Category: Leaders

With a professional graph spanning more than 25 years, Shrinivas has been central to robust businesses across industries and countries. Reimagining possibilities and recalibrating new horizons, he has led diverse teams in different functions. Be it process automation in the late 90s of India or advanced process controls in the Gulf in 2000s, he has headed projects that would set international megatrends later. He points out, “there have been some really tough decisions to navigate and moments of truth. It is not always a success. Many a time, the urge to implement learnings of your failure keeps you going.”

An electrical engineering graduate from Karnataka University in India, Shrinivas began his professional journey at Bell Electronics as a customer support executive. “Customer service role is where you learn industry context. A leader’s overall vision or any strategic move has to translate into a happy customer”, Shrinivas remarks. Dubai, United Arab Emirates, was his forte for years. “I got to lead projects that are now iconic and infrastructure-wise inspirational. There is nothing more satisfying than to see a new value being created.” Shrinivas beams. He later moved to South Asia operations leading key acquisitions, integrations, and new business models. “My focus has been aligning opportunities with collective strength. Paths kept changing but my guiding principle has been a constant,” he says. An honorary member of several strategic bodies and a guest speaker at the top business management institute of India, his hands are full.

Shrinivas started his global career looking forward to experiences and exposure — to cultures, to practices, to people. Progressing into a role that coalesces social purpose and business value, he signed up for Himel. “In my role with Himel, I get to serve the world markets for a business with a vision to make safe electricity accessible to 4 billion people — playing a part that makes a real-life difference. Coming from Asia, I have been part of the evolution and appreciate how every consumer in emerging economies deserves a great quality product within the budget! Indeed, there is fortune on the other half of the pyramid,” Shrinivas makes a point. Himel is a multinational manufacturer and provider of electrical products. Founded by a Spanish entrepreneur in 1958, the company pioneered in exporting quality electrical enclosures, establishing its brand globally. The brand stands for the best combination of affordable and reliable offers for Low Voltage Power Distribution, Final Distribution, Power Management, Motor Control and Protection, Industrial Components, and Home Electric to customers in over 50 countries.

FOSTERING GROUND-UP SUCCESS THROUGH TEAM EXCELLENCE

Under Shrinivas’ leadership, Himel has grown to be a purpose-led business in its segment. Leveraging on-ground distributor network, streamlined supply chain and agile regional teams — he has steered Himel ahead, including two tough years of the pandemic. “The journey hasn’t been simple”, Shrinivas explains, “Emerging economies are fast evolving and have very deserving markets that are sensitive about the value of their investments. These markets are quick to welcome global brands but also want reliable quality, best-in-class service, and local accessibility — all fitting into their budgets.” Shrinivas has relentlessly focused on crafting Himel’s brand niche for emerging markets with continuous customer education, market communication, and engaging extensively with the channel ecosystem — a feat that has made Himel a synonym of quality, value, and reliability. “The brand has been built, sustained, and grown by teams that deny the premise of compromise due to lower cost. We are not just another economic brand, our goal is to extend the benefits of Value Engineering for All,” Shrinivas underscores that Himel is looking beyond the profit axis.

BUILDING A PEOPLE’S BRAND

For any forward-looking economy, ease of access to safer electricity is the foremost enabler. “Himel is a people’s brand. It has a legacy of 60+ years that has held its place in people’s homes and businesses. I always see Himel as a bridge to high quality and affordability. We make sure that these two virtues are not exclusive, rather integrated into every aspect of our every product,” Shrinivas remarks. Under his leadership, Himel has become a front-runner in eCommerce, products being sold through Amazon UAE, Shopee, Jumia, and Lazada. With 6500+ resellers and 100+ distributors — Himel has been instrumental in several key projects across residential, industrial, commercial and utilities sectors.

ENABLING LOCAL SUCCESS THROUGH GLOBAL PRODUCTS

“Social housing, manufacturing, small-medium businesses, and agriculture are close to my heart. They are the engines for economic growth and better livelihoods. COVID pandemic has been a major setback and we want Himel products to become a catalyst in spurring growth and jobs. With value-engineered products, we are amplifying the access,” Shrinivas makes a point. He explains, “My job is to ensure a healthy distribution ecosystem so that we can tap markets where we are required. If a business or a school has profitable and safer operations due to Himel products, my task here is done right”.

TRANSLATING VISION INTO REALITY

Shrinivas’ goal is to make Himel the brand of choice of the masses to build safer homes, safer industrial facilities, & safer community infrastructure thus reducing the impact on assets and life due to the poor quality. “We will continue building upon Himel’s vision of affordability, accessibility, & value engineering. We want to create a robust ecosystem where for each person — be it a customer or retailer, Himel should bring success in their lives and businesses,” he says. “Expanding our channel network, building strategic partnerships with local players serving value markets, further building the brand, and creating a world-class dream team that realizes our vision on the ground — my to-do list is long”, he smiles.

Jayaraj’s commitment to providing an alternate energy source that is clean, green and sustainable has resulted in Regen experiencing 300% growth in just 3 years. Under his expert guidance, Regen Power was ranked 55th fastest growing company in Australia by the Financial Review in 2020. The company has also succeeded in making it to the Financial Times’ list of top 500 high-growth companies in Asia-Pacific 3 times in a row in 2020, 2021 & 2022.

His strong leadership and motivation have led the company carve a spot for itself as a household name in Western Australia, and an upcoming brand in the eastern states, owing to the business expansion to New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland. His rich experience in the renewable energy sector, customer-first approach and excellent customer service procedures have led Regen Power to win Product Review awards in 2020 and 2021.

AN OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL

Jayaraj has a double master’s degree in engineering management and information and communication technology with a major in e-business from the University of Wollongong. He is an accomplished professional with demonstrable skills in sales management, negotiation, operations management, engineering, business strategy and contracts negotiation. He has played an instrumental role in commercialising solar power systems in the Australian and overseas renewable energy sector. Despite lockdown restrictions, he ensured a record number of installations in 2021. Jayaraj is currently pursuing Doctorate in Business Administration at Curtin University. His thesis titled “Solar PV adoption in Australia and policy effectiveness” is an empirical study on adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems in the residential sector and the effectiveness of government policy as an enabler. His research will help the stakeholders in renewable energy understand end user needs and amend current policies accordingly. His research will further aid developing markets effectively plan implementation of solar powered systems.

COMMITMENT TO ENVIRONMENT

With Jayaraj at the helm of affairs, the company has completed some remarkable projects like the designing and commissioning of a 500KW floating power plant in India and administering a unique USD$50M 50-megawatt ground mounted solar farm project in central Vietnam. His motivation and hard work have earned Regent Power more than 35,000 clients, unique projects, and exclusive agreements with Tesla and Huawei. His innate sense of responsibility and belief in giving back to the community is evident through his noble gesture of nominally priced or free of cost solar power installations for local organisations such as churches, temples, medical centres, clinics, and community centres. The core concepts of energy conservation and sustainable environment have been the guiding force for him and led to Regen Power installing 35,000 solar systems summing up to 100,000KW or 100MW solar capacity. They produce 480,000 units per day and 175 million units in a year. These contributions helped reduce power plant emissions and achieve significant environmental benefits for Australia and the global community. Additionally, the company has contributed the energy equivalent of planting 30,000 trees, saved 500 million litres of fossil fuels, and helped avoid 600 million kg of coal usage.

Ms. Solanki is an alumna of the coveted Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Pune, where she pursued PGDM in Telecommunications and IT management. She received her bachelor’s degree in computer science from Fergusson College, which is known for producing renowned leaders of the country across sectors. The brilliant leader uses her expertise in both computer science and leadership to bring positive changes to the field of Application to Person (A2P) messaging space.

CONQUERING THE BUSINESS WORLD – ONE STEP AT A TIME

Ms. Solanki is a go-getter who knows how to pace her progress smartly to keep going without getting burnt out. She started her career as a marketing and sales manager in 2005 at a company named Starcorp, and has come a long way since then. After her first job, within only one year, Ms. Solanki had joined Smart Wireless Private Limited in 2006 as a Senior Manager of Marketing and Sales. Her final venture before Infobip was being the Country Head at Bsmart Tech. Right from the beginning of her journey, Ms. Solanki had slowly started working her way to the top.

BALANCING WORK AND HOME

Throughout her career, Ms. Solanki has proven herself to be an extremely capable individual. At Infobip, she has helped quadruple the turnover of the company in only four years. She is an assertive leader who leads with a vision. Her goal is to build Infobip as an engineering giant with the CPaaS infrastructure as its defining feature and an ever-evolving perspective. Right now, she is navigating the ins and outs of strengthening the core leadership at Infobip by channelizing the demand of the ‘New Normal’ into innovative services and solutions that can help enterprises and individuals communicate better. She, alongside her team, is working on developing innovative services and solutions that can help enterprises and individuals communicate better in these post-Covid times.

Under her administration, the telecommunications giant has launched three trailblazing SaaS products last year. These have the widest range of programmable channels including the omnichannel contact center solution ‘Conversations,’ customer engagement solution ‘Moments,’ and bot-building module ‘Answers.’ Despite her mega success, stellar results, and technical expertise, she understands the value of work-life balance and self-care. Especially after the pandemic, she has become an avid practitioner of yoga, meditation, and other heart-healthy practices like being a proud dog parent. She believes that the best way to good mental health and happiness is to spend time with your loved ones.

THE WAY TO THE FUTURE

Ms. Solanki believes that the future of business communication is digital-first and empathy-led, and that companies will need to adopt a more holistic strategy in the post-pandemic period to create instant, personalised, and positive customer experiences. The company has been inventing at the cutting edge of technological possibilities under her guidance and is currently defining the global communications of the future. She is mentoring and leading the team by promoting trust, teamwork, and transparency, as well as fostering a collaborative work environment, all while employing an empathetic leadership approach.

The organisation is poised to achieve new and unimaginable heights thanks to her astute mind and ethical leadership values.

Mr. Vaibhav is an innate leader and a visionary who has carved his own route to success in the realm of entrepreneurship. He is organized and likes planning and strategizing to minimize the scope of hits and misses. His entrepreneurial journey began when he was merely 19. He became a Chartered Accountant at the age of 22.

At a very young age, he started working towards enhancing his knowledge about the US IPO, Listing processes, and M&A deals. At the nascent age of 25, he built his first tech start-up in the field of healthcare, which later helped him build CarzSo. With his unswerving perseverance and constant support from his family and friends, he established a successful meta virtual store for the automobile industry. His passion, dedication, and self-belief have played a key role in CarzSo’s grand success.

A CREATIVE LEADER

Mr. Vaibhav has a very methodical and persuasive approach towards life. He competes with none but himself, and strives to be a better version of himself every day. From being a Group CFO at 27 to becoming the Founder and CEO of India’s First Meta Virtual Showroom, he has shown extraordinary leadership skills. His ability to mobilize the team on the ground and motivate them to always bring out the best in them has helped CarzSo to reach where it is today. He believes that a fun work environment and defined lines of hierarchy help enhance productivity in an organization. With the help of Mr. Vaibhav’s ideologies and optimism, CarzSo plans to go pan India as they scale up.

RIDE CARS VIRTUALLY

CarzSo is digitizing the auto retail industry by launching meta virtual auto showroom. With the help of VR technology, now anyone can take a test drive of multiple cars. It is possible because of the organization’s futuristic approach that allows customers to walk around and test drive cars irrespective of their location and proximity to the vehicle of interest.

Although CarzSo was founded before the COVID-19 pandemic, their entire business model revolved around minimalistic human touch. Mr. Vaibhav believes if each and every organization contributes to changing its system, the world would be a lot better. Therefore, they are continuously working towards avoiding unnecessary travel by providing cars virtually. It helps to save customers’ time, fuel, ensures their safety during the ongoing pandemic, and decreases pollution. The main focus of CarzSo is to be the best at customer service.

PAN INDIA PLANS

Mr. Vaibhav is working towards expanding his organization’s presence and diversifying into new cars and electric two-wheelers. To begin with, he intends to create satellite showrooms in many North Indian cities, with an emphasis on rural areas and tier 2 and 3 cities. During the next fiscal year, CarzSo wants to open three superstores and twenty satellite stores to promote the virtual buying and selling in the automotive industry. With this bold new move of offering an entirely new experience of buying and selling cars across India, CarzSo is also creating job opportunities for young graduates. The objective is to help them find employment where they live and save on the cost of migrating and settling in a new city.

Mr. Jitendra Mohan joined Willowood Chemicals Pvt. Ltd. as the Vice President in 2007 when the company was started and is currently working as the Chief Operating Officer (COO). In his current role, Mr. Mohan looks after many functions like manufacturing, R&D, quality assurance, procurement, import, export, institutional business, regulatory affairs, intellectual property, projects and retail sales. Owing to his determination and vision, the company has scaled many milestones under his leadership. He has been the driving force behind Willowood Chemicals and is greatly responsible for where the company stands today in the market.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Mr. Mohan completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Master of Science in Agrochemicals & Pest Management from the University of Delhi. He further enhanced his academic knowledge by acquiring another Masters in Chemical from Gwalior University, an MBA from Bharti Vidyapeeth and a course in Residue Chemistry from Jerusalem University, Israel. Armed with all these degrees, he began his career in crop protection chemical industry as a Management Trainee with American Cyanamid in 1994. In the year 1996, he joined Herbicide India Ltd as an Executive and went on to become the General Manger Operations & Head of the company. In 2007, when he joined Willowood Chemicals, his mandate was to transform the organization into an innovative company with focus to develop new and green chemistries every year. He possesses a deep understanding of Indian agriculture and an unparallel insight into the emerging trends of new chemistries and novel formulations. With these he focused on creating a strong Research & Development (R&D) center for the company. This facility is a state-of-the-art facility accredited to OECD Principles of Good Laboratory Practices, National Accreditation Board for Testing & Calibration Laboratories (NABL), Government of India (ISO 17025), AAALAC International and recognized by Department of Science & Industrial Research, Government of India. This facility is the center of all action where research is done and new formulations are discovered – new manufacturing processes, new isomers, impurity synthesis etc. right from bench scale to pilot plant level.

SCALING NEW HEIGHTS

When Mr. Mohan joined Willowood Chemicals, it had a turnover of $2 million. His tireless work and unmatched efforts took the company to a turnover of $135 million in a matter of just 10 years with current turnover of USD 207 million. Under his guidance, the company also got listed as one of the fastest growing companies and among the top 20 agrochemical companies of India. Willowood also won the ‘Best Company from Emerging Region’ by Agrow Awards, London in 2018. All these milestones were possible thanks to Mr. Mohan’s unparalleled passion for the industry and his vision to bring new chemistries and crop protection chemicals in India by way of research and innovation. He has worked hard from conceptualizing these goals to making them a reality. He has been zealously working since the last 28 years to continuously bring new generation crop protection solutions for the Indian and global growers.

AN OVERALL LEADER

Mr. Mohan is a leader who believes that a position does not make a leader but it is a culmination of so many qualities and attributes. “For me leadership is defined by passion and how differently one works,” he asserts. He has always put extra emphasis on some core values that have helped him lead his team in a way that has yielded unprecedented results. Along with a strong focus on research and innovation, Mr. Mohan places extreme importance on adhering to deadlines. He is also of the belief that one should always exceed the expectations of all stakeholders so that they become lifetime partnerships. He is one of those leaders who take the team along with them and treat them as equals. He promotes a free work culture where everyone is given equal responsibilities and ownership. Everyone from the top to bottom is expected to take the onus of their part of the project.

UNCEASING SERIES OF AWARDS

Under Mr. Mohan’s research-oriented leadership approach, Willowood Chemicals has evolved into a research and innovation company which is supported by the number of patents granted to it by India Patent Office. He identified the gaps in the market and developed new solutions to deal with those problems. With his insight and industry knowledge, he gathered that the industry is leaning towards combination products instead of solo ones. Rather than creating chemicals to deal with individual problems, such as particular type of weed, insects or diseases, combination products are broad spectrum and can treat different types of pests, diseases and several weeds at the same time; Mr. Mohan decided to work on these problem areas. This led to Willowood receiving 25 patents from Indian Patent Office with more than 40 applications under examination all of these with Mr. Mohan as the lead inventor. Under his leadership, Willowood is also filing applications for global patents for these products through Patent Cooperation Treaty route. Mr. Mohan has featured in The CEO Magazine, India & South Asia, November 2021 edition under the category of Innovate. He has also written an article on Evolution of Indian Agrochemical Industry – Challenges, Opportunities and Way Forward, which has been published in AgroPages. Last year, he was named the ‘Leader with Strategic Vision (Business Transformation)’ by Agri Business Summit & Agri Awards held at Hyderabad. His work is widely recognized in the whole industry at national and international levels. He is also working as Chairman, Technical Committee of Agro Chem Federation of India and is a part of the Industry Group to discuss, deliberate and decide on various policy issues with Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, the Government of India.

Swapnil graduated with honors with a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin. After starting his career in energy investment banking at Simmons and Company in 2003, the leader moved on to Forum Partners, a multibillion-dollar global real estate private equity firm. His role in the company involved originating, structuring, and executing real estate investments across the Asia Pacific.

Swapnil founded Nitya Capital in 2013 and has since driven the company to new heights. His keen entrepreneurial spirit has set the company in good stead, dealing with all challenges and ultimately emerging as a winner.

The privately-held real estate investment firm headquartered in Houston, Texas, manages over $2 billion in real estate assets across the US. With more than a decade of experience in the areas of multifamily, commercial, and new development, the company primarily specializes in acquiring opportunistic and value-added multifamily properties, along with asset management and property management.

Its mission is to raise the value of its portfolio through exhaustive renovations, optimizing returns to investors, and offering residents a safe and nurturing environment.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Swapnil spearheads all aspects of the company’s operations, including financing and investor relations. In addition, he oversees strategic planning and investment decisions. Since Nitya’s early inception, Swapnil’s impeccable leadership has driven the company to continue its stellar uptrend trajectory.

The goal-oriented leader’s mission is to make his company stand out as the operator of choice, focusing on the importance of investor-operator relations. Aside from Nitya Capital, Swapnil also founded Karya Property Management to invest, manage, and develop multifamily properties in Texas and across the country.

As the CEO of the company, he manages the organization’s portfolio of over 16000 units throughout Houston, Austin, Dallas, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Kansas City, and San Antonio. Together, these companies operate more than 20,000 multifamily homes, 1.5 million square feet of commercial space, and 300,000 square feet of retail and single-family portfolios, totaling more than $2.5 billion.

Through his unwavering efforts, the determined leader personally closed deals worth more than $3 billion in India, China, Australia, and Korea, deploying more than $600 million in equity.

Swapnil also served as the Head of Alternative Investments at Virtus Real Estate Capital in Austin, Texas. He oversaw multi-family assets across the United States while working at Virtus.

AN EMPOWERING TEAM PLAYER

Swapnil is a thoughtful team player through and through. He places a high value on hiring talented employees and makes every effort to bring out the best in them. In his view, his employees are his best assets, as their dedication and efforts enable his companies to achieve exceptional results. He opines that only a diverse and motivated team can support company innovation, devise novel solutions to problems, and boost productivity.

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

Swapnil is passionate about community and philanthropic causes. He hopes to leave a legacy for the next generation by making an impact on the world.

When he was just 14 years old, Swapnil’s family moved overseas to Houston. Though he grew up on the Southwest Side of Houston, Texas, Swapnil never forgot his Indian roots and vowed to give back to the community the first chance he had.

In keeping with his commitment, Swapnil co-founded the Karya Kares Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Texas to help the less fortunate recover from their setbacks. He additionally supports many Indian nonprofit organizations and schools.

The compassionate leader is the sponsor of Ek Pahel School in Agra (India), Nai Roshni School in Lucknow (India), Pratham USA, a volunteer-driven NGO, and the Smile Foundation. He is also a founding partner of the Lone Survivor Foundation for wounded combat veterans.

Additionally, Swapnil is a former Board Member of Magic Bus, an Indian NGO that offers life skills education to children and young people. In addition to this, he joined forces with the Rose Group to promote breast cancer awareness and healthcare benefits.

Furthermore, Swapnil has developed playground equipment on properties in partnership with Northwest Assistance Ministries.

GARNERING AWARDS & ACCOLADES

Swapnil’s outstanding contributions to the real estate sector have earned him numerous awards and accolades. In 2019, the leader was named a member of the Houston Apartment Association Board. He is also the recipient of the Pride of India Bharat Gaurav Award 2019 conferred on him by the British Parliament.

He was also named the Most Admired CEO Honoree by Houston Business Journal in 2019. The young leader was also listed as an Honoree of the 40 Under 40 Award by the Houston Business Journal for two consecutive years-2018 and 2019.

Swapnil was honored with the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Award in the Banking and Capital Markets category for the Houston and Gulf Coast Region, including Louisiana and Mississippi. In 2017, he won the Young Entrepreneur Award 2017 from the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston.

Lastly, the Houston Business Journal named him the finalist for Outstanding CEO of the Year of a Large Company in 2017. Swapnil’s fiery passion has earned Nitya Capital and Karya Property Management a string of awards and honors.

For instance, Nitya Capital was named ‘One of the Fastest Growing Companies in Real Estate 2019’ by Insights Success Magazine. Likewise, Karya Property Management has also been honored with numerous honors.

It ranked 145th Faster Growing Private Company in America Inc. 5,000 for 2018. The company also ranked 8th out of 100 in Houston Business Journal 2018 Fast 100. The leader has also been interviewed by prominent magazines such as the Houston Chronicle, Houston Business Journal, Forbes, and Insight Magazine.

Sanjjeev is extremely passionate about helping customers maximise the value of their SAP investments. Having seen many customers lose millions of dollars with other systems integrators, he founded ASAR in 2010 with the sole objective of helping SAP customers implement SAP solutions in the most optimal and cost-effective manner leveraging the best SAP practices. The word ASAR comes from a Hindi word which means “making a positive impact.”

Also, ASAR resells SAP CX solutions to customers in the midmarket across America as a value-added reseller. One of the primary advantages of the company is that it has developed SAP Qualified Partner Packaged Solutions called Cheetah Rapid Deployment Package for a range of SAP CX solutions. These Rapid Deployment Packages are fee-based, fixed-scope solutions that enable customers to install and implement SAP CX within a few weeks. Due to their superior offerings, ASAR has become the leading SAP partner for businesses across a variety of industries. Their stellar clientele, which includes Monster Energy, Johnson & Johnson, Swagelok, General Datatech, All-Ways Elevators, Rizing, and others, shows that the company has lived up to their meaning from day one!

ENABLING SMOOTH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Every business now relies on the digital touch to stay competitive, and this requires the expertise of a customer experience specialist. With Sanjjeev, a customer experience author, businesses have successfully redefined their customer experience and devised thoughtful ways to value their customers with a digital approach. Additionally, the leader has hired highly proficient consultants who work with medium and large-sized companies. The dedicated consultants help these companies successfully reinvent their customer experiences and create innovative ways of serving them effectively.

Under Sanjjeev’s stewardship, ASAR has become a certified SAP Gold Partner and America’s only SAP Partner specialising in SAP Customer Experience Solutions. Over the years, the company has supported numerous companies through their digital transformations, facilitating better customer interactions and strategizing better ERP. Their track record of delivering prompt, cost-effective and world-class SAP implementation services has earned it a solid reputation in the market.

EMPHASIZES SEAMLESS CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

Sanjjeev’s mission is to encourage businesses, entrepreneurs, and individuals to prioritise the customer experience. He believes that how a business interacts with its customers plays a huge role in its growth. Thus, as an SAP Hybris product expert, he is enthusiastic about assisting customers in developing and implementing customer engagement solutions.

ASAR specialises in sales automation, price quote configuration, e-commerce, customer service field service, and digital marketing. Also, the company’s customer experience approach helps their clients reduce their acquisition costs.

Having enjoyed rapid growth over the years, the goal-driven entrepreneur says he expects the firm’s revenue to double once he adds more brands to their portfolio. Ultimately, the goal is to become one of the most renowned and respected players in the field of customer experience in five years.

AN EPITOME OF COMMITMENT

Sanjjeev believes there is no shortcut to success. If you want to achieve real success, you cannot take shortcuts, says the leader. According to him, one must deliver genuinely valuable service to customers to build a loyal customer base. To that end, Sanjjeev has kept customer satisfaction consistently high to make ASAR a leading SAP service provider. As a whole, ASAR’s success can be attributed to Sanjjeev’s belief in hard work, trustworthy actions, accountability, and service that is second-to-none.

Sanjjeev learned the value of hard work and honesty from his parents. He recalls his parents constantly encouraging him that if he worked hard and stayed strong, he could achieve anything he desired in life. Also, they never interfered with his ambitions.

During his school days, Sanjjeev’s parents would wake him up at 4 a.m. every single weekday so that he could study. They also taught him that in order to achieve anything in life, one must put forth all of one’s effort. And that’s exactly what he did with ASAR at their inception when the odds of success seemed bleak.

His company had to struggle to get off the ground in 2010 because of the initial lack of credibility in the market. Since it did not have any customer references for successful SAP implementations under their name, customers hesitated to engage with the company. It was the determined leader’s perseverance and conviction that enabled the company to succeed despite the many challenges it faced.

TURNING ADVERSITY INTO OPPORTUNITY

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanjjeev is leveraging the unprecedented change, looming over the world, to his advantage. According to him, since businesses are seeking out innovative ways to operate and interact with their customers while ensuring excellent service delivery, they should not be stuck interacting with them through outdated processes. He asserts that in the business world and other areas of life, the only constant thing is change, and every business must embrace change with open arms to grow and succeed.

Through ASAR, the leader offers his expertise to help businesses and companies adapt to and implement those changes. He and his team offer surefire digital marketing strategies, e-commerce, and customer service processes that help individuals and businesses grow.

As an individual who is forever brimming with positivity, Sanjjeev strives to make a positive difference in the lives of everyone he interacts with.

Pramod holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with a major in Marketing & Finance. He founded Paramount Software Solutions when he was merely 26 years old. This is an impressive achievement and a career highpoint for him. Through effective risk management strategies, the proactive entrepreneur has been able to keep this high point going! In 20+ years, he has managed to grow it into an organisation with over 300 employees.

As a stable, well-established contracting firm, Paramount boasts a cadre of highly skilled and seasoned consultants. Over the years, the ISO 9001:2015 certified company has worked with several global government agencies and also contributed to judicial reform. The company’s business model is very different from that of many other contracting firms. Consultants at Paramount have full-time job security and a comprehensive benefits package, giving clients a greater level of security for their projects.

SETTING HIGH STANDARDS

Pramod has established a full-fledged product business under the umbrella of Paramount. His first offering, a blockchain-based SaaS product called Farm to Plate, allows food companies to track and trace their products immutably through blockchain technology. He is starting to deliver trials for this solution, which will open up a significant new revenue stream. The solution has already received a lot of interest from multiple geographies. Additionally, to build interest and establish thought leadership, he has launched a podcast that speaks with industry leaders to get their insight on key topics and current trends in the food sector.

Furthermore, Paramount’s product division has developed a blockchain-based solution called Carbon Credits for a client in the power and energy sector to track the carbon emissions they generate and encourage individuals to invest in renewable energy by allowing them to sell surplus power back to the grid.

The Paramount team, under Pramod’s direction, has also built capabilities across several other technology sectors, such as cybersecurity and robotic process automation that are critical to a post-pandemic economy. Pramod is highly skilled at executing market-driven strategies. He believes that, in a disruptive world, the customer is the king. Therefore, his innovation seeks to bring real benefits to real people. “We put people first and align our strategy with our innovations,” he asserts.

As a leader, he always motivates his team to align with changing demands in fulfilling clients’ requirements. Furthermore, using consistent quality and resources, he drives the organisation towards creating a competitive environment.

AN EMPLOYEE-CENTRIC LEADER

Pramod believes that employee morale and company culture are crucial elements for any staffing company. In order to ensure low attrition, high employee satisfaction, and long-term client stability, he promotes a culture that is familial and employee-centered. Consequently, top-quality talent prefers to stay longer with his organisation, resulting in high client satisfaction. A notable fact about Paramount is that it was certified as a Great Place to Work in 2021 based on a survey conducted by the Great Place to Work Institute, where 99% of its employees rated the company as a great place to work. Pramod encourages professionals to take charge of their own careers. He has introduced a leadership culture of Holacracy at Paramount, which is a system of management where roles are not assigned and employees are allowed to work across departments and teams without restrictions. Additionally, with a clear set of rules and processes, responsibilities are divided equitably among employees, reducing bureaucracy and enhancing productivity.

LEADING WITH A GOLDEN HEART

Pramod has always been committed to giving back to the community in whatever way he can. The visionary leader believes all corporations have a social responsibility to contribute to society. As part of this noble process, he has developed “Paramount Gives,” a dedicated CSR initiative within Paramount. Through partnerships with renowned social welfare organisations such as Vibha, Pure Hearts of Georgia, Access Life America, Sewa International and Brown Toy Box, Paramount Gives has raised donations worth thousands of dollars. Furthermore, several initiatives have been implemented under the leader’s direction, including webinars and offline welfare activities.

Throughout his career, Pramod has supported social causes in his capacity and on behalf of his organisation. His organisation funded the construction of an entire computer lab for the International Community School, Georgia, for the benefit of the school’s multicultural community. The ICS charter school was founded in Georgia’s DeKalb County in 2002 to help integrate refugees and immigrant children with local children in a nurturing and supportive setting.

The benevolent leader also promoted employee donations in 2021 for COVID-19 second wave relief efforts in India. This drive raised $40,000 in 45 minutes, with Paramount matching all employee donations.

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2021, the Global Mental Health Association bestowed the 2021 Humanitarian Award on Pramod to spotlight his contributions to mental health in the community. In 2016, the leader was honoured with the TiE Top Entrepreneur Awards. He was also awarded the Outstanding Business Leader Award at the US-India Business Summit.

Furthermore, his company, Paramount Software Solutions is a regular winner of Atlanta’s Best and the Brightest Companies to Work For®. This award was given to the company for the seventh consecutive year in 2021. Additionally, the company was recently awarded the Inc. Best in Business 2021 Gold Medal for General Excellence.

Mr. Ganesh started his career with State Bank Group and learned all the basics and built a solid foundation in banking and finance. He worked diligently from the ground up and rose through the ranks. An alumnus of MIT-Sloan School of Management, Boston, US and the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), Mr. Ganesh holds a string of post-graduate, graduate and diploma qualifications, which are a testimony to his solid academic background. He has also taken up professional trainings in Executive Management from Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (USA) and successfully completed the Leadership Development Programme at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (USA). His penchant for knowledge and continuous self-improvement is strong that he recently completed his Advanced Diploma in Non-Executive Directorship from Financial Times (FT), London. It is his collective academic knowledge that he combined with real life scenarios at his various roles that made him a name to reckon within the industry. No wonder when the Oman Arab Bank, one of the oldest banks in the Sultanate, wanted to rewrite their story, they hand-picked him to script it.

Mr. Ganesh credits his long stint in ICICI Bank for his Management and Leadership style. Working in various capacities including as Corporate Dealer, Regional Head of Corporate Banking and Head of Trade Finance across major Indian cities like Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore and later as the Alternate CEO at ICICI Bank, Hong Kong, Mr. Ganesh is very proud of his ICICI lineage. ICICI Bank has always been the training ground for many CEOs in the financial sector both in India and abroad.

SCRIPTING SUCCESS

Mr. Ganesh joined Ahlibank SAOG, a public listed entity in Muscat Stock Exchange, in the first quarter of 2008 and it was his first experience in the GCC. At that time, Ahlibank had just got the license to convert from a single product mortgage lending firm to a full-fledged commercial bank. “Except for the banking license, it was almost equivalent to setting up a new bank and came with its own set of challenges and excitement,” he says. Within a few months of him joining Ahlibank, Lehman Brothers collapsed in the wake of the subprime crisis and then came the ‘Arab Spring’. For a banker there hadn’t been a more difficult time. It was the true test for Mr. Ganesh to set up the ‘new’ Ahlibank under the given circumstances. Under his astute leadership, Ahlibank navigated the rough times successfully. His well-thought policies and realistic vision helped Ahlibank to cement its position as one of the leading commercial banks in Oman and was ranked first in the OER Magazine’s ‘Best Banks in Oman’ Survey, for four consecutive years
from 2012-2015.

After his stint at Ahlibank, he moved to Dubai when he joined Ahli United Bank Ltd (AUBL), UAE as the CEO and Executive Director. He was once again handpicked by AUB BSC Board for the job and challenged to lead the operations of the bank from scratch in a new market, strategize branding, develop customer base and drive significant revenue.It was a big challenge to set up the bank through organic growth by applying for fresh license, obtain regulatory approvals, design and develop new systems and procedures, operationalize systems and much more. Mr. Ganesh rose upto the occasion again and under his leadership the bank achieved break-even point in the first year. In a completely new geography, he proved his mettle and created a new brand identity for AUBL, as its CEO for almost 6 years.

His most recent stint has been at the Oman Arab Bank (OAB) where he joined as the CEO in 2021. OAB is an Oman Listed Bank, with 45 years of history and employee strength of around1400. It is one of leading commercial banks in the Sultanate. The bank has been going through a lot of challenges due to the pandemic, regional issues and some legacy-related problems. The areas of work include building a high performance work culture, cost optimization, stressed assets management, digital transformation and more importantly, developing the next generation of leaders.

A LEADER FOR THE PEOPLE

Mr. Ganesh has proven that he is a high-performance leader capable of driving business through critical growth phase delivering consistent growth through excellent employee engagement and customer management. His one motto and lesson for his teammates is – ‘be simple in your communication and humble in your behaviour.’

Banking is a people-facing industry and one has to develop key people skills to navigate various kinds of problems the customers bring to you. Mr. Ganesh has been dealing with people since the very beginning of his career and credits his people skills to his early days at the ICICI Bank. He truly believes that the one trait that holds more value than anything else is integrity. As a banker, you’re always dealing with other people’s money and for that you have to always hold on to your integrity and humility. His leadership style is simple – listen to everyone and understand all perspectives. He firmly believes that what a leader requires is the ability to manage a team efficiently and effectively. Lead the team by a role-model approach – show them how it’s done, don’t tell them. It is this entrepreneurial mindset and teamwork capabilities that have made him one of the most respected professionals in the sector.

Hailing from humble origins, Mr. Ganesh had seen some very trying times while growing up. It is now his dream to inspire kids from similar background to dream big and work hard to achieve those dreams. Calling books as his first love, Mr. Ganesh believes that each book one read is equivalent to experiencing one full life cycle. Asked about the cultural challenges faced while working in 5 different geographies -India, Hong Kong, Oman, UAE and Bahrain, Mr. Ganesh sums up, ‘Every culture respect and recognizes honesty, humility and competence.’

The educational and training ecosystem in India has been greatly impacted by Akshay’s initiatives since 2008. He was the Director of Hero Mindmine – the professional skills development venture of the Hero Group – before founding BML Munjal University in 2014 and Hero Vired in 2021. The determined leader has been instrumental in the conception, design, and execution of both education ventures. His stint at Hero Mindmine gave Akshay an inside look at the challenges faced by students in the higher education sector and the difficulties they face in finding meaningful jobs. Both BML Munjal University and Hero Vired were born out of the insight of sharing a common goal of providing a unique, customized, world-class educational experience that places a strong emphasis on measurable outcomes, experience, application, employability, and improving employee productivity.

A FASCINATING PROFESSIONAL ADVENTURE

Akshay graduated from the University of Bradford (UK) with a B.Sc. (Hons.) in Management Studies. He also holds an MBA in Finance from Pepperdine University, California. The dynamic leader started his career at Accenture in New Delhi. During his career at Accenture, he was part of the team responsible for designing the IT infrastructure for Delhi Metro and witnessed the inaugural trip of Delhi’s first metro train. Akshay has tried to acquire diverse experiences in diverse business domains, working for companies such as Nestle and American Honda Motors. Akshay has also worked in equity research at Merrill Lynch, New York.

MAKING LEARNERS INDUSTRY-READY

A critical thinker, Akshay founded Hero Vired with the sole purpose of providing learners with skills that will prepare them for careers in Industry 4.1. Through this initiative, the EdTech startup is also actively fulfilling the government’s vision of a self-sufficient India. Akshay intends to empower learners with knowledge, skills, and expertise through an engaging and holistic experience that closely matches industry needs. In India’s rapidly evolving digital economy, skill-based courses and programs are imperative for learner growth and overall professional development, he says. Individual workers must engage in life-long learning in order to have fulfilling and gratifying jobs, as the labor market’s training requirements are continually changing, adds the leader. Hero Vired, therefore, offers a comprehensive range of programs to prepare students for the future, in areas such as Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Game Design, Finance & FinTech, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Full-Stack Engineering, and many more. Akshay’s long-term vision is to develop capabilities to offer hybrid degrees; leveraging the assets from BML Munjal University to offer the best of physical classroom learning as well as online education.

AN ALLROUNDER

The focused edupreneur also takes a keen interest in sports. Tennis has been one of his passions for over a decade, and he follows the sport intensely. Additionally, as a marathon runner, he has completed more than half a dozen marathons so far. His altruistic streak complements his business acumen. The benevolent leader has been a member of the Rotary Society of India for many years and has also volunteered for the United Nations.He reveres the Founder of the Hero Group the late Dr. Brijmohan Lall Munjal as his role model and considers him the biggest influence on his life. He religiously adheres to the success mantra advocated by Dr. Munjal — Focus on the basics, everything will take care of itself.