam Global, Inc. This

Stefanini prides itself upon its innovation, technology,

new subsidiary brought together Stefanini's traditional

and talent.

strength in areas like application outsourcing and

Co-creating solutions with clients to best suit their needs

software development with TechTeam's expertise in

through innovative consulting, marketing, mobility, and

service desk and BPO. This acquisition was followed by

personalized campaigns has been the unique feature of

acquisitions of CodeX, Inc. in 2011 and RCG Global

the company. Stefanini serves the industries of finance,

Services, Inc. in 2013.

retail, manufacturing, health, life sciences, aerospace, education, smart cities, automotive, and mining.

A Trailblazer with Extensive Experience Spencer Gracias brings 25+ years of experience to

Emerging as a Global Leader in Digital Solutions

Stefanini, serving as the company's North

Stefanini was founded in San Paulo, Brazil, by Marco

America/APAC CEO since 2017. He has been a member

Stefanini in 1987. The company was built upon a mission

of the board of technology at Stefanini since early 2015,

to make the dreams of its customers, employees, and

working directly with Marco Stefanini, the company's

shareholders a reality through the finest technology and

Founder and Global CEO. Spencer has played a critical

innovative digital solutions. Since its origin, Stefanini has

role in developing and improving service offerings,

acquired 30 companies, all with unique specialties, and

conducting IT market analyses within Latin America, and

has rebranded itself as Stefanini Group, a large brand

advising.

49

The best analytics solutions don't just present data; they provide context and connections. When data tells a story, it becomes information, when information gets tested, it becomes knowledge — knowledge that can sometimes tell the future (or make a smart prediction).

Spencer Gracias CEO of Stefanini Group North America/APAC Management team

www.stefanini.com

50

Before joining Stefanini, Spencer was the Strategic

ensure new technology aligns with their specific

Outsourcing Executive for IBM Mexico, leading the

business objectives and that innovative ideas translate

business development initiatives with more than 1,400

into real-world business solutions.

resources and supporting more than 40 clients. This

With four innovation centres across its global footprint,

brought IBM a significant value to help clients in their IT

Stefanini fosters innovation with employees, partners,

transformations. Spencer has worked with Whirlpool,

and the community, using a human-centric immersive

CPFL Energia, Globo TV, General Motors, ABN Amro

approach based on design-thinking, design-sprint and

Bank, and Santander Bank. He has two MBA degrees and

lean-start-up methodology. Smart Factory, IoT,

two post-MBA degrees in marketing and strategic

cognitive, predictive analytics, augmented and virtual

resource management.

reality initiatives, for example, are used in innovation centres and are designed to help tackle the current

Contributions to the Growth of Disruptive

challenges manufacturing plants face. A strategic

Technologies

collaboration system also supports the innovation

Stefanini's analytics and big data services are designed to

landscape at Stefanini by working with a network of best-

empower a client's business. Providing a holistic view of a

in-class industry leaders, accredited research

business' data and actionable insights. Stefanini

universities, and innovation-focused companies across

leverages industry-leading best practices for data

multiple continents.

governance, delivers data strategy, organization, visualization, and predictive modelling solutions.

Role of AI and Cloud in Driving Innovation

A complete view and understanding of data can prime

Technologies like AI, automation, and cloud computing

your innovation business. Instead of leaving your virtual

are pushing businesses to be in a digital-first mindset by

piles of data untouched and unutilized, the Stefanini

simplifying processes for maximum effectiveness and

team works to derive value from your data and create

results.

monetization. Data science and advanced data analytics

AI technologies are commonly used to support three

take businesses to the next level. Stefanini leverages

crucial business needs: automating business processes,

artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate a

gaining insight through big data and data analysis, and

business. Machine learning allows the algorithm to learn

engaging with customers and employees. AI can monitor

from the data, validate it and then predict outcomes.

and adjust to many more variables at a speed that human counterparts simply cannot match. At the same time, AI

Innovation Being the Core Value of Stefanini

technologies are also more objective and consistent than

Innovation is one of Stefanini's core values, and the

people.

company's major strength is working with clients to

While cloud computing is a large investment, spending

51

on traditional in-house IT will continue to decrease as

Due to the increase of remote work models, Stefanini can

computing workloads are moved to the cloud. With

hire talent regardless of geographic area.

numerous positive outcomes such as cost-effectiveness, business agility, efficient use of resources, greater

Recognition for Business Excellence

security, more mobility, increased collaboration,

Stefanini Group has celebrated its recognition for

consistent quality, data-driven insights, disaster

technology solutions, and services, the company's

recovery and loss prevention, cloud computing work can

response to the pandemic and recognition as a top

be done anywhere, anytime thus inspiring innovation in

workplace. Last year alone, the company received six

other technologies and industries with increased

award recognitions.

flexibility.

The company's managed service expertise was recognized at the IT Service & Support Awards, where it

Major Challenges and Experiences

was named the 'Best Large Enterprise Managed Service

Stefanini Group has faced the challenge of reinforcing

Provider of 2020'. Also, in 2020, Stefanini was awarded a

brand awareness and positioning the company as a

platinum AVA Digital Award for its “Stefanini Responds to

global leader in digital solutions for any business. With a

COVID-19” marketing campaign. It also won the

strong start in IT services, the team has had to

“Company Rethinking of The Year Award” by the Golden

communicate that they are a full-service technology

Bridge Awards, and the Best of MichBusiness for one of

company specializing in digital solutions and can do more

Michigan's COVID-19 pivots. The Detroit Free Press

than IT work exclusively. Throughout its almost 34 years

designated Stefanini as one of Michigan Top Workplaces

of history, a core element of Stefanini's DNA is to partner

2020, an award given to companies based on employee

with customers, partners, and employees to co-create

feedback about their employer on the company, work-

solutions.

life balance, and more.

Another core challenge is to attract and retain talent.

Stefanini has taken a very strategic approach to

An Optimistic View on Future

understand and communicate with employees and

On the trajectory for significant growth, Stefanini Group

teams in a way that best suits them across its global

has already acquired 30 companies in more than 30

presence. The company continues to take every

years. In 2019 alone, the company reported 10% organic

opportunity to learn from clients and employees, giving

growth over 2018. The company has an extensive,

them a broad, diverse, international perspective that can

aggressive growth plan established with goals to grow in

be niche and specific to cultures and regions as needed.

both revenue and through mergers and acquisitions.

52

Piyush Saxena Co-founder and MD Flip Robo

54

Leveraging Small to Big Artificial Intelligence & Data Science Services for a Developed Future

F

lip Robo is an artificial intelligence and

fuel the development industry. The company's journey

development company. It specializes in chat bots,

has been a mix of ups and downs. It started with web

web scrapping, and building algorithms that help

scrapping tools and now has a pool of products and

people scale up their businesses. The company is also an

services in digital marketing, data science, big data

expertise in web and mobile development. Flip Robo has

analytics, and automation. Flip Robo has more than 500

highly skilled professionals who enable organizations

clients based across multiple geographies including in

and institutions to transform and digitize their

Asia Pacific, Middle East, Europe, and America.

operations and help them scale exponentially. The company offers services and products across some of the popular and emerging technologies. Leveraging a mix of

The Strong Pillars Behind Flip Robo's Victory

cutting-edge data science techniques and big data

Piyush Saxena and Nupur Thakur are the Founders of the

technology, Flip Robo's systems are able to give people

company. Nupur started her career with a BE in

insights across all of their business operations. The

Computer Science and is now heading the analytics

company's expertise in ML-based predictive analytics

division of the company. Piyush covers the entire gamut

solutions equips people and management to make fast

of responsibilities that start from connecting and

and accurate tailor-made decisions.

nurturing clients. Piyush is one of the Co-Founders of Flip Robo Technologies and is currently serving as the

Web Scrapping Tools to Disruptive Technologies: A

MD. He is an IIT Kanpur alumni and has worked for more

Success Saga

than fifteen years in several MNCs like JP Morgan, HDFC

Flip Robo was started in January 2016. The idea was to

Bank, and others. He at present parallel runs a school in

use the power of artificial intelligence and automation to

Moradabad, UP. Nupur was earlier a tax consultant with

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Flip Robo excels in providing web development services to cater to the client's business needs. It uses modern-day technology stacks to provide robust applications with clean UI and is equipped with best-in-class features.

Piyush Saxena Co-founder and MD Flip Robo

www.fliprobo.com

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KPMG and is right now heading the business operations

understand the needs of the clients and then foster

and new business development at FlipRobo.

business solutions accordingly. Like the cloud experts have huge knowledge in the domain and will always

Unleasing Tecynology, Accelerating Big Developments

strive to deliver the clients with some best solutions. The

Flip Robo uses big data analytics in the following areas:

company's developers team understands the business

cost optimization, improve efficiency, foster competitive

processes and on the basis of their analysis, it provides a

pricing, augment sales and retain brand loyalty. The

cloud solution that will be entirely scalable as its business

company's team of data analysts are able to find out the

grows.

flaws in the client's digital marketing ads, thus utilizing

Flip Robo's team of developers and consultants also

the maximum business out of the spending. The company

analyze client's business problem to come up with a

analyzes client's historical data and evaluates the

solution that will ultimately help the business grow

effectiveness of the spend allocation tactics across

faster, ensuring a robust and smooth functioning. The

various media and social channels. Flip Robo has built a

company's digital marketing experts will take care of the

gamut of AI-based solutions specific to the education

business' online presence and optimize it to get the

industry.

clients a greater customer base, thereby increasing sales

These include learning management solutions (LMS) for

opportunities.

new-age India, assessment solutions, anytime certificate, project management tool, and employee

Holding Talented People Dearly for the Digital Future

tracking solutions. India is an agrarian economy. The

Flip Robo excels in providing web development services

company is creating several AI-based solutions like crop

to cater to the client's business needs. The company uses

monitoring, weed detection and eradication, pest

modern-day technology stacks to provide robust

control, and IoT-based cold storage. Its aim is to increase

applications with clean UI and is equipped with best-in-

farm production along with bringing a change in the

class features. Flip Robo's data scientists are well-

livelihood of its farmers, thus enhancing the overall

qualified and have the skillset in statistics, machine

growth of the country. Flip Robo's AI-based tool auto

learning, and data engineering. With the strong

picks relevant resumes from a chunk of more than

command over the data collection and analysis process

10000. Out of 4 common interview rounds, the

and the latest tech, the company engineers data into

company's AI-based system is equipped to take the first

valuable insights. Its AI and ML developers are well-

three rounds without any human interference. This helps

qualified and have the skillset artificial intelligence,

organizations reduce the hiring time and concentrate

machine learning, and deep learning. With a strong

more on core HR works. FlipRobo is also the first

command over the development of AI models and the

company in India to work on the domain of big data

latest technology, the company creates AI-powered

analytics in healthcare.

applications to provide the best business solutions to its clients. The industry in big data analytics is moving at a

Working as a Team to Leverage Market Best Services

very fast pace. Innovations and deep research are going

Flip Robo's team always works in different segments to

to play a bigger part is what the company believes.

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