Category: Leaders

LEADING WITH EXPERIENCE

Futuristic, perseverant, and affable, Mr. Girish has all the qualities required to be a pioneering entrepreneur. Coming from a family of business owners, he has all the insights and experience needed to understand every aspect of the business world.

Today, Mr. Girish is putting everything he learned into turning his company into a global enterprise. As a co-founder and CEO of Greytip Software, he has enabled more than 15,000 businesses to streamline their HR & payroll activities.

FOLLOWING FAMILY’S FOOTSTEPS

The year was 1994. Mr. Girish had recently completed his B.E. (Computer Science) from SJCE, Mysore. But instead of going for a traditional 9 to 5 job in a multinational, he decided to follow his entrepreneurial spirit.

Along with his college friend Sayeed Anjum, he laid down the foundation of Greytip Software. They first created a bulletin software that received an offer from Unilever. In 1988, he moved the company to Bangalore and created a 15-member company.

They did in-depth market research and started focusing on creating products that would redefine how HR departments work on payrolls. In 1999, the company launched the first payroll module and had about 40 clients who used it for basic payroll software needs.

As the years passed, Greytip Software became greytHR, with a customer base of over 5000 customers. Under Mr. Girish’s leadership, the company expanded its operations to some of India’s megacities, such as Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, and Pune. It also went international with its presence in the UAE.

SPEARHEADING SUCCESS

Developing the right product wasn’t the only thing that helped Mr. Girish establish greytHR as a market leader. He always believed that a proficient team is a key to a successful business. That’s why he insists on creating a healthy workspace where people are not just employees but leaders in their own sense. He supports the senior team members as he considers them experts in their respective areas and believes they are better decision-makers in their fields. For this, Mr. Girish encourages a participative style, where he believes every team member should be able to contribute.

Mr. Girish has always been cognizant of his clients’ needs. He did not start the company out of thin air. He and his partner first found a niche that they believed was a critical issue many companies faced at that time.

After working tirelessly, they developed India’s most reliable and cost-effective payroll solution on the cloud. They took the classic SaaS model and modified it as per the needs of the Indian companies. It clicked, and then there was no looking back. Later, Mr. Girish focused on bringing more effective and creative solutions to the portfolio. His innovative strategies and perfect leadership enabled greytHR to process 15 Lakh+ user records monthly. His company’s clientele is also remarkable and includes Hindustan Unilever, Deloitte, Capgemini, Toshiba, Healthify Me, Scotiabank, Dunzo, Rapido, Hutchinson, ClickDesk, Clovia, and Jamboree.

BEING A GUIDING LIGHT

The journey of Mr. Girish is no less than an inspiring tale for many Indian entrepreneurs. To help and guide these new-age businesspeople, Mr. Girish always shares his thoughts and life journey on different platforms.

He is one of the founding members of iSPIRT (Indian Software Product Industry Round Table), a think tank for the Indian software products industry. Mr. Girish is also a mentor at the Founder’s Institute, India.

SOARING HIGH

Mr. Sayeed is a prominent name in the tech world because of his strong leadership and passionate personality. His entrepreneurial journey began right after he finished his higher studies. Since then, he has spent more than 25 years in the industry.

This rich experience has empowered him to run a company that proudly boasts of managing more than 15,000 customers and over 18 lakh+ employee users. Now, Mr. Sayeed is focusing on expanding the company’s reach to an international level, with GCC countries as the first milestone.

FROM TECH TO BUSINESS

Mr. Sayeed has always been a technophile. Therefore, he pursued an MCA from the Sri Jayachamarajendra College of Engineering, Mysore, Karnataka. While in college, he connected with Girish Rowjee, another student who was doing engineering at the same college.

Their dreams matched, and they decided to start an organisation of their own in the year 1994. Mr. Sayeed completed his final year project in the company he co-founded. Thus, Greytip Software is where Mr. Sayeed began his career. And looking at the success chart of the organisation, it is not incorrect to say that his decision was perfect.

Today, as Co-founder and Chief Technology Ofiicer of Greytip Software, Mr. Sayeed focuses on improving greytHR, their HR tech offering. He also oversees other aspects of product development, including requirements engineering, usability, programming, and quality. Other departments such as R&D, innovation labs, and product development also come under his leadership.

SETTING INNOVATIVE STANDARDS

Whatever role he takes, Mr. Sayeed strives for perfection and leaves no stone unturned to produce the best results. He wants to fuel SME growth via better people practices, superior employee experience, better employer branding, and overall productivity of the entire organisation.

For this, he has worked on creating a resource library where the customers can learn more about effective HR practices. Not just this, his company also has a vibrant community and hosts webinars with experts to spread awareness and learning.

During Covid too, he did not stop his initiatives. Under the leadership of Mr. Sayeed, the organisation tailored its employee policies to help them work seamlessly from home. Moreover, Mr. Sayeed introduced apps to provide mental wellness counseling to help their employees cope with stress and tension associated with the pandemic.

THE VISION AHEAD

Mr. Sayeed is working with some of the top names in the corporate world. A few of these are Wipro Enterprises, WeWork, Brigade, Lotte, India Post Payments Bank, Dunzo, HealthifyMe, Rapido, Instamojo, Acme Fitness, Greenpeace and Sheenlac Paints. Geographically, greytHR is present in India’s megacities such as Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR, and Pune. It also has offices in the UAE.

But the vision of Mr. Sayeed is even greater. He aims to serve 50,000 SME customers and 5 million employees globally in the next few years. Besides being a leader at greytHR, Mr. Sayeed is also a corporate member of NASSCOM and The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE).

LIFE BEYOND BUSINESS

Mr. Sayeed may be a business magnate, but he also gives proper time to his personal life. He loves to read, network, and cook in his free time. He is also a sports enthusiast and prefers to watch tennis and football now and then.

AN EPITOME OF SUCCESS

Vermeiren India Rehab, a sales office in India, was started in 2011 under Mr. Qadri’s guidance. Later, the firm started its production facility in July 2016 at Sricity SEZ, Andhra Pradesh. The facility has 17 acres of land with a 25,000 sq. ft. built-up area, employing around 500 highly skilled workers. Vermeiren India Rehab’s factory currently has a production capacity of 2 lakh chairs per annum with accessories. It is equipped with world-class machines and technologies for CNC metal bending, robot welding, metal cutting, powder coating, stitching, PU tire manufacturing, plastic injection moulding, and assembly lines to manufacture manual wheelchairs, commode wheelchairs and geriatric chairs.

A TEAM THAT LEADS

Mr. Qadri considers all his employees his priority and always encourages the team to work harmoniously. He ensures that conflicts are quickly solved and promotes a happy and positive working environment. Mr. Qadri’s vision is to have a strong emotional bond between the team, consequently creating good communication and a sense of belonging. Positive and regular communication helps to keep the team morale high and increases their ability to achieve the goals. He avoids rigid rules and policies so that the company can bring greater flexibility to their employees to handle changing situations. His long term goal for Vermeiren India Rehab is to establish the biggest production company for the Vermeiren Group and produce patient beds and hoists along with wheelchairs to cater to the Indian and global markets. The short-term goal is to increase the range of products in the coming months.

GIVING BACK TO SOCIETY

Mr. Qadri encourages his team to work towards the welfare of society. The team members get actively involved in various social responsibility activities of the company. Every year, Vermeiren India Rehab offers apprenticeship and training to ITI diploma holders, and support for upgrading their tool rooms and infrastructure development for polytechnic colleges, which helps the students learn the subjects better with changing technologies. In addition, Mr. Qadri encourages the distribution of books and stationery items to students in surrounding villages to motivate them to do better in their studies.

CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR GROWTH

Mr. Qadri ensures that all the employees of Vermeiren India Rehab Private Limited have free access to him. He is open to taking ideas from them for the continuous improvement of the workplace for a positive output. The company periodically arranges development programmes to improve employees’ skills and personality. Mr. Qadri is a believer of healthy work culture. He promotes good work relationships and non-competitiveness among employees, which, in turn, help in team building and increasing the overall productivity of the company and individuals. Furthermore, he supports the employees by offering them numerous benefits, such as food, personal accidental insurance, transport, term insurance and Mediclaim.

BUSINESS ACHIEVEMENTS

Vermeiren India Rehab today has a global presence. Its exports have increased by 90% as compared to the previous year. Today, the company provides goods to countries in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. In India, the company supplied wheelchairs for election booths in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, Government tender orders (Karnataka), International Red Cross, multi-speciality hospitals, NGOs such as the Association of People with Disability, Mobility India, The Ability People, Jaipur Foot, and Rotary clubs. Mr. Qadri loves what he does and has complete faith and confidence in making the work successful. He firmly believes in his team, and expects them to continuously support and help him to succeed at work in any circumstance.

THE MAN BEHIND NASWIZ

People who talk about Naswiz in the direct selling industry always credit its success to Mr. Chandrakar. The man started this idea way back in 2006. Now, he is running a leading firm seeking to be a direct selling industry leader.

Mr. Chandrakar completed his Masters in Computer Applications. But it was business that attracted him to build a career. Thus, he established Naswiz and fuelled his entrepreneurial spirit.

With Naswiz, Mr. Chandrakar is serving India’s beauty, health and wellness marketplace. Some popular suites of products are in multiple industries, such as personal care, electronics, herbal products, apparel, lifestyle and agriculture. He and his team have penetrated the markets while positively impacting lives through their best-quality products and a rewarding global business opportunity.

CREATING A LEGACY

Mr. Chandrakar is a man that took Naswiz to greater heights in the wellness and healthcare market. As the Managing Director, he has always thought of keeping the business up and running under all circumstances. So, when the pandemic dampened the organisation’s spirits and profits, he did not let his team members’ morale go down.

The company, under his leadership, embraced innovation and launched COVID-19 protection products such as masks and sanitisers. With this, he expanded the market reach of Naswiz multiple folds, allowing the organisation to grow further. Now, Mr. Chandrakar strives hard to make a lasting impact on the world. He does this by helping individuals achieve their income goals through his direct selling venture. The industry lets people be their own boss and earn high profits to increase their income. Today, his company boasts a network of ever-growing business associates and customers.

The business has been expanding globally as well. Recently, Naswiz launched products such as PhytoWiz – a health supplement appreciated by many – to reach the foreign shores of the United States, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, and Africa.

THE SUCCESS MANTRA

Undoubtedly, hard work and innovation have led Mr. Chandrakar to heights, but consistency has played an equal role. He credits consistent quality of products to be the reason behind Naswiz’s solid customer base all over the country.

His belief in consistency has also helped him sail the boat amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The business leader did not stop when the world stopped. Instead, he launched new products and instantly shifted the company’s operations to virtual mode. Daily webinars, meetings and clear communication kept Naswiz in business, ensuring that the people connected with it did not lose their earnings. Mr. Chandrakar believes that Naswiz stands out of the crowd of direct selling companies because of its approach towards products. It works on only unique products and gives time and energy to research. Committed to providing a wide variety of world-class products to his customers, the visionary is open to source the ingredients from all across the globe.

ACCOLADES APLENTY

For Mr. Chandrakar, recognition has come in many forms. His company Naswiz has been felicitated with several awards over the years. Recently, Network Marketing Awards chose Naswiz as the Best Marketing Company of 2022.

In addition to its outstanding products and services, Mr. Chandrakar has ensured that Naswiz is known for its great work culture. In 2022, the company was certified as the Best Company to Work For by Business Connect for its continuous efforts to provide an excellent work culture to its employees.

With a strong belief that technology can revolutionize the business world, Sabyasachi Saha is putting together the best resources to offer tailor-made solutions to clients across the world. But this success story did not start with a good graph in the beginning. Sabyasachi invested a lot in turning his dreams into reality.

THE SETTING UP OF DREAMS

Sabyasachi’s real tryst with technology started in West Bengal. He prepared for JEE and finally got admission to Kalyani Govt. Engineering College to pursue B.Tech. The course further gave wings to his dreams of establishing a career in technology. It was in 2011 that he co-founded Techno Exponent with his business partner co-founder Avoy Debnath.

What started small is now one of the leading web and mobile app development companies with global clientele. Over the years, Sabyasachi kept experimenting with the trends and creating solutions that catered to the market’s dynamic needs. His tireless efforts and determination encourage the team to build innovative solutions to bridge the gaps between businesses and technologies.

OFFERING ONLY THE BEST

Ever since the inception of Techno Exponent, Sabyasachi has been adopting new technologies so that businesses can reap the benefits. Today, his company is helping big names in achieving their goals. Under his leadership, the company has also expanded its service portfolio. While earlier it only dealt with PHP, Codeigniter, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Techno Exponent is now also working with Blockchain, AI, Node.js, React.js, React Native, Flutter, JAVA, Kotlin, and many more. All this has been possible because of Sabyasachi’s excellent leadership skills. He has been successfully streamlining the operations to improve customer service.

As for taking the company to a global level, Sabyasachi’s proven track record of establishing strategic partnerships rightly deserve the credit for successful results. Today, the company has offices in 6 countries where it has served more than 1000 clients. The long list of his company’s clientele includes leading companies like Disney, Amazon, NASA, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, among others.

MORE THAN AN ENTREPRENEUR

Being a businessperson is just one part of Sabyasachi’s personality. He is much more than that. To be precise, he is also a charismatic leader, supportive teammate, and an icon in the world of technology and innovation. Recently, he also started another venture – Euphoria GenX. A technical training institute, Euphoria GenX is the gateway through which Sabyasachi is helping engineering students get hands on training that can help them get jobs. It offers training courses for Git, AWS, and Deployment apart from various other courses. In fact, Sabyasachi also collaborated with educators to teach students how to utilize technology and become skilled professionals. The institute offers guidance and training on the latest technologies like Angular, AI, ML, Java, Android, IoT, AutoCAD, etc. So far, the institute has placed thousands of students in reputable companies. Recently, 3000 students completed their summer training program.

He vehemently believes that the secret to success is choosing the business that is right for you. No wonder through Euphoria GenX he is guiding young minds to make the right career choices.

Pankaj is a technologist by education and an entrepreneur by passion. He holds a BE degree from Nagpur University and a Diploma in Advanced Computing from CDAC-Pune. In addition, he is a Pega systems Certified Lead System Architect (CLSA), Certified Methodology Black Belt (CMBB), and Certified CPM (Customer Process Management) Architect. With this stellar educational background and over20 years of experience working with global companies and helping them maximize value from their IT investments, Pankaj started Aaseya in 2017 with a vision to implement rapid digital transformation for customers.

AN EXEMPLARY LEADER

As a forward-thinking leader, Pankaj believes in leading by example. He co-founded Aaseya with the ambition of becoming the industry’s leading value-centric Low Code No Code services provider. And, within a very short time, was able to guide the company to become an undisputed leader in the low-code space. His unwavering efforts have ensured that Aaseya is today counted among the fastest-growing Pega partners worldwide. Within five years of its inception, he has led Aaseya to become a 500+ people organisation, providing cutting-edge solutions to its customers on the Pega and OutSystems platforms. Over the next four years, he aspires to grow the company to a 2000+ person enterprise. At Aaseya, Pankaj has formed a team of like minded people who work together to provide unparalleled customer service. Pankaj leads the company’s executive leadership team, ensuring that Aaseya can meet complex demands in different geographies. Not one to watch from the side, Pankaj has personally led large implementation teams at Aaseya, putting his experience in the BFSI, Telecom, Retail, and Manufacturing domains to guide the teams. Under his leadership, the team has supported over 80 production go-lives and continues delivering transformational results for their customers. He believes continuous innovation is essential for growing and sustaining an organisation. As a tech savvy leader passionate about leveraging technology, Pankaj has always aspired to help Aaseya customers stay ahead of the curve and maintain a competitive edge. He believes that while LCNC and Automation are still in their infancy, their potential for exploration and advancement is massive. As a result, he is constantly exploring and utilising the power of Pega and OutSystems technologies to analyze and innovate on how Aaseya can better serve its customers.

DRIVEN BY TEAM SPIRIT

According to Pankaj, team spiritis an essential element that creates an organization’s DNA. As a values-driven leader, he is guided by honesty, consistency, and humility. Many of his colleagues praise how he supports and encourages his team to accomplish their tasks with dedication and enthusiasm. And while his role as the company’s figurehead entails enormous responsibilities toward customers, Pankaj prioritizes the happiness and welfare of Aaseya employees. No surprise then that you will often find him ideating and spending time identifying improvement opportunities for both Aaseya customers and employees. Pankaj believes in and aims to foster an open culture at Aaseya that respects and values individual contributions and empowers employees to ideate, innovate, and execute. Design thinking workshops, creativity sessions, and other creative endeavours are actively encouraged by him to inspire employees to be innovative. According to him, the Aaseya leadership team and its parent organisation, YASH Technologies, have provided him with excellent guidance in his leadership role. He explains, “Aaseya and Yash’s business strategy have inspired me to invest in qualitative and quantitative research solutions to build internal processes, deliverables, and client services. Consequently, we have developed several assets, solutions, and accelerators to continuously improve our services and products and drive innovation for our customers, thus helping them gain a competitive edge.” Under his direction, the company has also invested in creating centres of excellence in Digital Process Automation, Business Process Management, and CRM.

GEARED TOWARDS GROWTH

Pankaj thrives on growth and is driven by his desire to succeed. His leadership and organisation skills make him stand out from the crowd. His relentless efforts led to the company expanding into more than ten countries in a short time. He was once referred to as ”Superman” by a client at a significant event in the US for effortlessly reversing an adverse situation affecting many Aaseya clients and customers in multiple countries and delivering large, complex, and government-regulated systems on time.

HALL OF FAME

Pankaj was awarded the CEO of the Year Award by Indian Achievers for his inspiring leadership in 2020. Under his leadership, Aaseya received Pega’s Client Innovation Award for Social Responsibility for his steadfast efforts.

It was also named a significant contender in Pega Services PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2021 by Everest Group. Last but not least, it was featured in the Top 10 Pega Service Providers Report by HFS Research. Not one to take the credit, Pankaj attributes his accomplishments to his team members, who bring laurels to the company.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Pankaj believes in fostering a culture of social responsibility and creating a business that benefits society. To that effect, Aaseya’s CSR policies focus on four key areas: education, environment, inclusive economic development, and health & nutrition. Furthermore, Pankaj encourages his team to proactively participate in social activities and impact the world positively. His team and the YASH Social Welfare Foundation (the CSR wing of YASH Technologies) regularly collaborate on initiatives such as introducing interactive learning tools in schools, planting trees, offering weekend schools, donation drives, and much more.

DECADES OF TRUST

Over four decades ago, an entrepreneurship venture named Sankalp was established in Ahmedabad. Then, in 1980, the Group’s first restaurant Sankalp was started. This humble beginning turned into a business empire as months and years passed.

The credit for this interesting story of growth goes to Dr. Goenka and his team. The Chairman and Managing Director of Sankalp Group, Dr. Goenka has a global outlook. Years of experience in the industry have endowed him with a business acumen that helps him see the bigger picture of the business world. Using this talent and his company’s competitive advantage, he is doing his best to make India a true world leader in several industries.

THE STORY OF SANKALP

When Sankalp’s first restaurant was established, the ease of doing business was not the same as it is today. But hard work and innovation pushed the story of Sankalp forward. Soon after its establishment, Sankalp transformed from just a single-specialty restaurant in Ahmedabad to a chain of restaurants in major cities of India.

As the market trends started to change in the late 1990s, Sankalp adapted to these changes. The Group introduced ‘Sam’s Pizza’ in 1999 and ‘Saffron’ in 2001. Both these brands soon became household names.

A true entrepreneur, Dr. Goenka kept adapting to new trends and innovating in his business ventures. The Sankalp Group launched Hotel Ramada in 2010 in Ahmedabad with a grand opening. This journey of success continued as the Group launched Ramada Encore at the Statue of Unity in 2019.

Recently, the organisation also partnered with Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL) and brought the brand Taj to Ahmedabad. Within a few months of its launch, Taj Skyline became known as a perfect addition to the vibrant culture of Ahmedabad.

CREATING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

After establishing the Sankalp Group in the hospitality sector, Dr. Goenka decided to diversify to other industries. Thanks to his innate business acumen, he succeeded there as well. The brand has launched many innovative and delicious products in the packaged foods industry. The long-term aim of Sankalp Packaged Foods is to provide quality Indian food products to the country and the world.

Under the leadership of Dr. Goenka, the brand did not stop at the food industry. It expanded further to the construction sector. Today, the organisation is actively involved in various residential and commercial real estate projects in the city. The successful journey so far has made the business visionary and inspiring leader one of the most well-known industrialists of Gujarat.

RECOGNITION OF QUALITY

The sheer number of top-quality products and services delivered by Dr. Goenka’s companies under the Sankalp Group makes him an admirable figure. Quality significantly creates trust between consumers and the brand which ultimately translates to business success.

Thanks to Dr. Goenka’s work ethics and dynamism, the Sankalp Group has made its way to the Guinness Book of World Records twice. Gujarat Tourism’s official brochure describes the brand as the ‘Most Authentic Indian Restaurant.’ The Group has achieved many milestones and bagged several awards. It has received the Times Food Award eight times. The company has expanded its network outside India to Australia, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the US, UK and UAE.

Every leader has some life mantra that they swear by. Ms. Raitani’s passion is building the future of the nation. For years, she has been working hard towards the all-round development of her students. She believes that education is not just about learning bookish knowledge but building a strong character through physical, mental, spiritual, social, and cultural awareness. As the Founder and Manager of Guru Kripa Divine Grace Public School, she is realising this dream by providing high-quality education and care.

STORY OF TRUE DEDICATION

The beginning of Ms. Raitani’s dream was as humble as one can imagine. In 2004, she started a school under a tree at Nepal Border in the district of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. The vision was simple — she wanted to uplift the level of education in the area. Within a few years, she was able to introduce various programs such as the Graded Examination for Spoken English (GESE) through Trinity College, London, Scientific Assessment Program ASSET (Ei), Design For Change, Joy of Giving, and many more for the all-round development of the children.

One major milestone came in 2008 when she shifted the school to its campus, at Ranjitpur, Bahraich. As the years went by, Ms. Raitani kept working towards the betterment of her school. In 2012, the school got an affiliation from the CBSE and added ‘secondary school’ to its name.

Five years later, she led her school to national tournaments and even won two Life Empowerment Awards in New Delhi. Her vision is still the same but her dedication has become even stronger.

HUMANITARIAN AT HEART

Imparting education is just one part of Ms. Raitani’s visions. Her humanitarian nature does not stop here. Instead, she makes sure that through her school, she is able to partake in as many CSR activities as possible.

Over the years, she has actively participated and organised initiatives such as education for the underprivileged students, distribution of relief material, tree plantation drives, and other health and fitness programmes. Ms. Raitani is also an active part of national programmes such as Swachh Bharat as she is dedicated towards the nation and its citizens.

Ms. Raitani is also sensitive towards women’s issues. She has allowed women teachers to bring their babies to school where they are looked after well. Once the child gets older, they get school education free of cost. Ms. Raitani also lent the helping hands to hundreds of people during the pandemic. She arranged school vehicles and also contributed to food distribution drives for migrant workers so that they can return to their native villages safely.

FELICITATIONS AND AWARDS

The humanistic and dynamic leadership style of Ms. Raitani has not gone unnoticed. She has been awarded several accolades and honours in the past few years. She was felicitated with the Women’s Achiever Award by Uttar Pradesh’s Governor Smt. Anandiben Patel. Some other awards that decorate her office are Atulya Vidya Ratan Samman, Best Educationist of the Year, and Samagra Shiksha Empowering India Awards.

Her school has also received awards for its outstanding performance and top-notch education. All this has happened due to Ms. Raitani’s unwavering faith and determination. She ensures that her students become torchbearers in the society when they go into the real world. Such accolades and awards are proof that she is on the right path.

A CONSUMER-CENTRIC APPROACH

Mr. Bijjala is one of the prominent leaders in the pharmaceutical industry and possesses excellent business acumen. With 15 years of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, he guides a passionate team of experts who discover, develop and cost-effectively distribute the products.

He is determined to provide affordable and accessible medicinal help to disadvantaged groups. He firmly believes that only happy and satisfied customers can help a firm grow; hence he works relentlessly to provide the best services to the consumers. He is the man of the people working tirelessly for customers’ benefit.

A STOREHOUSE OF KNOWLEDGE

A postgraduate in microbiology, Mr. Bijjala was always interested in introducing such medicines in the market that would benefit the country’s people. Before commencing his entrepreneurial journey in 2015, he worked as a medical representative. He later became the General Manager of a pharmaceutical company.

Both roles enhanced his experience and paved the way for him to establish his own organisation, Converge Biotech. With robust planning and meticulous execution, he has transformed the company to one of the fastest growing organisation.

ADHERING TO BUSINESS ETHICS

Mr. Bijjala is undoubtedly a nobleman. He was well aware that despite the pharmaceutical companies making a variety of life-saving medicines, many people die because of the lack of availability or the high cost of medicines. Therefore, he wanted to break these barriers and make medicines readily available at nominal prices without compromising the quality of the products.

All the products by Converge Biotech are manufactured in a WHO-GMP-approved manufacturing plant. Mr. Bijjala’s dedicated efforts have enabled the firm to grow exceptionally in the short span of five years.

RISKS LEAD TO GREATNESS

Mr. Bijjala takes Mr. Ratan Tata as his inspiration; just like him, he believes in taking risks for the company’s growth. He doesn’t rely on hasty decisions and always scans the market before making any decision. His journey to success was full of impediments, and he had to face many challenges before turning into an employer from an employee. Nevertheless, he risked all his savings to start this new venture. He launched various market trials and made huge investments in sales and marketing to turn his small company into one of the leading organisations in the healthcare sector. Instead of making random decisions, he went to customers and understood their feedbacks and noted their pain points. This practical exposure helped him in introducing new products that addressed the requirements of customers.

NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS

Mr. Bijjala believes that teamwork is an asset for the company and gives credit to his hardworking team of professionals for all the notable achievements of his firm. He has been recently felicitated with Excellence in Product Innovation by FTCCI, Telangana. It was a moment of celebration for him when in 2017, Converge Biotech became an ISO 9001:2008 certified organisation. He was also recognised as the Emerging Entrepreneur by PIPRA in association with the Government of Telangana. He has not refrained from burning the midnight oil to spread his business like wildfire. Resultantly, his company was recognised as the Fastest Growing Company in the country. Starting his firm with just 25 employees in 2015 and operating out of only two states, today, he works throughout India with more than 200 employees.

Rajesh, an Economics & Statistics graduate of Mumbai University, is also an alumnus of S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research, having completed his Master’s in Marketing in 1986. He was awarded with the British Chevening Scholarship to study at the Manchester Business School, UK and later attended the Advanced Management Program at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

AN EXEMPLARY LEADER

After his illustrious stints with Voltas, FCB Ulka and Marico, he joined Mahindra in 2000 as Vice President – Marketing of the Automotive Sector and went on to hold senior positions, including Managing Director of Mahindra Renault, before becoming the Chief Executive of the Automotive Division and Member of the Group Executive Board in 2010. He briefly worked as President of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. and served as the Chairperson of the Executive Committee and Chairman of MediaPro (Distribution JV between Zee & Star Networks) during his tenure there.

He re-joined Mahindra in 2013 as the Chief Executive of Farm Equipment Sector (FES), and in April 2014, his role extended to include the Mahindra Two-Wheeler Business. He became the President of the Farm Equipment Sector in 2015. Under his able guidance, M&M’s tractor business witnessed a never-before demand. Rajesh as his team at Mahindra went beyond just sales. For them FES wasn’t just a company selling tractors and farm machines, but rather a solution provider who wants to help their customers achieve their outcomes, enabling them to rise.

They wanted to enrich the livelihood of the small land holding farmers by democratizing technology to deliver a more productive, profitable, and sustainable agricultural approach. Today, Mahindra has an ecosystem of services with their Farming as a Service “KrishE” which is a path-breaking business model to advance the Indian farmer and Indian agriculture with the benefits of superior agronomy, access to advanced farm equipment rentals and new-age precision farming solutions. He has led Mahindra’s two brands – Mahindra & Swaraj, to become the leading players in the Indian tractor market.

Rajesh today serves as a Director on the Board of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., several other Mahindra Group companies in India as well as overseas and is as an Independent Director on the global Board of Aliaxis Group SA, Belgium.

GOING BEYOND THE NORM

Rajesh’s taking over the baton as Executive Director coincided with the pandemic and lockdown in India. But that’s when he outlined his famous “Walk – Run – Fly” phased approach of managing today, while investing for the future. The framework delivered strong financial returns in FY21 and also helped turnaround of global subsidiaries in FES along with a robust automotive demand momentum.

Now his bold new focused strategy for Automotive is setting the ground to accelerate to fly, where Mahindra will concentrate on its true DNA, i.e. “Authentic SUVs”. It’s a déjà vu situation, as two decades ago, he, in a similar environment, had repositioned the entire brand for a completely new customer. The transformation had led to the birth of category-creating SUVs, the Scorpio and the XUV500, that leapfrogged the brand into a new era of products.

The All New Thar launched last year, was a hint of the Authentic Core SUV strategy, and it is no surprise that it has won 20+ awards already. The XUV700 slated for launch this year, is an all new, authentic, global SUV set to redefine benchmarks in the SUV segment.

Today under his leadership, the Automotive and Farm Equipment businesses have a clear set of purpose and commitments along with a robust financial position. The Auto Sector is committed to leveraging global design and product development capabilities to bring to customers authentic SUVs, EVs and CVs, while the Farm Sector is focusing on growing its core domestic and global businesses, along with new tech opportunities and farm machineries. All of this sets Mahindra up for a bold and aggressive growth trajectory.

Recently M&M was ranked No.2 in “India’s Best Companies to Work for 2021” by the Great Place to Work Institute®. It is a strong testament of how its culture and value system inspire trust amongst the employees, instill pride in them, create an environment that promote camaraderie and fairness, and deliver a great workplace experience for all the employees.

SPINNING A GLORIOUS SUCCESS SAGA

Rajesh’s talent has been recognized and rewarded many times by the industry. He has won the Award for the Launch of the Scorpio at the India Leadership Summit in 2002. He was also conferred an award for Marketing Excellence by the Indian Express & Indira Group of Industries in 2003 and was featured in the book titled ‘India’s Most Powerful Brand Builders’ released at Asia Brand Congress 2008. He was also a part of the cover story on ‘Young Leaders’ in Outlook Business in 2009.

In 2009 and 2010, he was part of the Campaign India A-List which features 500 top professionals in advertising, media, and marketing. In 2013, he made it to a list of 50 Young Leaders of India, compiled by the British High Commission, India. He also held an honorary position on the Enactus India National Advisory Board. He currently serves on the Governing Council of S. P. Jain Institute of Management and Research. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Automotive and Autonomous Mobility Governors community.

He is also a Member of the Executive Committee of The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and has represented the Tractor Manufacturers Association (TMA) in India as its President on the National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2016 & 2017. Beyond work, his interests include teaching, reading and fitness. He has been managing the pandemic with an optimistic attitude. He likes indulging in yoga and spending meaningful time connecting with friends and family.