Revolutionary CEOs 2019 | Business Magazine

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August 2019

INNOVATING SPACE Innovative Companies in the Space Industry

EDITOR’S CHOICE Disruptive Technology and Changing Trends Influencing Business

REVOLUTIONARY

CEO’s 2019

BE CREATIVE AND BE FLEXIBLE.

ROBBIE ANTONIO GLOBAL LEADER OF TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN START-UPS

EDITOR’S NOTE You Might Call them

“

H

ere’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

—Rob Siltanen Yes! This quotes do increases an adrenaline rush in one’s body while creating an urge to make a dent in the universe.

This revolutionary words by Rob, has portrayed to be a driving force for many current and upcoming impeccable personalities who are artists in their own ways.

Artists who believe in an idea and see things differently with an intent of giving back to the society; as knowledge is the biggest treasure humans have ever held-on. Be it an engineer, painter, poet, or a writer, if an individual has a keen vision and grit to pull ideas into real-time implementation then he or she is and must to be considered as an ‘artist’.

This artist not only make things better but, beautifully leverage the benefits of the baton of ‘changing the world’, which was then passed to them and which they will pass on forward. Their contribution has paved a pathway for many revolutionist to be individuals.

In this edition,“Revolutionary CEOs 2019”, CIO LOOK tries to put forth some of the avid leaders who heartedly dedicated their tireless efforts in revolutionizing the customary business processes.

It admires such leader and is sure that many aspirers look up to them as an artists.

Here is the Cover featuring, Robbie Antonio, the Founder and CEO of Resident Holdings who understands the current market landscape and identifies possible trends. The global reach of technological-driven start-ups has opened up many new frontiers for organizations across the globe. For any leader having a clear vision to thrive in this disruption is vital for businesses. Leaders must be comfortable and should be open to various new ideas and innovations and they should communicate them to their employees and peers. At the core, no company or leader is immune from the force of technological shift. He has achieved success in the fields of property, fintech, edutech, e-commerce, home accessories, beauty, fashion, jewellery, food, electronics, and gaming. His experience in brand marketing reached new heights when he launched his umbrella company: Resident Holdings.

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

Also, flip through the CXO standpoints presented by some of the leading industry experts to taste the glimpse of industrial revolutions.

A happy read just ahead....

Bhushan Ghate

Articles 22 Innovating Space Innovative Companies in the Space Industry

44 The Art of Leading Attributes of a Good Leader

54 Editor’s Choice

08

Disruptive Technology and Changing Trends Inuencing Business

Robbie Antonio Cover Story

Global Leader of Technology-driven Start-ups

IN THIS ISSUE

24

30

Joshua Hebert

Kiran Bhagotra

Flight, Finance, and Forward Thinking

Changing Hearts and Minds in Cybersecurity

CEO of the Year

18 Augusto Mitidieri Globally Recognized Leader in Pharmaceutical Industry

40

50

Marina Tognetti

Tigran Haas

Rejuvenating the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Redefining Urbanism for the Future

36

46

Tech Outlook

Stellar's Vision

Coricraft: Transforms Customer Delight and Delivery with Trackmatic Solution

Thoughts on AI “What shall we do with all this speed?”

K. Roy Editor-in-Chief

CONTENT

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

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August, 2019

Cover Story

Robbie Antonio Global Leader of Technology-driven Start-ups

The direction and fate of the company rest on your decisions and inputs.

T

he global reach of technological-driven start-ups has opened up many new frontiers for organizations across the globe. For any leader having a clear vision to thrive in this disruption is vital for businesses. Leaders must be comfortable and should be open to various new ideas and innovations and they should communicate them to their employees and peers. At the core, no company or leader is immune from the force of technological shift. With the understanding of the current market landscape and identifying possible trends, Robbie Antonio the Founder and CEO of Resident Holdings He has achieved success in the ďŹ elds of property, ďŹ ntech, edutech, e-commerce, home accessories, beauty, fashion, jewelry, food, electronics, and gaming. His experience in brand marketing reached new heights when he launched his umbrella company: Resident Holdings.

Being a real estate developer in the field of consumer branding, he has worked with various celebrities and influencers for worldwide projects representing over 100 companies involving fashion, fintech and edutech.

Under the Resident Holdings Group is fast-growing and e-commerce companies. Antonio has achieved success in the fields of real estate and e-commerce, he is also venturing into e-services with upcoming companies such as RENEGADE, RENAISSANCE, REBEL, RADICAL, REGAL, RADIANT AND RELOVE. Robbie is embarking on a more challenging role with Resident Holdings. He is rolling out and beefing up the company’s nonproperty related business units, as the company is increasing manpower exponentially to topquality managers and employees so that it can help those companies hit the ground running.

He is also putting up companies involved in e-commerce, services, fashion, fintech and edutech.

Below is his story, Robbie reads and meets a lot of fellow CEOs to understand the current market landscape and identify possible trends, opportunities, red flags that may come up. “You can never be over-prepared when you’re in business. The direction and fate of the company rest on your decisions and inputs”, says Robbie.

Robbie always keeps challenging himself to innovate continuously and his company is doing a staggered rollout of the companies to be able to introduce Resident Holding’s concepts and business models at different stages. The common thread that

“ Be creative & be flexible.

“

connects the business units is the celebrity partnership DNA. All of these companies are completely celebrity curated. He believes that by partnering with celebrities, reputable personalities and companies, it instantly elevates the image, perception, and value of any product.

Resident Holdings Group is a Southeast-Asia based global holding company of technologically-driven startups with a strategy of global expansion and interests in the fields of social media marketing, franchising, tech-based legal, medical, and accounting services. Its flagship company is unicorn startup Revolution Precrafted, a supplier of traditional and prefabricated homes and structures with a footprint in 31countries in Asia, Middle East, Europe, North and South America, and the Caribbean Islands. Resident Holdings traces the roots of to the formation of its flagship company, Revolution Precrafted in December 2015. At the time, there was very little awareness and preference for prefabricated homes. A lot of people have misconceptions about what prefab homes are. So the company came up with an idea to partner with some of the designers and architects in the world to curate transportable, modular homes. Since its launch, Revolution Precrafted has become the only unicorn company in the Philippines, valued at over $1bn. Robbie considers his experience in Revolution as an important highlight of his leadership path. He was able to form and lead a team committed to succeeding in a space that was previously not as celebrated and talked about.

Robbie has received several awards from different organizations as one of the youngest and most prolific collectors of international modern and post-war contemporary art. He has always believed in continuously improving to drive his team and company forward. He believes that it is the role of

the CEO to always check the market landscape and think out of the box to come up with new projects, products, and solutions that people will patronize... things that will improve their lives. In the first place, he came up with the idea of Resident Holdings to introduce new businesses outside of the real estate sector, which he has been involved in for so long.

Indeed, the CEO needs to create a spark that will drive the revolution within the company.

Robbie is recognized as “20 of the World’s Most Innovative Art Collectors,” in 2014, and also “12 Young Art Collectors to Watch in 2016.” He wants to surprise the market with new offerings and don’t like to rest on laurels. He also tries to incorporate a new element to every business unit to be different. CEO always faces the toughest task. His team introduces new concepts and new ideas all the time to create new revenue streams and sometimes, these ideas face questions and challenges from the board or the management committee. His game plan always breaks from

convention and break new concepts.

In a very competitive landscape, the first one who introduces new takes a sizable chunk of the market. He always wants to be the one to change the game by introducing something new.

Robbie’s vision is to be prepared to come up with different paths to achieve your goal and work hard to achieve it. “You have to convince everyone of the value of these concepts before they receive the green light”, says the leader. The problem is made even more complicated by regulatory limitations and standards. Once approved, you now have to think about operations, marketing, logistics. A CEO needs to lead all aspects of the business to make it succeed. The company has over 25 business units under Resident Holdings but it intends to come up with new business ideas. The company’s goal in the next 5 to 10 years is to be present in more industries and to be a truly global player.

“

“Creativity, Flexibility and Determination.

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Augusto Mitidieri Globally Recognized Leader in Pharmaceutical Industry

T

Sintetica SA, the oldest pharmaceutical company in Ticino, has undergone a period of extraordinary growth and entered international markets with its high-quality products in the sector of local anaesthesia and pain therapy.

he pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets medicines for use as medications to treat patients to cure them, heal them, vaccinate them, or alleviate a symptom. The contribution of the pharmaceutical industry is extremely essential to the people in the world so as to improve the life expectancy and overall health of the people.

Able to implement a real strategic vision which places the individual at the very centre of corporate decisions, Augusto Mitidieri, together with the whole of Sintetica SA, has earned important international awards and recognition. Participating in the international research project called Ideals of the Politecnico di Milano for creative leadership, innovation and design as leadership, Augusto Mitidieri is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s leading CEOs.

CIOLook recognizes the leaders contributing in the Pharmaceutical industry. One such proficient leader contributing to the pharmaceutical industry is Augusto Mitidieri. He is the Corporate CEO of Sintetica. He has been awarded Best Manager of the Year for high achievements and professionalism in the company management. He is awarded by The Socrates Committee of Oxford; this award recognizes exceptional human-centric leadership and the global success of Sintetica. This award was presented at the Socrates Award Ceremony of the Achievements Forum 2019, Institute of Directors, London.

Sintetica SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical company founded in 1921, hospital market leader for analgesics and local anesthetics, with offices located in Germany, Italy, England and two national production and development sites in Mendrisio and Couvet, with 300 employees.

Below is his story:

Human-centered Organization The “human-centered” organization model, based on a deep cultural change, already underway in Sintetica, requires an innovative managerial philosophy, which places responsibility and merit on center, changing organizational models and behaviors at all levels.

The company environment, dynamic and highly innovative in terms of ideas, projects, products and operational/management solutions, is not in line with idea of managing people according to definition and activities’ control. On the contrary, the company environment gets along much better with an approach based on increasing people’s sense of responsibility with regard to clear objectives, by exercising greater delegation and autonomy in the management of their duties.

Augusto Mitidieri, is Italian and Swiss citizen, graduated in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, he has also obtained a CAS (Certicate of Advanced Studies) in Economics and Health Policy at the University of Lausanne. His work in the pharmaceutical industry began as Project Manager for the Engineering Division of Bioren SA, (Bigmar Group) in Couvet (NE); he went on to become Production & Logistics Manager of Bigmar Pharmaceuticals SA in Barbengo (TI).

In 2000 Augusto joined Sintetica SA, Mendrisio (TI), as Production & Engineering Manager. In Sintetica, he also worked as Quality Assurance Manager, before becoming General Manager of the Company in 2004.

Since 2011, Augusto has held the position of Corporate CEO of the Sintetica Group. Under his guidance,

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CEO of the Year

Augusto Mitidieri Corporate CEO Sintetica

We are fully committed to innovate therapies and drugs in local anesthesia and pain management.

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Augusto is of the opinion that Managers, therefore, shall move from a role of command and control to a more coaching one, in order to manage people, enhance talents, through delegation and accountability for results, and to reward their merit. He is of the opinion that managers should act as a driving force to transmit the organization’s values. Augusto emphasizes human centric leadership. He believes in having strong corporate values and ethical behavior. He considers it is important that leader should be passionate to perform his role diligently. He strongly believes in involvement of all individuals in the organizations. He considers confidence and autonomy as important qualities of leader. He prioritizes respect in the organization in terms of corporate and individual priorities. He values authenticity. He believes in constructive feedback for the improvement of the employees. Augusto is calculative and believes in culture based on results. He values skills and knowledge in employees and he focuses on enhancing them. The last essential element he considers in the organization is smiling. He says, “A characteristic of our DNA is the research for quality without compromises, which is measured, first of all, by enjoying togetherness. A true smile is contagious and is the identity of Sintetica and its concept of “great place to work”.”

Augusto also considers it is essential to select proper talent and then develop it.

Responsibility and Merit Augusto values responsibility and merit. He considers that the merit must be recognized at all levels with feedbacks (on work) and rewarding (recognition of merit). The merit of each manager is the “enriched” sum of the success of every single member of his team. The received delegation must be used by every person of the organization with responsibility and autonomy and must be oriented towards achieving the objective.

Augusto considers that conscious use of the feedback tool is fundamental in order to improve oneself in a clear and honest way. He says that if one makes a mistake, apologizing to the people concerned and assuming one’s own responsibilities, is the fairest and most appreciated way.

The Digital Transformation Augusto believes that “human-centered” organization will lead to digital transformation. He thinks that only if the human resource play a central role, then digital revolution be useful to us and will take us into the future with the following pivotal paradigm: Ÿ Transforming data into information Ÿ Organizing information Ÿ Using information in order to improve, innovate and compete at a global level.

Peripheral Decisional Autonomy Augusto believes that Managers shall move their mindset from the control of activities and how these activities are carried out, to an approach based on the control of results and accountability for results, so as to create peripheral decision-making autonomy, based on the conscious risk assumption. He emphasizes that managers should use active listening techniques.

The IMR Model of Strategy-operations Management The company’s dynamic, innovative and growthoriented corporate environment, combined with the corporate strategy based on the global diffusion of innovation, requires deep focus in order to build a

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management model able to be “dynamic and innovative” and to help the company in the difficult task of balancing its strategy with operations. If, on the one hand, the human-centered organization ensures the effectiveness/efficiency of the processes, thanks to its strong managerial cultural connotation oriented towards responsibility and merit, on the other hand, the new management model has to ensure continuous consistency between operations and strategy.

targets and to monitor progress in macro-projects IMR Digital Transformation.

Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor the identification of new business processes, up to the digital company with the related expense and investment plans. Ÿ IMR World Markets Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor international divisions and broad strategic marketing projects.

Inter-functional Management Routines (IMR) have been created, which consists of groups of people whose level of responsibility is not necessarily homogeneous, coming from heterogeneous functions, able to harmonize operations with the strategy in the hinge sectors for the development and growth of Sintetica.

Basically, IMR pool which, thanks to the exchange of critical information, decides and acts “easily” by continuously combining strategy and operations, and maintaining a live coordination throughout the entire organization. They reach a horizontal dimension thanks to interfunctionality and the exchange of decisive information; but also a vertical dimension, thanks to the multilevel composition and the mechanism of the peripheral decisional autonomy present in the organization.

IMR from Control to Integrated Management Purpose: to address and guide the integral process of forecasting, budgeting, controlling and action IMR Switzerland Global Innovation Lab Purpose: to address and monitor the efforts to develop and search for new national opportunities in a global key perspective.

Ÿ

By rebuilding strategy and operations means acting, changing one or the other, correcting routes, abandoning paths, all in the shortest time possible and with the highest involvement of responsibility in the organization results in maximum agility. Augusto considers that Flowing of critical information is the essential condition for the proper functioning of IMR. Augusto shares the identified Routines, cornerstones of the new management model: Ÿ IMR Innovation Pipeline Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor drugs development and critical records and their impact in terms of expense/investment.

We are continuously improving the way we work, taking the best we can of the capabilities we already have and building those we are in need of.

Ÿ IMR Infrastructure for Growth Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor industrial developments and major investments and their impact in terms of expense/investment.

IMR “Human-Centered” Organization Purpose: to address sustainability and human resources development policies, to define high-level Ÿ

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Innovative

Companies

in the Space Industry

W

hat do we call an area that is not limited to a single planet and has no physical boundaries?

We call it the era of the emerging space resource industry. As humans, we became a spacefaring species 60 years ago when Russia launched Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite. We are the only species to achieve this milestone in the 4.5 billion year history of the earth. Later, the space industry began to develop after World War II, as rockets and satellites later found civilian purpose.

original space race began from the ideas and skills of visionary theoretical engineers like Robert. H. Goddard, Wernher von Braun, and Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, etc.

Today, space endeavors are propelled by a new generation of entrepreneurs including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Robert Branson. There are some more major players and innovative companies with the vision of space exploration and are as follows: SpaceX- SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has reached worldwide popularity with their historic milestones in space exploration. It is already the world’s most highprofile commercial spacecraft company. The aim of SpaceX is to revolutionize the space technology, with the goal of enabling people to live on other planets. Its success has been worth appreciating. Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon Spacecraft are some of its milestones. Dragon Spacecraft has helped with regular resupply missions for NASA space stations.

Today, companies around the world are in transportation, energy sector, construction, hospitality, real estate, etc. and they are looking for their next growth opportunity.

Space is quickly becoming a place where the industries that power our global economy have started conducting business. Future developments in the space industries include space tourism, satellite manufacturing, and the launch industry. In recent years, however, private spaceflight is becoming reality in the space industry.

Blue Origin- It was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the technological retail entrepreneur and CEO of Amazon, aims to launch people in space. It is fully reusable, vertical takeoff vertical landing (VVTL) space vehicle. Though its goal is different from that of SpaceX, it targets the Space tourism industry. It is focusing on commercially available, suborbital human spaceflight and has developed a vertical launch vehicle (new shepherd) for it. New shepherd is

Of course, these private companies also compete against each other and it could be argued that a new space race has begun. But while with an element of competition, the success of the past decades shows that is possible to collaborate in space. For example, NASA a major government agency has relied on privately operated launch services like SpaxeX for its satellite launches. The

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Innovating Space named after the Mercury astronaut Alan Shepherd, the first American Astronaut to go in Space. It is designed to take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

Observatory and it continues to produce data that enables astronomers to make extraordinary discoveries. Launched in 1999, Chandra has found evidence for a significant new class of supernova. It has also uncovered evidence of a powerful outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky Way’s center.

Boeing- Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and leading manufacturer in space and security systems.

Throughout the last 50 years, Boeing has been integral in every major endeavor to escape earth’s gravity. The satellite industry has made the headlines since the launch of its first Mercury capsule to the current ISS (International Space Station).

NASA has a long tradition of utilizing Northrop Grumman’s spacecraft, including the Spirit and Opportunity rovers that landed on Mars in 2004. The rovers will help guide the Mars as it investigates the viability of microbial life on the planet now or in the past.

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the most powerful rocket ever built. Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS design development, test, and production of the launch vehicle. SLS is the world’s only super heavy rocket capable of transporting astronauts to deep space. NASA is setting its eyes on the exploration of Mars with the help of Boeing technology. Boeing has successfully launched all of NASA’s Mars probes and rovers aboard Delta 11 launch vehicles. Recently Boeing engineer designed a spacesuit to protect astronauts from dust, radiation and other hazards when exploring the surface of moon and mars.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will play an important role in studying planetary systems. NGC is the prime contractor for building the dreams of Webb technology. The telescope will be sensitive to infrared light which will enable it to understand an era of the universe just a few million years after the Big Bang.

Made in Space- MIS is the space-based manufacturing company, dedicated to making of reliable Additive manufacturing equipment and fiber optics (MIS Fiber) for Space. Additive manufacturing is also known as 3D Printing and is transforming the industry. It can manufacture larger and more complex objects faster, with finer precision and with multiple aerospace grade materials. MIS Fiber Optics, on the other hand, is produced without crystals that affect signal loss. Later, these crystals provide superior data transmission capabilities, high-speed internet as well as enhancing technologies in space.

Sierra Nevada Corporation- Selected by NASA, SNC’s Dream Chaser spacecraft is a multi-mission space utility vehicle. It used for transporting crew and cargo to LEO (Low Earth Orbit) destinations such as ISS (International Space Station). The system is designed to deliver up to 5,500 kg of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the space station under the CRS (Commercial Resupply Service)-2 contract. It will carry supplies like food, water, & science experiments and returns to earth with a gentle runway landing. The spacecraft is selected by NASA to provide a minimum of 6 cargo missions to and from the space station by 2021. Sierra Nevada Corporation is making solid progress and likely to stay a key player in the private space company.

Virgin Galactic- Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company founded in 2004 by British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson. It is developing commercial space crafts and aims to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. VG uses a larger, four-engine jet plane that carries passengers into space. It is similar in design to a private plane. These private space firms seem to have different interests in the space race, but actually, these companies share the same goals.

Northrop Grumman Corporation- NGC is a leader in science and exploration in space for more than 60 years.

Thiokol Chemical Company, now part of NGC developed the world’s first reusable space shuttle program in the late 1970s.

Looking at the future, there will be a need for laws, regulation, and controlling authority to govern space exploration. It will be necessary to have firm and wellunderstood protocols in the event space crashing, while there are serious issues around the safety of astronauts as well. At the moment, the UN’s Outer Space Affairs is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. Perhaps, the entry of the private sector into space exploration will contribute to the growth of the economy as valuable targets for investment.

However, it will be interesting to see how healthy competition opens up in the development of the Space Era for Citizens.

Contribution to NASA: July 20, 1969, was a historic day when the world watched, astronaut Neil Armstrong took mankind’s first steps on the moon. The success of NASA’s Apollo 11 mission is still remembered and celebrated.

Several heritage companies of NGC are recognized for the vital role they played in the achievement of the Apollo 11 mission. NGC designed, assembled, integrated and tested the Lunar Module (LM) of the Apollo program.

NASA’s Northrop Grumman built Chandra X-ray

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Joshua Hebert CEO Magellan Jets

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Magellan Jets

Joshua Hebert

Flight, Finance, and Forward Thinking

I

n an interview with CIO LOOK, Joshua Hebert discusses his impeccable journey, achievements, and many milestones en-route to his success today. His unique ideologies and vision helped him take his company, Magellan Jets, and soar to new heights.

Joshua entered in aviation business in 2000, when he co-founded Jets International with his business partner, Nate, and thus paved the way to customer success and revenue in operations within the company. His expertise in business start-ups and transformations, combined with his extensive track record in growing businesses through creative new solutions, have culminated in a team that have increased sales at Magellan Jets by 35% a year for more than a decade.

CIO LOOK admires such leaders and appreciates their contribution in the transformative evolution of this respective sector: Aviation. We are pleased to feature Joshua Hebert in our special edition issue: “Revolutionary CEOs, 2019”.

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

I went from the investment banking world to the advertising world, then created an aviation business in 2000, when I co-founded Jets International. I learned a tremendous amount through hands on experience with clients, and gained hands-on business skills working the day-to-day operations in the business.

I co-founded Magellan Jets with my business partner, Anthony Tivnan, in 2008. My expertise in business startups, transformations, search engine optimization, and marketing has enabled me to grow the company into the brand it is today.

As the Founder and CEO of Magellan Jets, I consider myself a visionary in the industry, and am extremely fortunate to work with an incredibly bright and talented team every day.

How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice your target audience to gain benefits from your organization’s offerings?

Here at Magellan Jets, we strive to develop long-lasting relationships with our customers (or clients?) What sounds better? In doing so, we develop loyalty and trust with both current clients

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“

and prospects. We strive to position ourselves as experienced advisors and resources for all of our clients.

Our highly experienced team made up of pilots, consultants and other top leaders in the industry provide value and credibility to our business. We stand out amongst our competitors because of the personal relationships we have developed with our clients over the last twenty years. Our goal is to provide top-notch service both when things are working, as well as when they are not. Our objective is to thoroughly educate our customers, through our website and other forms of communication. By doing so, once our clients reach us here at Magellan Jets headquarters, they have a solid understanding of the services we provide.

Here at Magellan Jets, we love learning, constantly improving, and growing meaningful relationships with clients & colleagues.

We entice our target audience to gain benefits from our organization’s offerings with in-bound marketing and content strategy, educating people as much as possible about our products. When searching for private jet providers, people usually find our content and come indirectly to us. Our customers already know what we do before we talk to them. Our ultimate goal is to provide a top notch experience, product, and experience to all of our clients, operators, etc. Safety, reliability, and clear communication are what we strive for on a daily basis.

What are the crucial traits which every CEO must possess?

Take risks, communicate with people both within your organization AND outside your organization, always have a vision, even if it changes often, be as much of a visionary as possible, and think two to five years down the road. I believe as a leader, and I think my friends and colleagues would agree, it is important to always learn from your mistakes. Believe in good, solid relationships; help others out, mentor. Keep quiet and listen sometimes, say “yes and….I have a couple other questions.”

CEOs need to understand their numbers (income, expenses, and gross profit but most importantly, net profit) – what they’ve done in the past and what they’re trying to achieve in the future. A lot of entrepreneurs don’t know their numbers. It is also extremely important for CEO’s and business leaders to understand the competitive landscape and be able to tweak their products according to this analysis.

Don’t be afraid to fail or it becomes more difficult to succeed. Your new job as CEO is “Decision-Maker”: You aren’t going to succeed all the time, and you have to be comfortable with that. Falling down but getting back up is the only way we grow.

CEO’s/Visionaries should not be involved in day-to-day operations as much as they should be making the big decisions within the organization. This allows them to

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spend time leading and growing the vision of the company.

Two of the best pieces of advice I have ever received are: “Reputation takes years to build and only seconds to ruin”, and “If it swims like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is probably a duck!”

My advice to emerging leaders would be: “Have control over your destiny. You need to be comfortable continuing to educating yourself in order to improve. If you are somewhat flexible and are willing to take risks, be honest about that you do and don’t know, you will surely succeed. Turning your beliefs and passions in life into a business is the most gratifying thing a person can do.

The key to Magellan Jets’ success has been hiring great people but also understanding how different people with varied backgrounds and personalities add tremendous value to a company.

How do you cope up with never-ending technological disruption to boost your personal growth?

Magellan may not be ready for the Jetsons’ “Rosie”, but it’s getting closer. Because the Magellan Jets model is purely private, we must continue to understand how AI could affect the customers’ privacy. We have to spend a lot of time making sure our customers are protected. We are constantly aware of the dangers AI can pose, and are adamant about protecting our client’s personal data. We don’t ever intend to replace the human element of customer service, whereas a lot of our competitors are using apps and other technogical platforms as the only method of communicating with clients,

One of our core values is: Develop, cultivate, and share a Prosperity Mindset. This is only successful when we communicate well with each other, and treat each other like we would want to be treated.

We value memorable experiences that build trust and loyalty. We truly strive to make this a reality for our employees. We are lucky to have a very cool office located in Quincy Center with a view of Boston, hold fun events and parties, volunteer as often as we can, and encourage open dialogue and communication within the company. Also, if you haven’t been educated on the importance of Generation Z, which makes up a large number of our company, you are doing yourself and your company a great disservice. Their generation is going to revoluntionize the workplace as we know it today.

Due to the early stages where AI and machine-learning currently reside, there are some risks involving the amount of data, data sources, and vulnerability of these systems.

The thought of a “security second” mindset makes us pause, and remain vigiliant and cautious when unrolling these new technological platforms, ensuring they are secure and safe for our clients.

Humility is key—CEOs need to easily read people’s emotions, be kind and warm, easy to approach, trustworthy and uplifting on a daily basis. I love to learn from mistakes and will work to turn a bad situation around.

We are constantly seeking out top notch technology, and technological partners who acknowledge AI is the indeed the future. At the same time, we are cognizant not to expose our clients’ information to partners who don’t value security the same way we do. The value AI currently brings to both our company and our clients is minimal in comparison to the risk that is constantly growing in this world.

What are your intakes on roles of a Revolutionary CEO with regards to make a difference in the customary system?

I am comfortable running a non-hierarchical organization, and am always looking to make improvements both incrementally, or drastically. I’m willing to stop projects that have huge momentum if it is brought to my attention that there is a technological solution that can do it more efficiently. Technology has opened the doors in aviation to more possibilities.

As technology develops and becomes more secure, we will continue to explore uses for it. Ensuring each and every one of our clients remain confident their personal data is safe and secure with us here at Magellan Jets is one of paramount to our organization, and our company values and practices. Magellan Jets is truly an all-inclusive travel solution that keeps private travel purely private.

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is your advice to overcome them?

A lot of people have problems within an organization, and the CEO needs to be the solution. It’s very easy to point out issues, but it’s much harder to solve them. Keep it simple, but also explain the “why” behind the task, giving someone a clean explanation of what is expected out of them will result in a drastically improved product. Think of every decision.

First, think of how you would do something if you didn’t have a budget, then work through it with a budget.

In the future, I see us steering the vision of the urban air mobility evolution with e-VTOL, merging with traditional aviation. I’m able to integrate these two concepts. Because of our experience with clients, we are able to identify a technological solution to underserved clients. I feel there is more to be done, personalizing the experience, technology, and communication we provide on a daily basis.

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Kiran Bhagotra Founder, CEO & President ProtectBox Ltd 30

| August2019 |

ProtectBox Ltd

Kiran Bhagotra Changing Hearts and Minds in Cybersecurity

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n an interview with CIO LOOK, Kiran Bhagotra—Founder, President and CEO of ProtectBox Ltd, emphasizes her unique approach towards cybersecurity, her impeccable vision and passion forchange that has made her start-up standout amongst the rest.

Below are the highlights of the interview:

‘‘

Others believe in YOU because you believe in YOU, or as my father said “if you don't ask, you don't get.”

Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a leader.

“Changing hearts and minds” describes my leadership journey well.

As one of a handful of ethnic minority (Indian) girls in my school (every year) I never entertained the notion of being picked as Head Girl. Little things like my mother’s samosas (& my father’s jungle juice) being the best seller at the Summer Gala & my holding assemblies sharing the stories behind my family’s & others ethnic religious days, made that happen and laid the foundations for my leadership style. Later careers in PR, international metals mining, raising private equity/venture capital funds, governments /international relations plus stints as a scuba diver and selling lingerie in Selfridges, show how this “core” grew from strength to strength. In many of them, I either achieved something not done before or was often the first woman or ethnic minority or both to have held the roles I held. Thanks to the innate confidence from school that I could do it.

In the medical school step, I converted my failure into a First-class degree & the prestigious Jelf medal in my subsequent Maths & Management degree. I can name many more “failures” in my life that others now talk about as successes. I’d even go as far as saying that ProtectBox is the latest of that series in the boxset.

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What do I mean by that? Despite being criticized, in the past, for having a busy CV, I couldn’t have got ProtectBox as far as I have done today, 25+ Awards’ finalist & media, by myself if it wasn't for that busy CV.

As well as making cybersecurity buying quickly, we are also making it simple and affordable too! Simple, with features such as info icons on each question to explain the jargon and letting you delegate questions to your team, inside or outside the company, all of which can be managed through your account. Or letting you pull answers from partners such as Sage & Xero. Affordable; with lots of ways to pay, including spreading the cost over a year, or with grants/subsidies from governments.

But what we care about the most is “changing hearts and minds” about selling cybersecurity to SMBs. I regularly hear horror stories from our customers about how they've been messed about by consultants & there’s not much they can do. We champion SMBs within the cybersecurity market, getting the market to be more user-friendly for us.

I am no one special, I was lucky enough to find my way early on, lost it & re-found it many times. So, there is no right or wrong path, there’s just a path that’s right for you & it doesn’t matter how or when you find it. Hence, I often answer these sorts of questions by saying, “Life is hard. I've got through it by looking forward, accepting my fears, surrounding myself with people who help me do that. Growing by giving back, sharing, listening, and smiling or making someone else smile everyday as it'll make you smile back!”

How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice your target audience to gain benefits from your organization's offerings?

Right now, when we – small & medium businesses (SMBs) – buy cyber security we either spend thousands of pounds and waste weeks paying a consultant. Or, if we decide to do it ourselves, we have the headache of swathes of jargon & solutions.

What are the crucial traits which every CEO must possess?

My answer of Courage, Communication & Clan is welldocumented.

Courage to accept your fears/weaknesses and seek the right helps to overcome them. I explored the world alone for a year & took up scuba diving across Asia Pacific & South America during a difficult time in my life & was helped by the kindness of strangers. My journey setting up ProtectBox has been strewn with problems but I refuse to let them stop me.

How much easier would it be to go online & in one hour, fill out a simple questionnaire with customer services on hand, get 6 comparisons of technology, training & processes that can be personalized using filters & sliders before buying with a single click? Well now you can with cybersecurity comparison website & marketplace ProtectBox.

Communicating clearly, concisely & consistently which I’m still mastering the art of. For anyone that knows me I could compete for Britain on talking! Being lucky enough to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu whilst I worked for the

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South African miner Lonmin, showed me the huge power of not just words but actions, like smiles or empathy or forgiveness, in empowering others.

intelligence to navigate these challenges, as I said before it's finding the right path for you. As well as finding the right collaborative support to help you do that.

Clan, and by that, I don't necessarily mean your family, I mean surrounding yourself with the right 'people' & I would include in that customers, investors and stakeholders. Experiences like representing the UK government, promoting the UK's cyber-security strategy, on visits to South Korea, or hosting Japanese PM Abe in the UK, or supporting the Indian government with the raising of their first Indian Infrastructure Fund, all reinforced the impact of collaboration in making the impossible possible!

How do you cope with never-ending technological disruption to boost your personal growth?

My many careers show I embrace and thrive on change so, I don't see technological disruptions as a challenge but an advantage. Add to that my curious mind and it doesn't take long for me to have found a way to introduce the technological disruption into my daily routine. In the same way technological disruptions are always a part of ProtectBox's future development and scaling. For example, ProtectBox is already looking at how it will do business in the Quantum era, which I see as the future of not just cybersecurity but society too. I recently predicted in an article in Wired that we will start to see material impacts commercially in the coming year and are already seeing those. So, I believe Quantum Computing's impact needs to be taken seriously now and I am lending my voice to promote that message (eg https://www.wired.co.uk/article/blockchain-quantumsecurity & https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/104534.)

Just as the internet, grew in dog years, compared to human years so too will Quantum's growth.

A Revolutionary CEO is one that lives and breathes the adage “the customer is always right”. We're already seeing customers wanting new technologies to go beyond being Simple, Quick & Affordable—ProtectBox's value proposition to choice—rich customers wanting to buy from those who know them, care about them and will go that extra mile.

Investors argue about the value of this latter experiencecentric approach versus their preferred profit-centric models. But we at cybersecurity comparison marketplace ProtectBox are keen advocates of the experience-centric approach, so much so that we only work with partners, government or corporate, and suppliers that embody the values of our customers. Just like our small & medium business customers, we don't see bootstrapped, lean, outsourced, diversely skilled teams as “un-investible”. We see them as the blueprint of the tech unicorns of the future.

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

We will be launching ProtectBox as an internationally successful product that helps businesses throughout the world, in the next month. In the same way that banks sell insurance as an add-on, we can be sold/joint-marketed as an all-in-one cyber add-on by accountants, telecoms, banks, lawyers, consultants or any data-related service provider to SMBs, even governments, whose marketplace capabilities can be extended by plugging us in. Plus ProtectBox's all-in-one bundles can be subsidized by government grant schemes. We've signed 4 (corporate, distributor & government) partners, with another 10 across the world in the pipeline. But always open to more!

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is your advice to overcome them?

Having the capacity to deal with all sorts of problems, for example I switch between CEO, CTO, and whatever else, regularly. This happens for a whole host of reasons including at one end some tech people not delivering on promises just because you're an SMB (& so not important to them) and at the other end the challenges of being a female or ethnic (or just underrepresented, for a whole host of other varied reasons) in your industry. This is compounded by Cash, which even though “is King”, isn't always in abundance for emerging (or underrepresented) leaders. Control is another challenge emerging leader's face, with competing opinions & agendas to manage amongst stakeholders. Strategies, I find useful in tackling these are focusing on your confidence & emotional

As a leading cyber-security company, what is your contribution in enhancing cyber security systems in small and medium sized businesses?

ProtectBox is all about empowering SMBs. As an online cybersecutity comparison website it allows busy SMEs to make the right choice quickly, simply and affordably. But we're as much about “changing hearts and minds” as about making the process easier. We champion SMBs within the cybersecurity market, getting the market to be more userfriendly for us. We also challenge norms of who can work in cybersecurity to make it more inclusive.

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Coricraft: Transforms Customer Delight and Delivery with Trackmatic Solution

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leave empty handed. We needed to refine our delivery element which is one of the most difficult things for a business to do successfully and profitably.”

oricraft, South Africa’s premium quality home furniture and furnishing design and manufacturing company, contracted with Trackmatic to help tackle the challenges it was facing around fleet visibility and customer satisfaction. The company wanted to reignite the magic of the last mile, transforming how customers perceived their performance and delivery efficiency. Today, Coricraft has reduced its delivery window to less than two hours, reduced customer complaints to a record low, increased delivery drops per route, and has transformed the customer experience, all while cutting costs.

Prior to its implementation of the Trackmatic DriverLed Visibility® solution, Coricraft was experienced roughly 45 Hello Peter complaints a month. The complaints were all centered around one specific issue – customer service on delivery. The delivery window sat at a lengthy three hours and customers were left uncertain as to when their furniture would arrive, what service they would receive on delivery, and timing around the re-delivery of any incorrect or damaged items. In addition, it was impossible to proactively respond to failures in the field in real time.

Last mile logistics is becoming increasingly difficult to perfect and is evolving at a rapid rate due to the growth of e-commerce. There is a growing need to get goods to customers faster and more cost effectively. Customers are willing to pay a premium for faster delivery fulfillment and companies like Amazon are raising the bar and raising customer delivery expectations.

According to McKinsey, last mile logistics have been identified as the cornerstone to driving growth and profitability, and companies like Coricraft are under increasing pressure to create logistic strategies that align business and customer expectations.

“When we started working with Coricraft the first challenge was to address the visibility of their fleet,” says David Slotow, CEO, Trackmatic. “They needed a tool that would allow them to communicate more clearly with their customer service team by developing richer engagement with their operations team and their drivers.”

For Coricraft, it was essential that delivery fulfillment be transformed in such a way as to revolutionize customer experiences. In addition, the company also faced challenges around address capturing. Customers often provided incorrect location details or left out critical delivery information. Coricraft needed technology that helped their drivers get to the right place at the right time. The solution had to ensure that when they delivered, the destination was locationperfect to meet faster, tighter delivery windows.

Last mile logistics are troublesome, especially in South Africa. There are challenges around infrastructure, addressing accuracy and security that impact on delivery timing, fuel costs and efficiency. This is further compounded by the complexity of delivering irregular size furniture items that requires skilled unpacking and assembly upon delivery. For Coricraft, these issues were affecting its customer relationships and brand reputation.

“We could not tell customers accurately when their deliveries would take place, especially as we didn’t have an accurate measurement to easily determine the time it would take between customer deliveries,” says William Webb, Operations Executive, Coricraft. “We needed to find a way to manage the drivers to ensure that they adhered to the scheduled routes, stock on the

“In our industry, the journey doesn’t start and end in the store,” says Craig Schneeberger, Chief Operating Officer of Coricraft. “The real magic is in the last mile when we deliver to your home. Purchasing furniture is a very emotive thing and, with us, you pay money and

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Tech Outlook

Craig Schneeberger Chief Operating OfďŹ cer

Coricraft

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| August2019 |

truck was secure and the customer experience was pleasurable.”

Validation Tool (AVT). This allowed for a dedicated Data Integrity Team at Trackmatic to process the addresses and resolve them into GPS coordinates in real time. Any conflicts of address would be filtered through Google Maps and manually checked by a dedicated Data Integrity Agent who could shift the pin to a more accurate or relevant location, when required.

Any failures on route resulted in delays further down the line. If a customer wasn’t home or if the driver took longer than planned to find an address, the waiting times then had a knock-on effect until the last customer had waited for far longer than anticipated and the driver kicks into overtime. This often resulted in failed deliveries or high overtime expenditure for teams returning late.

“A great example of where this level of manual control excels is in gated estates,” explains Slotow. “The delivery entrance could be different from the visitor’s entrance and the vehicle has to then navigate back routes to get to the home.

That level of discretion doesn’t come from GPS, it comes from human engagement, intellect and experience. We built an entire Address Validation Tool (AVT) for Coricraft and delivered a highly targeted and elegant solution without any delay in the delivery timeline.”

“Those challenges of wasted kilometers and frustrated clients were endemic, further impacted by unknown addresses, failed deliveries and drivers wasting time and fuel driving up and down a road looking for the right place,” says Slotow. “For a company as aspirational and professional as Coricraft, these delays and challenges were impacting on the way customers perceived their service and professionalism.”

The AVT solution is cloud-based and fully integrated, taking the address from point of sale to the front door.

It provides an incredibly high level of accuracy and has transformed delivery operations. It has also changed the way the drivers engage with technology.

Coricraft wanted a white-glove delivery process that was as slick as its in-store experience. It needed the same efficiencies at the point of fulfillment as it had at point of sale. To start, Trackmatic integrated the Coricraft point of sale system into their Address

“Getting drivers to take their mobile device into the vehicle and navigate with trust and confidence was a major achievement,” says Slotow. “When the shift happened, it was magic. They felt empowered as they could now resolve issues independently without impacting on operations when there were delays on the customer side. The integrated voice solution allows them to contact customers and let them know they are outside or their estimated time of arrival. Trackmatic’s solution also stores all recordings in the cloud to use in the driver debrief process and in case of any issues. This process of continuous learning and improvement has had a significant and positive impact on results.”

Trackmatic believes in empowering the drivers, providing them with the tools they need to deal with frustrated customers in real time. Using this level of engagement with the customer has meant that drivers can relay issues around damaged items or poorly filled orders and give the customer insight into when these issues will be resolved. This availability of information has seen a significant reduction in customer complaints

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About

as most understand that there can be delays, but want these delays communicated clearly and on time.

Coricraft

For more than 20 years, Coricraft has been the easy choice for exceptional value on top-quality furniture. From just one store in Cape Town, we have grown to a chain of almost 50 stores in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

Creating a platform for real-time engagement and communication has enhanced Coricraft’s relationship with its customers as customers trust that they will be kept informed of the progress of their delivery.

“Coricraft hasn’t done anything differently to achieve this goal, they haven’t changed their manufacturing process or their product range,” adds Slotow. “All it took was them knowing that a customer was unhappy and having a strategy in place to deal with them. This could be as simple as sending out a manager to look at the product or ensuring that any missing items were delivered straight away. This level of customer engagement has made an instant, massive difference.”

We have factories in Cape Town and Johannesburg, where we manufacture all our couches ourselves. Beyond this large manufacturing presence lies a sophisticated retail infrastructure, with Coricraft stores across all South Africa’s major towns and cities. For customers, this means there is always a Coricraft nearby.

Coricraft can better plan and fine-tune deliveries, optimize operations and redefine customer engagement. Each challenge around visibility, communication, control and timing has been addressed using Trackmatic’s innovative and disruptive technology solutions.

“The results speak for themselves,” adds Slotow.

“Customers have left positive feedback around the professionalism of the delivery service and Coricraft has grown their deliveries without having to expand on their fleet or their teams. They have created capacity to scale without increasing costs or infrastructure and, as benefits go, that’s one that hits the bottom line.”

chance, it takes the right client that is willing to collaborate, experiment and trust us with their business.”

Trackmatic is currently working with Coricraft to expand its solution which includes the Trackmatic Insight analytic dashboards that will give Coricraft the means to measure key performance metrics and provide even more meaningful data for richer last mile and customer delight deliverables.

The company has seen delivery accuracies increase by 27%, the leave on time by 33%, (while shifting the start time by an hour earlier) return on time by 36% and overtime bills reduced by 15%. In addition, the time to delivery has been reduced from three hours to 32 minutes and there has been an 80% increase in customer service. Even more stats point to significant increases in route efficiency (86%), turnaround adherence time (94%) and a rise from 34 to 43 trucks a day leaving the depots nationally each day.

Schneeberger concludes: “Trackmatic has given us visibility into driver behavior so we can ensure we are as efficient as we can be in terms of delivering our furniture.

Because we have this level of visibility, we can give our customers visibility, and this allows us to proactively engage with them and exceed their expectations.”

“We are proud of the work that has been achieved at Coricraft,” says Slotow. “Success does not happen by

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| August2019 |

Marina Tognetti Rejuvenating the Entrepreneurial Spirit

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uilding an entrepreneurial venture in distinctive fields is also a novel art, in itself, to be portrayed.

Only those with unique ideologies and desire to bring out a change are able to pursue such art. One such artist cum leader, Marina Tognetti, Founder & CEO of mYngle is effectively transforming the customary language education system proving herself as the perfect example of an entrepreneur. Her venture, a global language learning school, provides fully integrated virtual classroom that facilitates students with an interactive, efficient and convenient way of learning or improving a language.

It was when working as consultant on a project on internet strategy that I first saw the potential of internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever the way we buy, sell or interact. I had to be part of that!

That was the driver to start an innovative company as mYngle, as I knew I could make a real difference, putting in practice all I had learned from my corporate career to make it a success.

How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice your target audience to gain benefits from your organization’s offerings? mYngle offers customized language training programs through video conferencing in 45 different languages anytime, anywhere. Our lessons are one-on-one, with highly qualified native coaches and related to the jobposition of the learner. Our virtual classrooms enable learners to take classes 24/7.

CIO LOOK admires such profound leaders and their contribution in evolving the business sectors.

Below are the highlights of an interview conducted between Marina and CIO LOOK: Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a leader.

I am a tech entrepreneur, founder of myngle.com, but the passion for entrepreneurship came later on in my career. When I graduated from University, it was an era when entrepreneurship was not very common for academics. I started therefore by building a successful career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble, Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group and eBay; living and working in different Countries, and got an MBA from INSEAD along the way.

We are the solution for busy professionals who need language training to be successful in their international business, and for Companies that want great learning results and a transparent and controllable learning process to make their investment a success.

What are the crucial traits which every CEO must possess?

Have a strong Vision, to set the direction and anticipate and navigate challenges. That also means being able to “Think out of the box’’.

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mYngle

�

To lead is to make a difference.

�

Marina Tognetti Founder mYngle

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Be able to adapt and change, to keep the business successful, especially nowadays as the speed of technological advancement increases and there is a greater degree of uncertainty in the world.

changes—technology, volatility of the market, talent evolution. This affects the role of a modern CEO, which must be able not only to adapt but also to ride the positive trends. The challenges are similar in many aspects to those of an innovative entrepreneur.

Not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks, as great and sometimes unforeseen opportunities come from taking risks. Embracing risk also helps overcome the fear of failing.

A CEO must not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks in order to anticipate trends and steer the company also in turbulent waters. A leader must be able to adapt. Being agile is paramount. In mindset and approach, as well as strategic direction. Last, but not least, must be able to build an organization that is also agile. That requires developing people that think and not only do “jobs”, employees that are entrepreneurs, fostering a culture of experimentation.

Have courage and decisiveness, to model the vision with actions, making the tough calls and taking decisions that can have high consequences.

Attaining strong communication skills, to align and guide the organization as well as to inspire and motivate others in order to translate the vision into action.

How do you cope up with never-ending technological disruption to boost your personal growth?

Technology should be seen as an opportunity, as it opens directions that only a few decades ago seemed unattainable. It allows new businesses that can disrupt entire industries. I am a business person, so do not need to be an expert in its implementation, but I must understand its implication for a business: how it impacts a company, the customers, and the value chain.

Be able to constantly learn to live at their growth edge.

In order to learn, they must also have no ego and recognize what they do not know.

What are your intakes on roles of a Revolutionary CEO with regards to make a difference in the customary system?

I strongly believe that the key to success is not comparing with competition, but aligning with what customers want. Constant focus on customers and their needs is one of our pillars and key strengths.

Data Analysis and Machine Learning are making great improvements. Algorithms are getting better, products are becoming more accessible, knowledge about best practices are being shared and collaborated at a very fast pace. Data analysis and machine learning helps triage new products better understand clients and try to anticipate possible issues, it also helps forecasting, funnel analysis, staff coaching, and the list goes on and on.

Our goal is to be effective, on the best way possible for the learner. We want to value the learner’s time and place him / her as much as possible in touch with a professional teacher that is why our lessons are primarily done one on one. We strive to be unique by making sure we maximize results and learning to the fullest extent.

This also reflected in our internal KPIs and how we assess our job, using adapted versions of NPS (Net Promoter Score), which defines that only excellence counts. Our average lessons’ scores are 4.8/5.0. Thus results speak for themselves!

Being a leading expert in offering language education, what is your contribution in evolving business educational sector?

Offline education was, and in large part still is, operating in the old traditional way, offering learners what was available, not what they needed; but “One size does not fit all.” By understanding the customer and diversifying our offer in terms of

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is your advice to overcome them?

We are living in an era of fast and drastic

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teacher—content—methodology—frequen cy, we can match each specific need.

For us it is important to bring quality and customer centric approaches to the front of what we do. We want business professionals to see online language education as worthy of their time and investment. We want to make sure learning online is effective, fun, tailored to the learner’s needs and applicable to each person’s goals and objectives. By doing that, we increase the awareness that live language lessons don’t need to be done in a ’brick and mortar’ classroom environment, but can be done very well in an online setting.

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

It is in my nature to want to constantly improve, and it is in the nature of an entrepreneur to always seek new opportunities or areas of development. The future in leading mYngle will surely hold new challenges, as we keep on innovating and being ahead of the market.

For me personally, it will also be time for the idealistic voice inside to speak, the voice that believes in giving something back for a better world. I walked this path and learned a lot. That brought me in a privileged position, where I can act and implement new ideas that can make a difference. I can now use my skills to make the world just a little bit better.

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Attributes of a Good

Leader

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| August2019 |

The Art of Leading

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eadership is about using the power of a position to empower a group of people in order to attain a common goal. A leader’s task is to implement the plans that usually look good on paper, through a delegated team, in a specific time with an ongoing motion. She/he may use the traditional method or may think out of the box. It depends on the leader as how to do it; the ultimate motive is to get the job done. Although, each and every individual has a different approach on leadership, some might say it is about setting examples, some might say it is about sharing the authority; what matters is, taking the right decision when it is most needed.

Leadership varies from one organization to another. An organization is a dynamic body and creates new probabilities every now and then. And with new probabilities, come new challenges.

Although, it is impossible to overcome every challenge, the business environment has adopted certain leadership styles for the efficiency of business: The Participative Leader Participative Leadership is the process of sharing authority with the work force in order to get optimum efficiency. The team, after getting access to certain powers, works responsibly to accomplish the goals set by its leader. The shared leadership also helps in case of any requirement of change, as the employees adapt quickly in such environment. Incidentally, this style of leadership fits best in a scenario when there is a limitation of time.

The Transformational Leader A transformational leader inspires the team through effective communication and an intellectual environment. However, these

individuals require more detail oriented managers to successfully implement their strategies.

Transformational Leadership is considered among the most effective employees of the organization. One of the examples of this type of leadership is when a leader is assigned on a higher level for effective environment.

The Transactional leader The transactional leadership, as the name suggests, enables the leader to incentivize the team corresponding to their performance.

The team gets rewarded when it attains the goals and the Leader has the power to review the results and act accordingly when the team fails to do the same. The goals and the strategy to attain them are decided by the leader and the team itself.

The Situational leader Situational leadership is a theory that the best leader will adapt to the required leadership style according to need of the hour. A Situational leader may adopt democratic style while discussion business with senior executive, but may switch to transactional at the time of team review. However every individual has a natural style of leadership and it may be difficult to switch roles at a certain point of time.

Qualities of a good leader There is an old proverb that says, “Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, and You Feed Him for a Lifetime.” So is the case with leadership. One of the basic qualities of a Leader is to pass on the leadership skills.

Following are some of the qualities of a good leader: Communication Skills Communication is the basic requirement for efficiency in a Ÿ

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business. As the level of hierarchy elevates, the requirement of communication grows. Especially, when it comes to leadership, there is no scope for lack of communication.

A Leader who fails to develop this skill is looked up as incompetent, because it is his job to send the message loud and clear. Although, it is also important to listen as it is an integral part of communication.

Integrity C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.” Be it giving credit to one of the team members or be it admitting a mistake, a leader wears integrity as a badge of honor. They do what is right, no matter what. Ÿ

Empowerment As mentioned earlier, Leadership is about using the power of one’s position to empower a group of people in order to attain a common goal. A good leader shares his authority with the team in order to get the job done. By doing this, he shows confidence in the team and obliged by the gesture, the team works with full enthusiasm to accomplish the goal. Ÿ

Decision making There is risk in decision to making.

Great leaders take great decisions when the stake is high and it is the success of those decisions that make them great. To add up, a good leader takes right decision at the right time.

In conclusion, a good leader can be defined by the dynamics of his style in leadership, the values that he brings to the organization, the methods he uses to make the best of the resources, and the kind of decision he makes in the given situations. At the end it is about the attitude of an individual to bring the change for good. Ÿ

| August2019 |

Mark Rees COO

Secucloud GmbH

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Stellar’s Vision

Thoughts on AI “What shall we do with all this speed?”

Are we pursuing the right objective in operational efficiency?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

About the Author

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

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

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

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

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

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International Centre for the Future of Places

Dr. Tigran Haas Director/CEO International Centre for the Future of Places

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Tigran Haas Redefining Urbanism for the Future Lessons for Management and Leadership

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Teaching Project and Strategic Management and Project Leadership for over 8 years has help me understand some of these things much better and the period of 5 years running a research Lab plus being director of three educational programs has also helped immensely. Getting things done from the team is just one part of the job of a leader and the team has to be assembled in the best possible way where the issues of competence, equality and professionalism are crucial but also the finesse to know where each person can contribute the most. At the outset of my leadership role, I started to expand and build new networks.

Connection on all physical and virtual platforms was a must and continues to grow; where the inner great relationship with the team and employees is crucial and is sine qua non for the sustainable longevity of the enterprise. Winning their trust, gaining honest feedback, achieving friendships and developing mutual respect is crucial.

n an interview with CIO LOOK, Dr. Tigran Haas—Director/CEO of the International Centre for the Future of Places (CFP), emphasizes on his vision and achievements en route to success. He holds an expertise in current research and teaching focus on contemporary trends and paradigms in urban planning & design, new urbanism, sustainable urbanism, social housing and urban transformations, and city development and design.

CIO LOOK admire such leaders and feels pride in featuring Dr. Haas in its special edition edition, “Revolutionary CEOs, 2019”.

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

Leadership is definitely a complex journey of selftransformation, a journey traveled by an individual who has been handed over the responsibility of guiding people towards achieving a certain business objective.

How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice your target audience to gain benefits from your organization’s offerings?

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As an international research Centre, focusing on the relation between urban form and human behavior with a focus on public spaces, the audience is very much academic but also practitioners, policy makers and the civil society or general public. The Centre works on a few levels where the research findings are geared for a pathfinding way into policy and also passing through practice. The most important things are the highest quality outputs in research, publications, media events and societal relevance as well as links to higher, graduate and post graduate education. The pillars that the host institution of KTH has, those of sustainability, equality and internationalization are deeply embedded into the fabric of the everyday ad strategic activities of the Centre. With a strong physical and virtual staff with highest competences in the area, we believe that through the four themes of sustainable urbanism, housing and urban spaces, urban form and human behavior and urban transformations projects and research findings of high quality can and are emerging, to which our annual report 2016/2017 and the 2018 are testimonies and the 5 awards the Centre has already received from its three year work.

“Leadership is about PPP-III that is professionals, perseverance and passion, where you have to have the courage to follow your instincts, ideas and imagination to the fullest.” challenges and competition and major issues on the regional national and global level that influence the work and strategy of the place where one works.

Roadblocks will be many from personal choices, communication, decisions and project and program work that brings many knowables but also many unknowables. The key thing is a tight organization with good leadership and delegation of responsibilities where the chemistry functions and all are onboard towards a common goal and where mutual benefit must prevail, nit individual gain and vanity.

What are the crucial traits which every CEO must possess?

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

Ability to learn from the past and from mistakes; strong communication skills and building sustainable relationships on all levels; listening, understanding and doing; optimism and risk taking to a specific degree; reading people and adapting them to necessary task in the organization; anticipating problems and thinking outside the box; eliminating threats and psychopathic personalities.

After the five-year sequel of the Centre, we will see what the future has installed for us, that is where the next focus will lie in the coming five years, either continuing in then path we have set or turning the ship into another, slightly less (un)charted destination. One thing is sure, that in the next two years the focus will be on the critical issue of rising smart and new experimental cities and issue of autonomous mobility but still having the first 3-year theme of cities for all and who owns the city in the backdrop. The main issue is that cities are getting more complex and the challenges are rising on a daily basis with multiple converging crises that seek answers for new theories, tools and approaches. The Centre will try to answer these calls as it goes into the next period.

As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is your advice to overcome them?

One of the hurdles is surely the environment one is at, the micro, meso and macro. Micro being the immediate one with all the challenges of competences, staff, tasks, immediate decisions, administration and leadership as well as conflicts; the meso being the plane of projects and partnerships and cases on the ground and the cities where the work is being done but also the products, the media, networks etc. and finally the macro with all the

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Disruptive Technology and Changing Trends Inuencing Business Internet of Things

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ew decades ago, reaching the moon was beyond imagination. But not today, because technology has completely changed the world and made it possible.

Technological inventions were revolutionized in the 18th and 19th century with the steam engine, the telegraph, fiber optics, typewriter, sewing machine, etc. Later, it changed the way we communicate on a real-time basis with telephone, radio, and internet.

IOT has begun to change the world around us. It allows the businesses to access their information virtually, creating a flexible and global way of accessing data, any place, and any time. It reduces the cost by maintaining IT system, rather than purchasing expensive systems and equipment. It also allows employees to be more flexible in work practices. Let us see some fields where IOT must be adapted.

Innovations in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and information technology are already helping to solve challenges that occur in these sectors. Through the breakthrough innovations in health services, technology has been able to improve the lives of poor people in developing countries.

Healthcare Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are largely paperbased industry. The pen and paper approach is still followed largely around the world. Patient’s record sharing is still done in the traditional way which is timeconsuming. Whereas, real-time monitoring via connected devices can save lives in an event of a medical emergency.

IOT devices collect and transfer health data and are stores in the cloud. These data can be shared with a physician or a health firm, in order to allow them to look at it, regardless of their place, time or device. Therefore, in an event of an emergency, patients can contact a doctor who is many kilometers away with a simple smartphone.

Manufacturing field is increasingly being automated and technology driven. Advanced technology and systems such as automation, nanotechnology, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and others are changing the face of manufacturing to improve business technologies. So, the adaption of technologies in work will revolutionize the way it was in the past in the field of manufacturing as well.

Let us see how trends in technology are changing businesses.

Fleet Management Fleet operators spend a large amount of time, money and resource in maintaining the safety standards and resource in maintaining the safety standards and operate at the desired performance levels. Through various sensors, fleet companies have access to a vast amount of data. This information can help the company to make real-time quick decisions for instant improvements. In fact, these insights can help in effectively managing the overall supply chain.

Undoubtedly, IOT has set to become the backbone of the fleet management industry.

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Editor’s Choice Public Transport Management In today’s major cities at rush hour, getting to and from work is a nightmare. Imagine a world where not only the cars are smart, but also the street and traffic lights. Public transportation systems like trains and buses are connected to individual’s smartphones. This will help to know the exact time to leave the houses accordingly.

In smart cities, passengers are already enjoying Wi-Fi and USB charging stations on public transportation. Overall, IOT already started affecting the aspects of our life.

Renewable Energy Will you like earning money on reducing the use of electricity? Thanks to IOT energy-saving tools, you can significantly decrease the numbers in your bills. IOT energy solutions are sensor-based technology. It analyses weather and environment condition, helps automate the management of wind farms, optimizes maintenance and thus reduces the cost dramatically. People (both households and companies) get a better understanding of their usage habits and adjusts them accordingly. These system collects data on electricity consumption in real-time and helps generate important insights for environmentalists, researchers, and conservation strategists. Thus, installing IOT smart energy device can join the environmental initiative, cut down on energy consumption and lessen the greenhouse effect.

Agriculture The global population is set to touch 9.6 billion by 2050. So, to feed this much population, the farming industry must embrace IOT. Smart farming based on IOT technology will reduce waste and enhance productivity. Ranging from the quantity of fertilizer utilized to the number of journeys the farm vehicles have made. In IOT based smart farming a system is built for monitoring the crop field with the help of sensors and automating the irrigation systems. It is highly efficient when compared with the conventional approach.

Thus, with the population growing rapidly, the demand can be successfully met, if the farmers implement agricultural IOT solutions in a prosperous manner.

Blockchain Technology Blockchain technology is changing the way we do our day to day businesses. Companies are starting to work with Blockchain technology because it gives you privacy along with it is transparent. Let’s see how blockchain can help to deal with business.

Smart Contracts Contract is where consent of the parties is involved to agree and interact with each other. Blockchain technology helps to guarantee the validity of a transaction through a secure validation mechanism. Industries and institutions are heavily reliant on contracts, such as insurance, financial institutions, real estate, construction, entertainment and, law. A smart contract helps formalize the relationships between people, institutions and the assets they own. They eliminate the need for trusted third parties and are self-verifying, self-executing and Tamper resistant.

Blockchain will be an important part of our financial and technological digital future. It is one of the incredibly creative inventions that technology has ever seen. So how we use it is up to us, it could indeed transform the global scenario.

Technology and changing trends in businesses is not something which is going to happen in the future, it is happening right now. It has already started affecting a lot of businesses. So businesses have tremendous opportunity to benefit from such technological advancement. There is no doubt that technological innovations are largely followed all over the world and it will revolutionize the businesses.

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