Sapna Rani Patel

In the year 2016, The ‘Nature’ magazine announced that a computer designed by google’s DeepMind defeated a human master in a Chinese game, 'Go'. Now, this impressive achievement of technology has once again raised the expectations of a predicted future; which would be led by technology. First, we had the computers, then ‘www’, then the IoT, and AI, and more technologies are invading our lives in every way possible. As a result, there exists a persisting debate, whether machines will rule the human world? Sapna Rani Patel Channeling the Power of Experience and Persistence

However, we cannot rule out the contradicting fact that it was humans who created these technologies and hence, as humans upgrade technologies, they will also upgrade themselves to say abreast of the changes. Hence, it is safe to say that both humans and machines will be ruling the world at par.

Yet, in midst of this, there are certain people who manage to lead, irrespective of the advancements in technologies and competitions. This is because of their willingness to learn. While every aspect of machines is programmed, humans learn as they go. They learn from experience. This calls to mind the words of Albert Einstein, “the only source of knowledge is experience.” Featured in this edition is the story of Sapna Rani Patel, COO, and Co-Founder of Gray Routes Technology, a leader and influencer of the millennial age. She took the lessons of experience to grow wise.

Shaped by Experience

Ms. Patel is at the forefront of a new age. Starting from working in some of the best companies to an NGO, Ms. Patel has smiled her way out of every challenge and has evolved a leader with indepth knowledge and experience.

“My experiences have been varied. I have worked for one of the best companies in the world and also with an NGO where I got the opportunity to work very closely with the underprivileged section of the society. Right from working for a startup to cofounding one, I have come across numerous challenges and hardships in scaling the company to a global level,” she recalls.

Today, Ms. Patel stands at one such a podium that is untouched and this is the result of her effort. The journey began with

Sapna Rani Patel COO, & Co-Founder

Empowering Brands to reach the Epitome of Success “

“

working with Google, Teach for India and an education startup based out of IIT Bombay. Her undying zest has helped Ms. Patel to focus on a single purpose and to strenuously get involved in her business.

“Today, I am the COO and Co-Founder of Gray Routes Technology. I handle Marketing/Business Development, people, investor and customer relations at Gray Routes,” she shares.

Taking What Life Gives You

Time and again, it has been recorded that success only comes after hardships, failures and endless challenges. Ms. Patel too had her share of hardships. “I would like to believe that entrepreneurs are blessed with two very unique qualities. One is the ability to take a humongous amount of risks even in the direst situation and the other one is perseverance which keeps them going when things become tough. As a women entrepreneur the challenges become more profound because their contributions are very often dismissed,” she recalls about her initial days.

However, that did not stop Ms. Patel from achieving the desired result. Starting from securing funding for the company at the right time to acquiring global customers as clients, Ms. Patel had to work hard even while she had to face the uncertainty of her actions at every point.

What helped her to achieve superlative success was her driven problem-solving skills. As entrepreneurs, the details of the problems they face and maybe even skill sets differ, but at the core, the spirit is the same. So is the case with Ms. Patel.

“As entrepreneurs, you have to be consistently working towards building a brand for your company by building the trust of stakeholders, employees, clients and all the parties that are a part of your journey. The biggest challenge is to be able to maintain balance and professionalism in the face of numerous expectations with maturity,” shares Ms. Patel.

She believes that challenges have helped her grow and become the person she is today. “I love taking on challenges, especially the ones that are difficult to achieve. This helps me set bigger goals for myself and the company,” she adds.

Pioneering AI-driven Marketing

Ms. Patel 's contribution in Gray Routes has helped it earn titles including, Best AI & Cognitive Technology Provider of the Year 2018 in CSI's IT Innovation & Excellence Awards, Only B2B Software Tech firm invited to work with NTRO, intelligence agency of Govt. of India in the year 2018 and Top 5 companies chosen for Next Big Idea by Govt. of Canada and DST for the year 2018.

So, what makes Gray Routes unique or why has it evolved as a leader in the market? Founded in 2013, Gray Routes is a profitable, angel-funded and institutional financing backed from Private banks, Private Equity as well as Product engineering sectors. It is also advised by North-America based UC Berkeley, SFU Professors, Canadian Retail Consultants, and MNC CXOs. It is a market leader in GPSbased location intelligence, Distribution planning apps and data solutions that automate critical sales, supply chain logistics & distribution processes intelligently, bringing Sales, Delivery & Retail iQ at the fingertips of its clients such as Proctor & Gamble, GSK, Shalimar, Bluebird, Safari and several thousand retailers, pharma, courier and transport associations among others.

“Gray Routes has evolved into a profitable and highly scalable company over the past few years. We have worked very closely with our clients and build products that are sensitive to customer needs and evolve with their requirements and new-age technology. We hope to be the pioneers in Artificial Intelligence technology globally helping clients take quick and accurate decisions about their marketing and distribution strategies,” asserts Ms. Patel.

Turning The Tide

Well-positioned to become a global leader and a true champion of AI-automation in Sales & Distribution, Gray Routes is scaled to shake the business world. To date, it had the opportunity to work with the most elite clients helping them streamline their marketing and distribution tasks. The success that Gray Route enjoys today is the result of Ms. Patel and her team’s unfathomable persistence. Hence, it is evident that the company’s continued endeavor will bring a revolution.

“With the use of AI and very sophisticated technology, our products disrupt the way the industry functions by leveraging the power of data and demography to enable decision making. All the major enterprises will make use of AI industry by industry in the future to improve their productivity and we are confident that Gray Routes will play a vital role in leading the revolution from the forefront,” she concludes.

S nehal Jain

Assisting your Company to Choose the Right Candidate

he most important aspect of any company is T hiring an appropriate candidate. However, many a time, companies aren’t very sure about candidates. At the same time, the candidate also needs to know what he/she will be acquiring if he decides to join the company. Fostering all the HR needs of the current world, Human Forte, headed by Snehal Jain is providing endless quality service.

Snehal Jain is the Founder and CEO of Human Forte. After a due thought on career options, HR is something that really caught Snehal’s attention. Realizing how important it is for organizations to find the right people and for people to find the right organization was fascinating. After all, it’s nothing less than a relationship, though a professional one. After giving herself some good exposure and experience in renowned corporates, Snehal gained the confidence to give her dream a beginning – her own end to end human resources advisory firm.

Through this interview, Snehal elaborates about her exciting life journey along with her career growth.

1. Being a successful business leader, what difficulties and challenges do you face? What keeps you motivated?

When I started, the challenge was to put everything you have at stake to make it a success and to make it big. The kind of market and the situation was not at all in favour of the way you expect things to be otherwise. Today, as a workforce requirement, there is always a tight timeline plus a mismatch between what an organization is anticipating and what they’re getting. Therefore, I have decided to opt for a different path, providing quality.

The service industry is all about delight and when our clients reap the benefits of this hard work, that’s what keeps us motivated.

2. Describe the one aspect you possess which makes you unique?

Being a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur has definitely given the edge of being a multi-tasker. At the same time, being a people’s person, people management is something that comes naturally to me. Last but not the least, choosing a profession that is also your passion has its own perks. Your clients can experience the difference.

3. Brief us about the vision of Human Forte and its services.

My vision for Human Forte is to be able to keep doing better, keep learning from the best practices from across the globe and even create new benchmarks for the world ourselves. Like they say, ‘Dream it, then make it happen!’

Human Forte is an executive search firm which focuses on start-up and mid-sized companies. When you hire for a start-up, you just are believing in the idea which is going to work so its very niche and challenging too. We have successfully helped them scale to the next level with our personalised recruitment services plus providing with manpower planning, organizational structural planning, performance management systems as well as training and development.

4. How do you motivate your team to be innovative and productive at work?

We have built a culture of excellence at Human Forte. We keep doing something new. We do training and development programs, keep looking for solutions for the challenges we face and that our clients face.

We also focus on creating a good working environment that people can cherish and grow in so that they are motivated to deliver and outdo themselves.

5. What is your opinion regarding the current landscape of the market your company caters to?

In spite of the slowdown, we think there is a tremendous amount of scope in the current business landscape, be it domestic or international. With the new start-up culture across the globe, people are exploiting their potential to the fullest and people will always be required to fuel companies’ ambitions further.

6. Please tell us about your achievements and accomplishments

Being able to serve delight to our customers and their loyalty towards us has been our best accomplishment. I’m glad these efforts have also been applauded by Silicon India when they crowned me with the title of Entrepreneur of the Year in 2015 and the CEO Magazine that featured me as - one of the 25 Most Influential Women in India in 2017.

7. Where do you envision yourself and your company in the near future?

In Jeff Bezos’ words, “If you’re competitor focused, you have to wait until there is a competitor doing something. Being customer-focused allows you to be more pioneering.”We have our entire focus on our customers. That’s where our ideas come from. That’s where our efforts go. Doing that has brought us a long way and I’m sure will take us far ahead. We’re working towards bringing some innovations and keep getting better at what we do.

Furthermore, I will also continue to nurture my relationship with my daughter and my family, while exploring newer skillsets and qualities of my own.

8. What is your advice to the budding and aspiring entrepreneurs?

When you think, start it, build on it and don’t look back. Toughen yourself up for the hard work, not the short cut. The road can be challenging but the satisfaction when you get back home is matchless. When you can become a catalyst in making your people’s dreams come true, when you can become a partner your client can rely on, you’ll know you’re doing something right. And the roads will keep opening up and giving you more and more opportunities. It’s your time. Take the leap of faith within yourself.