Building an empire of interactive design - Sailesh
#Convergence #CreativeTechnologists #PeopleGrowth
Sailesh
Senior Manager RESPONSIBLE FOR: - Growing SapientNitro’s edge in the interactive domain - Upgrading and upscaling SapientNitro’s service offerings for global clientele - Mentoring, coaching and growing leaders in the interactive development team in India AWARDS: - Nominated for Great Works Award (Delivery) and Core Values Award (Leadership, Creativity and Client-Focused Delivery) HOBBIES: Reading about technology, photography Lead the cricket and football teams at Sapient
THE DARK AGES “Pre 2008, Interactive was a lonely place to be,” says Sailesh. “Life was a revolving door of short-end assignments punctuated by bench time. Our career prospects were bleak. You hit the ceiling at the senior associate level. We had no power to shape projects or our futures. Now all that has changed.”
“In no time, I went from being a Site Developer to the Interactive Domain Lead.”
Renaissance Sailesh cites 2009 as the turning point for Interactive Design. He noticed that emphasis on technology computing was slowly shi ing from the back-end to the front-end. On assignment to the US, Sailesh got the perfect opportunity to get his hands dirty building an ecommerce site for a large global retail brand – using advanced front-end techniques. On his return, Sailesh was handed the opportunity to unite and build a community for front-end developers. 1
Reformation Sailesh presented a road map for Interactive Design outlining his ideas for growing this new division at SapientNitro. Not only was his plan green-lighted but he was promoted to Interactive Development manager – one of the first in his field at SapientNitro India. Sailesh set to work setting up his new team. “It wasn’t easy,” said Sailesh. “I had to create operational processes for the 60 or so Interactive Designers spread throughout the India offices. I laid down the standards and best practices for front-end developers, and up-skilled them for the then emerging world of HTML5 and mobile web. I couldn’t have done it without the support and encouragement I received from my peers and superiors.”
“No one in my Interactive Development team is ‘just’ an HTML coder. As the industry has grown so have our niche skills. Now we have JavaScript specialists, accessibility specialists, HTML5/mobile web specialists and experts in Interactive project management. Proof of our growth: today we have a team of 400 and we are still growing.”
A New World Order By 2012, SapientNitro Interactive Designers had become key players in SapientNitro’s hybrid work environments. “Today, SapientNitro India’s interactive developers are engaged in projects from beginning to end and have processes established to funnel this growing body of intelligence into future projects. Our solutions are pushing the envelope on all aspects of Interactive Design from creating responsive design solutions
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to hybrid applications to complex websites with platform agnostic solutions.” Sailesh continued, “No-one in my Interactive Development team is ‘just’ an HTML coder. As the industry has grown so have our niche skills. Now we have JavaScript specialists, accessibility specialists, HTML5/mobile web specialists and experts in Interactive project management. Proof of our growth: today we have a team of 400 and we are still growing.”
“Our solutions are redefining all aspects of Interactive Design from creating responsive solutions to hybrid applications to platform agnostic solutions.”
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Working Hard and Playing Hard In addition to being a genuine “game-changer”, Sailesh has been instrumental in setting up the Sapient Sports Center and now the Sapient Photography Club in the Gurgaon office. “Every quarter we pick up a new interest or sport, from photography sessions to cricket to soccer to badminton. We play tournaments with different companies. Cricket is my reason-for-being but there’s something for everyone here. At Sapient, we’re not just colleagues but we’re team mates as well.” “If you want to be on the cutting-edge of Interactive Design - and have fun SapientNitro is the place to be.”