The 10 Transformational Business Leaders To Look Out 2021- April Edition

WWW.THEENTERPRISEWORLD.COM | APAC EDITION | APRIL 2021

THE 10 TRANSFORMATIONAL

BUSINESS LEADERS TO LOOK OUT 2021

RETHINKING

BUSINESS MODELS AMIDST THE CRISIS Karan Yaramada, President & CEO Jade Global

Karan Yaramada “Jade Global's mission and vision statements are about creating a company culture where both customer and employee satisfaction are high.”

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Technological history is linked to the history of science. Since the technology uses resources, technological history is tightly linked to economic history. From those resources, technology produces other resources, including technical artifacts used in everyday life. There are about 190 million companies around the world. But very few of them are well-known or called brands in their particular sector. What makes businesses to create a unique place in the market is their unmatched leadership. A visionary leader who adopts upgraded technologies and innovates something unique with the help of his team makes a business successful. We call them transformational business leaders as they not only change their business but also transmogrify the whole sector and add a boost to the nation's economy.

The Enterprise Worlds special issue, The 10 Transformational Business Leaders to Look Out 2020-Vol.4 features the stories of leaders that have created a unique place in the market with their dedication, innovation, and vision as well as inspired budding entrepreneurs with their exemplary hard and smart work.

Featuring for the cover story is Mr. Karan Yaramada. Mr. Karan Yaramada is a of CEO, Jade Global, an IT Services company recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in North America by Inc. 5000 for 10 consecutive years, and Two-Time Honoree, listed among the Fastest Growing Silicon Valley and Philadelphia Enterprises in 2016 & 2018. Most recently, the company etched its own place amidst leading IT names in two major power lists, for its AI powered Managed Services and Digital Initiatives and advanced CRM offerings.

When success is standing in front of you, then your attitude is more important than your intelligence.

In our special editorial feature, Attitude vs. Intelligence, read out the importance of attitude along with the intelligence.

The lockdown caused due to the global epidemic made people stay home and run their business processes. This increased the use of networks a lot and opened doors of opportunities for fraudsters and data threats. Today, businesses in almost every sector are getting digital and these threats can hold their growth back. PalC Networks, one of the leading network companies is catering to the network & cloud needs of businesses and securing them with a top-notched complete network analytics platform. Discover more about PalC Networks and the journey of its founders Mr. S. Kingston Smiler & Mr. Santosh Danegoudar.

What do you think traits of a Great leader, apart from the others? Is it their ability to work their way to the top? Or is it the number of connections they have? Or is it their ability to motivate people? While these qualities do help people at varying degrees in their journey of becoming a leader, but leadership is not just that. It runs deeper than that. In a feature from our editor’s desk, read out some traits that set the leaders apart from the rest.

There is a lot more inside!

Happy reading!

Rushikesh Deshpande

INNOVATION, BEYOND IMAGINATION

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Leaders in Spotlight This issue of The Enterprise World, The 10 Transformational Business Leaders to Look Out 2020 (Vol 4) features, Featuring for the cover story is Mr. Karan Yaramada. Mr. Karan Yaramada is a of CEO, Jade Global, an IT Services company recognized as one of the fastestgrowing private companies in North America by Inc. 5000 for 10 consecutive years, and Two-Time Honoree, listed among the Fastest Growing Silicon Valley and Philadelphia Enterprises in 2016 & 2018. Most recently, the company etched its own place amidst leading IT names in two major power lists, for its AI powered Managed Services and Digital Initiatives and advanced CRM offerings.

Robolab is your very own, on campus, Centre of Excellence in Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Rapid Prototyping (RP) and Industrial Automation, tailor-made for you. It is an advanced, state of the art platform to explore, learn and build robots and related technologies.

Cofounders, Mr Pratik Deshmukh, Mr Ajit Pawar and Mr. Amol Gulhane are the backbones behind Robolab’s long standing success.

Read out and conversation with Mr Amol Gulhane, where we discussed current industry scenario and how Robolab is transforming

businesses.

IFI Techsolutions is a born-in-cloud Microsoft Gold Partner and a Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) setup by ex-Microsoft employees to help global customers ranging from Enterprises to SMBs and Startups with their digital transformation journey. Readout an interview with Mr. Puneet Bajaj, Partner at IFI Techsolutions, where he shared his journey throughout and discussed the current industry scenario.

PalC Networks is a high-end services company providing services in the area of Data Networking, Analytics, Cloud Computing, Edge Computing, etc.

The key focus area of PalC Networks is Whitebox Networking, Converged Packet Optical Networks, 5G, Edge Computing, IoT, and Network Analytics Mr. S. Kingston Smiler, & Mr. Santosh Danegoudar, Co-Founders of PalC Networks and the team of more than 100 experts are making hard and smart efforts to transform their client’s businesses and accelerate their growth.

Additti Jain, Founder, and CEO of IKI CHIC, the made-in-India brand presenting the best of both worlds – international drift with a taste of Indian fashion. Additti is a Pearl graduate, serial entrepreneur, and fashion enthusiast, enabling the

new-age Indian women to express their vibrancy through a wide range of High Street Fashion options. IKI CHIC focuses on comfort, style, and fabric quality, the brand offers a jaw-dropping wardrobe collection fit for all occasions.

Knowledge Lens is an Indian & US-based technology trendsetter providing its clients with actionable business insights, leveraging our expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial IoT & Big Data Analytics. An ace leader Mr. Sudheesh Narayanan, CEO at Knowledge Lens, is the backbone behind the company’s longstanding success. Under his innovative and 360-degrees futuristic vision, the highly skilled team of professionals at the knowledge lens is striving hard and smart to transform their client’s businesses.

Mr. Chintan P Mehta is one of the top names in the insurance sector that accelerated the revolution in the same sector. As CEO of AHI (Auto Hangar India) Insurance Brokers, Chintan along with his team is a master of innovation and disruption for mass & class of society. He places his every situation right with in-depth insurance business analysis, claims management, reinsurance, and customer retention.

18 Traits That Set Great Leaders Apart

36

5 reasons to install a smart ventilation system

56 Attitude Vs. Intelligence

CONT 08

Rethinking Business Models amidst the Crisis

Karan Yaramada, President & CEO Jade Global

32

Additti Jain

A name behind the huge success of an online fashion store - IKI CHIC

38

Puneet Bajaj

42

Adding value to businesses with cutting edge cloud solutions

Sudheesh Narayanan A leader Accelerating the AI Revolution

20

Amol Gulhane Empowering Businesses with innovations

26

TENT Chintan P Mehta A pioneer of revolution in the insurance sector

30

Emerging technologies, crisis, revolutions currently prevailing in the current industry environment

46

52

Emerging technologies, crisis, revolutions currently prevailing in the current industry environment

S. Kingston Smiler A leader expanding technology reach through PalC Networks

C o v e r S t o r y

Rethinking Business Models amidst the Crisis K a r a n Ya r a m a d a President & CEO

08 April 2021

| Cover Story

W

hen we begin with a thought to create a business, that’s what we end up creating. We should instead work on creating a legacy, a culture of people, practices and exchanges that leaves an imprint”, so the conversation kick starts with Karan Yaramada, CEO, Jade Global, an IT Services company recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in North America by Inc. 5000 for 10 consecutive years, and Two-Time Honoree, listed among the Fastest Growing Silicon Valley and Philadelphia Enterprises in 2016 & 2018. Most recently, the company etched its own place amidst leading IT names in two major power lists, for its AI powered Managed Services and Digital Initiatives and advanced CRM offerings.

Karan Yaramada, winner of the CEO World Award 2020, is growing to be a name to be reckoned with. One of his interviews on YouTube garnered 100K Views. Quiz him about this and you get a rhetorical nonchalant answer, “Isn’t that commonplace?”.

Prior to this interview we gathered tidbits on Karan from videos, posts, his website, and articles spread across a decade. Our personal but thorough sleuthing informed us as much as this interview will. This decidedly shy Business Leader, a Harvard Business School Alumnus, has been on a quest to deliver todays business, the right infrastructure and activate digital transformation across their processes, and is doing so earnestly, and committedly.

His brainchild, Jade Global started off humbly in 2003, armed with a singular Oracle Partnership in San Jose, its US headquarter and the 10 April 2021

first office, that stays strong to this day. By 2005, Jade Global had 50+ employees and Salesforce Alliance & Microsoft Gold Partnerships.

Jade successively added Snowflake Managed Services, AWS, ServiceNow, NetSuite, and a Boomi Elite Partnership over the years to its growing partner landscape. Today Jade Global has 1000+ employees, spread across 7 cities, including offices in Austria, Canada, and India.

What is relatively unknown is that Jade Global is one of the few businesses that successfully navigated through the COVID-19 Crisis. And much of the credit goes to Karan and the leadership team that helped employees make the smooth transition to a completely digital venue and safe WFH culture. This one company practices what it preaches. But more on that in a minute. First, we get the story from Karan on how it all started. And how paramount has Karan’s ethical leadership been to this success.

Making an Idea Stick in the Brimming Silicon Valley Cup: Circa 2003, looking for a future in the hotbed of IT was not a great option, let alone building one. The valley was still recovering from the whiplash of the recession and though talent was at large, finding the right people was not the easiest.

Businesses and investors were careful and naturally reluctant. But for our Visionary, it was as George Bernard Shaw said, “don’t wait for the right opportunity, create it.”

Karan Yaramada founded Jade Global in 2003 after having worked for about 11 years in the IT

industry. He discovered an opportunity in the market amidst the chaos, where the nature of IT services was becoming more global. Karan left his secured IT position, having worked with big names like KPMG, Tata Consultancy Services, and General Electric, this was one of the greatest risks he took at the peak of his career. It paid off and how. He landed himself the job of the first employee and CEO of Jade Global, working independently with no paycheck for the first three months.

Jade Global began as a small business that handled Oracle support services and upgrades projects.

Karan observed a major shift in IT services and business. They were becoming more global,

‘‘

There was an opportunity in the market to start an IT services company that had the culture, competitive pricing, and benefits of a boutique firm, but at the same time could provide customers with large-scale IT projects, says Karan.

‘‘

“

The stage of ideation though came with study and research, was only the beginning to a not so smooth path. Bootstrapped, bottom-up undertaking, Karan’s first year with Jade Global was spent working simultaneously on three Oracle upgrade projects. His movement from a solo ship to one with others onboard was a gradual one. As Jade Global grew, they expanded their offerings to include enterprise business application implementations, integrations,

“

Jade Global's mission and vision statements are about creating a company culture where both customer and employee satisfaction are high.

- Karan Yaramada

“ www.theenterpriseworld.com 11

| Cover Story

software product engineering, testing, support, Cloud services, technology advisory, and managed services.

Jade Global embarked on another major expansion, physically. They opened a second US headquarter located on the East Coast in Philadelphia through acquisition. In 2019, Jade Global set up new entities in Toronto, Canada, and Vienna, Austria.

‘‘

Not all Smooth Sailing:

LOOKING BACK ON HOW WE STARTED JADE GLOBAL FROM THE GROUND UP, GOING FROM 1-10 WAS MUCH EASIER

built their careers successfully in the same industry and they influenced me greatly. I am fortunate to work with teams who stand by me come what may. And of course, having customers who are trusting and willing to work with us repeatedly has also helped!”

This brings us to the proverbial question in these times. How did he survive the Pandemic? How did Jade Global a company with an employee force exceeding a thousand, level it up, while others were still coming to terms with the suddenness of it all?

“The Pandemic hit us. And yes, there was a period of shock and incredulity. But as a business leader, my first reflex was to offer a cushion to my people to fall back on.

THAN GOING FROM 10-20 IN TERMS OF STAGES IN THE COMPANY. IT WAS TOUGH TO HIRE, TRUST, COACH, AND TRAIN THE RIGHT PEOPLE, BUT IT HAS BEEN EVEN MORE DIFFICULT TO SCALE THE BUSINESS, REFLECTS KARAN.

For Jade Global being adaptable to change is imperative to remaining relevant and innovative and in the IT industry Change is innovation.

And their composure through the COVID-19 storm stands testimony to that. People at Jade Global attribute the stability to Karan’s and the leadership team’s nature and demeaner that safeguarded them emotionally. But being the leader Karan is, he fairly places the merit on them collectively.

“The people. I was fortunate to meet a lot of good people over on this journey. I met people who had 12 April 2021

While many are harping on about the “digital transformation” wave, Jade Global has been living and realizing it for its clients. Jade Global has steered 2600+ technology projects across a range of industries. One of the company's mainstays is adaptation through digital synergies that are at the very root of all its processes.

Digitization is a way of life at Jade Global, which was in effect even before the pandemic hit and virtual offices came into being.

“We had almost unknowingly been preparing for this period over the past few years. We went on to become a 100% remote workforce almost overnight without any glitches. This was possible because all our employees had company issued laptops and secured VPN Access; everything was on the

cloud, including our office collaboration suite, time and billing system, and network security.”

Karan beams.

“It was not just about the set-up, those were pieces that naturally fell into place, it was also the state of mind, that needed attention”, he continues.

Jade Global’s leadership team along with Karan created guidelines to follow for the entire company based on a wellconceived and forethought design: the 3Ps Approach: In their first Virtual meeting the CEO urged his people to internalize this approach; Protect-Preserve-Promote.

“The response was tremendous and instantaneous”, he adds proudly, a look of wonder on his otherwise composed face, like he was reliving the very moment.

We want to know about the measures and steps the company took to ensure a smooth transition to a 100% digital fully functional space. Jade Global is committed to bolstering its employees’ creativity, drive, mental health, and sense of security, both physical and emotional. And it did not leave any stones unturned here.

On the digital front, the company, as evident, was masterfully prepared, it was only a matter of fueling up certain systems and processes. And it was all revving up.

The secret was strong data governance tools and processes such as GDPR and ISO, robust security through endpoint controls, and all operating systems on the cloud. They witnessed zero glitches

during this transition and saw a notable improvement in employee productivity and customer engagement. An increase in corporate communications and a great HR engagement program kept this running successfully.

The process, however required collaboration across different operating and corporate functions.

The company successfully broke down departmental silos and readied themselves.

‘‘

Karan remarks, Breaking silos, collaboration, digital transformation, connected business.

We walk the talk.

‘‘

Communication and HR: Jade Global effectively demonstrated that they can function equally efficiently from home. For them it was about putting the employees’ choice first.

They ran a simple 3 question survey every 2 weeks and observed the response on WFH and WFO, and the changes that would ensue if a balance of the two was to be achieved. This helped them systematically gauge the mood and take steps to mitigate any perceived risks. Jade Global today has powerful system in place leveraging technology to maintain social distancing and safety norms in the office.

Technology and Admin: Ensuring employee safety, topped their charts of considerations. Their IT teamed up with Admin and came up with the COVID-19 Hoteling and

Contact Tracing App to effectively implement safety. This app allows users to book work desks in advance before they walk into the office. It further allows admin teams to create a seating map that enforces social distancing and limits the number of employees in the office. Also, internet connection to the disabled seats can be taken away including disabling wi-fi extenders. This ensures people work at assigned workstations and cannot break social distancing norms. The app further allows capturing thermal scan ratings and oximeter readings for all incoming and outgoing employees as well as successful contact tracing. If anyone tests positive, it would be able to trace all individuals who have been in their physical proximity for timely isolation and testing. Jade Global will continue offering this flexibility to its employees even though the imminent dangers now seem a bit tamed, with the vaccination out.

development despite the current economic situation.

The company equally shared the financial burden, with more than 75% of employees worldwide expressing willingness in taking salary deferral along with the leadership team that showed the path. The company swam through it with zero layoffs and the salary deferral program never actually taking off. He expresses, “It never came down to it. And I am glad it turned out that way.”

“We urged all managers to reach out to every team member so that we had an open line of communication between all employees. We were able to gain insight into the challenges of all employees and take the appropriate steps to solve these issues”, says Karan.

Jade Global’s Changing Graph since its foundation:

Finance and Innovation: Most Jade Global entered the surging IT businesses ended up cutting down industry with only Oracle Practice large projects and other capital and created a strong and prolific expenditure. However, Jade Global partner portfolio by 2005. realized that this form of cash Jade Global has witnessed a conservation meteoric rise, resulting from its through deferred commitment to customer success, investments - can experience, expertise, quality, impact long term flexibility, and, most importantly, growth. They wanted to strike a its employees’ loyalty and passion balance. The and support from its strong company’s proactive clientele.

Finance team enabled investment in IT to make front-end ready to go This steady growth from 2005 to when things opened up again. They 2010 was decked further by implemented process Snowflake Managed Services improvements, granular steered services. These years were dashboarding and more to ensure also marked by other equally that stay on the path to growth and riveting milestones like the www.theenterpriseworld.com 13

| Cover Story

establishment of Jade Global’s R&D Unit: Jade Labs, a locus for innovation and hands-on engagement with emerging tech.

Jade Global was widening and mounting in performance and numbers, with 160+ serviced clients and 150+ employees.

By 2015, Jade Global launched its AWS Practice and formed its Global Delivery Center in Hyderabad. Jade Labs, on the other hand, unveiled Xenon, Kanverse (AI), and INFA2ODI in succession.

These marvels today are part of the very fabric of services and partner offerings at Jade Global.

Jade Global meanwhile went on to

14 April 2021

acquire Saturn Infotech, opened fully operational offices in Austria and Canada, Delivery Centers in the US, and partnerships with ServiceNow, NetSuite & echoed excellence once again with its new upgraded status as Boomi’s Elite Partner, offering a unique flavor of services to an even bigger and widespread client base.

Jade Global has earned a reputation for delivering on time and budget, quality work, and personalized, transparent services. Being the right size gives us the extraordinary flexibility to pass on cost benefits to our clients. Whether it is implementation consulting, support, training, or strategic

assessments and optimizations.

Setting it Apart from the Competition The role of IT partners is rapidly changing with companies becoming more and more aware of how much they are spending, concurrently consuming technology at an unprecedented rate. And one of the things that CIOs are driving at while innovating is cost optimization. In the face of this abundance and prudence, how does Jade Global bring in a differentiator to its customers?

In Karan’s own words, in an exclusive ET Now interview, “In IT

He continues, “today every business is an IT company. We take mature technologies like Oracle, Salesforce, Boomi, Service etc. and apply them with our experience, wisdom, and expertise to optimize our customer’s business processes, taking them through a journey; digital transformation, migrating from onprem to Cloud or process optimization, rather than just We have been careful in selecting our customers and partners. We slamming have created a niche with Mid technologies. It is the to Large companies with focus on journey that matters to certain industries, where the CIOs them, how we manage are looking for a nimble (technology) partner to work with. This is the the change and space we t in very well, transition.”

Karan points out.

“Jade Global could not have accomplished all that we have without the lasting and reliable relationships we insist on having with our clients.”

Working with Innovation The present business environment is complex, with IT seeping through every aspect of business processes.

Whether it is AI, RPA, Cloud, Integration, managing this ecosystem is becoming increasingly challenging for businesses.

“It is like changing a tire in a running car”, fittingly explains the

CEO of Jade Global. But Karan doesn’t believe in technology for technology’s sake. Usability and adoptability are vital.

‘‘

We apply technologies to businesses that give them value through emerging tech. The end goal, according to Karan is the worthiness it brings to businesses.

‘‘

services it is difficult to differentiate the unique value we provide, but the Customer Experience that Jade Global offers remains unparalleled.” The company is known for having one of the highest customer retention rates in the industry.

Integration, Data and Security, Karan says is what companies must focus on. Having the most advanced technology at your disposal without the existence of a connected business, is like having a top model car without the fuel that runs it. Integration does that, it seamlessly loops and networks business processes, systems, people, and information.

Jade Global is not just offering mature technology but also creating its own.

Jade Global has made it to this juncture due to its great partner alliances. “But then we weren’t the only ones out there offering an Oracle, or a Salesforce service. It was so essential to get our own blend here, so our clients know the difference is not just in the service but the entire ecosystem we bring to the table”, shares Karan.

Kanverse, Jade Global’s AI, is a Cognitive Automation Platform that can support various use cases across the enterprise to remove bottlenecks, streamline business processes, and minimize manual touchpoints across workflows.

Jade Global’s Unique offerings are distinct yet conducive, in fact

www.theenterpriseworld.com 15

| Cover Story

complementary to its partner’s growth. They have established a symbiotic relationship, where their homegrown technology and innovation enhances and adds to the services offered. Kanverse AI was one of the many. Some of these others are JumpStart Analytics, Jade Global’s Prebuilt Analytics for Oracle EBS, JadeConnect for Connecting the Enterprise through ServiceNow, Xenon Test Cloud, InfatoODI, The First and Only Informatica to ODI Data Integration Conversion Tool, Accelero, Accelerated Oracle EBS Implementation, Reverse Logistics, Warehouse Management and more.

More Industries, more areas and more offerings: Hi-tech & Life Sciences Industries have a great need for technology that enables process automation and seamless integration for both internal and external partners as well as applications.

Jade Global has worked with over 150 Hi-tech customers to make strategic investments in launching unique industry solutions that will transform the business processes across the board. The solution consists of reference digital architecture with a pre-configured solution consisting of 70% of the most popular and relevant use cases in combination with leading purpose-built solutions.

Jade Global’s Pre-configured Life Sciences Industry Solution addresses Key CGxP requirements, Financial Reporting & Cost Management, Compliant Clinical & Commercial Supply Chain operations, pre-built Analytics, Trading Partner Integrations inclusive of overarching 16 April 2021

Compliance & Validation Framework hence providing a comprehensive Scalable Digital operations platform helping companies stay competitive and foster growth.

For the mind and heart While Jade Global remains Karan’s world, we ask the IT leader what occupies him when he is not the CEO of the company. The man is a selfconfessed bibliophile. And we are not surprised, a tiny glimpse of his inexhaustible library and we know it. So we ask him the next most natural question; what book(s) have left an impression on him?

“Bill Campbell. Bill is the former CEO of Intuit and someone who I know personally. I read his book The Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valleys Bill Campbell. I admire how he was able to form deep relationships with Silicon Valley’s greatest leaders and create a legacy of growing companies. BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0) by Jim Collins, and many poignant autobiographies.”

Being a leader means you are a trailblazer like Karan is to so many.

Our curiosity gets the better of us and we want to know who he as an IT leader, a thinker and a changemaker looks up to. The answer comes without a second thought, “I look up to Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, in how he changed the company’s direction and really unleashed the power of Microsoft. The former Herbert Kelleher was the co-founder and CEO of Southwest Airlines. He had an amazing leadership style and

was there from the beginning. It was his vision that propelled the company forward.”

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

The present reach of social media and channels has easily created an abundant culture of “thought leadership”. This has a flipside though. Anyone starting a business is self-branding with takeaways, insights and the endless saga. But true leadership advice from altering businesses defying conventions, and creating new avenues, is rare.

These people are the ones leading large teams, day-in day-out, in the real world. Karan Yaramada is one of them. And his advice to young entrepreneurs starting out, is as simple as it is beautiful.

“Create a business model that above all, is adaptable to change.

You must make sure you are innovative in changing year after year to scale out the business, but at the same time, you can disrupt the flow when you make too many changes too quickly. You must be adaptable to and embrace change.

Take that one risk that matters. It can make paths that lead to an extraordinary life. And most importantly value people you work with. I had millions telling me I could not reach where I am today and move where I want to be. But I am here, on my way because of the few who believed I could. That has truly made all the difference”, concludes Karan.

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| Leadership

18 April 2021

Traits That Set Great Leaders Apart W

hat do you think sets leaders apart from the others? Is it their ability to work their way to the top? Or is it the number of connections they have? Or is it their ability to motivate people? While these qualities do help people at varying degrees in their journey of becoming a leader, but leadership is not just that. It runs deeper than that. Here are some traits that set the leaders apart from the rest-

• They Improve Themselves First It is very unlikely for the people to rise above their leader. It is the leader who sets the mark in almost every area, be it the work ethic, or integrity or the office atmosphere. So if the leader is not giving much thought to the example they are setting, naturally, the others will follow.

This is the first quality that sets great leaders apartthey always improve themselves first before they lead others.

• They Embrace Feedback Another important quality of a great leader is to accept feedback from the followers. A leader knows that he/she has his/her own strengths and weaknesses and also the willingness to accept both criticism and praise. However, most of the leaders face the temptation of putting themselves in a bubble of yesmen; people who don't challenge his/her actions.

The best leaders however surround themselves with a group of trusted people; the kind of people who will give them honest feedback, whether good or bad.

• They Are Lifelong Learners To be at the top of an organization, one needs to learn new skills, gain mastery over new subjects and concepts. They constantly read books and articles that are related to their position. Concluding, the upward you move into your organization, you need to upgrade your knowledge, only then can you do justice to your job.

But when you become a leader, you assume that you have learned everything that was needed. But it is not so, to become a leader, you need to be a lifelong learner, and constantly keep upgrading your knowledge.

• They Take Responsibility Being a leader is a unique position to either take the full responsibility or to blame the ones working under him/her. It is not worthy of a leader to blame his/her failures onto others and boast of their successes. All the great leaders understand the fact that whatever happens, the final responsibility lies with them.

So when something goes wrong, it is their responsibility, even though they might have not caused it. When one wishes to succeed, one must be ready to accept the challenges it comes with, to take responsibility of the failures.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 19

| In a Talk With...

Mr Amol Gulhane Empowering Businesses with innovations R O B O L A B : - “A P E R F E C T P L AT F O R M T O E X P L O R E , L E A R N A N D B U I L D I D E A S ”

R

obolab Technologies Pvt. Ltd is a venture by alumni of College of Engineering, Pune (COEP) and is being mentored and supported by BHAU Institute of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Leadership (BIEL).

Robolab is your very own, on campus, Centre of Excellence in Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Rapid Prototyping (RP) and Industrial Automation, tailor-made for you. It is an advanced, state of the art platform to explore, learn and build robots and related technologies. We provide innovative and interactive training by experts consistent with the latest curricula and the industry requirements.

In a talk with Mr Amol Gulhane, Director and CEO at Robolab Technologies, we discussed current industry scenario and how Robolab is transforming businesses.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

We faced following initial challenges in early days of Robolab Finding Right Talent: Biggest asset for any organization is its human resource. Finding the right talent who can share the same passion and nurture them to prepare for 20 April 2021

future roles is also equally important for organizational success.

Support from Various Government Departments: The government is showing some positive inclination towards encouraging startups. A lot more can be done; but at the end of the day if an entrepreneur believes and conceives that he wants to succeed, whether the government is pro startups or not, he/she will succeed. Governments can help create ecosystems, entrepreneurs need to build their vision themselves.

Know how money flows: The core team of Robolab consists of mostly Engineers. So it took us some hard efforts and lessons to really understand how the money flows.

Knowing the regular profit and loss statement of the business is not enough.

Perception about Robotics and Robotics Lab. Many a schools and colleges have purchased some toys and kits and have put them in the room which is opened only for visitors and guests and they call it their Robotics Lab. We want to change that perception and really show world class innovations conceived and developed by students fraternity.

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

All India Council for Technical Education AICTE’s acceptance of latest technologies like robotics, Automation, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence in the official syllabus for technical institutions across India. Also, The recently launched National Education Policy (NEP) has put a lot of importance on the Hands of Experience and the practicality of the latest technologies ably backed with the theory. Various initiatives

by AICTE by other such organisations such as AICTE Idea Lab, MODROB Labs, Innovation Labs, Science and Technology Parks, Incubators have had helped Robolab grow its business.

How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Can you share a few statistics?

With large number educational institutions coming into existence day by day, the quest for providing quality education to the students is

AMOL GULHANE, DIRECTOR AND CEO AT ROBOLAB TECHNOLOGIES

rampant. Our service provides this technical edge to these institutes. A long sighted institution will surely know and realize the value of such an investment and its advantages for the future batches.

The students are our main target market section.

Through online teaching idea (app based) we will be reaching to all those students who don’t have access to Robolab.

India has nearly 4000 engineering colleges and out of them not even more than 40 i.e. 1% have well established robotics laboratories. There are nearly 2,00,000 Middle high school in India which are privately operated. Our Robolab model for school is economical and attractive as we provide curricular material with it. K12 schools with CBSE and ICSE pattern is our main focus in school robotics business as they are open & receptive to new and competitive technologies.

We want to bring up the not so well established institutions to the technological equity with the well established ones. The students are like wet clay. We give them right shape and make future innovators with our service and guidance. Thus bringing about the overall development of the students, institutions and India itself.

In a short span of 7 years, Robolab has spread across 16 states, and is associated with more than 50 key institutes and have directly trained more than 12000 www.theenterpriseworld.com 21

| In a Talk With...

students across India

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

The most important part of the company are the customers and your team. Both work hand in hand. You must maintain a perfect balance between your customers as well as your team.

Our rock solid team who is passionate and dedicated towards the cause to take technologies to masses is the core reason for our company achievements and success.

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

ROBOLAB :- “A perfect platform to explore, learn and build ideas” Robolab is your very own, on campus, Centre of Excellence in Robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Rapid Prototyping (RP) and Industrial Automation, tailor-made for you. It is an advanced, state of the art platform to explore, learn and build robots and related technologies. We provide innovative and interactive training by experts consistent with the latest curricula and the industry requirements.

22 April 2021

ROBOLAB:- “A perfect platform to explore, learn and build ideas” Product Features: • Advanced state of the art technical research facility within campus • Hands on practical experience along with required theory • Consolidation of concepts • Industry- institute Interaction • Standard guidelines and essentials • Superior quality and Advanced robot study platforms • Training by Industry Experts • Affordable excellence with Quick Return on Investment Main Products/Services For Colleges and Research and Development Centers • AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab • Center Of Excellence in Robotics (COE-R) • Center Of Excellence in Internet of Things (COE-IoT) • Center Of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence (COE-AI) • Center Of Excellence in Mechatronics (COE-M) Center Of Excellence in Industry 4.0 (COE-I4.0) • Center Of Excellence in Rapid Prototyping and Scanning (COERPS) • Center Of Excellence in Pneumatics Technology (COE-PT) • Center Of Excellence in Vacuum Technology(COE-VT) • Center Of Excellence in Industrial Automation(COE-IA) • Faculty Development Programs (FDP) • Research and Development (R&D) • Consulting, Guidance, Mentorship

For Schools • Atal Tinkering Lab • Do it yourself (DIY) Lab • Robotics Lab • Internet of Things (IoT) Lab • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab • Rapid Prototyping Lab For Industries, Defense and Research Organizations • Research and Development Consulting • Product Development How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

We are taking every initiative to make our products and services better. We walk that extra mile to make our customers completely satisfied with our products and services. We keep researching and inventing so that clients can get the best value for their money and a remarkable experience. This is the best thing that one can do to outpace their competitors.

Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab: All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE ) has decided to establish AICTE-IDEA (Idea Development, Evaluation & Application) Lab in AICTE approved institutions, encouraging students for application of science, technologies, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fundamentals towards enhanced hands-on experience, learning by doing and product visualisation.

Tinkering Lab: IoT in a Box: The IoT Learning

Box is the ideal solution for university students, providing stateof-the-art, hands-on incorporation of IoT technology in an educational setting. It supports a lot of features which enables researchers and students to explore different aspects and develop different applications in IoT field. The most popular protocols used for the realization of IoT are MQTT, COAP, and HTTP. Sensors used with IoT Learning Box are the building blocks of the system which can collect values of different parameters. On-Board Micro-Controller ESP32 transmits information to Thingsboard opensource IoT Platform. Thingsboard will make the values of collected parameters available over the internet so that they are globally accessible.

IoT Car: IoT Car is a product that allows users to learn, visualize and implement Internet of Things in fun and engaging manner. It is a physical product embedded with electronic and mechanical components such as microprocessor, sensors, actuators, touch panel, and network connectivity.

IoT Car uses experiential learning methodology. With the use of IoT Car, students are introduced to Internet of Things concepts and its practical applications using python programming. They also get hands on experience of Electronics, Mechanical and Embedded systems.

IoT Car is based on the Raspberry Pi platform. It is embedded with a variety of sensors like Humidity and Temperature sensor, Accelerometer sensor, GPS and GSM Sensor and Camera sensor. It

is driven by a DC motor, and Servo motor based steering(Ackerman) mechanism. Specially designed graphical user interface(GUI) displays various sensors parameters and can also be used to operate the IoT Car. Iot Car is controlled and programmed using the inbuilt Touch Panel or the wirelessly connected Host Computer.

Miniature Industrial Production System (MIPS): Miniature Industrial Production System (MIPS) enables the trainees & trainers to acquire thorough knowledge in field of Robotics & Automation starting from basic theoretical concepts to advanced applications. A combination of all the technologies used in the lab, the MIPS is complete platform to learn about industrial automation. It includes a combination of various sensors, motors, pneumatic components, linear actuators, micro controllers & PLC etc. to build a miniature manufacturing unit that performs a specific task.

Online Course for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning : Fast track your career with our comprehensive Program in AI and Machine Learning. This AI and Machine learning certification program will prepare you for one of the world’s most exciting technology frontiers.

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

Robolab as an organisation acts as a perfect amalgamation for Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Internet of Things, Automation, and similar latest technologies in hardware and software. With the kind of talented workforce that we

are having, we can disrupt any industry we put our eyes on. The team offers a diverse experience and skillsets to tackle the challenges. The team is highly motivated and great at executing things at super-fast pace keeping an eye for the details.

Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

Delhi Public School, Bokaro Steel City, Jharkhand.

The management was looking for a technology partner for establishing a robotics lab at their campus. They tried their contacts and got quotations from them. Many of the established companies in the domain had also submitted their proposals.

Just to have more options to choose from, they were digging data about companies who offers similar solutions. They got to know about us through a simple Google search.

They contacted us the same day and arranged a meeting with the Director Hemlata S. Mohan Madam and management team.

During the first meeting itself. They liked the customized part of the Robolab along with student centric approach of the training.

And against all odds and big established firms, we got the order and successfully established the Robolab and delivered trainings at their campus. The Management as well as trainees were well satisfied and recommended us to their counterparts.

According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in digital landscape should focus on

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| In a Talk With...

“ H A R D -W O R K B E AT S TA L E N T W H E N TA L E N T D O E S N ’ T W O R K H A R D . ” to get better results?

Having laser sharp focus on the sector areas your company works in is of utmost importance.

You need to find patterns in the things that might seem random.

And for that you will have to collect, analyse, relook at a vast amount of data.

One person who you admire the most?

Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Sir. He was truly a multifaceted person.

The Teacher, The Poet, The Leader, The Philosopher, The Person, The Scientist, The People’s President and most importantly a kind and compassionate human being. We bow in respect to Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Sir. Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

Amitabh Bachchan Ji. AmitabhJi is a prime example of someone being pegged back repeatedly in life, personal and professional, and yet he fought back. He is a perfect role model for us all, not only to the ones who want to become movie stars, but also for the rest of us to extrapolate the learnings and wear the same attitude to fight adversities in our own lives.

Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

It’s a need of the hour. To secure your position in the market, you need to be on your toes and grab the different opportunities as they 24 April 2021

appear. The shelf of opportunities has shrunk a lot over the past few years. Also, you need to keep your updated with various issues, activities and work going on in different sectors as well.

It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

Instead of the rat -race or competition with some organisation, we compete and outperform ourselves as the sportsperson do. We like to challenge ourselves and then break the barriers.

We have initiated a lot of different initiatives which were forward looking and futuristic. Eager to lead many more such initiatives for the betterment of larger good.

“Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently.”- Shiv Khera “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.”

Mr. Amol Ashokrao Gulhane ( Director and Chief Executive Officer) CEO, A Roboticist Shaping the Best Robotics and Automation Company Education Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Telecommunication from Government College of Engineering Pune (COEP), Pune Executive Management Development Program from Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow

(IIML) Amol Gulhane is the Co-Founder and CEO of Robolab Technologies.

He is a first generation entrepreneur and a Roboticist shaping the Best Robotics and Automation Company. Amol has completed his B.Tech in Electronics and Telecommunication from College of Engineering, Pune (COEP). A roboticist, Amol has deep experience of designing and manufacturing complex and task specific industrial robots. He has a profound knowledge of educational, and defense robots and is specialized in digital image processing, embedded programming, design analysis and optimization.

Widely respected for integrity, innovation and dynamism, Amol has successfully established and grown partnerships with customers, partners and industry bodies, setting benchmarks in governance, cooperation and co-innovation.

With his entrepreneurial, management and technical skills and being an accomplished sportsperson, he implements his unique ways to motivate the entire team and get the best out of people.

He is the recipient of the National Entrepreneurship Award(GoI), Youth Inspirator Award(Sakaal) and 30 under 30 startup entrepreneurs (Hindustan Times).

He is an expert speaker on Robotics, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence,Industry 4.0, Entrepreneurship and Leadership.

| In a Talk With...

Mr. Chintan P Mehta A pioneer of revolution in the insurance sector

T

Auto Hangar India (AHI). He is a superb taskmaster of bridging awareness & operational excellence in the Insurance domain.

Mr. Chintan P Mehta is one of the top names in the insurance sector that accelerated the revolution in the same sector.

Currently, as CEO of AHI (Auto Hangar India) Insurance Brokers, Chintan along with his team is a master of innovation and disruption for mass & class of society. He places his every situation right with in-depth insurance business analysis, claims management, reinsurance, and customer retention. His team manages client business through the most trained data-center and field associates.

he insurance sector is significant in any economy.

Because people and businesses keep on putting resources into new startups, innovations, and better approaches for working more to grow more. To do this, people and organizations need to take a ton of investment risks. To protect such investments and much more, insurance plays a vital role.

Chintan P. Mehta started his career in International Business Development. Developed various markets across the globe and built a successful enterprise. After working for several years in different markets like Singapore, Thailand, United Kingdom as well as West Africa, Chintan decided to come back to India.

Last One and a half-decade he has built excellent domain experience from a journey with India Infoline, Way2Wealth, Shriram Group, and 26 April 2021

In a conversation with team AHI, we talked about the current industry scenario and what AHI offers to its customers.

• What inspires you to achieve the best in your endeavors? Or, who is your role model?

Life is a unique journey. On every fold, you get endless opportunities to learn and improvise. Chintan feels even after an accomplished career of Two decades he still is a student, a student of life. Being an

avid reader he is inspired by various scholars and spiritual leaders. You can find the deep impact of preachings of Shri Pandurang Shastri Athawale of Swadhyay & Swami Vivekananda during interaction with him.

Professionally his role models are business moguls like Narayanmurthy (humility), Ratan Tata (simplicity), Azim Premji (philanthropy), and R.Thyagarajan (social inclusiveness). As per Chintan, these greats are modernday sages.

• Kindly tell us about the challenges you faced throughout your entrepreneurial journey and how did you overcome the complexities of the industry.

India is a very diverse country.

Every state has its style of functioning; every geography possesses a different challenge.

Every industry has its peculiar issues. In Insurance, we as a country have very low penetration compared to similar economies.

Insurance still is a push product and awareness at large is depressing.

In-depth knowledge of insurance

Chintan P Mehta CEO AHI Insurance Brokers

www.theenterpriseworld.com 27

| In a Talk With...

Key Achievements • 2018: 10 Most Promising Insurance Startups by Silicon India • 2019: 10 Most Recommended Insurance Solution Providers by Insight Success Review • 2019: Insurance Broker of The Year – 4th Annual Insurance India Summit & Awards, Mumbai • 2020: Chintan P. Mehta - 10 Most Inspirational Business Leaders to watch in 2020 by Insight Success Review • 2020: Chintan P. Mehta - Asia’s Most Influential Insurance Leader 2020 by Insurance alertss

and apt usage of technology needs an hour. The combination of Big Data & AI along with underwriting inputs can be a game-changer for the industry as a whole.

• Kindly describe in brief your company and its services/products.

We at AHI Insurance Brokers crafted our expertise not by selling but by imbibing our knowledge into our offerings. Our uniqueness lies in seeking to consistently execute better and perfect this recipe of Life Cycle Management for continued success.

Our thrust is on advisory and relationship building while dealing with our clientele. AHI works as a one-stop portal for all the insurance needs.

As per Chintan, Insurance is a serious long term business; you should have required patience and understanding. Also, this industry impacts the nation’s socioeconomic fabric to a great extent. It is imperative that you consciously are aware of the same and create your boundaries keeping this in mind.

28 April 2021

Chintan has created a company that is not in the topline seeking valuation game at all. He insists on the role of a good brokerage is to represent the customer first and not the insurer during the entire life cycle.

• Brief us about the industry scenario from your perspective.

Covid-19 pandemic disrupted every fundamental of business. While few industries are facing survival challenges the insurance industry has got a tremendous boost in a way. It is not that before Corona Insurance Industry was struggling or in deep turmoil. It was growing substantially but the uncertainty of life in pandemic times gave unimaginable upside to the health insurance industry in particular.

Q-1 of F.Y.20-21 has seen almost 40% growth even though the entire country was under lockdown.

Digital readiness of industry worked as a catalyst here.

Though Loss Ratios have been alarming, the profitability of establishments will be a great challenge. In such times I don’t think one should think about making money but what matters the most is the insurance industry will

be able to help people manage their economics in the most troubling times in several decades.

It will also help people to understand their very own need for insurance planning, which in long term will benefit the industry and country at large.

• How do you see yourself and your company shortly? Tell us about your future goals.

We are on a right track – I want to build an enterprise that takes pride in delivering every promise made to clients who value our advice.

We are creating niche segment offerings and create our “blue ocean”. Warranty solutions, specialized personal asset insurance cover, pet insurance are some of the few.

• What would you advise to the budding entrepreneurs?

There is no short-cut to success. In the service industry delivering promises is vital & in insurance moment of truth is “Claims”. If you can be true to all your sales pitches at the time of claim settlement, you have no competition.

www.goldmansachs.com

| Expert’s Opinion

ENHANCING GUT HEALTH USING

PROBIOTICS T

he human intestine is the home of trillions of microorganisms, collectively referred to as the “gut microbiome.” The gut microbiome is now widely recognized to be an organ in itself and a significant one at that. When the various gut microorganisms are in harmony and balance, i.e. when the “good bacteria” are present in the right proportion, they keep the “bad” bacteria in check, and the system functions at its best. However, when conditions arise that disrupt this balance, causing a proliferation of the “bad bacteria” and an increased output of their byproducts, the system is adversely affected. Various health issues may arise as a result. Sometimes, even taking antibiotics can upset the balance.

When one or more types of gut bacteria grow rampant, and their harmful effects begin to manifest, the resulting loss of the desired balance is referred to as “gut dysbiosis.”

It becomes vital to repopulate “good bacteria” in the gut and restore normal conditions and good health, with probiotics.

Understanding Pre- and probiotics Probiotics are food items or dietary 30 April 2021

supplements containing live microorganisms beneficial to the body. They are prescribed or taken to maintain or enhance the body’s “good” microflora. Prebiotics are (often) fiber-rich foods that are good for the proliferation of beneficial bacteria. They are found in fresh greens, whole grains, fruits, and foods belonging to the allium family such as raw onions and garlic.

Why the best probiotics supplements start with robust strains Probiotics can be found in natural food sources like curds, kimchi, kefir, tempeh, sauerkraut, and kombucha. Also, they are added as supplements to baked goods, chewable candies, or confections.

The main challenge lies in ensuring that the probiotic component remains stable throughout the shelf life of the product and that when the product is consumed, a viable amount is delivered. The minimal effective microorganism count in the product is of great importance in the context of probiotics supplementation for health benefits.

In general, the food industry has also adopted the USFDArecommended level of 106 CFU/ml at the time of consumption.

Incorporating probiotics in food,

confectionery or dietary supplements is great, but how can you ensure that they will still be viable enough to meet the required dose, even towards the end of the shelf life of the product?

To successfully deliver the benefit of probiotics to the consumer, several steps are essential: from deciding the probiotic mix, through product formulation, manufacturing, and optimal storage conditions.

Challenges in manufacturing probiotics For many new entrants in the probiotics sector, standardization of processes remains a challenge.

With manufacturing, the production process must be designed such that: • The output meets quality and quantity standards • The product is viable and can remain stable over the long term • The method is reproducible • The product is allergen-free Probiotic lactic acid bacteria and Bifidobacteria present in fermented dairy products have to be consumed quite rapidly. These products have a limited shelf life and need to be refrigerated. At present, probiotics can be added to

dry food items and dietary supplements, conferring up to 24 months of stability, provided they are stored in ambient conditions of temperature and humidity.

High temperatures during manufacturing processes may also destroy or alter some of the properties of the probiotic species.

Either way, a starter culture that is robust, gives fast and consistent results, is highly desirable. Strains that retain good viability and show high performance when reactivated even after months in storage are also desirable.

Adopting Probiotics In Daily Life Current challenges brought about by the emergence of COVID highlight the need for preventative care, particularly among the geriatric population. While there was no popular culture of taking

probiotics supplements in India, the pandemic has underlined the need for such immunity-boosting measures.

inflammatory conditions brought about by pathogens or disease states.

The Triphase Advantage

Probiotics boost immunity in the following ways:

Triphase is the world's first and only Biotech company making High Temperature Stable Probiotic strains for food, confectionary & dietary supplements.

• By maintaining optimal numbers/concentrations of “good” bacteria and curbing the proliferation of harmful microorganisms.

Triphase’s soon-to-be-trademarked Temperature Stable Probiotics (TSP) is superior to other products in the market, thanks to its ability to withstand harsh manufacturing processes and high temperatures.

Triphase’s innovative fermentation technology TSP for strains is patented. The TSP Lactobacillus spp. strains are High Temperature Stable, non-GMO, BSE/ TSE free, preservative-free, and vegan.

• Probiotics also help block the adverse effects of pathogenic bacteria by producing compounds.

They are also believed to stick to the intestinal epithelium, thus preventing pathogens or toxins from damaging the intestinal wall.

They also stimulate protective responses from intestinal epithelial cells.

• Probiotics help modulate systemic

Meet Dr Srilakshmi Desiraju, the brain behind Triphase Dr Srilakshmi Desiraju has a PhD in Chemistry and did her MBA in Technology Commercialization. She started Triphase in Mysore with a core team of 4-6 people in 2009 when probiotics were just starting to come to the fore.

Her vision for Triphase is to look at developing a scientific approach to enhance the quality of human life.

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| Business Story

Additti Jain Founder, & CEO IKI CHIC

32 April 2021

A name behind the huge success of an online fashion store-

T

he pandemic era is coming to an end and the businesses, industries, etc. are getting back to their normal capacity and functioning but the pandemic brought a lot of changes in the working methodologies, industry trends, and standards which opened up new possibilities and opportunities. Although the world economy going through a slump, it was a challenging yet bold move to find and grab the opportunity and start a business when the world of business is figuring out how to deal with and avert a crisis. Despite the setbacks and challenges, some entrepreneurs wanted to test their mettle and prove their worth as an entrepreneur and as an able, efficient and visionary leader. Many industries got shut due to the pandemic, some were staggered and some boomed, one of which is the e-commerce industry. As the population shifted towards online forms of shopping, education, etc. the services available on the internet suddenly got a lot of attention, visitors, and of course skyrocketing sales figures.

This is the story of a visionary and resilient woman entrepreneur who not only dared to venture into the world of business but also used the pandemic to her company’s best advantages and valiantly faced and conquered all the challenges that were thrown at her company.

Additti Jain, Founder, and CEO of IKI CHIC, the made-in-India brand presenting the best of both worlds – international drift with a taste of Indian fashion. Additti is a Pearl graduate, serial entrepreneur, and fashion enthusiast, enabling the new-age Indian women to express

their vibrancy through a wide range of High Street Fashion options. IKI CHIC focuses on comfort, style, and fabric quality, the brand offers a jaw-dropping wardrobe collection fit for all occasions. From tops, tees, loungewear, bottoms, dresses, jumpsuits, and winter wear to a wholesome IKI CHIC Premium Collection, the brand offers Fast Fashion First and trendiest designs.

Let’s dwell more into the trendy and exquisite apparel company, the company’s story, and most of all the iconic entrepreneur’s journey, and the in-between.

The company IKI CHIC aims to deliver exquisite yet affordable apparel to the newage Indian women, looking to have their best shoe and dress forward, is incomplete without IKI CHIC’s premium and a plethora of premium designs made with meticulous details and hand-picked finest fabric to meet today’s fashion demands. The Delhi-based bootstrapped clothing brand thrives on the motto of Absolute Panache, which is about a confident and stylish way of dressing. One can mix and match clothes from an extensive range of options, which comes from a team of quirky designers and textile experts.

Launched in 2019, an e-commerce store, IKI CHIC, aims to capture India's fashion market with its unique approach, awesome designs, and exciting fashion trends, all in an affordable price range. After clothing, IKI Chic is set to foray into segments such as footwear, jewellery, bags, sunglasses, etc.

The idea is to give the customer a

one-stop-shop that is equipped to upgrade their wardrobe time and again.

The most formative and toughest time for a start-up, business, etc. are the initial days, as one has to take on a lot of things, right from setting up the start-up, company right down to handling almost everything, and then comes the marketing and sales along with the challenges to keep the start-up, business afloat and running to full capacity without any loss in enthusiasm, resilience, and hard work. With the pandemic in action, the challenges were doubled to the scale if not less, making it a real hurdle to cross the time and managing the company and its functions altogether. Additti not only stood through the storm but also effervescently handled her role as a flag bearer of IKI CHIC, showing her dedication towards providing unique, stylish, elegant, and compelling apparels and accessories of quality and standards that are not only ahead of the competition but also showcasing the sincerity and dedication of the brand towards the mission it was built and founded on - Absolute Panache. Some of the challenges faced by IKI CHIC were managing remote work during the pandemic as the designs and styles the company offers require a lot of teamwork-induced creativity and brainstorming. Also, employee communication was the major challenge on the priority list as the ultimate company goal is the productivity of its employees. It becomes challenging to keep the employees engaged when they are working remotely and that too, in a crisis. Last but not least the

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| Business Story

The groovy fashion of IKI CHIC, new arrivals, and a step further The company focuses on providing best quality, perfectly crafted apparels, and accessories that not only checks the boxes for a complete and perfect outfit but also makes its own space in your wardrobe as one of the best, trendiest and chic outfit a woman can own. IKI CHIC delivers such apparel and accessories with finesse and fluidity that appears like a thread perfectly woven around the needle, and the company can do this by focusing on the four very important aspects that are also the reason for their surmounting success and popularity.

- Trendiest design.

- Fast Fashion First.

- Quality at its best.

- Widest range to choose from.

Recently, they have added their resort wear collection. They are in collaboration with strategic partners such as Myntra, Amazon, and Flipkart. As the growth in ecommerce has not only presented such a vivacious brand but has also presented one with the means and access to grab their products, at the touch of your phone, sitting at home, without any hassle or second thought.

Reasons taking IKI CHIC a mile apart from the competition in the market With e-commerce as the new global

34 April 2021

fashion front, they are set to launch an all-new summer collection. A culmination of boho-chic styles, bright prints, and one-of-a-kind silhouettes. A unique collection consisting of safari prints, ruched designs, a variety of denims, newage tees and tops, jumpsuits, and last but not least, rompers. The collection is spurred on by the indulgent bohemian culture and reflects the patterns of the boho world that are prominent in the fashion industry. They also introduced their exclusive resort wear line on their online portal.

Their USP continues to be their brilliant customer service and affordable pricing. Customer satisfaction is their utmost priority.

They feel their main competitor is themself. They believe in reaching their goals and aiming to be one step ahead in the game, each passing day. They are working 24/7 to make their brand a great success.

A company run by women, proudly standing together to break barriers and celebrate empowerment and hard work. They are here to stay and cannot wait to continue making a mark in the fashion world!

What makes IKI CHIC, successful and that too in Style IKI CHIC is the essence of the latest trends. They cater to the best shopping solutions to every woman looking out for the latest trends. Their success is their customers,

who are loyal and are taking the brand’s popularity through the roof.

Some of the few factors, people are choosing IKI CHIC as their onestop fashion destination are – - Passion: They do not let clutter hanging around on their website.

Only the best fashion collection is catered to their customers. Their team ensures that every effort is made to protect the interests of their customers, and they love to do it for their customers.

- Hustle: Their team takes on the challenge to discover the latest trends from events all over the world. It takes a ton of time and effort that sets them apart from the other brands.

- Variety: A vast range of collections gives freedom to their customers. They bring all your favorite brands together so that you do not have to search for every store for the perfect wearable for your next occasion.

‘‘

manufacturing process took a few hits due to the lockdown in effect and the overall impact on the manufacturing industry.

Success is not a destination, it’s a journey ...never ending!!

- Additti jain

Centre of Excellence It’s a comprehensive orthopaedic super specialty hospital with all sub specialties of orthopaedic available under one roof Trauma Spine & Back Joint Replacement Hand and Limb Foot and Ankle Surgery Rheumatology & Arthritis Clinic Shoulder Arthroplasty Paediatric Orthopedics Orthopaedic Oncology

www.sanchetihospital.org

| Get Future Ready

5 REASONS TO INSTALL A

Smart Ventilation System W

ith the ever-growing concerns regarding the environment and human health conditions are coming on the surface, grievances like poor air quality are addressed with the latest technology like ventilation, which is the calculated establishment of a system that regulates poor and impure air quality by countering air pollutants, flushing out unpleasant odor, discomforting heat, moisture, etc., flushing in fresh sir and raising air quality index and with technology transformation and artificial intelligence, smart ventilation systems are flooding the markets with multivarious features and ventilation systems like exhausts, thermostats, heatrecovery ventilation systems, balanced ventilation systems, houses and building clearance ventilation systems, etc. Smart ventilation isn't only a boon of artificial intelligence and modernization but is an efficient substitute as well as a piece of equipment for cost-efficient, energy-efficient, time-efficient benefits which aims to provide a better index of air-quality to its customers.

Five reasons why the installation of smart ventilation is necessary and assists to live a more efficient life Automatic regulation: A smart ventilation system instinctively manages and synchronizes the ventilation based on factors like the number of people present at a 36 April 2021

particular time, weather and temperature ratio, etc., which is acknowledged by the sensors and balances the ventilation as and when required.

Energy Efficient: Smart ventilation despite its automatic regulatory function is a very cost-friendly system that not only stimulates the ventilation within no time but also cuts down energy utilization to the bare minimum, making it a better option for sustainable development as well.

Reduction of CO2: As a smart ventilation system toggles and streamlines ventilation based on factors like weather, temperature, occupancy, etc., it extensively manages to cut down carbon emissions by disbanding the system automatically when ventilation isn’t required and as it consumes a lesser amount of energy hence, it exhales lesser amounts of harmful gases like carbon dioxide among many others.

Accompanied by remote control: As the name suggests a smart ventilation system is installed to make life easier and more digitalized, smart ventilation systems are accompanied by a remote control which allows controlling the system as per usage simply by logging in to the administrative dashboard and utilizing its features.

Monitoring the energy consumption levels: A smart

ventilation system not only assists in reducing energy consumption and makes it more energy-efficient but also helps to keep a tag and check on energy consumption levels which makes it cost-efficient as well. It provides data analysis of energy usage levels by presenting logistics and statistics of energy expenditure which highly accommodates the owner in keeping a check on the consumption levels and making feasible and viable changes soon accordingly.

Ventilate or suffocate?

Installation of a smart ventilation system would not just be an upgrade of technology in a house or a building but will pose as a sound investment to tackle the grave issues of mediocre air quality but will also chaperone advantages like energy reduction, costeffectiveness, user-friendly features, and add a more comfortable prospect in one’s life in general. As one is always striving hard to achieve and get the best things in life and increase the comfort and standards of living, air is the most important natural resource we have and with this smart ventilation system, you can not only improve the quality of air in your office, increasing the working efficiency of your company but also make sure that they are getting the healthiest and cleanest air possible, which goes a long way in the company employee relationship.

“

Breathing is the greatest pleasure in life.

- Giovanni Papini

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| In a Talk With...

MR. PUNEET BAJAJ Adding value to businesses with cutting edge cloud solutions

I

n the Indian business landscape, Cloud-based operations have gotten inescapable. To such an extent that, for certain ventures, it is hard to oversee development without the Cloud innovation. On the off chance that we contrast what the innovation has carried with the Indian organizations, contrasted and customary conditions, it has passed on productivity that engages associations to lessen capital costs and addition business versatility.

Additionally, cloud experts say, the innovation has significantly affected how web hosts and worker ranches work.

with their digital transformation journey. We are one of those key partners across the globe that focuses only on Microsoft based solutions and have build deepexpertise in it.

In this scenario, Microsoft Gold Partner and the leading cloud solutions provider, IFI Tech solutions are empowering businesses with its cutting-edge offerings.

We acquired the initial few customers without any reference but solely based on our expertise, sometimes working free for months to prove ourselves.

In a conversation with Mr. Puneet Bajaj, Partner at IFI Techsolutions, he shared his journey throughout and discussed the current industry scenario.

• What were the initial challenges you faced?

The biggest challenge was to make customers understand the value of the cloud and get them to pay a premium back in the day. We started working with some of the early adopters in the US market, and India only had a handful of customers in the entire region.

Also, hiring experienced employees was not possible as there was no talent out there, we had to train everyone from ground zero.

• Tell us about the company.

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

IFI Techsolutions is a born-in-cloud Microsoft Gold Partner and a Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP) setup by ex-Microsoft employees to help global customers ranging from Enterprises to SMBs and Startups

The worldwide lockdown due to COVID-19 was the biggest trigger and change maker for the entire cloud industry and us as well. We saw a massive surge in customer requests and started working with

38 April 2021

larger enterprises that needed help with cloud expertise. The traditional ways of cloud sales went away, and we were doing the kind of value sales that we always wanted to. All our customers that were already using cloud technologies saw massive benefits.

The post-covid world is all about HOW and WHEN to use cloud instead of the pre-covid why.

• How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Can you share a few statistics?

We have established direct sales capabilities and have acquired customers across the globe including in countries like the US, UK, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, Egypt, etc.

Our sales journey in India started in early 2019 and within 2 years we are managing the entire cloud journey for some of the biggest enterprise groups in India like Larsen & Toubro group, Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance, Hiranandani, L&T Infotech, and even brands like Bisleri, Gulf Oil, Yash Raj Films, Health India TPA, The Phoenix Mills, etc.

All this would not have been possible without the constant support of various Microsoft teams across the globe, especially

Puneet Bajaj Partner IFI Techsolutions

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| In a Talk With...

Microsoft India. They awarded us with the prestigious Partner of the Year Finalist Award for our work on OSS on Azure. They also recognized us with multiple Gold Competencies for our work in the field of Cloud, Productivity, Security, DevOps, Analytics, etc. making us among us one of the very few Partner across the globe with 360-degree capabilities on Microsoft’s Cloud solutions.

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

Our people are our biggest strength.

We have always put our customers before everything else, given our best for a great customer experience, and trained ourselves for the future. We are riding the digital transformation wave right on the edge working with solutions that revolutionize the industry and builds trends.

The fact that our very 1st cloud customer is still working with us after more than half a decade is a testament.

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

We provide services like consulting, managed services, engineering, offshore dev center (ODC), staff augmentation, and Microsoft reseller.

Our solution areas include Digital Transformation, Application Modernization, DevOps, Security, Data Analytics, and Application Development.

• How do you decide to take the 40 April 2021

company a step further in terms of your products/services?

We have been in the consulting and reselling business for some time now. We are focusing on expanding our Managed Services and Staff Augmentation practices where we expect to add another 100 people over the next 12-18 months.

• Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

Going by the industry trends we are investing in technologies like IoT, Data Analytics, and AI. Some of our current projects will be disruptive in industries like healthcare, fashion, professional training, etc.

• How has technology transformed the traditional way of business?

Today, customers across industries are understanding the importance of the cloud. Post lockdown as the economy revives and companies go back to business, they will look at cloud solutions as the primary way of doing their business.

employment, practicing a sustainable business model, promoting & driving innovations that touch masses.

• Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

I started working as early as college 3rd year where I was working with startups in Delhi NCR region, building apps for someone, doing digital marketing for another, and even started my Technology training center for college students & working professionals. Coming from a typical business family I think entrepreneurship came naturally along with all the challenges. I was at the forefront of the cloud revolution in 2010 as all tech giants were betting heavily on it, my focus was building cloud-based apps so I coded at nights for my dream project (www.iforindia.org) and evangelized Microsoft Azure during the day at various forums.

• What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

I got placed at Microsoft India R&D post my MBA where I spent more than 3 years in various roles that gave a breadth of amazing experiences and shaped my career.

I was not just driving some key cloud migration projects for Microsoft but also got my hands on the alpha-beta version of the future of the cloud.

In today’s testing times an entrepreneur’s biggest responsibility is towards making society a better place. You can do this in many ways like providing

Post leaving Microsoft it was time to partner with my long-time mentor Ankur Garg (ex-Microsoft & a successful Bollywood Producer) in building IFI

Technology has enabled the everything-as-a-service model in every industry so that a business can focus on their strengths and do what they are best at.

“

Chan the o cons

“

Techsolutions to be a premier cloud consulting company.

• What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

I would call the following as our key achievements from various years. ♦ 2018 one of our projects got showcased at Microsoft Inspire (one of the biggest annual tech conferences) with Satya Nadella on the stage ♦ 2019 attending Microsoft Inspire and becoming a Gold Microsoft Partner ♦ 2020 becoming a Finalist for the prestigious Microsoft Partner of Year award. ♦ 2020 acquiring large enterprise customers like L&T, LTI, Mahindra & Mahindra, etc. ♦ 2021 becoming a 100 people company

nge is only stant

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

For us, our employees are like family and we treat them the same way. We make sure we prepare them for not today but the future by heavily investing in training, exposure to Microsoft engineers & employees, building an environment of mutual trust, encouraging & providing them opportunities to follow a career path that they are most passionate about. We always had policies like flexible working hours, work from home, flexible holidays, and rewarding top performers.

I am proud of the team we have

built and confident that they can face any challenges out there with a smile.

• Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

on to get better results?

Agility and flexibility to analyze & adapt to market trends.

• One person who you admire the most?

I like to see ourselves as the masters of distress situations. There are many such scenarios from helping a customer run their business through a hurricane or a cyber-attack, to doing a 4-month project in 6 weeks, but I'll talk about the 2 that stand out due to the impact they are making.

Bill Gates and Satya Nadella are two people I admire the most, for their leadership qualities.

The first one happened in March 2020. As soon as the COVID breakout started in India, all offices were shut down and one of the top IT MNCs of the world reached out to us. They wanted a way to make their entire workforce work from home as they had to shut down their office overnight. Their engineers not working meant large enterprises & governments across the globe getting affected and projects worth billions of dollars coming to a halt. We assembled our entire team over the weekend, took 24x7 shifts building the solutions, and within 5 days we had everything ready to onboard hundreds and soon thousands of users across the globe, those solutions are still being used today.

• Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

Second is a recent one, where we are helping a health-tech company build one of the largest Covidvaccine distribution systems in the world. Hopefully, we will be able to talk more about it in the coming few months.

• According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in the digital landscape should focus

I have been fortunate to have a few very talented people in my life who invested heavily in grooming me over the years and each of them has some qualities I admire a lot.

That would be Infosys, I do not think the Indian IT industry would have been the same without them.

• Constant vigilance- a need or a strategy? Please share your views.

It is a need and if there was a Maslow’s hierarchy of needs for businesses then I would put it the lowest tier of basic needs. In today’s fast-paced and digitally driven world if you aren’t vigilant enough then you won’t know what hit you and brought you down.

• It’s a rat-race out there. How do you cope with that?

It surely is but talking to other entrepreneurs I have realized that the world is a big place and everyone gets their share based on their capability, appetite, and resilience. We need to constantly upgrade ourselves for our customer needs and changing market trends to be ahead in the race and there are no shortcuts here.

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| In a Talk With...

Mr. Sudheesh Narayanan A leader Accelerating the AI Revolution

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nowledge Lens is an Indian & US-based technology trendsetter providing its clients with actionable business insights, leveraging our expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Industrial IoT & Big Data Analytics. With absolutely no VC funding, Knowledge Lens is in its eighth successful year and they 42 April 2021

have been focused on accelerating the business transformation for 3000+ customers worldwide, including several Fortune 500 companies in the US. Knowledge Lens has successfully transformed companies into Smart Enterprises by implementing Next Generation Enterprise Data Lakes, AI-Powered Intelligent Apps, and Industry 4.0

solutions both on premise and cloud.

An ace leader Mr. Sudheesh Narayanan, CEO at Knowledge Lens, is the backbone behind the company’s long-standing success.

Under his innovative and 360degrees futuristic vision, the highly skilled team of professionals at the

knowledge lens is striving hard and smart to transform their client’s businesses.

In a conversation with Mr. Sudheesh, we discussed the current industry scenario and how Knowledge Lens is empowering its clients with top-notched solutions.

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

An important milestone that we achieved was working with the Government of India to build a National Air Quality network for monitoring and analysis of AQI levels across India.

We pioneered the design, development, and built a Real-Time Environmental Pollution Control suite to help Indian Regulators enforce regulations on various industries and violators. Today, the solution GLens handles the pollution analysis and control for the Government of India with 70% of industries (i.e., approx. 3000 industries), securing a truly premier position in the country’s environment space.

GLens was recognized among the NASSCOM Emerge 50 products and is internationally recognized today as the MCERTS certified solution.

Most recently, we signed an MoU for Digital Mining powered by IoT, with the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research (CSIR-CIMFR), an autonomous government body and India’s largest R&D institute, dedicated to enhancing the entire coal-energy chain from mining to consumption.

Our deep domain expertise also enables us to evolve as per the changing business landscape.

We have also recently signed a strategic alliance partnership deal with Geovale Services for Digital Transformation solutions in Mining, River Monitoring, Water Management & Monitoring industries.

• How have the company graphs changed since the foundation?

Can you share a few statistics?

We have had a successful growth rate that has doubled Year-on-Year.

Our business model is entirely selfsustained, with absolutely no dependency on VC funding. And this model has proven to be revenue-generating and profitable for us because of our tech-driven, employee-first approach.

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

We believe that our most valuable asset is our people. At the core of our, DNA is our focus on building trust, gaining customer loyalty, and the mission to touch the lives of every Indian. Time and again, we have pivoted our brand strategy to create a long-term impact in India.

Our Pollution Monitoring, Environment Monitoring, National AQI Analysis & Industrial IoT solutions have helped us build a pan India presence.

We have strong partnerships with industry leaders in management consulting, biotechnology, and industrial automation. Our USP is the speed of delivery and customercentric approach, due to which we have provided a lasting impact through our endeavors with Manufacturing, Energy & Utilities, Pharmaceutical companies, Pollution Control Boards, and several government bodies in India & the Middle East.

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

Our key differentiator has been our product simplicity and customerfocused experience. We focus all our products from a business outcome perspective and every feature is built considering the priority of our customers. This has always helped to evolve the product as per the needs of our customers and thus has created relevance of the product in the market.

Our Product “GLens” is our Realtime Environment Data Acquisition, Monitoring, and Analytics Platform currently live in 3000+ industries in India across industry segments such as Oil & Gas Refinery, Cement, Pulp & Paper, Fertilizers, Power, Sugar, Manufacturing, and Agriculture. It provides a simplified view for our customers to meet environmental compliance and regulatory needs. It enables customers to connect various makes of OEM products in a single window and do compliance monitoring. Apart from this, by leveraging AI we have been able to provide early warning indicators on exceedances to our customers; this has helped them to take proactive steps to control their exceedance and thus, avoid penalty from the regulators.

Our premier Industrial IoT solution, iLens addresses the Industry 4.0 demands with capabilities including Interface Connectivity, Edge Analytics, Asset Efficiency, Vision and Predictive Analytics

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| In a Talk With...

leveraging AI, Machine Learning (ML) & Deep Learning (DL) accelerators. iLens is currently powering automation, manufacturing, energy, and utility companies. iLens provides early warning alerts on machine downtimes and thus helps save millions of dollars for the manufacturer by eliminating downtime and enabling more of a controlled downtime. Our Vision Analytics solution has been effective in bringing accuracy in Quality Control, thus enriching our customers’ product quality and eliminating wastage. Our efficiency monitoring app provides proactive alerts on any potential efficiency drops and thus providing early warnings to the operators.

Our Product “MLens” provides a very unique value to our customers who are looking for cloud migration where they can perform a cloud assessment in less than a day and come with the required effort and plan for planning their migration. Also, MLens quickly enables both data and workload migration to accelerate the cloud migration journey for our customers.

We have strong partnerships with industry leaders such as Microsoft Azure, Databricks, and Informatica for Data, AI & Cloud modernization projects. Through our deep technical collaboration with the Intel AI Builders innovation team, we developed an Intel-compatible AI model architecture and used the Intel Open VINO toolkit to optimize inference performance and efficient use of hardware on Intel® Xeon® Cascade Lake.

We are an ISO 9001, ISO 27001, 44 April 2021

CMMI, MCERTS certified company and have been recognized

by CIO Insider, NASSCOM, and CIO Review for our excellence.

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

Artificial Intelligence-Led Innovations in the space of Industrial IoT that enables Connected Factory and Connected Workers are going to be the primary roadmap for Knowledge Lens.

We aim to bring the power of Digital to Small and Medium Manufacturers across the world and bring in a significant change in how they do business in the coming year. Improving their operational efficiency, enhancing quality control in their manufacturing processes, and enabling Predictive Maintenance are on the top of our roadmap. Our innovative and agile business models to achieve a costeffective business outcome will always keep us ahead of the game.

• How has technology transformed the traditional way of business?

We believe that data is the new oil.

Successful enterprises are the ones that leverage the power of data to create a competitive difference. We play the crucial role of transforming this data into actionable business insights.

Through our deep expertise in Big Data Analytics, AI, Industrial IoT & Blockchain, we have enabled several enterprises to digitally transform their operations.

In the years to come, Data Science & AI will have an even larger role to play in enterprises’ path to success. The need of the hour is

innovative solutions coupled with deep domain expertise. Our brand DNA of 'doing the impossible' and redefining accepted standards of digital innovation has helped us pioneer this new wave of digital business transformation.

• Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Knowledge Lens. Over the past 7 years, we have established Knowledge Lens as an established brand in the industry.

Having 20+ years of hands-on experience in Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Platform Management, PaaS product development, and technical expertise in Spark, Hadoop, and HBase, we have enabled Cloud and Big Data adoption within several enterprises. At Knowledge Lens, I have conceptualized and built multiple products in Big Data, Cloud, and IoT including iLens, GLens, MLens, and Fluxa.

I don many hats at Knowledge Lens - Artificial Intelligence Researcher, Big Data Strategist, Lead Solution Architect, and Chief Product Architect. I have also authored the book “Securing Hadoop”, published articles on Big Data and Cloud Management, and have secured patents for Big Data and Cloud Orchestration.

• What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

2013- Knowledge Lens started in Bengaluru.

2014- Knowledge Lens was launched 2015- We launched our first product - Glens 2016- Awarded with the NASSCOM Emerge 50

product.

2017- Recognized by CIO Review as one of the Top 20 Most Promising Big Data Solution Providers.

2017- Established office in Thousand Oaks, California, US. 2018- GLens became MCERTS certified.

2018- NABL accredited GLens Innovation Labs established in Chennai.

2019- Established office in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. 2019- Recognized as one of India's Most Admired Data Solution Providers by White Page India and featured on India Today.

2020- Certified as Great Place to Work 2020-21.

2020- Recognized as one of the Top 10 Industrial IoT Solution Providers by CIO Insider for our iLensIndustry 4.0 solution.

2020- Signed an MoU for Digital Mining powered by IoT, with CSIR-CIMFR. 2021- Signed a strategic alliance partnership deal with Geovale Services for Digital Transformation solutions in Mining, River Monitoring, Water Management & Monitoring industries.

2021- Became a Gold Partner of Microsoft Azure.

2021- 400+ employees in the KL family.

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

We consider our employees as our family members. Competency and R&D in new technologies have been one of the key priorities for the organization. We encourage them to foster a spirit of learning,

the solutions which we brought for them was making predictions on their machines. From identifying the quality issues on the production side of things to intervening to make sure that the operators are well alerted before any quality issues came up—we helped them achieve all these deliverables.

building, and sharing. We provide incentives for taking certifications on cutting-edge technology. We provide a flexible environment for employees to experiment and conduct R&D. There is no limit on the financial budget for any of the R&D efforts undertaken by employees. We follow the philosophy of doing the right thing always. For our employees, this means that the sky is the limit in terms of learning opportunities and skills enhancement.

For another Pharmaceutical major, we deployed an AI-based system that recommended critical parameters to enhance their batch yield.

We make sure to keep our employees engaged through weekly team-building games & activities held at our offices, including the teams connecting remotely. We also have an Annual Celebration where we recognize the efforts of our employees. This is a great opportunity for employees across all our locations to come together for the celebration.

At the core of our philosophy is the principle of wealth sharing with our employees, which enables mutual growth and success. This keeps our young and vibrant team motivated to take up new and challenging opportunities for growth.

• Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?

We are serving Fortune 500 companies in Pharmaceutical, Manufacturing, Industrial Automation, Retail, and Utility verticals.

There are multiple instances of customer success stories that have created a good industry reputation for us. Once, a prominent industrial automation company approached us for their electronic manufacturing requirement. One of

For a leading manufacturing firm, we have incorporated a complete Digital Twin model of their manufacturing line, enabling them an AI-powered solution for remote troubleshooting and Predictive Maintenance.

Similarly, we are working with another large manufacturer on their Digitization journey and connected worker initiatives for their entire shop floor.

• According to you, what are the basic factors that businesses in the digital landscape should focus on to get better results?

Today, Big Data, AI, and IoT -led innovations are gradually taking the centre stage in organizations.

Successful digital transformation initiatives are a product of technological expertise and the demonstrated ability to disrupt existing models of innovation.

Organizations must show a renewed focus on their client’s unique business challenges and play an active role in their journey, rather than promising quick-fix transformations.

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| Expert’s Opinion

EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, CRISIS, REVOLUTIONS CURRENTLY PREVAILING IN THE CURRENT INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT

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nnovation and modernization are the inevitable components for the progress of any economy.

India is no exception. The period after 1991 is considered as one having made progress in the emergence of newer technologies and a paradigm shift in favor of more investments. Since then, the adoption of emerging technologies has gained momentum in the sub-continent. In these sagas, the modern-day investor could be viewed as a nomad who is in search of more profits and risk-free investment opportunities.

The 21st century has seen the emergence of Fintech markets and a push for more investments in the capital markets. The Central government has been trying hard to retain the existing investors as well as attracting new ones. However, the present trends in the Capital market does not seem to be promising. If we consider the total investments only the top 1-2% of the country invests in the Capital market. This must be changed if India aims to become a developed nation one day.

Privatization is one of the ways adopted by the Central government in this regard. Many of the profit-making public-sector enterprises are being disinvested.

Moreover, the center has also allowed 74% of equity shares in the private sector banks in India which would further help to gain more investments for a struggling Banking Industry. But this alone will not help if we wish to attract more investors. In this regard, the existing atmosphere must be made more congenial for investments. One way to do this is to utilize the economic power of the Indian nationals who are settled abroad. As per the reports published 46 April 2021

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| Expert’s Opinion

by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the expat population of Indian origin is more than that of any other country.

This population carries with them a huge investment potential. The amendment of Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) to Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and an increase in the percentage of investments allowed in Indian companies by Non Resident Investors from 5% to 24% has been done to attract such investors.

No sector would be able to survive if they do not innovate according to changing times. The emergence of Fintech in the latter half of the decade was such an innovation that Indian Financial market needed.

But the FinTech market is not devoid from the challenges in the Indian scenario. One of the main challenges that they face is to attain credibility of the customers. The recent incidents of frauds that happened in the online marketplace has resulted in customers losing the trust in online transactions. Albeit the government had taken steps to promote digital transactions and had extensively advertised the motto “Digital India”, the tendency of the Indian consumers to depend largely on cash transactions remains. Another major roadblock for the adoption of Fintech comes in the way of the unbanked population. The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojna, one of the flagship programs of the Government of India, intended for more financial inclusion especially in rural India had not achieved the desired results. A World Bank report had suggested that after opening 180 billion bank accounts under the scheme, 48% of it is still dormant.

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Apart from these challenges in the customer segments, many hurdles faced by the FinTech startups in the form of regulatory compliances cannot be ignored. Beside developing core competence these startups need encouragement from the authorities to establish themselves.

However, if we take the overall outlook of the Fintech market; it looks very promising and moving in the right direction. It had scaled heights and Abhishek Marwah | Founder the Fintech adoption Marwah Financial Services in India had reached a value of 87 percent which is Dhan Yojna, Payment and Small much ahead of the global average Finance Banks. United Payment of 64 percent. The stats are proving interface will certainly help in this that the financial awareness in India regard. is on a rise. This means, any Flemish company coming to India Going forward India can become would have to strike a chord an economic superpower only between their product and the when they mitigate the challenges market. They also need to invest in faced by the industry and device factors like customer education and policy to attract fresh investments. develop innovative business Many companies and individuals models, so that the Fintech startup are adopting alternate ways of will become a success. funding and for them investment in stocks is not the only option We can say that the impact on the available. There were several business can be counted as twin initiatives which were taken up by fold when the market is going the government, but they are not down, the addition of new sufficient enough to make India at customers will pose a challenging par with the developed countries of task. This may also lead to the the world. existing customers stop transacting.

So, initiatives need to be taken to drive the industry forward. Jan

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| Business Story

T

he use of updated technologies is no longer optional. The enterprises that adapt developments at the most punctual will win the race since they will have a boosted productivity and cost efficiencies that others can’t have with the utilization of traditional business measures.

Data Networking, Cloud Computing, and Edge computing are changing how information is being dealt with, handled, and conveyed from a large number of gadgets around the globe. The tremendous development of web associated gadgets – the IoT – alongside new applications that require constant figuring power, keeps on driving edge-processing frameworks.

S. Kingston Smiler A leader expanding technology reach through PalC Networks 52 April 2021

Co-founder PalC Networks

The lockdown caused due to the global epidemic made people stay home and run their business processes. This increased the use of networks a lot and opened doors of opportunities for fraudsters and data threats. Today, businesses in almost every sector are getting digital and these threats can hold their growth back.

PalC Networks, one of the leading network companies is catering to the network & cloud needs of businesses and securing them with a top-notched complete network analytics platform.

Mr. S. Kingston Smiler, & Mr. Santosh Danegoudar, CoFounders of PalC Networks and the team of more than 100 experts are making hard and smart efforts to transform their client’s businesses and accelerate their growth.

The Company PalC Networks is a high-end services company providing services in the area of Data Networking, Analytics, Cloud Computing, Edge Computing, etc.

The key focus area of PalC Networks is Whitebox Networking, Converged Packet Optical Networks, 5G, Edge Computing, IoT, and Network Analytics. With customers based across the globe and close to 80+ member team, PalC Networks provides real value to global enterprises through its technical domain expertise and dedicated workforce. The company delivers high-quality, on-demand, and cost-effective software solutions and services. They have varied & vast experience in products and software services delivery for many global clients from multi-billion corporate to niche segment start-ups. PalC Networks has strong technical project management capabilities and follows stringent quality standards to ensure that the developed solutions give customers an edge over their competitors.

PalC Networks’ strategy is focused on helping the customers to build a world-class product and grow their businesses in existing markets and new opportunities. “Our commitment to customer satisfaction strengthens and extends our relationships. Our way to success is how we innovate, collaborate, operate, and deliver value to our customers around the world”, Mr. Kingston commented.

Cutting through the complexities To chisel a beautiful statue, you first need to hit the rock, which is what counts! Similarly, when starting a venture, you face

challenges, which make up for the successful times of your organization. And tackling them with innovation and efficiency sails your boat!

PalC also faced some hurdles at the beginning which helped them to learn and improve. Key challenges for any start-ups especially in the IT and IT-enabled services companies are getting the first few customers, convincing them, and gaining confidence. PalC faced initial challenges in acquiring a few of its initial customers. Once you land the customer the next big challenge is to deliver the project with good quality. The company had exceptionally good engineers who can throw themselves in any situation and can turn around the situation. These are the key aspects of any start-up.

The factors behind PalC’s longstanding success The key factor for the success of any organization is acquiring the initial customer. Once we landed the initial customer, the focus point of our growth was around that customer which we want to avoid strategically. The trigger or inflation point of our growth arises when we start focussing and diverting our customer base and technology portfolio. As a strategy, PalC decided not to extend the team for the initial customer, even though it is an easy path.

The main reason for PalC’s longstanding success is commitment, honesty, and long term goals. The Company prefers to be honest and stick to its commitments. To be confident and committed, one needs to be prepared for the challenges, should be up to date

with the technology in the keep changing technology trends era, and visualize where the industry is heading towards.

Taking innovation to the table PalC has a clear disjoint focus area of products and services. On one hand, PalC Networks is focussed on providing high-end services in the area of Networking and Cloud, they are working on bringing up products in 5G and Edge Computing. The DNA of PalC Networks and the initial members of PalC Networks is building world-class Products. Though the company provides high-end services in the area of networking and cloud, PalC is a complete product Enabler Company.

PalC helps to build products for its customers by providing them world-class services.

If you look at the professional service companies/groups which provide services in the area of Networking, they are only limited to provide services in Datacom, Telecom, etc. And, the professional services companies which provide services in Application development, only focus on developing new applications with the help of newer and advanced technologies. Possessing an enriching experience in the Networking, Virtualization, and Application PalC gets 360-degree visibility of the requirements and put them ahead of their competitors.

Looking ahead The company is very clear about its strategy of products and services. It focuses on the services in the area of Whitebox Networking, Cloud

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PalC keeps adding its portfolio in the niche segments of Networking.

One of the recent additions was Disaggregated Packet Optical Networking. Being a member of the TIP (Telecom Infra Project) community, they got the opportunity to co-chair the OOPT NOS subgroup of OOPT to come up with NOS (Network Operation System) for the OOPT group. The company helps multiple customers to come up with a purpose-built NOS based on SONiC. Mr. S. Kingston Smiler – An innovative leader with a 360degree futuristic vision Mr. S. Kingston Smiler finished his schooling in the southern part of Tamilnadu in a village close to a town called Nazareth. Later on, moved to Chennai and finished Engineering at Jaya Engineering College.

Later on, he joined FutureSoft, one of the leading Network Stack Providers of those days as a campus placement, started learning the industry, technology, etc. Then moved to Bangalore and joined Cisco. Cisco provides exposure to the Big Company Environment. He made a career-changing decision to join a company called IP Infusion.

Mr. Kingston was one of the first 10 members of the company to receive the offer in IP Infusion.

Being an initial member of the organization, got a chance to work 54 April 2021

in Engineering, Product Management, Marketing, Pre-sales, etc. got a multitude of experience and expertise which helps him in the day-to-day life of PalC Networks. Apart from this, he worked as a consultant in different verticals like Defence, CyberSecurity, Data Center Designing, etc, got a chance to acquire the right mix of technology and implementation knowledge.

Mr. Kingston along with another Co-Founder Mr. Santosh incorporated PalC Networks in 2017 with just 5 members' team, right now leading a team of 80+ engineers and still growing.

My belief is learning, un-learning and Re-learning are part of the journey and enjoy the journey, not the destination. - S.Kingston Smiler Talking about the basic factors that businesses in the digital landscape should focus on to get better results, Mr. Kingston says, Anything rare will have more value. So you have to focus on something rare at this juncture.

Truth & Transparency - Be honest and transparent to your customers, employees, partners & board. It is one of the rarest aspects in the current world. Be honest and gain customer confidence.

Focus – Focus on your work and success, not your competitor. It is always good to know what your competitor does, but don’t tend to follow their path. Focus on what you are good at and what is required in the industry.

Vigilance and staying up to date – Honestly, opportunities are everywhere and most of the time it will be very close to you. One thing which can help you to find it is vigilance and staying up to date with the technology trends.

Connecting the Dots: Most of the time it is easy to learn new things or technologies. However, connecting or correlating technology is an important aspect of success.

The Driving Force Employees are the key to any organization. You may need to motivate them and provide a free hand in the decisions. The good decision gives success and bad decisions give experience. Both are very important if you rightly take.

Leadership at PalC is very cautious about the growth of the employees along with the growth of the organization. They believe in the transfer of knowledge across the team. The engineers should be updated with customer requirements, market needs, and the technology flow.

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computing. However, they are working internally on a product in Edge Computing & 5G. PalC is working on an orchestration product that helps the Edge provider to dynamically scale their workload towards both the public and private cloud if required.

Defeat the defeat before the defeat defeats you.

| Feed your Brain

Attitude Vs. Intelligence P

eople whose intelligence quotient is more, always get appreciation. After common sense, intelligence is the most vital thing. But, most people believe that if you do not have the right attitude i.e. your behavioral skills, then your intelligence does not work.

Therefore, when success is standing in front of you, then your attitude is more important than your intelligence.

Based on research, there are two types of the mindset of humans – 1. Fixed Attitude 2. Growth Attitude The attitude of people with a predetermined mindset keeps them tied to one thing. They are sure about their ability, efficiency, identity, purpose, and stability to perform any task. They do not challenge you. In contrast, other types of people have a developing mindset. These are often opportunistic. It is seen that people with relatively low IQ (IQ) perform well due to their correct Attitude. Such Attitude becomes a reason for success, open mind, and cashing in on the opportunity.

It is believed that some people are born winners, but if you look at the reality, then you will know that it is their Attitude that takes them forward on the path of success. There is no guarantee that more intelligent people can succeed; In the same way, those with less intelligence will fail, who can say that? Success depends on how you look at the goal and how much you strive for it?

No one is born with a wrong or right attitude. All in this world become efficient in their behavior according to their environment. If Attitude is good, it does not take long to get success and if you are not tactful then nothing comes apart from failure. So do work on these points – 1. Learn from your failures.

2. Be positive and cheerful.

3. Even after getting success, keep learning.

4. Compete but also appreciate others.

5. Encourage others and inspire yourself.

6. Make a strategy and use that as well.

7. Do not underestimate yourself.

8. Self-confidence is necessary but not over-confident Intelligence comes when you have the opportunity to use the knowledge learned and the right Attitude that shapes your beliefs and beliefs, influenced by internal and external factors. For the fulfillment of an objective, there should be a balance between the two things in you.

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Success can be ensured by making the right Attitude the instrument.

Growth A tude www.theenterpriseworld.com 57