Vol 09 Issue 03 2022
Tech-Vision Admirable Leadership Qualities in the Digitally Advanced Environment
Powerful
Business Men
In
Crucial Aspects Comprehensive Fundamentals of the Modern Industry EmpowerersX
Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar President
Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar A Pivotal Leader Connecting You to the Technology
A Big Business
Starts Small...
EMBARKING IN THE REALM OF ULTIMATE WISDOM
TL
eaders are visionaries; they make plans for the future using specific objectives that can be measured. They are aware of the necessity for ongoing change and willing to experiment with new methods in order to find solutions and improvise for better results.
Leadership qualities are traits that great leaders develop over time, from C-suite executives to team leaders—to staunch business leaders. These individuals excel because ‘Leadership is not something that people are born with-it is a skill that can be cultivated over time.' These accomplished leaders hone these awe-inspiring abilities, enhancing their vision with a genuine commitment to being productive and innovative.
Abhishek Joshi Deputy Editor abhishek.joshi@insightssuccess.com
The leading businesses of today are always on the lookout for top talent who possess the best leadership traits to join their teams and help them meet the new challenges that are emerging. Moreover, the top organizations seek out leaders who are not only subject-matter experts but also possess the ideal blend of leadership philosophies that will work with their organization's culture and guide their company to success. In order to maximize executives’ learning opportunities and guarantee effective leadership, the best business schools are expanding their leadership development programs beyond the traditional classroom setting. This is due to the fact that a well-known business acumen recognizes the fundamental leadership traits and qualities at all levels of employment and expertise.
Understanding the fact that true leaders are confident and know they can think–and act–outside the box to take their companies to the next level. They know that leadership qualities like openness, emotional agility and resourcefulness are often more important than being able to make a sale or wow a group of investors. Embracing the journey of the starlet personalities of the modern industry, Insights Success features enthralling stories of the bright business leaders in its latest edition, ‘Powerful Men in Business-2022.’ Flip through the pages to indulge in the journey of wisdom with lifelong values and admirable qualities. Have a Delightful Read!
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C o v e r S t o r y
Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar A Pivotal Leader Connecting You to the Technology
A r t i c l e s Tech-Vision Admirable Leadership Qualities in the Digitally Advanced Environment
Crucial Aspects Comprehensive Fundamentals of the Modern Industry EmpowerersX
C O N T E N T 16 24 28 36
Arpeet Khattod Global Trade Finance Specialist with a Unified and Holistic Approach
Dr C. Mathiazhagan A Revolutionary Tech-Know-Leadership
Rohan Karnataki Incredibly Innovative Leadership Acumen
Vikram Pandit Your Brand Momentum’s B2B CHIEF in the Digital Infinitum
Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Deputy Editor Abhishek Joshi Managing Editor Gaurav PR Wankhade
sales@insightssuccess.com
Assisting Editor Kedar Borgaonkar
SEPTEMBER, 2022
Visualizer Sandeep Tikode
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We are also available on Copyright © 2022 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2018/75953
Powerful
Business Men
In
Featuring
Company Name
Brief
Arpeet Khattod, Founder and Director
Yash Finpro International Pvt Ltd
Arpeet is a Graduate in Commerce and Post Graduate from the University of Wales, UK. Having strong knowledge of strategic business development.
Dr C. Mathiazhagan, Founder
Hi-Tech Company Software Solutions
Dr C. Mathiazhagan has been in the software field for 20 years. Under his guidance, many software projects have been taken from the Japanese Industries and developed in India.
Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar, President
Aeris Communications Pvt Ltd
Dr. Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar is an established leader in starting strategic initiatives, executing and profitably scaling. Dr. Bhatnagar has managed large business units with around USD 500 mill revenue in an MNC and also started technology startup.
Rohan Karnataki, Founder
Hindavi Technologies LLC
Rohan's ambition is to empower his employees to become intrapreneurs and grow the enterprise together. He wants to collaborate with like-minded professionals to explore opportunities and ideas that solve real-world problems.
Vikram Pandit, Founder
B2B CHIEF
Vikram is a person full of energy, passion for his work and creativity at its best. He is a good team player and leads his team in the right direction. He is ready to take up challenges and deliver results.
Cover Story Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar President Aeris, India
Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar A Pivotal Leader Connecting You to the Technology
Aeris India President Dr Rishi Bhatnagar is personally championing efforts to promote IoT across the country.
T
echnology encompasses the entire spectrum of human civilization. Yet, most customers – unaware of the power of technology – remain unconnected with the whole gamut of new-age digital products and services. Dr Rishi Mohan Bhatnagar intuitively observed and keenly grasped this immense digital divide. Dr Rishi recollects, “At my previous organisation, Tech Mahindra, I was the Global Head for Digital Enterprise Services, responsible for selling digital services across the globe. I realised that while India had great potential with digital dividend and tech-savvy and engineering resources, the country was lacking in both implementations and expertise in the new and advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) etc.”
operational reach in 190 plus countries and has offices in the Americas (Chicago and San Jose), Europe (UK), and India (Delhi NCR). Dr Rishi adds, “We announced our joint venture with Softbank in Japan in 2016 known as Aeris Japan K.K., to provide IoT and telematics services globally using the Aeris® IoT solutions platform.” Aeris is also a part of Ventic LLC, a joint venture that is the result of a long-term commitment between Volkswagen and Aeris in the development and operations of connected vehicle platform technologies. Aeris’s Global Graph
This gap needed to be filled. And this became Dr Rishi’s inspiration to venture in for building a complete environment and ecosystem for creating awareness and adoption of advanced technologies so that he can prove that IoT business can also become a profitable business in India. Dr Rishi states, “It is my mission to create value-based IoT solutions and services in India, at the cost price Indians can afford, and accelerate the scale India can achieve today and in future. Making India as a base, and then taking our IoT solutions and services portfolio of offerings to the emerging markets was my vision which I have been able to achieve.” Today, under his Presidentship, it is Aeris India’s mission to provide an end-to-end modular technology platform that enables customers to make the pivotal change from unconnected products to connected services. And this mission is what the company carried to India when Aeris Indian operations were set up in 2016. Dr Rishi shares, “We realised that business opportunities are going to be enormous as the government of India had announced plans to create a $15 billion IoT market over the next five years, which will account for 5-6% of the global IoT market.” The Flowering of Aeris Communications Inc Aeris is a two-and-a-half decades-old technology company specialized in the Internet of Things. The growth of Aeris mirrors the development and growth of M2M communications and the Internet of Things (IoT). Aeris has
Writing An Indian Chapter Aeris Communications India Pvt Ltd (Aeris, India) is a 100% subsidiary of Aeris Communications Inc, headquartered in the Silicon Valley, San Jose. Aeris India was established in 2016 and worked closely with telecom operators and enterprises, helping them use IoT to increase revenue, bring operational efficiency, and delight customers. Aeris in India cracked the IoT Monetization puzzle in 2017. Even today, specialized start-ups and foreign-based companies in the field of IoT are offering piece-meal solutions rather than end-to-end offerings that are best suited to Indian customer needs. Dr Rishi feels, “We know that India has unique challenges which need to be addressed with more and more home-grown solutions which are based on global best practices but are rightly priced,
Powerful Men In Business-2022 need to be made very affordable, and those that can be scaled up to meet present and future requirements.” Bridging the Digital Divide Aeris, India took the opportunity to learn the market’s shortcomings and could identify that India didn’t have a true end-to-end IoT solution for enterprises. Dr Rishi reveals, “We planned to fill this gap so that enterprises could start IoT deployment faster with minimal investment. We have a consultative-led sales model and offer end-toend services that can fit the bill for most companies and also help them take the use-cases forward or customise them. It gives me great pleasure to share that the first registration certificate for M2M Service Provider issued by DoT, New Delhi LSA has been to Aeris Communications India Private Limited (Aeris, India). We vehemently support the ‘lighttouch regulatory approach’ of the Government in the IoT sector. We are committed to helping DoT in its endeavours in the M2M ecosystem. We have been actively participating at various levels with the government, policymakers, think tanks in India and abroad as well as academia in shaping the present and future of M2M technology in our part of the world. Our vision of creating IoT solutions and services in India and taking the ‘Made In India’ technology offshore has turned into reality with the successful implementation of our IoT solutions portfolio in the SAARC, APAC, Middle East and the African regions!” Aeris, India- Growing Business Abroad
We are now exporting technology created in India to multiple countries in the SAARC, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa.
Dr Rishi says, “I am also happy to share that we have successfully replicated our success model outside India. We are now exporting technology created in India to multiple countries in the SAARC, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. We have a multilingual helpdesk that supports our clients spread across pan India, SAARC, APAC and MEA regions. Our work has been recognized on distinguished platforms, motivating us to excel and champion the Indian, APAC and MEA markets with customer-centric solutions.” Turning the Resistance into ROI Speaking about the initial challenges Dr Rishi shared that his team surmounted so many challenges before Aeris could reach the business success it has achieved today. Dr Rishi says that when you start with anything new that demands a change from existing practices, there is a huge reluctance to adopt and invest, especially in the field of new technologies.
The boards and investors ask for the return on investment. However, in the case of new technology where there is no precedence of data, creating a return of investment plan is one of the challenges, the other being the proof that the technology would work and provide the value it is designed for. “Our Board of Directors trusted us. Within a year of our inception, we cracked the IoT monetization code in India and started onboarding clients while building a strong business pipeline. This helped us gain continuous support and investments from our Board. Today we are a profitable organisation,” expresses Dr Rishi. Creating Value for the Technology enabled Economy Further talking about professional values and qualities valued by the customer in Aeris, India, Dr Rishi quips, “Our integrity, trust with an honest communication are the top three values that our clients appreciate in Brand Aeris.” Similarly, about the brand Aeris’s USPs, Dr Rishi believes that Aeris, India has been Creating Value for the Technology enabled Economy since its inception. Aeris, India: Core Values
Today, Aeris India is the leader in providing connected vehicle solutions in the electric vehicle market, including 2/3 wheelers and the e-Rickshaw segment. “We are working on battery charging and swapping solutions with answers related to battery management and battery tracks. We have expanded our operations beyond India, creating our presence and jobs in SAARC, APAC, the Middle East and the APAC region,” says Dr Rishi.
A Sagely Wisdom As an experienced professional Leader, Dr Rishi’s advice to the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is on the mark. He counsels that every business aspirant must answer two key questions before venturing into the world of business: Ÿ Ÿ
Who will pay? Why will they pay?
If they have answers to these two questions, then they will be able to sell their products and services and grow their business. A Legendary Innovator Aeris is a pioneer in the Internet of Things (IoT) space and is among the few global providers of innovative end-to-end IoT solutions and services. Dr Rishi says, “At Aeris, we have always worked towards expanding the spectrum of IoT adopters.” Today, Aeris has 14 million devices managed on its IoT Platform worldwide, and more than 50,000 connected devices from India are managed on the Aeris IoT platform. It also has 70 plus patents. Further, it has partnered with device makers and telecom service providers to launch the full stack of services. Dr Rishi states, “Our portfolio includes two categories – solutions and connectivity services.” Within the solutions brackets, the company offers Aeris Mobility Platform, telematics, healthcare, manufacturing, finance and insurance, utilities, agriculture and automotive services. Under connectivity services, it provides a platform that can offer connectivity management, application enabling, analytics, service enabling, and an IoT marketplace for connectivity along with end-to-end IoT solutions and service offerings. Revolutionizing the Present and the Future Aeris has successfully established itself as an end-to-end IoT solutions and services provider in India, serving multiple verticals, including Banking and Finance, Fleets, Manufacturing, Automotive OEMs, Agriculture and the Social sectors. Dr Rishi shares, “Today, we are serving more than 100 clients in India - some of them are the leading brands from automotive, finance and insurance,
NGOs founded by Shri Rajendra Singh, the Jalpurush of India.
Our integrity, trust, with an honest communication are the top three values that our clients appreciate in Brand Aeris.
manufacturing, retail, agriculture, utilities and even the social sector here in India.” Aeris has regional sales and deployment teams as well as customer-facing program management teams. It has signed MoUs with multiple universities, including IIT BHU, Sharda University, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Birla Institute of Management, Noida and Manesar, for technology knowledge exchange, river rejuvenation projects by the Art of Living and water conservation projects by Tarun Bharat Sangh and Parmath
Aeris, India- Spearheading IoT Development, Adoption and Monetization in the Industry Dr Rishi conveys, “We have been actively collaborating and working with industry neutral platforms to build a strong IoT collaboration and knowledge-sharing platform in different verticals.” Aeris leadership team in India is at the centre stage of such initiatives. Aeris India President Dr Rishi Bhatnagar is personally championing efforts to promote IoT across the country. As chairperson of the IET-IoT Panel and an active leader of many industry associations, including those that are part of NASSCOM, CII, FICCI, Broadband India Forum and other prestigious bodies, Dr Rishi has been an ambassador for IoT across India and the Asia Pacific through numerous speaker engagements and media interactions. Finally, Dr Rishi concludes, “We are also working closely with the media and government agencies to give adequate visibility to our client and partner engagements and flagship projects.”
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Powerful Men In Business
Arpeet Khattod Global Trade Finance Specialist with a Uni ed and Holistic Approach
S
ince the global trade finance sector contributes approximately six per cent of the world's GDP, its overall performance naturally affects the health and prosperity of the world's economic future. However, the global trade finance ecosystem has not been as effectively and efficiently working as it should be, especially for the millions of smaller and medium-sized businesses which in effect are crucial for the health and progress of global industry and economy at large.
A Fully Dedicated and Completely Committed Leader An investment banker by profession with over Ten years of experience in financial services and consulting, Arpeet has handled financial transactions worth USD 200 million in the area of infrastructure, media and real estate globally. Arpeet is a Graduate in Commerce and Post Graduate from the University of Wales, UK. Having strong knowledge of strategic business development.
Financial exclusion, rejection, slow rate of modern technological adoption, un-utilization of digital technologies, supply-chain deficiency and non-transparency and lastly minimal or no support from the local or international trade finance institutions are the major factors responsible for the challenges and issues faced by the micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises – MSMEs.
Having a business network in Hong Kong, Singapore, China, the UK and Europe, Yash Finpro is an international trade finance company specializing in structuring trade transactions for a variety of stakeholders including issuing banks, exporters, and importers. With 15+ banks and financial institutions on board to provide trade finance services worldwide.
Giant multinational corporations are already leveraging digitalization to minimize the issues and challenges listed earlier and had been able to establish a promising digital network to draw benefits from the global trade and finance facilitation.
Opening Trade Finance Ecosystem for Global MSMEs
Unorganized MSMEs, due to their fragmented and scattered nature and limited scope and scale, were finding it difficult to fully capitalize on such opportunities, until Arpeet Khattod – Founder and Director, and Neha Khattod – Director, entered to level the playing field by establishing Yash Finpro.
Yash Finpro employs a very focused approach and takes a holistic view of your business, analyzing the assets, and the capital structure to leverage the balance sheet and minimize risk and expense.
Arpeet shares, "Yash Finpro was incorporated in March 2013 and we are two founders me and my spouse who are also into equity research and valuation.”
"We both were newly married when we came to Mumbai with no formal capital in hand to do business. After a long
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Having the business network in Hong Kong, China, UK and Europe, Yash Finpro is an international trade nance company specializing in structuring trade transactions for a variety of stakeholders.
Arpeet Kha od Founder and Director,
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London, the UK and their first foreign client was based in Spain for whom they arranged Financial Guarantee. Arpeet says, "So far, we have given our services to clients in India, Ghana, the UK, Australia, Thailand, and UAE across multiple commodity transactions amounting from 500,000 USD to 200,000,000 USD worth of transactions.” Entrepreneurial Risk Takers Initially, Yash Finpro was a proprietary firm which was later converted to Pvt Ltd when Arpeet and Neha realized that they can afford to run a private Ltd company and do all its compliances on time. Arpeet says, "I always wanted to be an Entrepreneur and was always willing to take the risk when I was in my early 20s, I got accidentally into the finance brokerage business. It was a very fortunate accident.” Today, Yash Finpro provides reliable trade finance services including, Letter of Credit: It assists you in your trade deal by providing the Documentary Letter of Credit – DLC MT700 on behalf of your company from European banks to conclude imports and exports. struggle of one and a half years, we founded Yash Finpro. We were only focusing on retail loans and some corporate loans from Indian banks for clients in all sectors in India," reveals Arpeet. By providing you with a single platform to connect to a network of world-class banks and international financial institutions. You are empowered beyond the limitations of your local banks and credit providers. Arpeet reveals that there were a lot of initial challenges like capital, good clients, and finding a dedicated team or partners to work with as finance business is mostly on referral and goodwill. "We also never had any setup, so we started from sharing office from initial years in Kandivali and then moving to coworking space in Bandra Kurla Complex till we purchased our own office in Malad," says Arpeet. He remembers that it was the time when they got global opportunities to enter new markets and expanded in
Standby Letter of Credit: Being the direct SBLC Provider, it can support imports and exports by providing a Standby Letter of Credit – SBLC MT760 on behalf of the importer and in favour of the exporter to conclude their trade deals. Bank Guarantee: Yash Finpro can assist you in your trade by providing Bank Guarantee – BG MT760. This may assist you to realize your business goals without docking your capital. Types of Bank Guarantees include Performance Bonds, Advance Payment Bonds, and Bid (Tender) Bonds. Bank Comfort Letter: "Being an MT799 provider, we too know that it is very hard to get BCL MT799 on behalf of your company without blocking your working capital. Usually, banks will not issue an MT799 without some form of collateral. So, if you're not ready with a hefty amount of collateral, then obviously your BCL request will get rejected by your bank. Here we come in between by facilitating BCL MT799 from our bank account without blocking cash funds! Yash Finpro
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International has a significant number of trading experience in serving the trade finance needs of clients worldwide," states Arpeet. Performance Bank Guarantee: Yash Finpro, the Performance bond providers are here to help you to avail of the specified bond from rated banks without cash margin. Advance Payment Guarantee: Do you require an Advance Payment Guarantee to acquire Advance Payments? Yash Finpro provides the required Bank Guarantee on behalf of your company from our bank account; this enables you to get the advance payments from your counterparty. According to Arpeet, there are some primary professional values and qualities like Integrity, a Straightforward attitude, Customized and out of box solutions, Flexible terms of assignment, Innovative ideas of financial structures, and Public relations skills that Yash Finpro's clients value the most. "Our company is prompt and has always been on the client's side no matter what the situation was, even in challenging circumstances we have performed in many cases," feels Arpeet. Yash Finpro Brand USPs Client-Centered Approach "Our clients always come as the first priority to us. i.e., we give utmost importance to our clients who require financial help to achieve their goals in the closure of their deals. We are one of the companies in India who can offer unsecured and secured a foreign letter of credits on the most competitive terms and within the fastest timeframe," says Arpeet. Faster Deal Execution Yash Finpro does its best to conclude deals on time. Arpeet adds further, "We observe our client's transaction very closely and make sure the instrument should be issued within 72 hours.”
Relations Across Multiple Banks Yash Finpro extends its services to its clients on behalf of them from rated banks. This makes it conclude more worthy contracts with their sellers. It has very sound financial institutions backing it to offer the most innovative financial solutions. Eight Years of Experience and Expertise in Trade Financing Yash Finpro has eight years of experience in providing trade financing which fulfills the needs and demands of the trade transaction of our client. It has also a good experience and ability to do both debt and equity-based assignments. Arpeet shares, "We have bagged 100 most influential BFSI awards from world BFSI forum twice in 2018 and 2019.” Sharing the Trade Secret Arpeet states, "My advice to budding aspirants would be, Don't give up and should have a lot of patience to sustain, grow and overcome all difficult times in your business. We have faced many such instances where we thought that we might not be able to sustain for longer.” A Successful Future of Global Trade Finance Arpeet concludes, "We have followed a lot of technical tools. Especially since the lockdown began. Like in finance it is very difficult to imagine that deals can be done virtually with clients and banks. But fortunately, with the help of zoom, MS Teams and google meet, we were able to mitigate these issues and moved forward. In fact, we grew 2-3 times in terms of our business revenue by adopting good tools and business strategies.” (To know more about Yash Finpro please visit www.yfipl.com)
Global Reach Yash Finpro offers a global platform to help its clients close their deals in a timely manner. And that's the way, it grows their business. The firm has expanded now in Australia, Africa and Europe apart from the UK.
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Tech-Vision
Admirable
Leadership Qualities in the
Digitally Advanced
Environment
D
igital transformation has been an effective medium that facilitates IT roles integrated with various business models. An integrated digital transformation helps to equip and enable a workforce by assisting firms in developing a comprehensive working interface supporting changes in employees' work-life that allow them to function productively. It has organized the core business functions and disciplined the working methods by enhancing clean, systematic, faster, error-free, and controlled business operations. With the advent of the digital revolution, as organizations brace up for the transformation, it becomes very necessary for the business leaders to plan and prepare for the setting up of the digital infrastructure, systems, practices, policies, and the training— preparation of the employees. 21 | September 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
Over and above, certain key influencers like leadership qualities are essential in imbibing the digital processes in the workforce. •
Creating Awareness
Leaders always strive to develop an atmosphere of progress and understanding. In implementing the digital transformation, they focus on spreading awareness about the purpose of the entire initiative. They strongly believe that with proper awareness, employees can learn things with their importance for easy implementation. •
Organizing Training and developments
The new concepts and practices that would be brought into operational use, are introduced and imbibed through organized training programs. For systematic change over from the current manual working procedures to advanced software applications, the management plans and organizes training programs for the employees on the features, applications, usage, procedures, and advantages. These developmental initiatives create a clear understanding of the process and help them learn and adapt effectively to the changing work patterns. •
Encouraging Participation
All the employees and associates are given opportunities through various new assignments and activities that give them excellent exposure to working in the new digital environment. Backed by the training and instructions of the technical team, the complete process is navigated and updated from their functional perspectives. •
Building up High-tech Infrastructure
Leaders identify the needs and advantages of digital transformation or upgrading to the latest technologies. They make the essential fund provisions in setting up the latest infrastructure
with advanced machine configurations and related software versions. Infrastructure forms the base of every business; hence it must be modern and state-of-the-art, offering the best and the fastest configuration machines and devices. •
Supporting Innovations
Innovation builds the ground for success, thereby boosting the scope and efficiency of the project. Innovative efforts have often driven the growth and progress of organizations. Business leaders know the value of innovations and encourage new idea developments and brain-storming sessions with holistic progress. Employees develop an inquisitive mindset of developing solutions for better integration and amalgamation of technologies. At times it becomes challenging to implement the new systems in the current working procedures. This is the point where leaders introduce and encourage innovations that create a cohesive fusion of both styles of work, also enabling a smooth transition to newer technological applications. •
Facilitate Enhancements and Upgradations
Getting the organization started on the digital platform and expecting quick results, doesn’t usually happen. It requires regular monitoring, observing the end-to-end implementation, compatibility with the business model and comfort levels of the employees in working on the system. Leaders go a few steps ahead in evaluating the implementation process of the new technologies with reference to work, the output generated, challenges faced, and the hiccups in working. From the broader perspective, they visualize the situations of complete system integration where all compliances are adhered to and system-generated and central protocols are maintained. Always working with a researchoriented mindset, modern entrepreneurs are looking for new developments and innovations that could enhance organizational productivity.
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•
Enhance Clarity and Transparency
The objective of implementing new digital technologies through software applications is to streamline the work operations on a single pane well integrated with the central system that enhances complete clarity of the process. Leaders harp on the total implementation of the systems and applying them in the regular routine, which makes everyone aware and keeps the management updated regularly. Employees work cautiously, consciously, and confirmative manner. The modern systems develop a centralized work environment of open and transparent patterns, thereby keeping all the departments in a close loop offering real-time status of all assignments and projects. •
Empowering the Progressive Mindset
As the business organizations get ready for the challenges, the leaders equip the internal work culture with strong systems that operate in a well-coordinated, controlled, and organized format. The modern technologies in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Blockchain Technology, Business Analytics, and Cloud computing— fortify the working for better efficiency, effective resources with time utilization, and scalable business models. The modern business leaders play a pivotal role in introducing, implementing, adapting, and upgrading the latest technologies in the business environment, thereby strengthening it for diverse challenges and profound self-evolving professional culture.
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A
German born American physician and writer Martin H Fischer once quoted about life as, “Life is the ticket to the greatest show on earth.” What an extravagant show it is indeed? For the last 4.65 billion years, the show has been going on, while we as Homo Sapiens bought our ticket only eight to ten million years ago, thanks to our ape ancestor who evolved into wisewiser and the wisest people, us. And what an incredible innovation we humans are? Although, compared to the universal saga of 13.82 billion years, our lifetime of merely 80-100 years might not be even subatomic, yet it is us who have named everything, including the universe and even nothing, including the void. Today, we are on a mission to explore the deepest secrets of that universe. We do it from multitudinal angles. One significant angle is by engaging into the enterprise through entrepreneurial activities, which generally most of us begin after the adult age of 18 or 20 years.
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However, Rohan Karnataki, the Serial Entrepreneur, Startup Mentor, and Angel Investor, an extraordinarily and incredibly innovative leader, who wears many hats, has been an entrepreneur since childhood.
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An Entrepreneurial Adventurer Since Early years
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Rohan shares, “I am a first-generation entrepreneur. From childhood, I always participated in all competitions and took leadership roles in all activities. I thrive on challenges and love to work towards solutions. It gives me immense gratification when I am able to help someone or solve a problem. My intent and inspiration behind venturing into the business arena is and will always be my passion for helping others and making their lives better.” The Founder of Hindavi Technologies LLC, a US-based IT Services and Staff Augmentation Company, expresses, “I feel that every person on earth must live up to their full potential and experience everything that life has to offer – in personal, professional, social and spiritual space. With this intent, my business career has been none less than an Adventure!” Rohan started a business at the age of eight, selling popsicles at the local bus depot. That is how he learnt the value and meaning of money, time and an honest day's work. Later he, Ÿ
Ran a successful facility management service while studying in college, providing employment to
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seasonal farmers who were jobless during the offseason. Learnt that self-respect is more worthy than money. Created a commission-free marketplace for farmers to sell their products directly online. Learnt the value of empowerment. Started a single-mother and women-centric manufacturing unit for Premium Chocolates. Learnt the importance of self-sufficiency. Started the First Women’s Sports League in India. Learnt to play with Big Boys! Worked on an AI project predicting Ethnic Cleansing using social media in third-world countries for United Nations (UN). Understood the power of technology. Founded Hindavi Technologies LLC (www.hindavi.com), a US-based IT Services and Staff Augmentation Company with the execution of 1000+ projects in Web/Cloud, Mobility Platforms. Co-founded Colortonic Studios– an Award Winning 360-degree UI/UX and Digital Media Agency Self-funded a successful IT Product – Xporience (www.xporience.com) - one of the leading Event Technology and Event Management Platforms used by top Event Organizers like Dubai Expo 2020 and clients in the UK, Australia, Singapore Creator of 100 Days of Walking Challenge Mobile App, empowering people to make Walking a lifestyle habit. Founder of CareerFirst Edutech – India’s first 360degree career design platform that provides the best career roadmap, enhances employability and creates job opportunities for graduate freshers.
Winning Over the Challenges When asked what the initial challenges he had to surmount to ensure his business’s success reached greater heights, Rohan revealed, “One of the challenges I faced earlier in business was establishing credibility in the market. We offered clients to try our product or created a Proof of Concept (POC) of their requirements. We focused on developing a strong relationship with clients rather than only the commercial aspects.” Clients started appreciating our work philosophy and product value proposition, and soon, Hindavi was the most sought-after vendor in the market. “Our client retention rate is 95%, and word-of-mouth business revenue is almost 40% even today,” says Rohan.
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Powerful Men in Business
Learn to Adapt – Consumer behaviour, buying trends and requirements are changing rapidly today. Your business needs to adapt to these changes and embrace new business models, technologies and processes. Companies that are flexible to adapt to this changing environment will sustain themselves in the future. Don’t be afraid to fail – Failures are valuable lessons that pave the way to success. Taking brave decisions that are aligned with a larger goal is important. Entrepreneurs who learn from their failures and use the wisdom for business growth become powerful leaders in their industry. Develop people skills – Developing a high emotional quotient is one of the most important skillsets for becoming a successful businessman. Putting yourself in other people’s shoes and empathizing will take you a long way. Professional Value Proposition Rohan shares that Work Ethics, Reliability, Transparency, and Long-term partnership, are the professional values and qualities he thinks his clients’ value in him and his many ventures the most. Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ
Unique Selling Philosophy When asked what the USPs that highlight his uniqueness in the industry are, Rohan states, “Whatever business we are into, our main USP is that we exceed our clients’ expectations while focusing on our clients’ long-term vision or goals. Our work philosophy, culture and ethics are unmatched and un-replicable in any industry in which we work.” An Entrepreneurial Leadership Wisdom As an experienced professional, Rohan’s advice to the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world is full of entrepreneurial wisdom. He shares, “In my business experience of 20+ years, I have learnt a few business rules that one must follow to become a successful businessman. Paperwork is everything – All agreements, contracts, partnerships, etc., must be maintained on paper. Never run a business on blind trust.
Invest in knowledge and people – A business becomes successful when everyone working in that business feels a sense of pride, ownership and security. When you invest in people and make them more efficient, skillful and confident–they become your company assets and help you accelerate rapidly. A Future of Smart Human-Automaton Collaborations When probed about how he envisions his multiple ventures’ operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, Rohan says that with his business, innovation and technology go hand in hand. Every venture that he has started has been at the forefront of technology. He says, “When I create a strategy roadmap, the emphasis is on creating structured processes and systems that are scalable. All our business products are enabled through business automation tools and technologies.” All business workflows, operations and transactions are automated to give customers a seamless experience. Rohan adds, “We are one of the first adopters of innovative technology trends like RPA (Robotic Process Automation) technology that emulates human actions interacting with our digital systems and software,” and concludes, “I believe that in the future, humans will only be required to ideate tools and technologies and devise scalable business models; intelligent machines and robots would operate them.”
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Comprehensive Fundamentals
of the Modern
Industry
Empowerers
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C r u c i a l A s p e c t s
S
uccess in modern business has become very sublime and variable. The standard aspects of the business, including infrastructure, technology, human resource, services, etc., are not sufficient to get success in this fast-changing, highly competitive market. It demands something more. Business researchers have identified various factors of successful organizations which have been the key influencers in their success stories. The success in today’s business scenario depends on various inter-related and inter-dependent factors that finally influence the business performance, thereby making it successful.
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What could be those hidden factors? Let’s identify them.
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In-depth Market Research
Every business needs a logical base to implement the right business strategies. The process of market research and data generated form the foundation of the business working. Data generation through marketing and sales activities and external research sources is essential in formulating business plans. The efficacy of the research analysts depends on the relevance, authenticity, and accuracy of the generated data. Organizations that invest logically in their research initiatives stand a chance to identify and organize their operations accordingly.
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Innovative Product Development
The market is frequented with new companies pouring in with different products. Business organizations must develop new products/solutions that will stand out with a noticeable difference. Business analysts and development teams focus on customer benefits by adding enhanced features during their experiments and research procedures. Leading organizations offer a gamut of products and services that match every type of requirement, thereby enabling the organization to penetrate the market effectively.
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Impeccable Customer Relations
New business development is a specialized process of developing new clients through a systematic approach of offering the best suitable solutions matching customer needs. Furthermore, it needs a consistent effort and bonding to be nurtured with the customers, which assist in developing loyal customers of growing potential. Customer relationship management soon became an important function that displayed an interesting potential of retaining and growing the customer base steadily. According to the researchers, CRM software has been known to forecast with 42% accuracy, enhance productivity by 34%, and boost sales by 29%.
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Progressive Work Culture
Smart entrepreneurs understand the fact that organizations form, function, and grow by their people. If the employees are cared for and valued, they eventually contribute wholeheartedly to the organization’s growth. A progressive work environment makes the workplace interesting and enjoyable. It is very welcoming and liberal in nature, which encourages friendly and open communication among the employees. Such a work culture fosters a positive outlook toward flexible working. It encourages teamwork where projects or assignments are distributed in groups or teams where they are allowed to work together in a collaborative methodology. This involves shared roleplay, delegation, and joint decision-making, giving a different perspective about the business model they are working in.
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Training and Development
Modern organizations understand the importance of loyal employees. It is a proven fact that the current workforce can work with greater productivity and deeper involvement and empower the work processes further ahead when trained and appropriately developed. There are numerous educational activities that are organized within the company created to enhance the knowledge and skills of employees while providing information and instructions on elevating their performance individually and as a team while doing specific tasks.
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Core Principles
Progressive organizations that have steadily succeeded through various challenging market situations are the ones that have a solid foundation of core principles. These include a Vision statement that clearly speaks about the central objective of the organization. The vision keeps the employees motivated and positively charged towards productive working.
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A mission statement is the company’s philosophy, which it has chosen on how it will work and progress in achieving its vision. It indicates how and which way it will adopt in reaching the goals. It helps in bringing about good work clarity and develops taskoriented thinking.
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Quality Initiatives
Regardless of the industry, certain things like quality are core essentials in any business. Progressive organizations nurture quality in all dimensions of the business. Right from basic cleanliness, and orderliness to working in an organized, systematic, and wellplaced style. Everyone develops a conscious mindset of discipline and adherence to quality standards. Most companies have quality statements as a part of their core values which identify, outline and clarify the quality importance in the work culture.
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Inspiring Leadership
It is the outstanding ability of modern business leaders to positively impact the employees, associates, and members by motivating them to work to the best of their abilities. The leaders' ability to inspire meaning and purpose in others not only affects their own effectiveness and the effectiveness of the organization but also has a sizeable positive impact on their team members' effectiveness and ability to think about the future, which also builds organizational capacity. Strengthening with Business Essentials “An organization's ability to learn, and translate that learning into action rapidly, is the ultimate competitive advantage.” - Jack Welch, Former CEO of General Electric. The success of an organization generally gets credited to the high-performing teams, as the statistics reveal. However, management is aware of the real underlying factors which have created a performance-centric environment that compliments and empowers the employees towards driving better work results.
- Kedar Borgaonkar 35 | September 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
Powerful Men In Business
Vikram Pandit Your Brand Momentum’s B2B CHIEF in the Digital In nitum
T
oday’s businesses must be empowered to excel. This empowerment comes by providing a digital platform where they can network, learn, share, grow and prosper. There are numerous digital portals dedicated to everything else except B2B brand advertising, marketing, communication, and PR. Astutely sensing this digital divide, Vikram Pandit, a leader par exemplar, Founded B2B CHIEF, a media and marketing enterprise solution that offers great insights on business and marketing to achieve growth and leadership in the industry. Vikram is an Entrepreneur, B2B Specialist Marketer and a Possiblar. He works with brands and offers his experience and expertise in the field of Marketing, Branding and Communication to impact their business growth. Vikram says, “We believe in achieving excellence through knowledge sharing.” B2B CHIEF is primarily based on the four pillars - Strategies, Innovations & Technologies, B2B Trends and Training & Development. An exclusive platform, B2BChief, is where you will receive insights on these topics along with News and Events, to help you stay at par with the industry developments to achieve excellence.
Vikram mentions, “We further aim to enhance the community’s engagement through our various platforms on Social Media and through Webcasts.” Fostering Brands’ Digital Momentum B2B CHIEF came into existence in the year 2020, when the world was impacted by the COVID pandemic. COVID completely changed the way business and life were led. The slow-paced transition of all the marketing and business communication towards Digital suddenly witnessed a surge in the shift towards Digital Communication. The businesses which were already present on digital platforms got an edge. And those who considered the Digital platform secondary were faced with a challenge. You could see this mainly in B2B Industry, as B2C had already ventured onto digital platforms. Vikram adds, “We could see many SMEs and MSMEs struggling with this new medium. We could see a surge of companies active on business platforms like LinkedIn.” Vikram felt an urgent need to fill this gap. He could see a paradigm shift of thoughts and strategies towards digital platforms. Very few options were left for B2B Space to promote and talk about their brands and services, and that too with less knowledge and awareness on how to do it. Thus, B2B CHIEF came into existence. And now, thanks to it, gradually, things are changing. “We will see a surge of B2B businesses shifting to digital marketing as the most
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“
B2B CHIEF is primarily based on the four pillars- Strategies, Innovations & Technologies, B2B Trends and Training & Development.
“
Vikram Pandit, Founder
dynamic and effective medium for marketing,” precisely predicts Vikram. Sharing his inspiration behind venturing into the business arena, Vikram says that being in the B2B domain for more than two decades, leading an advertising agency for a decade, leading Marketing Communication for a reputed engineering brand in India, to being a Vice President, Sales, and Marketing for a renowned brand, he has witnessed the growth of this industry and the evolution of Marketing and Branding in B2B. The inspiration has been the diversity in the industry and communication, which is very specialized and niche. Vikram says, “This excites me, claiming that since 2020, most of B2B Businesses are focusing their efforts on digital marketing.” According to Vikram, the following B2B Statistics support his claim: Ÿ Within the next 12 months, 46% of B2B companies plan on increasing their content marketing spend. Ÿ Out of the total content created by B2B marketers, 50% or half of it is focused on creating brand awareness and interest. Ÿ The top marketing lead sources are referrals (65%) and email marketing (38%). Ÿ Website Development (51%) and Digital Marketing (44%) are the lead as top areas of marketing spending. Ÿ Over 76% of companies report that they are using automation. Ÿ More than 53% of marketers believe that webinars are what generate the most high-quality leads, being in the top-of-the-funnel format they are. Ÿ Almost 95% of B2B marketers create social media content. Ÿ Among the top social media B2B professionals prefer are LinkedIn (86%), Facebook (79%), Twitter (60%), and this year Instagram (60%) and YouTube (56%). Ÿ Twitter is used by 82% of B2B content marketers for organic marketing in 2021.
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Talking about the initial challenges he had to surmount to ensure B2B CHIEF’s success rate to greater heights, Vikram says that the primary challenge has been to change the mindset from a conventional way of marketing to a more dynamic one marketing. The challenge has been to communicate the importance of digital marketing and its benefits. Gradually the percentage of people shifting their strategic focus to digital marketing increased by 40%. Thus, the efforts to overcome the challenges are showing promising results. Brand Prominence and Industry Focus have been the two outstanding qualities we commit to our clients, and they see good results. These qualities, according to Vikram, are valued by their clients in him and B2B CHIEF the most. Sharing the USPs that highlight B2B CHIEF’s uniqueness in the industry, Vikram says that if you see, there are very few digital platforms available for Businesses, LinkedIn being at the top.
On envisioning B2B CHIEF’s operations with the emerging technologies and automated tools that are revolutionizing the business world by enabling innovations, Vikram believes that the technology is infinite. And it will only evolve to be the game changer in every industry. Thus, at B2B CHIEF, they plan to integrate a lot of automation in how they communicate with the audience and their clients. Their technology partner is gearing up with new and advanced ways to communicate and engage faster and more efficiently. Various automation systems are in the pipeline to engage with a wider audience. “By the end of the year, we plan to 10X the number of users by using automation and emerging technologies,” concludes Vikram.
B2B businesses have very few options to project their brand and services. There are numerous media websites, but the focused approach for B2B is missing. “And we do that for our clients,” informs Vikram. B2B News and Marketing insights are at the core of B2BCHIEF.COM. Vikram states, “And we have seen that 50% of our audience comes from India and balance 50% are the international audience.” This shows that the content on B2BCHIEF resonates internationally too and has an opportunity to go global. “And we aim for it,” he adds. As an experienced professional, Vikram advises the budding aspirants willing to enter the business world: “I have always considered the budding aspirants to be energetic and passionate about technology and digital media.” They are well aware of it and are currently leading on the technology front. His only advice to them is to differentiate Marketing with Technology. To master digital marketing, you may know the technology well, but the basics of marketing remain the same. You need to have a strong foundation for Marketing. “Though I am aware that Digital Marketing is huge, let’s consider it as a medium and not ‘The Complete Marketing’,” he reminds.
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