Most Inspiring Business Leaders | Dr. Fred Cooper

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December 2019

Inspiring

Making a Difference

(Vol-2)

Editor’s Choice The Journey to Self-Discovery

Mentor’s Role Entrepreneurship Going Beyond the Comfort of Safety to Make Larger Impact

EDITOR’S NOTE Leadership should be Respected, as it is Meant to Be! Leader—this seven syllables holds strong meaning than on can expect., A leader is expected to posses all the necessary traits to overcome each and every obstacle in his or her. A person with all such traits portrays as a symbolism to inspiration. There are lots of leaders to whom we look up to like Late Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos or Jack Ma, these leaders put forth a tremendous example for various want-to-be young business opportunists.

In the current business world, we need leaders who can turn the businesses around into their and inspire many others simultaneously. This edition, clearly highlights on those leaders who have meet up to expectations of many and still are thriving in their respective field.

CIO Look appreciates the contribution made by such profound organizations and takes pride in undertaking such brands in this special issue, entitled “Inspiring Business Leaders Making a Difference, 2019 (VOL.2)” Here is the glimpse of the cover; Network marketing is the new big thing in today’s business sectors.

Comprehending and efficiently leveraging its potential

Inspiring

BUSINESS LEADERS

Making a Difference

2019 (Vol-2)

for a greater good paves the way to success for many individuals and organizations. Meet Dr. Fred Cooper—Founder & CEO of ARIIX, who understands the significance of such marketing and has attained many milestones along his path. He is a respected leader with a talent for creating lucrative opportunities globally. Being a true innovator and direct sales forerunner, Fred perceives opportunities and has the unique ability to create revolutionary business models that benefit the independent business owners—like the industry-first TM and patent-pending ACTIV8 Compensation Plan. ACTIV8 is well known and coveted in the industry, and the unique brain-child of Fred Cooper!

Let’s unveil such alike, inspiring stories and interviews of many such passionate leaders in this special edition and spread a word about their contribution in making this world a better place.

Also, while flipping the pages, don’t forget to go through the articles and CXOs written by our in-house editorial team and industry experts respectively.

Enjoy the read....!

Bhushan Ghate

Cover Story 08 Dr. Fred Cooper

A Remarkable Gamechanger In Network Marketing

Mr Desmond Tay

Stepping Up to Make the World a Better Place

30 Alejandra Guzman

Globally Acclaimed Leader in Business Management

38

46 Rob Leslie

A Pioneer of Anti-Money Laundering and KYC domain

CO NT EN TS

26

Mark Rees

Thoughts on AI What shall we do with all this speed

54

Leaders Take

Swati Bhargava

Leading by becoming an Excellent Businessperson

50

58

The Key to Secure Digital Transformation

Article Editor’s Choice

Sandro Schmid

The Journey to Self-Discovery

34

A Bold Leader in the Digital Transformation

Mentor’s Role

Entrepreneurship Going Beyond the Comfort of Safety to Make Larger Impact

42

K. Roy Editor-in-Chief

CONTENT

Senior Editor Alan Swann Managing Editor Bhushan Ghate Executive Editors Sourabh More

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December, 2019

Cover Story

Dr. Fred

Cooper “

It is unfortunate that a few unscrupulous companies have tarnished the reputation of an industry that possesses so many positive and beneficial attributes. ARIIX is going to change that perception, one Representative at a time.

“

‘

N

etwork marketing is the new big thing in today's business sectors.

Comprehending and efficiently leveraging its potential for a greater good paves the way to success for many individuals and organizations. Meet Dr. Fred Cooper—Founder & CEO of ARIIX, who understands the significance of such marketing and has attained many milestones along his path. He is a respected leader with a talent for creating lucrative opportunities globally. Being a true innovator and direct sales forerunner, Fred perceives opportunities and has the unique ability to create revolutionary business models that benefit the independent business owners—like the industry-first and patent-pending ACTIV8TM Compensation Plan.

ACTIV8 is well known and coveted in the industry, and the unique brain-child of Fred Cooper!

Dr. Fred Cooper received his PhD in Business and Statistics and taught for 17 years as a professor at the University of Utah. He is also the original founder of the Center for Entrepreneurship at the university. The direct selling industry first piqued Fred's interest while he was teaching an advanced statistics class to an accountant whose firm conducted business with a publicly traded direct sales company. He realized that working for a direct sales company has the ability to expand one's perception of business opportunities, and he welcomed the challenge of creating a compensation plan that could truly be rewarding and unique.

Global Recognition Today, with more than 20 years of industry experience, Dr. Fred Cooper is one of the world's foremost experts in the managing of direct selling companies, emerging as a pioneer with a knack for spotting inefficiencies and then fixing them. In 2018, Fred became one of only 40 recipients worldwide to receive an honorary professorship from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, and membership in the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. As a recipient of this distinctive award, Fred is counted among an elite group of highly successful international leaders. Through these appointments, he is highly valued as a results-driven visionary for his contributions toward resolving commerce issues in the global marketplace.

Being a world-renowned speaker and award-winning businessman, Fred's industry presence has earned him the title of Top CEO in the World by Business for

Home—the leading industry publication. He was recently named Transformation Leader of the Year in the CEO World Awards, and has been featured in myriad publications and news segments, including Performance 360, ABC4 "Good Things Utah," The CEO Views, CIO Bulletin and Insights Success, to name a few.

What is Direct Selling?

Direct sales is selling at its purest form — it's selling products directly to the consumer in a non-retail environment. In direct sales, independent representatives market products in a variety of ways, ranging from home parties to websites, one-on-one meetings, etc. The direct selling industry — also known as network marketing — features an independent business model which entrepreneurial-minded people can utilize to build their own business with low start-up and overhead costs.

Disruptive by Design®, ARIIX is a direct selling company founded in 2011 by Dr. Fred Cooper and six other professionals — each having achieved professional acclaim in their respective areas of expertise. This group of seven founders set out to create something different — and truly disruptive to the direct selling industry.

These leaders saw an opportunity to create an environment where the average person has a chance to succeed. Their goal is to transform the direct selling industry and transform lives, starting with innovative practices and a Representative-first approach that disrupts the status quo.

The ARIIX Bill of Rights It’s hard to identify just one attribute that makes ARIIX stand out the most from other direct sales companies.

But perhaps at the top of the list of industry-disrupting innovations is the ARIIX Representative Bill of Rights — an industry-first contract that provides ARIIX Representatives not only legal protection, but also a voice within the company, ranging from compensation plan changes to policies and procedures, as well as a share in company profits. ARIIX believes in the collective input of its Representatives and puts it in writing — something that no other direct selling company offers. With four patents pending, the Bill of Rights is the pinnacle of change in favor of the thousands of individual business owners that represent the company.

The ARIIX Products The ARIIX products are meticulously formulated to offer high-demand, efficacious brands that meet the ARIIX Seal of Approval — the gold standard that symbolizes the ARIIX pursuit of "best in class."

Contributing to ARIIX product development are the ARIIX Wellness and Athletes Councils. These councils are comprised of world-renowned nutrition, health and lifestyle experts that help to create brands on the leading edge of science and nature.

ACTIV8™ Compensation Plan — Patent Pending Offering Representatives a truly unrivaled opportunity, ARIIX — with the direction of Dr. Fred Cooper — created the ACTIV8 Compensation Plan. Voted the No. 1 compensation plan worldwide by Business for Home magazine, ACTIV8 boasts a payout of 50/50 for every company dollar made. This patent-pending compensation plan is leading change industrywide and bringing a more profitable opportunity to ARIIX Representatives across the globe.

Acquisitions and Mergers ARIIX continually seeks to add breakthrough product offerings and forward-thinking entrepreneurs to expand its groundbreaking opportunity around the world through a powerful acquisition strategy. The Representative-first focus, patent-pending compensation plan, ARIIX Lifestyle Perks program, and award-winning business-building tools and innovations create a high demand from direct selling companies all over the world who wish to join forces with ARIIX. This steady stream of industry leaders and Representatives joining ARIIX is just one of the unique factors that contributes to record-breaking profitability and industry-leading growth.

Forerunners of ARIIX Mark Wilson is responsible for transforming lives on a global scale, for innovating a multi-billion-dollar industry, and for providing groundbreaking opportunities for thousands. The big-picture vision and an ability to recognize opportunities is his signature talent.

Being an entrepreneur at heart, Mark started his first business at age 20 and realized the amazing freedom it allowed him to determine his own success. His love for people and his enthusiasm for teaching others to unlock their potential is the reason for his passion for network marketing. He holds 20 years of industry experience building relationships and supporting Representatives in the field.

He strongly believes in the importance of forging strong partnerships between the corporate office and ARIIX Representatives and always putting the needs of the Reps first. His unique, in-depth knowledge of the network marketing industry is a direct result of his extensive global travel, acting as the liaison between management and top leaders.

Mark Wilson President & Founder

“Seeing the positive changes that come when they realize their own power and potential—that's what I call fun.”

Jeff Yates CFO & Founder

“Nothing brings me greater enjoyment and fulfillment than seeing their success firsthand.”

Jeff Yates holds a Master of Accountancy from Brigham Young University. He brings more than 35 years of financial and accounting leadership experience to ARIIX, having worked with successful institutions of every size and through every phase of growth. He began his career by starting a sporting goods company with retail stores throughout Utah. He worked for several years as a CPA with the public accounting firm of PriceWaterhouse, consulting with premier clients throughout the United States.

As the Chief Financial Officer for Franklin Covey Stores in Salt Lake City, he was accountable for 185 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. He was the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Deseret Book, and later served as the CFO of USANA Health Sciences with responsibility for the company's global financial performance.

Currently, Jeff is responsible for ARIIX's financial reporting, accounting, tax, treasury, investor relations and human resources—but the most fulfilling aspect of his career is watching Representatives achieve their goals.

ARIIX Lifestyle Perks ARIIX is not one to settle for ordinary. That's why the company developed its Lifestyle Perks program — an all-encompassing rewards program that gives ARIIX Representatives exclusive access to rewards designed to help them achieve their ideal lifestyle. ARIIX Reps earn Reward Dollars every time they make a purchase with ARIIX, dollar for dollar. Reward Dollars can then be redeemed for ARIIX Lifestyle Perks: ARIIX Travel®, ARIIX Loyalty Shopping and ARIIX Diamonds™.

ARIIX Travel makes it possible for ARIIX Representatives to explore the world. Using Reward Dollars, Representatives can access exclusive savings on travel — from more than one million hotels and resort properties with up to 90% savings, to flights, cruise packages, guided tours, car rentals and more! Plus, with the ARIIX Travel Referral Program, ARIIX Reps can share their Reward Dollars with friends and family and get CASH BACK when they book.

The ARIIX Loyalty Shopping program rewards Representatives with exclusive insider savings on their favorite ARIIX products.

Reps can choose to lower the price even further by cashing in Reward Dollars. This cost-saving rewards program provides budget-friendly access to the high-quality ARIIX products Representatives know and love.

In another revolutionary move, ARIIX partnered with a premier jewelry and gemstone wholesaler to bring its Representatives ARIIX Diamonds.

Through this luxurious program, ARIIX Reps can redeem Reward Dollars for lavish jewelry featuring ARIIX-inspired designs, one-of-a-kind ďŹ ne jewelry, charm bracelets, loose diamonds and even customized designs.

THE Opportunity CompanyÂŽ Whether it's sporting dazzling jewelry through ARIIX Diamonds, seeing the world through ARIIX Travel, or obtaining the highest-quality products at a deep discount with ARIIX Loyalty Shopping, ARIIX believes in celebrating its Representatives and setting them on the path to living the life of their dreams.

Riley Timmer COO & Founder

“The more emphasis and importance you place on people and surrounding yourself with great people, the more successful you become.”

Riley Timmer understands the significance of a little boost to help someone elevate their life from good to great. As Chief Operating Officer of ARIIX, Riley combines a decade of corporate financial leadership experience with a forward-thinking global vision to ensure ARIIX is a valued resource for those who desire to take their health and life from good to amazing! With a degree in economics from the University of Utah, Riley has worked in corporate finance, investor relations and international expansion leadership roles for the last decade.

As Riley leads ARIIX's international expansion efforts, he finds great satisfaction in learning about the cultures, background and history of the company's diverse world. Riley has a talent for understanding ARIIX Representatives and a passion for delivering exactly what they need.

As Chief Product Officer, Deanna Latson is the driving force behind the development of ARIIX's revolutionary health and wellness products. Her passion and commitment to using only the highest quality ingredients from around the world makes the ARIIX Seal of Approval the industry's gold standard.

Deanna is living proof that it's possible to transform one's life through proper education and nutrition. While she was in college, both of Deanna's parents became ill with life-threatening diseases. It was after they experienced amazing transformations in their health, and Deanna improved her own health and wellness through wholistic means, that she decided to pursue a career in nutrition.

She has been involved in the field of health and wellness for more than 20 years and has served as a consultant, spokesperson, writer and guest lecturer for some of the largest colleges, universities and corporations in the world, including Smart Water and the American Heart Association. She is a sought-after motivational and NCAA grant-approved speaker. As a master communicator, Deanna serves as the liaison between the ARIIX Scientific Advisory Board and the field.

Deanna Latson CPO & Founder

“My passion for helping people transform their lives through proper nutrition is what drives me.”

Impeccable Products to Rely On Continually seeking to provide life-changing products with real results, ARIIX partners with worldrenowned nutrition, health and lifestyle experts to deliver brands on the leading edge of what science and nature can offer. With eight efficacious, result-oriented product lines, ARIIX presents a comprehensive and 360º approach to attain a better life.

“Science-based supplements to cleanse, fortify and boost.”

Nutrifii is a premium collection of nine bioavailable supplements that include synergistic blends of vitamins, minerals, nutrient-dense superfoods, essential omega-3 fatty acids, and powerful enzymes to support extraordinary health and vitality. Designed for optimal absorption, carefully sourced and expertly crafted, Nutrifii is free of GMOs, gluten, soy, synthetic fillers and artificial colorants.

ARIIX claims, “the results speak for themselves,” and emphasizes that Slenderiiz is an all-natural, gluten-free product line featuring game-changing drops that help curb hunger, increase energy and stimulate metabolism. These powerful drops work synergistically with nourishing shakes and boosts to help maintain lean muscle mass and bring out one's inner beauty.

“Transcend time to reveal the true you.”

With Jouvé, beautiful skin doesn't come at the high price of one's health. Formulated with non-toxic and natural ingredients, Jouvé is a premium skin care line that delivers beautiful, radiant and youthful-looking skin. As the company is committed to using only pure ingredients without compromising on effectiveness, one will never find any parabens, phthalates, PEGs, gluten, synthetic fragrances or artificial colors in any of its skin care products.

NuCerity provides dermatologist-recommended skin care products, which help create and maintain healthy skin using the latest research and technology, as well as a breakthrough nutritional supplement supporting antiaging and the immune system. With NuCerity age-defying products, one can enjoy more options to maximize health and wellness at every stage of life!

PURITII™ AIR PURIFICATION SYSTEM “Breathe deep. Breathe easy.”

ARIIX states that its high-capacity, 11-stage Puritii Air Purification System removes 99.99% of particulates, microbes and dangerous gases from one's home and office. With its industry-leading lifetime warranty, rest assured family is protected from silent, invisible toxins.

WATER FILTRATION SYSTEM

“The perfect on-the-go urban companion.”

The Puritii Water Filtration System is a technological breakthrough in filter design. With this proprietary, portable water filtration system, enjoy safe, fresh, clean drinking water without the cost, environmental impact, or potentially harmful toxins of bottled or tap water. The Puritii Water Filter exceeds NSF and EPA standards, and uses a proven, proprietary two-part filtration process to filter out biological, chemical and emerging contaminants.

This one-of-a-kind filter is included in a 25-ounce, ecofriendly TritanTM plastic bottle.

“Clean never felt so good.”

Reviive personal care products cleanse away impurities without introducing new ones. This toxin-free line includes shampoo, conditioner, body wash, toothpaste and lip balm. The company's clean and effective formulas contain natural cleansing and conditioning extracts straight from Mother Nature.

“Nature and you in perfect balance.”

Balanced to the last drop, ARIIX's curated collection of Priime Essential Oil blends is designed to support health and wellbeing. Its proprietary blends include a defensive blend to help fight germs, a stress-relieving blend, a muscle-soothing blend and a relaxing night-time blend. Sourced from artisan farmers and indigenous soils, without the use of herbicides or pesticides, its oils are free from additives, bases, synthetics, fillers or gluten.

“Exotic ingredient.

Essential nutrition.”

LIMU ultra-premium, liquid nutritional drinks contain a natural blend of tropical fruits, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and antioxidants, with no artificial flavors or colors. All LIMU products contain Fucoidan, a proprietary seaweed supernutrient that's power-packed with beneficial properties shown to support body systems and promote optimal health. The latest addition to the LIMU product line also includes the BLU FROG® Advanced Energy Blend, enriched with powerful cognitive-enhancing nootropic supplements to help keep one razor sharp and focused while boosting one’s mental clarity, creativity and drive.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

A master in all aspects of IT, Wenhan Zhang also possesses a deep understanding of the network marketing industry and is highly proficient in business analysis, enabling him to communicate fluently with Representatives in the field. Over the course of his exemplary career, he has implemented a revolutionary, award-winning commission structure and downline management system, led the flawless integration of numerous company mergers, and undertaken the deployment of new business intelligence and online service systems with categorical success.

Wenhan's extensive knowledge encompasses all disciplines of IT functionality, including software, hardware, infrastructure and operations. He holds a master's in Engineering from Ohio State University and was recently honored by the International Business Awards with the 2019 Gold Stevie® for IT Executive of the Year. Highly skilled at building revolutionary commission and downline management systems, among his most recent creations is a sophisticated computing grid with multiple data centers in Asia and North America, providing a global system of high performance and scalability — just one example of the expansive genius he brings to ARIIX.

Wenhan Zhang CIO & Founder

“I believe in making it possible for Reps to build the life they desire and share time with those they love.”

Ian Chandler CSO & Founder

“I’m grateful for the opportunity I have to help others break out and pursue their dreams through the equalizing power of this industry.”

Ian Chandler possesses both an excellent understanding of the network marketing industry and a deep appreciation for multicultural traditions. His business acumen and cultural sensitivity is a tremendous asset to ARIIX and is especially apparent in his easy interactions with the company's international Representatives.

Ian knows how to get results and loves to help others realize success in their financial dreams by leveraging passion and productivity into creating powerful organizations. With ARIIX, Ian has founded the perfect vehicle for combining his professional experience with his dedication to helping others reach their greatest potential.

Ian’s deep appreciation for the cultural heritage and wisdom that is abundant throughout the world is a perfect fit for ARIIX’s global vision of empowering humanity to reach its greatest potential. His command of the Chinese language and unique understanding of everything from compensation plans to customer relations perfectly aligns with the company's goal to provide the right tools and support for every Representative in the way that best fits each market’s needs and trends.

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| December 2019 |

Mark Rees

A

t a DevOps conference in Helsinki, a very learned university Professor gave a great retrospective about how DevOps has transformed the IT-space into a high velocity, continuously improving environment for development, deployment and operations of digital products and services. He presented a whole bunch of empirical data, industry insights and backed it up with solid academic knowledge. It was by far the best keynote at the conference. But what made it stand out above all, was his closing remarks and question to the auditorium, with which he casted a searching question on the concept of automated, AI based systems and how we perceive them. It is perhaps the single question that challenges us the most on this subject. “What shall we do with all this speed?”

Which brings me back to my Professor in Helsinki, I believe he was implicitly asking the audience to selfreflect on the question of do we know when enough is enough? I don´t believe we are even conscious of this question, let alone able to answer it. We just don´t we even think about it?

Fortunately there are people who do think about the question. Professor Kevin Warwick stated in his book “In the Mind of the Machine” (published in 1998) “within the next 10 to 50 years artificial intelligence systems will have been developed, that will not only be more intelligent than humans but also exhibit a significant number of advantages; they will be faster, more reliable, quicker to learn and more robust.” Within 10 years of that prediction stock market High Frequency Trading (HFT) was so fast that humans were no longer capable of monitoring the processes. We now know the consequences of uncontrolled speed in HFT in financial markets. Our pursuit of speed seems not to have considered social and ecological aspects. All that speed benefitted a few and all but destroyed much for the many.

Exactly! Should we be pursuing speed and if so for what reason? To have “speed” in your operations is to have an extra competitive advantage which is a means not an end. And means need utility, otherwise they are pointless. When we take the perspective from the late 1990´s it is truly amazing that products and services are now so well supported by IT-processes. Daily – even hourly –deployments, continuous integration etc. are now the norm and in retrospect this is an awesome achievement. Who doesn´t remember yearly releases, endless QA cycles, never ending rescoping of massive project plans, two thirds of investment locked into processes with low to zero market value? We are all glad to have left all that behind and yet we still fanatically push – myself included – for more process efficiency, faster time to market, more automation etc.

Now we are expecting AI to enhance automation even further than we ever dreamed of 20 years ago. All this velocity is awesome!

The Professor in Helsinki too, was questioning the motives for our continuous drive for velocity and by doing so he was subtely planting the thought in the minds of those who should be reflecting upon the question. Is speed the ultimate objective of DevOps and the like? If we can´t answer the question “what shall we do with all this speed?” – And I did not hear any answers from the auditorium – then velocity can´t really be the main goal. I believe “all this speed" is but a secondary benefit of what Lean Manufacturing states as “waste reduction”. If we instead switch our main focus of automation to the term “efficiency”, then the Professor

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| December 2019 |

could have phrased the question as “what shall we do with all this efficiency?” then I am sure that answers would have been abundant.

About the Author

Efficiency has many factors, of which speed is just one and, in my opinion, secondary to waste reduction factors. When humans define objectives for the good of the many, then social and ecological factors – usually – inform those decisions, thus making them future oriented and sustainable. Reduction of waste, in a manufacturing context pays dividends in terms of reduction of time as a social factor and reduction of material as an ecological factor. The resulting strategies are in general preventative i.e. error avoidance and protection against anomalies. Combining the ecological and social factors into the decision-making process requires our unique form of emotional intelligence which is a significant driver of our behavior. Can this be said of AI neural networks running automated systems at speeds beyond our comprehension? Maybe someday, but I am a doubter and critic until fully convinced of the opposite.

In his last position, Mark Rees was Managing Director of E-POST Development GmbH in Berlin, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post. There, he led an international team comprised of several hundred employees in agile DevOps development teams, and was responsible for employee direction, as well as the entire budget in the areas of IT security, DevOps, quality assurance,

Lean Manufacturing focuses on waste reduction.

Benefits such as just in time supply chains, automation of repetitive tasks etc., all fall into the social ecological framework suggested above whereby is velocity a secondary benefit, not the central objective. We currently hype machine learning and assume it to be “intelligence”. But what if these systems also learn to be stupid and irresponsible, such as the HFT systems that triggered massive sell offs that tanked stock markets. Is that intelligent in a social and ecological context? If humans were to behave this way on such a scale, we would all cry out stupidity and ignorance as suitable words to describe such behavior. We must adopt a critical approach as to where, when and how to utilize AI. I maintain it should not be just pure speed that we pursue, but waste reduction which applies a qualitative meaning to the extra velocity we might generate.

operations and user experience. In his work as COO at Secucloud, Rees applies his expertise in agile leadership and his many years of experience in interdisciplinary IT organizations in the Media and IT security industries.

If you identify an automation-case for waste reduction, i.e. error prevention, protection against outside influences, then proceed proceed cautiously with AI. If velocity is the only apparent benefit, then before you implement, honestly ask yourself the question – and answer it – what are you going to do with all this speed?

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| December 2019 |

ALEJANDRA Globally Acclaimed Leader in Business Management

I

n an interview with CIO LOOK, Alejandra Guzman, Vice President, Performance Management and Strategy at New Orleans Business Alliance emphasizes on her impeccable contribution for her organization.

Her unique ideologies and methods took her as well as the organization in achieving many milestones in the pathway.

Below are the highlights of the interview: Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a proficient leader.

The nature of the roles I´ve had in all of my professional positions required mastering the balance of blending technical and relationship skills. For example, working at the New Orleans Business Alliance requires an understanding of a complex web of internal and external relationships in which I have to act simultaneously as a diplomat, influencer, team player, leader and listener. Economic development does not occur in a vacuum, so it is critical that we work well with others to accomplish our goals. In my position at Capital Natural, a leading management and

Guzman

administration firm for private equity funds and real estate investment projects operating in Mexico, I had to lead a multi-sector group of senior consultants to design and execute an urban development proposal that required me to understand when to switch from a leader to a follower. Although I was ultimately responsible for leading our project, it was critical that I had the capability to step aside and follow the lead of technical experts to deliver a successful project.

How do you diversify your organization's offerings to appeal the target audience?

At the Business Alliance, we are focused on enhancing the economic security of all New Orleanians by accelerating the diversification of the local economy, developing local talent and expanding entrepreneurial opportunity. We attract new business and retain talent in New Orleans, by aligning our brand with the international business community's increased focus on diversity and inclusion to drive innovation and enhanced profitability. Our brand tag line: Culture. Equity. Prosperity.

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Describe some of the vital attributes that every business personnel should possess.

I would consider the ability of balancing and blending technical and relationship skills to be one of most importance. To achieve this one must be collaborative, empathic and supportive which allows a person to be team oriented and socially aware. I think that the success of most projects is multidimensional and that relationship skills influence execution.

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by women in a corporate business?

And what is your advice in overcoming them?

It is an unfortunate reality that women still face challenges in the work environment including obtaining equal pay, harassment, and career opportunities. Although to tackle these issues we must advocate for societal and policy change, I believe there are personal tactics that we can take to navigate through this harsh environment.

The first advice I would give is to invest in your professional development. It is important that as professionals we have a clear

| December 2019 |

“When it comes to success, there is no such thing as good luck, only hard work and preparation to seize the opportunity when it comes knocking on your door.�

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| December 2019 |

understanding of what are the skills that we need for our next career move. Finding an executive coach can be a great tool to help identify skill gaps and ways to address them.

A coach can also help with preparations for salary negotiations and to address issues at work that have to do more with politics rather than technical skills. Most importantly, beyond being prepared, it is key for women to find a sponsor.

A sponsor is that influential leader that will advocate on your behalf to open the door to new career opportunities, promotions and great assignments. To find your sponsor go above and beyond at your job and make yourself visible by taking on projects that provide exposure.

Have you in any ways contributed towards the cause of women empowerment.

One of the favorite projects I have worked on focused on helping women to improve their quality of life and promote economic activity in their communities. We did this by providing training opportunities so they can acquire the skills to find a job or set their own business. Also, we supported them with loans so they can buy building materials to improve their homes and local communities.

What are your insights on developing a better environment for women to evolve? And how it could be helpful in growing businesses?

It is a top priority for organizations to make intentional efforts to bring women to decision-making roles.

We can´t expect to create a better environment for women without us being involved in the decisionmaking process. Also, it is wide

documented that diversity in perspectives can only lead organizations to better decisionmaking dynamics that increases profitability. Some strategies to achieve this may include specifying a target number of female candidates for each leadership position or having programs that encourage women to express interest in applying for leadership roles. These practices can be applied in any type of organization, public or private.

How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?

At the Business Alliance, we make sure that all of our programs include data driven solutions. In the case of business recruitment, particularly retail, we use the best consumer analytics tools in the market to prepare pursuit packages. We make sure that when we recruit a business, we deliver the reliable data that will prove the probability of success in our market.

How do you upgrade yourself with volatile technological or business trends to boost your personal growth?

A big focus of my current work is real estate development. One of the reasons I love this industry is for its versatility and how it integrates a wide variety of disciplines -

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architecture, finance, community development, landscaping, engineering and many others. To be up to date on trends in the industry I have joined organizations such as the Urban Land Institute and also the U.S. Green Building Council.

These organizations are the perfect platform to learn and stay up to date on trends. Another great way to stay up to date with industry trends is attending key conferences.

What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?

Through the New Orleans Businesses Alliance, I´m working to develop a strategy that includes real estate to promote development in disinvested communities. One particular program that we are looking to leverage is Opportunity Zones. This is a federal program designed to drive investment to communities that have lacked critical investment. It provides an incentive for investors to re-invest their capital gains into financial vehicles. I see a lot of potential in New Orleans and my objective is to have investors also see this and help them find success in our community.

With the right projects in place our local community will be able to enjoy better services and a great quality of life.

| December 2019 |

E

that they can manage their expenses. Entrepreneurs must save at least the expenses of six months as its working capital, which can help them in engaging new customers and create a productive business pipeline.

Players can also avoid inadequate working capital by cutting-costs up to twenty percent and set the cut out as the working capital. For the startups that are yet to make profits, should make sure that they are adequately financed before taking any harsh decision, which can affect their survival in the industry.

ntrepreneurs set up their new ventures with a new and unique vision, goal, and its future. These entrepreneurs face many challenges over the course of their journey. However, financial challenge is the most painful ones they have to face. Making a list of all the financial challenges can aid a business and a new starting player in attaining sustainability and economic stability.

The Small Business Association estimates that around forty-four percent of startups and small business survive at least for four years only. Others cite that poor capital management, overspending, and the lack of reserve funds are some of the common reasons behind a business closure. All these three terms come under the finances of a company.

One way to address the financial problems is to use the 4R formula i.e. Review, Revamp, Research, and Rewrite the company’s business plans. By using this formula, they can take action against the things that are not working out.

Non-consistent Cash Flow Issue Most of the project-based business relies on their cash flow, which further relies on the flow of the project and the services rendered. It is therefore important for the company to have a good business team ready to connect new and reliable clients and projects. For the company that does not rely on the cash flow, must construct a flow of consistent cash flow at the proper time. If the client is unavailable to pay on-time, the businesses should think newer methods of client engagement. They should be patient and make decisions that would help them while dealing with the clients in the future.

Working Capital Issue Startups have to wait for their big clients to pay up so

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Editor’s Choice

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Another way of improving the cash flow is to get a down payment for the product and the services provided. This down payment will aid the companies in covering the expenses associated with the project sales and profit margins. Firms can also set a day in the week to go through the accounts, payables, and checks.

predict the revenues accurately.

Hiring Issue Hiring a good staff is not an easy task. A decision like over-hiring can create additional costs for the company in contracts and long-term employee liabilities. The employer is responsible for its employees and they have to provide them with the employee benefits that increase the costs. The key solution lies in hiring the term-based employees, freelancers, and independent contractors as they will provide services only for the time worked and employer do not have to add payroll costs in paying them. These independent contractors are paid only for their time spent on the work.

Depending upon the job, firms can easily find out that whether these are perfect for the job or not. In return, these can absorb the work-related wages and can add the benefit of costs.

Bookkeeping Issue Corporations can hire organized bookkeepers, which can save a lot of time. If they cannot find one, they can give this responsibility to one of its team member. The firm can improve by distinguishing the discretion and non-discretion spending. These include rent, office overhead, inventory purchases, and wages. The companies can even save further by polishing their overall marketing plans. Identifying and creating a larger clientele that can develop marketing strategies can help in promoting the service and products. Firms must set goals and expectations for marketing initiatives and develop the tools to improve the revenue outcomes.

In eliminating the conundrums, the mind-power and descision-making of the entrepreneurs is important.

They can seek loans and grants which are specifically tailored towards boosting the company's finances. Even some of the vendors allow the company to offer their assistance and can refine the business debts. The players should not haste in making a decision. They should be thoughtful and intellectual for deciding the expenses. It is important for them to think strategically.

They should be aware of their decisions and should seek guidance in decision-making and in expenses.

Wrong Predictions and Revenue Issue Businesses on a day-to-day basis have to predict the company’s revenues. This is even truer for the businesses that are dynamic in nature. Most of the predictions can be measured on a month-to-month basis. Although a lot of factors that are dependent upon the revenue prediction, but mostly it rely on the relevancy of the business. By foreseeing accurately, the firms can generate good revenue that is crucial for the cash flow statements. By paying attention to the seasoned fluctuations and affected timelines, they can

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vCargo Cloud

Mr Desmond Stepping Up to Make the World a Better Place

Tay

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o be a successful business leader, this person must have a clear and strong vision that he/she firmly believes. The journey of a business leader is filled with endless challenges and his/her strong belief in the vision will be the guiding beacon that provides bearing for his/her journey.

This business leader will need to be able to attract and harness the capability of a team to work together to realize the vision. This requires the ability to understand the team members’ strengths and weaknesses, to build and maximize their strengths and to complement the weaknesses. One such leader is Desmond Tay, CEO of vCargo Cloud (VCC), who believes “A successful business is not measured only by profit and revenue. It has to, in some ways, contribute to make the world a better place from the products and services it offers. If the business leader is able to steer his business to achieve that, then I think the business is successful.”

Desmond states that the company started with a grand vision to change global trade through digitalization. To accomplish this vision, the company needs to be a leader in the transformation of the trade ecosystem, a thought leader in the field of digital technology and most important of all, visionary leadership in the organization to motivate a pool of talents to achieve the company’s goals.

Further, the company’s success is not achieved through a single leader, but a core leadership team in VCC. He is glad that, over the years, he has been able to build this core team to walk the journey with him.

As one of the co-founders of the company, Desmond believes that with the growth in trade volume, it is inevitable that companies are required to perform import and export operations in a variety of legal and regulatory environments around the world. As international trade continues to grow, businesses are facing challenges as trade processes are inherently complicated and complex and are heavily reliant on paper-based processes which can be tedious and laborious.

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that creates the fastest-growing trade

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My vision is to grow VCC into a company ecosystem, enabling a smooth flow of Cargo, Data and Finance digitally.

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Desmond shared a few of the challenges faced in the logistics and supply chain industry. Firstly, the systems used in the industry are isolated and do not support national or international data format standards, which makes these systems unable to work and interface with the outside world effectively.

Secondly, import and export rules from customs are complex and differ in different countries. This makes trade processes complex in nature, so it is unlikely that the users are familiar with trade processes and regulations of all countries. Because of this unfamiliarity, traders often shy away from trading in countries they are not familiar with.

Thirdly, logistics processes are quite tedious and laborious as a lot of information has to be exchanged, in a specific chronological sequence, along with many different sets of documentation. Lastly, many in the industry do not have the right knowledge and the resources to splurge on experimenting with new technologies. Hence, they are stuck with dated and old technologies.

Realizing these challenges faced by the industry, VCC, a leading Infocomm Technology (ICT) solution and service provider, understands the importance of effective management of trade processes through digitalization. A robust supply chain enables companies to ensure that their goods are efficiently ordered, shipped, and paid while complying with regulatory requirements and supporting trade security.

By embracing the “Buy-Ship-Pay” model, VCC offers a range of trade-related solutions to digitalize the entire end-toend process for trade and supply chain.

The company’s integrated platform, CamelONETM, provides a suite of interconnected modules that simplifies global trade complexity for businesses

and governments by creating an ecosystem that connects stakeholders in the trade compliance, cross-border logistics, and trade financing sector.

Users can select these services according to their business needs.

CamelONE helps users overcome trade processes and complex trade rules, to trade without having to know all the trade details. For example, they can get freight forwarding service by stating their requirements and following a simple process, without needing to understand how the process works exactly. The same goes for other complicated tasks such as permit preparation, submission and clearance, preparation and submission of Certificate of Origin (CO), trade financing, and more. And since CamelONE is a cloud-based solution, users enjoy the benefit of having continual technological refresh whenever new functions and technologies are added to CamelONE. Desmond sees himself continuing to lead the team in VCC in the foreseeable future to achieve their goals. VCC is a technology company, and it is in its employees’ blood to embrace new technology. The influential culture of keeping an open mind, be connected to the world and the courage to try new things will ensure VCC is always ahead of its competition.

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Mentor’s Role

Entrepreneurship Going Beyond the Comfort of Safety to Make Larger Impact

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ntrepreneurship is the process of starting a new business that adds some value to the world by solving some specific problems.

Entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit. Entrepreneurship combined with land, labor, natural resources and capital can make a profit. Those who create these businesses are called entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurial spirit is characterized by innovation and risk taking and is an essential part of a nation’s ability to succeed in constantly changing and increasingly competitive global market place.

Entrepreneurship in its truest form is all about identifying a gap in the market and creating a product which can fill that hole.

Entrepreneurship is not solely about making money- it is also about changing and enriching the lives for better. It is about improving people’s lives through creation of products or launching services that makes the lives of people easy. If one’s business does not add value to the lives of people then it is unlikely to survive.

The business that makes nothing but money can easily be considered as a poor business.

Entrepreneurship is the act of being an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs act as managers and oversee the launch and growth of an enterprise. It is a process by which either an individual or a team identifies a

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business opportunity and acquires and deploys the necessary tools and resources required for its utilization.

Entrepreneurship is all about being ready to go beyond the comfort zone. It is about defining success on one’s own terms and achieving it by one’s own process and methodology.

It is also about thinking outside the box or thinking like there is no box.

True entrepreneurial spirit is about seeing challenges as opportunities.

Entrepreneurs should be able to shake off depression, laziness and should jump into the flowing stream of hard work in order to achieve their dream. True Entrepreneurs understand that they can’t be great at everything they do, but they know that they can be great at something. They focus on that particular something in which they are good at with laser like focus and they are passionate to deliver the best solutions in their chosen work.

Entrepreneurs create something new, something different that solves some problems or adds value to the world. An entrepreneur is a person who is willing and able to convert a new idea or invention into a successful innovation.

Entrepreneurial journey is not always so easy. As Elon Musk Quotes “Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.” Many people experience entrepreneurial journey as a rollercoaster ride filed with challenges and opportunities; ups and downs. Entrepreneurship is about perseverance through all such | December 2019 |

ups and downs. The journey may be filled with crest and troughs but the journey is worth taking.

Entrepreneurs understand that seduction of safety is much more dangerous than the perception of the risk. Therefore they take calculated risks based on market trends and market estimation.

Where common people see the problems entrepreneurs see the opportunities. Entrepreneurs are driven to create solutions to those problems. Entrepreneurs are not the part of problems but entrepreneurs are people who want to be part of the solution to those problems. Entrepreneurs are innately programme to create solutions to the existing problems.

Entrepreneurs roll up their sleeves every day and work hard to create solutions to the existing problems in the world in order to make profit as well as to enrich the lives of people.

They are in the game to make a difference and impact in the lives of people through offering solutions to some of the biggest problems.

Money is secondary to them but making valuable contribution and adding value to the world is what they focus on. They understand that money is just a byproduct of serving as many people as possible with full efficiency. Entrepreneurs plan their

work and work their plan. Successful entrepreneurship requires entrepreneurs who take conscious, systematic, logical and thoughtful decisions. It is about thinking deliberately and acting on the conclusion of logical thought process. Great entrepreneurs have the ability to think decisively even in indecisive environment also. Their conscience and intuition helps them to come up with some solutions that add glory to their business.

Successful entrepreneurs are also very cautious of making use of the latest technology for creating more profitable solutions. They know how to leverage everything to create glorious business that adds value to the larger portion of the world.

Entrepreneurs are here to make a valuable contribution to the world through their words and worthy actions; they just don’t want to occupy the space in the universe.

Entrepreneurs believe in making world a better place by creating something that customizes the lives of people for better. Great entrepreneurs walk their talk and talk their walk. Their lips and lives both make difference in the lives of people. They know that world rewards those who press on.

Entrepreneurship is about paying the price of dedication, commitment, sacrifices, hard work

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and putting heart and soul into the business to create something different that makes lives of people easier. The words and actions of great entrepreneurs show that they know where they are going and the world has the habit of making room for such people.

Entrepreneurship is about knowing the way, going the way and showing the way. Entrepreneurs lead by example. They use all the resources they have to make larger contribution to the world. They think of changing the world through their skills, abilities, talents and making optimum utilization of all the resources they have.

Entrepreneurs build a strong network of people in their organization. The great entrepreneurs understand that one’s network determines one’s net worth. Therefore they choose smart and pragmatic people around them that are having the ability to come up with solutions to some of the toughest problems. They are very cautious of people they associate with. Entrepreneurship is about building bridges of success instead of creating barriers to opportunity.

It is about having talented people on-board to come up with great idea and to implement that idea to make a tangible difference in the lives of people.

| December 2019 |

ROB LESLIE A Pioneer of Anti-Money Laundering and KYC domain

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igitalization has taken an active pace since its inception. Integrating digital technology with business aspects has turned out to be an art rather than ‘a do’.

This acknowledgement as an art, led many innovations to flourish in the respective industries. One with such comprehension is Rob Leslie.

In an interview with CIO Look, Rob Leslie, Founder and CEO of Sedicii, shares valuable insights from the experiences he gained on his entrepreneurial journey.

Moreover, he broadly discusses the services offered by the company.

with our clients, to deliver industry specific, cutting edge eKYC and AML transaction monitoring solutions to achieve their particular goals. Our target audiences operate across banking & financial services, Governments and enterprise – where regulatory requirements mandate high levels of customer due diligence. We help reduce the burden of responsibility and improve efficiencies for our clients and enable them to preserve the privacy of their customers.

At Sedicii we provide a portfolio of solutions which appeal to our target audiences. We help secure identities and provide unique authentication and identity verification services where personal information is never exchanged without explicit data owner consent. Sedicii’s key differentiator is our focus on privacy using our patented application of the zero knowledge proof protocol. With an unwavering focus on adding value to clients, we are constantly exploring innovative ventures.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Rob and CIO Look: How do you diversify your organization's offerings to appeal the target audience?

We take a collaborative approach to problem solving

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Good leaders drive their people forward with energy, excitement, vision, inspiration and trust. When you lead by example, it is the creation of the art of the possible.

“

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KMC Controls

ROB LESLIE Founder & CEO

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Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a leader.

Becoming a leader isn’t something you aim for. I believe leaders evolve, partly by accident over a period. It’s a blend of ideas, circumstances and a determination and drive to bring ideas to life and bring people together that makes a leader in my view. It’s not about knowing everything, in fact it's quite the opposite -it’s about gathering and inspiring a team of experts and collaborators to achieve common goals. That’s the challenge, something I truly relish! It might well be the engineer in me, but where others may see problems to be avoided, I see opportunities and challenge, and am rarely content until they are fixed.

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by a business in a corporate business? And what is your advice to overcome them?

The challenges come from many angles, not always from the direction you expect. Sometimes you need eyes in the back of your head to keep ahead of the game. Building the right team with the right skillset is a challenge at the beginning, one we were fortunate to do right from the start. With Sedicii, our unique offering is our technology. Our tech team includes experts in cutting edge machine learning, cryptography and blockchain and they are constantly challenging the Status Quo with innovative ways to tackle global issues related to privacy and identity. Roadblocks often represent potential forks in the road where decisions need to be made quickly and being flexible in your approach is important.

I whet my appetite with Dell Japan as part of a management team that established and grew the business to almost 300 employees and $300M turnover in 4 years. Since then I have grown a number of businesses to considerable scale. My background is in the Anti-Money Laundering / Know Your Customer (KYC) domain. I co-founded Kyckr, a company which specializes in corporate identity and AML compliance solutions. (Kyckr is now listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX:KYK)). This opened up a whole new world of possibilities for privacy protection and preservation of our identity. In 2015 the World Economic Forum named me as a Global Technology Pioneer - that was a significant step on my leadership journey and was instrumental in building a network of like-minded thought leaders who inspire me to drive on and to explore innovative opportunities and solutions to crucial challenges of securing our current and future global economies.

What will be your future endeavors and/or where do you see yourself in the near future?

We are working on some very interesting global projects at present. Our AML transaction monitoring service is one which is creating waves internationally as it allows two banks to mutually assess risk by gaining insight on all parties to a payment transaction using a cryptographic protocol that never exposes any private information about one party to the other party’s bank.

Sedicii’s AML solution reduces false positives, identifies risks in real-time, in full compliance with Banking Secrecy and the strictest data privacy legislation.

As a leading expert in Zero Knowledge Proof Protocol, what is your contribution in evolving the digital sector?

Fragmented and unreliable digital identity mechanisms are limiting growth in the global economy and adding to the costs of doing business. Experts are in agreement that securing identities is critical, especially where the stakes are high. Powered by Sedicii’s patented Zeroknowledge proof (ZKP) technology, two parties can now prove to each other that they both have the same piece of information without the need to expose the information that each has in their possession, or under their control, to the other. Combining this capability with efficient and easy-to-use consent management, we can change the digital world as we know it and simultaneously secure the privacy and security of personal information (PII) throughout the world. We see ourselves best placed to ‘Fix’ what we call the ‘Identity Problem’ to enable the quantum leap required to drive the next wave of business innovation.

What are the crucial traits which every business leader must possess?

The role of a business leader, in my view is to inspire the people around you to push themselves and in turn the company, to excel in everything they do. Good leaders drive their people forward with energy, excitement, vision, inspiration, good communication and trust.

Leading by example, by walking the walk and talking the talk builds that trust.

Warren Bennis was an American scholar and organizational consultant. He is widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of leadership studies and is known to have created the famous quote “Managers are people who do things right; leaders are people who do the right thing.” As the leader, you know that keeping your team together, working towards a common goal, getting them to support and help each other is your job. If you succeed, they will succeed; morale will rise and more success will follow.

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AAAccell

Sandro Schmid A Bold Leader in the Digital Transformation

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nvestment advice and guidance is often promised to be delivered through expert judgment & skillful opinions by professionals in asset or wealth management. However, much of the global wealth invested lacks systematic quantification – many decisions are intuition-based. And even though the complexity of algorithms in financial services has increased in specific areas (first generation of Robo-advisory, or high-frequency trading, hedge funds, etc.), widely used statistical methods applied (often still EXCEL based) that are used to back-up or justify decision making, still lag decades behind the most advanced quantitative methods developed in academia. So, due to a lack of technology use: risks are higher than necessary, and returns are lower than possible!

With a deep knowledge of the financial market coupled with different quantitative skills, such as mathematics, quantitative finance, AI, ML, modern statistical inference, and computer science, Sandro Schmid stands as Co-founder and CEO at AAAccell. AAAccell is a high-tech company in Risk and Asset Management, developing pioneering solutions for the financial service industry. The company is a spin-off company of the Universe of Zurich. With a former banking CEO and Big 4 Partner, as well as M.As and PhDs from several top universities, the company has a powerful team that applies the scientific and expert knowledge to create real solutions for the financial industry.

Below is Sandro’s story,

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Dr. Boris Wälchli CTO

Sandro Schmid Co-founder & CEO

never really finished, but there must come the time to go live.”

Sandro Schmid started his career in banking, where he was working in different functions in front- and backoffice departments. He moved on into Consulting, working for many years for a Big4. Further, He has had been always close to academia, where he was engaged in research and education.

But no leader deserves this term if he/she is not able to attract and hold talents. Sandro is convinced that a firm can only win if the team acts as a team and not in single cells. And this is not happening on its own; a great team must be identified, on-boarded, and managed well like, e.g. a good soccer team.

The banking has given Sandro , a good understanding of clients, products, processes, and governance while the advisory gave him the ability to challenge existing frameworks & the academia enabled him to identify new technology, trends, and leading research. He uses the latest technology & methods and always tries to add a notch on top of it, keeping in front of the tech race. “It is like in a bicycle race – staying in the front with the others is a tough job every day”, says Sandro.

Sandro Schmid was always convinced that we live in a world of live-time education. He never stopped reading or learning after his educations. It was also a reason why he is teaching on the side at the Universities because this pushes him to keep his hand on the pulse.

A good example is a growing regulation which he needs to understand for his courses. And just reading the papers isn’t enough to be able to teach it.

Sandro thinks each company needs other skills depending on the maturity of the company, the ambition, the market, and its technology. And, he also thinks that today, it is very convenient to learn a live time with all the technical possibilities. “We can read everywhere, listen to books or podcasts, study on the browser with E-Universities, etc.,” says the CEO.

Another important point is to use the time smartly don’t get distracted by topics, leads, or conversations with people or companies that are not strategically of relevance. This, of course, holds only in business, not for private people.

It always starts with a problem in the market, and Sandro thinks no one would claim that in the Financial Service market problems are scarce. The next step is to identify the proper solution in respect of complexity, meaning for simple problems, the company would not propose a complex solution, but typically, the problems are complex, so advanced methods are required.

Sandro doesn’t think that there is a one-size-fits-all set, otherwise, the executive recruiter would have an easy job. Understanding markets and clients- “The best product is useless if markets are not ready, don’t understand the product or are not willing to pay for it. This is quite a risk for tech companies since it is like with an oil painting; it is

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AAAccell offers a standard solution which is market practice plus new innovative solution which are still giving institutions a USP compared to their peer. In case, a client has a very specific request, the company also works for some clients like Rothschild/Orox purely exclusively.

Authentic innovation to yourself that solves a market problem is a good reason to get up in the morning.

For Sandro, it is very helpful to understand trends and market behavior coupled with a lot of optimism, flexibility, open-minded, ambitions, and an overall reason for the company’s activities.

AAAccell is currently expanding, also in the process of an inorganic transaction, which will require a lot of time shortly to assure that all interests are aligned among all the stakeholders. So, Sandro’s future will not change much. He still wants to make a positive contribution to the financial service market with the products such as the fund rating filter, where the company tries to eliminate mutual funds, which are constantly underperforming drastically and still charge the clients with high fees which are not appropriate.

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The Key to Secure Digital Transformation

Marc Vanmaele CEO TrustBuilder

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Leader’s Take

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fail to complete tasks as required, bringing operations and productivity to a halt. They may be unable to deliver the right levels of service to their customers, which once again impact your revenue and reputation.

Furthermore, dealing with problems of user experience, whether inside or outside your organisation can take up a great deal of your IT department’s time and attention.

arc Vanmaele, CEO of TrustBuilder explains how organizations can beat balance the needs of security and user experience

What do Users Want?

Your users demand simplicity. Whatever sectors you operate in, whatever the scale or scope of your offering, if your customers find it too difficult to access and use your service, they will go elsewhere.

Digital Transformation: The Road to Simplicity Little wonder, then, that businesses in all industries have been encouraged to modernise, improving their services with innovative new features, foregrounding user experience and customer journeys, and developing the most frictionless experiences possible.

The same rules apply within your organization. If your staff find it too difficult to access and use the applications and systems they need to do their jobs, they will go elsewhere too. This rarely means that they will leave their jobs altogether – rather, it means that they will seek workarounds and shortcuts, unauthorised tools and unsanctioned processes.

This is one of the core goals of many digital transformation projects. Previously manual processes are replaced with automation, leading to a smoother user journey and a strong platform for additional innovation and creativity. Organizations such as Google and Apple, with their unrelenting focus on clarity and simplicity for the end user, have led customers and staff in other sectors to expect the same.

Both situations can be a big problem. Losing customers very directly affects your business bottom line – and, depending on how vocal they are about moving on, your reputation in the marketplace too. Employees who seek workarounds may compromise security, opening up vulnerabilities or weak points in your infrastructure, or

About the Author arc Vanmaele, CEO at TrustBuilder. He initially started his career as Technical Support Manager in (Philips Data System) and later on became business partners with SoftSwitch. He also served as the Director at Management Software Benelux.

Besides, Marc contributed his best at every organization and mentored them in the path of success. Currently, he is a part of SecurIT which was later renamed as TrustBuilder in 2017.

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Such solution incorporates the next evolution of multifactor authentication (MFA) systems, which demand additional layers of verification before or after the user enters their login details. At present, this extra step will typically be some token or one time password provided by the user’s mobile device.

Ultimately, the best way forward is for multi-factor authentication to be truly – well – multiple in its approach. That is, it should make use of more than one additional factor, so that even in the case of a code being intercepted or a device falling into the wrong hands, access to the system in question isn’t compromised. The trick, of course, is to do this without presenting unnecessary friction to users, which may cause them to switch to another service.

The most effective IAM solutions take a more intelligent – and a more user-focused approach, thereby helping organizations to tread that fine balancing line. Along with enabling the latest secure MFA methods like those requiring a hardware or mobile token; they consider a range of different factors when verifying each user request, such as where the user is located, the time of the request, and whether the device itself is recognized. They also provide a bridge between different environments, allowing seamless access while keeping intruders out.

What are the Challenges Faced by the Organization?

But ‘frictionless’ can come with caveats. Such processes are frequently less secure than their more cumbersome, multi-stage relatives – precisely because they entail fewer layers of user identification and verification. Organizations, then, have to make a choice – add extra security steps, such as a second password or PIN code, and hope that this increased complexity doesn’t lose them users – or keep the process simpler, and hope that they don’t succumb to a malicious cyberattack or accidental infection.

In turn, this allows organizations to offer a genuinely intelligent and ever-improving security service to their end users, demonstrating how seriously they take data protection, whilst automating that security behind the scenes and therefore smoothing the customer journey as far as possible.

Meanwhile, organizations are managing increasingly complicated IT infrastructures. Their services are made up of multiple different applications, many of which are hosted in the cloud with data shared between the organization and its vendors. This makes providing a smooth user experience challenging – and making it secure, even more so.

It is essential to choose an IAM solution that is highly flexible, able to keep up with the pace of change and evolve along with the organization in question.

However, in doing so, organizations can take a genuine step towards balancing user experience with watertight security – and embracing digital transformation, securely.

The Role of Next Generation IAM This is why next-generation Identity and Access Management (IAM) services have such a crucial role to play. They help organizations to not only strike the right balance between user experience and security, but also, critically, to maintain that balance as the organization’s services and systems continue to evolve.

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eadership is something that one really must grow into either with time or by diving into the deep end. Keeping in mind that education is the ticket to her success, Swati Bhargava worked hard at a young age and excelled in academics as well as cultivated an entrepreneurial spirit within her, early on in life. Due to the sustained efforts and commitment of the Co-founders Swati and Rohan Bhargava, CashKaro is today India's Largest Cashback & Coupons site.

In an interview with CIOLook, Swati narrates her inspiring journey: CashKaro has always believed in enabling more savings for online shoppers by taking customer feedback as sacrosanct. It continuously diversifies its user's touchpoints to offer fast, smooth and easy access to the best cashback deals and discounts. Since CashKaro.com is India's Largest Cashback & Coupons Site; it has constant access to exclusive deals, newer categories and higher cashback offers, which eventually provide the ultimate cashback experience to its users.

From popular Indian sites like Flipkart, Amazon and Paytm to players like Ajio and PepperFry, CashKaro has more than 1,500 retailers onboard.

Every time a user shops for something from one of these sites using CashKaro, they earn Cashback. This Cashback is extended to the users over and above all other retailer deals & coupons. Users can then choose to transfer this cash straight to their bank account or can redeem it in the form of Amazon or Flipkart Gift Cards. Today, CashKaro's users earn anywhere between Rs. 20,000-25,000/year by shopping via the site.

Within a short span of time, CashKaro has paid over Rs.100 Cr as Cashback and has recently crossed 3.5Million+ registered users.

Circling back to more ways of diversification besides cashback, CashKaro also offers coupons & price comparison on its platform. This is another major differentiator between CashKaro and other similar businesses. No other player operating in this space is equipped to offer all three benefits to the users. The largest variety of online brands and a wide array of verticals like fashion, electronics, groceries, cosmetics, medicines etc. mean customers get a truly varied shopping platter. The ‘Extra’ nature of CashKaro Cashback and Rewards makes CashKaro's savings truly unique.

CashKaro recently came up with the idea of enabling the users to earn as they help others shop. EarnKaro, its latest offering will not just help the users save more but will also create numerous opportunities for the people to earn while working from home. Keeping true to its tagline, '#YouGetMore', CashKaro always strives to walk the extra mile for the benefit of its users in every way possible.

Sw B

Rohan and Swati believe in the simple ideology that every entrepreneur must have great conviction in what they’re pursuing. They must ensure that they're doing it as much for the journey as for the end. There will be numerous times when your patience, resilience and ethics will be tested and it is important to remember what you stand for during trying times.

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Swati Bhargava Co-founder CashKaro

wati Bhargava Leading by becoming an Excellent Businessperson 59

| December 2019 |

Hurdles need to be turned into opportunities so you can take charge and be in control of every situation.

The beauty of entrepreneurship is that it demands one to acquire and master skills they may not have been trained in or inclined towards. An entrepreneur is a marketer, an accountant, a salesperson and more, all rolled into one. So, one must know their product insideout and also educate themselves constantly. For instance, Swati's Co-founder Rohan who comes from a hardcore Asset Management and Hedge Fund background had never worked on product development before venturing into entrepreneurship. Today, Rohan is at the forefront of Innovation & Product development at CashKaro and works closely with its Chief Technology Officer to add new features to the existing product. Right from beta testing new products and adding more verticals to making CashKaro’s proposition truly unique and beneficial for its users, he has been putting in efforts to learn and do it all. So, Swati strongly believes that an entrepreneur who is running a product-driven business can never be on the outside of it and must be involved at the core level right from the point of inception to execution.

Every business is unique and the challenges related to setting it up are unique as well. However, certain challenges are common to all businesses. For instance, developing a top-notch product, ensuring quality checks, recruiting the right people etc. are common to all businesses. These issues can be worrying but what Swati has seen and learnt through her entrepreneurial journey is to keep calm and focus on one’s course of action, which is the most powerful solution. She considers the best approach is to stay composed, be focused and persistent till one has achieved the outcome one is aiming for. One’s conviction in one's business will help one overcome these challenges and keep moving forward every day.

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| December 2019 |

CASHKARO

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Hurdles are never a hinderance in your journey, they are the stepping-stones that lead you to the place where you are meant to be. If you believe in yourself the world will work to make your dreams come true. first of its kind offering EarnKaro, CashKaro has come closer to its mission of being the smartest and easiest way for Indian shoppers to save money. EarnKaro is a Social Cashback App that enables the users to find and share the best deals online with friends, family and acquaintances via social platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, etc. and earn profit from the sales made.

Between CashKaro and EarnKaro Rohan and Swati are estimating a 400% growth over the next 2 years, including onboarding more brand partners and registered users on CashKaro. They also aim to further strengthen their bond with their team members and shareholders in the years to come.

Speaking specifically with respect to the CashKaro family, Swati strives to offer team members the best experience in terms of growth and learning. She aims to help them grow both financially and in terms of domain expertise. Similarly, for her shareholders she wants the journey to be extremely rewarding. Therefore, CashKaro always works hard to ensure that people are proud of their decision to invest in CashKaro and the business.

Swati is quite fortunate when it comes to upgrading herself in terms of technology and keeping up with the ever-changing tools and trends. CashKaro has its own in-house tech team that works on everything from App UX to SDK integrations from the ground up. Since CashKaro works closely with experts across fields it gives both Rohan and Swati ample opportunity to learn and stay updated.

Given CashKaro is already India’s Largest Cashback & Coupons Site, Rohan and Swati aim for it to make its way into every Indian shopper's purchase journey and perhaps even grow beyond borders over the next few years. Making CashKaro a household name is how Rohan and Swati visualise themselves within a few years from now. CashKaro is targeting an expanded user base and an increased number of brand partners across verticals to bring the best savings’ proposition to the users.

Swati advises young entrepreneurs to always keep moving forward and stay focused on reaching the goal they have set for themselves. Some days may be tougher than others, but it’s important to stay positive and remember why one has started out in the first place. Most importantly, she asks them to try to enjoy what they are doing because it's important to love work in order to give one's best to it.

As an organization, CashKaro’s goal is to become the Largest Online Savings destination in India by constantly creating more avenues for shoppers to save online. For example, with the launch of its latest and

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| December 2019 |

Digital Marketing Programming the Human Life

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lobalization has helped enterprises to dive into open international market. While companies are heading beyond the boundaries and are settling overseas, digital marketing on the other hand is helping the same to make a good consumer impact. With open and diversified business market, competition has also reached the peak. Additionally, the start-up firms from developing countries have also been incentivized from the expansion of digital marketing. The primary aspects which are required to lead a company towards success include marketing and sales. Companies should make smart digital marketing strategies while keeping globalization in context in order to get better opportunities in the market.

with big multinationals. It is imperative business as the internet has become the unstoppable trend. There are some baselines which will help the digital marketing sphere move forward.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Innovation has reached beyond imagination. AI (Artificial Intelligence) predicts every move of consumer. By focusing more on personal rather than professional front, AI truly shines in the arena of business. AI makes every customer feel important and produce a next level customer experience by analyzing the data of customers, helping businesses to gather their insights and deliver enhanced services. For instance, Netflix and Amazon help with recommendations by viewing history of billions of hours of content streamed. With the help of algorithm, they look after the entire experience of individual subscriber. Depending upon their taste, users get recommendation of other movies. AI will become the model of digital marketing because of its accurate ability to analyze consumer behavior and change the experience of online business.

Digitally Globalized Future Digital marketing with its versatile and constant changing potential has changed the face of traditional marketing. Making things available at fingertips have increased the desire to adapt digital marketing over time. Mobile devices have helped to grow the demand of digital marketing. Today, traditional marketing is being replaced with digital marketing. The demand is increasing day by day as every minute new website link is generated; everyday new update enters into digital market with more advance features. To grab the pulse of the customer, company should understand the needs and requirements of its customers. With the increasing internet population, digital marketing will be a business platform which will help companies to grow globally.

User Experience With the increase in internet users, demand for User Experience has increased. Intelligent algorithm helps to analyze huge number of data. It is generated from a single user’s location, demographics and device. User Experience has gained positive response from the consumer by making a personalized experience on a website. It has also increased conversion rates and

Digital marketing will help the small firms to compete with big multinationals. It is imperative business as the

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| December 2019 |

Chalk - Talk

Digital Advertising Digital Advertising is a part of the dynamic “Digital Marketing” industry. Digital marketing strategies have been changing depending upon the fluctuating consumer behavior, seasonal change and changing rule of digital marketing. Digital Advertising platforms like Google Ads and Facebook Ads have gained importance in marketing field. They have started making use of analytics to find more suitable consumer for the company through analyzing its consumer data, interest of consumer and demographics.

Email Marketing It examines the best time and day of the week to contact the consumer, content which will show their involvement, the email subject and title to generate more click. Thus AI has become friendly user in personalizing email content for every internet users by reducing the margin of error.

Content Generation and Content Curating Words play a vital role in communication. Good content can bring more business to a brand.

Every work conducted is based on the data and information. Likely, AI generates content on the basis of the data and information it has.

Using templates and keywords, AI creates a unique content which attracts more visitors to the website. Apart from generating content, AI also curates it. By showing relevant content it increases the traffic on website and connects with visitors in a better way. It showcases the relevant content to the visitors depending upon the topics they had searched.

ChatBots Communication has experienced a huge change. From making phone calls to simply texting, communication has evolved technically, increasing the desire of the users. Brands on the other

hands are making use of the social apps to promote business. Thus, AI has powered the Chatbots with the ability to answer open questions.

With the help of natural learning processing and machine learning, Chatbots find the correct response.

Chatbots ask frequent questions to the potential buyers and answer it in simplified way. It also helps the buyer, a way to search for the product or service they are looking for. Chatbots also serve clients 24/7 and retain their data. Customers may get angry, but Chatbots always stay calm and friendly. It also responds to several requests from different customers at a single time, thus taking less time.

Gaining Utmost Importance Having AI in the digital marketing strategy will give a lot of benefits.

Digital Marketing has provided a platform to conduct business globally. Its demand is increasing

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day by day. It has also enhanced the growth of the companies. To maintain the efficiency and effectiveness of the company, marketer has to keep on thinking, learning, testing and implementing ideas to stay on the top of competitive market. Instead of spending more on digital marketing strategy, the company needs to come up with smart planner to bring more clients. Digital marketing has helped in improving and maintaining the quality of performance of a product. It has made very easy to segment, target and position the product for marketing with the help of huge available database and user information. With the continuous advancement of technology, practice of digital marketing has improved. Developing perceived knowledge about a product, digital marketing helps to achieve the marketing objectives.

| December 2019 |