Category: Leaders

FUELING MARKET EXPANSION

A management graduate from Asia’s finest business school, Divyashikha has always dreamt of setting milestones in domestic and international markets. Consequently, she launched Stalwart World, a top-notch, people-centric organization that caters to all its partners and stakeholders through state-of-the-art business models. To ensure diversity of ideas, she collaborated with like-minded entrepreneurs to create self-empowering, technology-driven innovative business solutions. Stalwart World’s services cover 4 business segments through Stalwart Business Consortium LLP (SBCL), a division to collaborate with food and beverages (F&B) and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands for increasing their sales, marketing, and distribution network and facilitating them with more accessible, affordable, and hassle-free market entry. Outsourcing the brands’ sales, marketing, distribution, and revenue solutions to SBCL’s sales partner enables these brands to completely focus on streamlining and strengthening their manufacturing/sourcing and product portfolio. The company’s second business division is the Stalwart Management Consulting (SMC) that provides cost-effective and impactful human resource solutions to help build sustainable and competitive teams for clients.

Stalwart Wellness, the third business segment works to ensure the all-around wellness of partner businesses’ employees. Few such initiatives appreciated by Stalwart Wellness’s clients include “Wonder Woman” for helping working women excel in their respective professional fields and “Fit for Life” for cardiac care, weight loss, and diabetes management. Similarly, Stalwart–YOU 7.0 is a platform for facilitating upskilling through experiential learning that includes concepts from films, music, and dramas and links business objectives to outcomes.

DELIVERING EFFECTIVE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

Divyashikha firmly believes that the overall success of a business depends on 6 basic tenets — corporate governance, independence, transparency, professionalism, accountability, and code of ethics. In the initial phase of her entrepreneurial journey, Divyashikha realized that as an industrialist, she would have to assume multiple roles ranging from sales and accounts management and marketing to operations and human resource management. The challenge of managing the company’s finances on a day-to-day basis inculcated in her a habit of scrutinizing the expenses and channelizing operations for better outcomes. A more nuanced understanding of different aspects of her business operations has helped her organize them to achieve business objectives efficiently.

Her deep knowledge and insight into various businesses have enabled her to choose the right members for the core team of experts and the ancillary team of efficient employees who stand by her in times of business uncertainty. A good communicator, Divyashikha believes that effective leadership involves two-way communication and listening to constructive feedback from clients, teams, and various stakeholders. Both help devise and adopt new business strategies to enhance individual and group performance.

ENSURING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

Divyashikha believes in maintaining a strong relationship with her clients and providing them with in-depth market intelligence to support their 360-degree growth. Therefore, she emphasizes uniformity in the quality of service for all clients across any stage of the entrepreneurial journey. This has enabled her to establish her organization as a trusted and time-tested partner of many businesses by helping them to scale new heights of growth and success.

Mr. Aizaz is based in India and holds an MSc and an MBA. With an analytical mindset and a strong aptitude for strategy, he possesses excellent people management and communication skills. He brings a lot of vigor, commitment, and honesty to the work. One reason for his first continuous growth is his relentless pursuit of excellence and not resting on his laurels. He continuously strives to keep his customers happy and participate in making of digital India.

A FIRM TEAM LEADER

His perspicacity helped him manage a professional team of consultants from various countries, culture and successfully deliver critical, time-bound projects in digital banking technology and operational process optimization of the Issuance and Acquiring platform. He is a team player, a coach, and a mentor for his squad, and he periodically adopts the roles of coach, visionary, authoritarian, and pacesetter.

ENSURING EXCELLENCE

Mr. Aizaz’s decade-long experience in fintech industry has been extremely beneficial for the organization. Mr. Aizaz introduced excellent governance-related reforms as a crucial necessity for success. He and his team possess the necessary critical skills to ensure that governance is taken more seriously and new digital payment channels are quickly launched into the market in full compliance with necessary regulations. His firm Indipaisa collaborated with Indian Payments Bank, licensed lenders and insurers to provide top notch fintech services at competitive pricing and assist small Indian companies keep up with the country’s digital move toward a cashless society. The company is dedicated to innovation, in-depth subject matter knowledge, and technical fintech competence that the Indian SME market requires.

EXPLORING NEW VENTURES

Mr. Aizaz has established himself as a leader who recognizes the importance of MSMEs in the Indian market. For a decade, his organization has been supplying digital banking technology to various regions in MENA, Asia, and Europe and now the focus is towards India with a brand name “Indipaisa”. His business is already live with merchants in Delhi/NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka and has recently collaborated with banks and fintech companies in India to deliver end-to-end digital commercial banking solutions, driven by social networks, to millions of underserved Indian micro-SMEs. He has experienced and comprehended the issues encountered by MSMEs on several occasions. In order to address this, he developed disruptive product development with his team, which has been guided over the past ten years by AI and Machine learning analysis of MSME needs.

AWARDS GALORE

Mr. Aizaz’s expertise in his field has turned him into a trendsetter for which he has been awarded several honors globally. His firm was recognized as the “Best Technology Company in the Middle East” during the “Qatar Business Awards 2019.” Receiving the title of “No. 1 Fintech Company in Qatar” for his organization is yet another feather in his hat, along with awards such as the “Best Mobile Money App in the Middle East” and the “Best Payment Processing Company in the Middle East”.

LEADING FROM THE FRONT

Rajesh is a self-made man who has earned a reputation for himself through sheer hard work and talent. The career-driven, detail-oriented, and dynamic individual has extensive leadership experience in several renowned corporations. His specialities include strategy, product, revenue and brand building. He had also worked for Justdial Ltd. as the Group Vice President for Global Operations. During his tenure Justdial went from being a start-up to a VC-backed corporation to becoming a public company. 2 other companies he was involved with have listed on stock exchanges in India and USA.

THRIVING IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY

Having lost his father when he was only 12, Rajesh received very little education as his family was not well off financially. At the age of 16, he moved out of his home and spent 3 months living at a railway station. To survive, he used to take up odd assignments like serving as an office boy, washing horses at the racecourse, garment factories, fibre glass units, working as a waiter and so on. He did manage to go to college with his small earnings, but could never manage to complete his education. The realization that he needs education, but not necessarily from a university or college, came early to him. Life was teaching him every day by throwing challenges that were far bigger than a young boy could handle. At the Railway station he started borrowing books and learning for himself. When people got off trains, he would request them to donate him books if they had. Rajesh always dreamt and believed that despite all the hardship he was going through, one day, he would become a person that the entire world would recognize and respect. It was his dream to own a big house, drive a Mercedes car, travel the world, employ people in all places, and be loved by all. His hard work, dedication, focus, and honesty have enabled him to achieve his dreams and more.

MATERIALIZING HIS DREAM

Rajesh started his first full-time employment with Getit Yellow Pages, which was still a startup at the time. His decision to join the company shaped the next 30 years of his life. Later, he decided to join Justdial, where he was responsible for establishing a sales channel as a consultant. Soon after, he was offered a position at Indya.com, India’s first horizontal portal, he became the first Indyan to set up a Yellow Pages on the internet. After a successful stint at Indya.com, he rejoined Justdial in 2002 and played a key role in the growth of the company. He also launched the Justdial Yellow Pages which went on to become a huge success. Rajesh was involved in Justdial attempting to launch in the USA. Although his career was at its peak, he wanted to do something more meaningful. That’s when the idea of Xelpmoc started evolving. His idea became a reality in 2016 with the launch of Xelpmoc Design & Tech, which is now listed on the stock exchange. It was one of the many ventures he has started. In 2017, Rajesh exited Xelpmoc to pursue setting up or investing in multiple other ventures in Gaming, ecommerce, fintech, hyperlocal logistics, food, real estate, prop tech etc.

A BENEVOLENT SOUL

Rajesh regularly participates in a variety of activities to encourage deserving youngsters, as he feels that he should give back to society. Hundreds of young people have been hired into his companies and he has played a key role in them achieving their dreams. He has also mentored several young entrepreneurs who have launched their own enterprises very early in life. He prefers watching movies when he is not working. He enjoys comedies, especially slapstick flicks. Aside from watching movies, he enjoys paragliding and skydiving. He is passionate about driving around the world and has already driven parts of 4 continents.

Being a lawyer is not merely a vocation. It gives an individual the power to bring justice and discipline in the society. For this, one must have a strong sense of responsibility, be unbigoted, and dedicated to the profession. Dr. Bhat is that one person.

The Forerunner of SS Law— one of the leading law firms in India — Dr. Bhat has been offering legal services for about three decades. Till now, he has empowered and helped hundreds of individuals and businesses with several law services.

THE MULTIFACETED MASTER

Dr. Bhat’s exceptional expertise comes from years of experience and high qualification. To be the best in his field, he made sure his educational experience becomes rich and vast. Today, he not only holds a Bachelor in Law and an MBA but also an LLM, MFM, CFA, M.Phil. and PhD. His multifaceted education has shaped him into one of the most respected lawyers in the country.

He now specializes in criminal law, family/divorce, civil, IPR, personal injury, property, corporate law, arbitration, and mediation. His organization SS Law also provides advisory, training, and investigation services in Trial Court, High court, and Supreme Court.

But this all-rounder approach is not the only USP of his organization. Dr. Bhat understands the trust his clients put in him and makes sure that the team devotes its time to find the best solutions with a personal touch.

The success story of Dr. Bhat does not stop here. He is also known for his expertise in finance and business, which he keeps sharing through his books like Security Analysis and Portfolio Management, Financial Management: Principles and Practices, and a few more. He has also won corporate awards for his remarkable business acumen and exceptional work.

BANKING ON VALUES

Staying ahead in the legal field is one thing but staying ahead while adhering to values and ethics is commendable. Since the beginnings of his career, Dr. Bhat promised himself to do his work with integrity and loyalty. No matter what the case was, he did not leave his values.

Now, these two are the touchstones by which he runs his law firm. Another thing that highlights Dr. Bhat’s commitment to his profession is his Pro-Bono-Work initiative. Through this initiative, he offers legal services to people from low-income groups and minorities. With these values and philosophies, Dr. Bhat has created a team of lawyers that are not just exceptional at their job but also possess a strong character.

A DRIVEN LEADER IN A COMPETITIVE INDUSTRY

Legal practices in India have seen a dramatic change over the past few years. People can easily get legal advice within a few clicks. This has increased the competition in field by many folds. However, this competitive and dynamic environment is nothing but an exciting challenge for him. In fact, Dr. Bhat hopes the change keeps happening as it gives him the opportunity to help more and more people. The satisfaction that comes from happy clients encourages him to continue his profession and keep making a difference in people’s lives.

VISION TO OFFER INVALUABLE SERVICES

Known for his charismatic personality, Amit is a prominent name in the logistics industry. A graduate from the University of Delhi, Amit earned his Master’s degree in Business Management in 2004. He has worked for well-established and reputable companies which have helped him gain a wealth of experience and exposure in the field of logistics.

Asia Shipping was established by Amit in 2012 in New Delhi with branch offices in major export centres in India. As part of its efforts to provide its customers with the best services at the most competitive rates, it offers advanced shipping services, customs clearance, warehouse management, and other logistics support products.

DEMONSTRATES AN INNOVATION-DRIVEN MINDSET

Amit’s dynamic leadership approach and innovative business development policies have helped Asia Shipping achieve and surpass all its targets over the years. In a short span of nine years, the organisation has grown from a simple start in freight forwarding services from India to Latin America, to one offering a wide array of logistics services from the Indian sub-continent to the rest of the world.

In addition to being registered with the Federal Maritime Commission, USA and CBSA, Canada, the organisation has membership in several international associations, including IATA, WCA, EAN, and FIATA.

The AEO (Authorised Economic Operator) and GDP(Good Distribution Practices) certified company was launched in collaboration with M/s Asia Shipping, Brazil [Asia Shipping Transportes Internacionais Ltda], a multinational logistics provider, which has been ranked the number one logistics organisation in Brazil for over 17 years, and operates through its 40 branches in 12 countries. Currently, it is rated among the top 30 logistics companies in the world.

ON AN EXPANSION SPREE

Under Amit’s stewardship, Asia Shipping, India has expanded its footprint across several cities in India, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Pune, Gandhidham, Ludhiana, Jamshedpur, and in the India sub-continent, Bangladesh and Dubai . Besides developing its own international network of agents and correspondents around the globe, the organisation, under his leadership, has been active in exporting and importing across all major trade lanes worldwide.

The ambitious leader also plans to continue expanding his organisation by strengthening the existing branches as well as opening new ones. Additionally, he is already involved in expanding the organisation’s international network to strengthen its global presence.

Also, he plans on adding new products and verticals to his organisation’s inventory in the coming years. Moreover, he hopes to be able to capitalize on the newly emerging opportunities that are arising from the change in the international trading environment resulting from the opening up of world markets following the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A FUTURE-FOCUSED LEADER

Amit is a visionary leader who is always ready to face the uncertainties of the future. International cargo movement has been adversely affected by the COVID-19-induced pandemic in a variety of ways, including decline in production, inland transport constraints, storage capacity constraints and limited loading/unloading capacity at ports as well as airports.

His creative strategies and out-of-the-box thinking and proactive approach have helped his organisation to persevere and progress through the COVID-19 crisis also.

Mr. Sandhu is a highly experienced leader, who has held posts with RTOs and Higher Education Providers (HEPs), including Chief Executive Officer roles for International Colleges and Compliance and Quality Assurance Manager roles within several RTOs, TAFEs, and Universities. Additionally, he has been a Business Systems Project Official with the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) since 2008. Mr. Sandhu is an Australian citizen and Canadian permanent resident.

AN INSPIRING CAREER JOURNEY

Mr. Sandhu jumped at the chance to start his career when he was just 14 years old. His professional career began as a web designer and developer in Solan, a picturesque Himalayan town.

Despite starting his career at such an early age, he has been a constant learner. The lifelong learner balanced his career with a variety of academic courses and qualifications, which aided in his rapid advancement up the corporate ladder. In addition to two MBAs and three master’s degrees in IT and systems, Mr. Sandhu holds a Graduate Diploma in Management Learning, a Diploma in Training Design and Development, a Diploma in Vocational Education Training, a Diploma in Work, Health and Safety, a Diploma of Quality Auditing, an Advanced Diploma in Management, Marketing, Human Resources, Information Technology, and a variety of other courses and qualifications.

Through his business venture Career Calling International, the visionary leader aids in the development of skill pool of personnel to cater to the needs of global industry. Over the years, Career Calling International has grown to become a well known provider of professional development and workshops around the world through its subsidiaries — Edu learning and CAQA skills. Additionally, CAQA Recruitment and Career Calling Jobs are two of its subsidiaries that provide employment services.

BUILDING A POOL OF SKILLED LABOUR

Mr. Sandhu’s motivation for starting Career Calling in Australia was the fact that, when he first began looking into the market, he could not find any compliant learning or assessment resources. Even though he had resources at his disposal, none of them met his expectations. Thus, by means of Career Calling, he decided to facilitate audits, compliance support, advocacy for industry best practices, and much more.

Additionally, the tech-savvy leader invests a great deal in research, advanced technology, and the recruitment of exceptional talent. Since he believes that the very foundation of any organisation is its people, his primary goal has always been to identify individuals who are self-motivated. Furthermore, his team is composed of individuals with backgrounds in education or training.

In addition, he has some brilliant business analysts who assist the organisation to grow. Stakeholder feedback, along with benchmarking principles established in accordance with industry best practices, are used to assess the quality and efficacy of training offered by his company. Simultaneously, Mr. Sandhu consistently adopts efficient methods to better run the businesses and processes, while treating his employees like his extended family.

A leader with big plans, he is currently seeking suitable expansion opportunities across a broad range of market segments, including training and assessment, digital and on-line media, networking, and technology solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly made it more difficult for him to interact with the relevant individuals and businesses all over the world, but he gratefully accepts all of their offers and looks forward to interacting with them via video conferencing tools. With this in mind, his CAQA Publications has begun developing resources for Google Books and Amazon Kindle, with plans to make them available on 28 other platforms by the end of 2022.

Recently, he formed an agreement with Sydney-based EduLabs to deliver real-lab environments to clients.

A MULTI-TALENTED INDIVIDUAL

As a training consultant, Mr. Sandhu has broad project management experience in risk management, compliance, and administration. Over the years, he has been involved in nearly one hundred audits across Australia and is extremely knowledgeable about government compliance standards. Moreover, he provides consulting advice regarding ASQA/VRQA, TEQSA, ACPET, DET-HESG, VQF/Higher Education, ANMAC, AHPRA, CRICOS, ESOS, and ISO.

He also founded Australia’s first online radio station, Sukh Radio, in 2009 and served as a radio jockey with Australia’s premiere Punjabi radio station, interviewing some of his favourite celebrities in the world, among many other accomplishments. In addition, as a certified social media expert, he contributes a number of articles to Social Media Today.

MOMENTOUS ACHIEVEMENTS

In 2013, Mr. Sandhu was voted by Internet Choice Awards as the best blogger. His tweets have trended worldwide more than 45 times. Additionally, LinkedIn included his profile in the top 1% of most-viewed profiles for both 2012 and 2013.

Additionally, Canadian author, entrepreneur, and social media expert Evan Carmichael listed Mr. Sandhu among the top 100 social media specialists worldwide for the period from 2012 to 2016. He also won the first prize in a mini story competition organised by Haryana Punjabi (Sahit) Kala Manch in 2005. Moreover, between 1988 and 2000, he always won first prizes as a participant in stage acts and dramas.

In his spare time, Mr. Sandhu enjoys composing poems, writing stories, and learning new languages. He also has a YouTube channel with over 5.69k subscribers. Additionally, the compassionate leader is also a philanthropist. Over 500 non-profit organisations have benefited from his volunteer work.

Dr. Kapur has an unrelenting passion and dedication toward improving agricultural produce with better quality seeds that don’t harm the soil. He has spent a large amount of his career engaging in R&D to develop these high-yielding hybrid seeds in vegetable, cereal, and oil seed crops. His simple vision was to transform the seed sector and he dedicated his life to achieve transformation in agriculture for better outcome.

WHERE IT ALL BEGAN

A veteran in the food production industry, Dr. Arvind Kapur started his career in 1980 after completing his Ph.D. from Panjab Agriculture University in plant physiology and understanding molecular genetics functionality. Prior to that, he had completed B.Sc (Hons) and M. Sc (Hons) from the same university. After completing his education in 1980, he joined the PAU as an assistant professor in the plant breeding department. Soon, he was promoted to associate professor and in 1988 he left the university to join Pioneer Seed Company which became Proagro seed company in 1990. His journey to transform and lead some significant developments in the food production industry thus began. With a strong background in breeding and molecular genetics, Dr. Kapur worked diligently at Proagro. He was leading multiple functions at Proagro including R&D. Shortly after joining, in 1994, he was made the director of Proagro-PGS, a joint venture between Proagro and Plant Genetic Systems of Belgium, a leading company for biotech research. At Proagro-PGS, he started the first-ever experimental research on genetic modification in mustard seed in India. Soon he became the MD of this JV and led the development of the first transgenic mustard hybrid with “Seedlink” technology. His vision had always been to transform the seed sector and modernize the food production industry. With his dedication and hard work, he has been able to realize his vision and take this industry way beyond anyone would have thought. In 1998, Proagro merged with Agrevo-Hoechst and Aventis and finally in Bayer, and Dr. Kapur became the MD of Nunhems India after merger. He started the operations of vegetable seeds of the Global company Nunhems of Netherland in India. In a short span of 10 years, Nunhems became the leader in the vegetable seed sector and Dr. Kapur expanded its growth into China, Indonesia, and Thailand. By then he was also leading the R&D APAC region and thus led this company into geographical expansion. A few years down the line in 2009, Dr. Kapur decided to take plunge and started a vegetable seeds subsidiary under Rasi Seeds company with a different brand name HyVeg and that’s how began his entrepreneurial journey as CEO of Rasi HyVeg.

LEADING A REVOLUTION

In 2015, HyVeg was demerged from Rasi Seeds and named Acsen HyVeg. Dr. Kapur became the MD of this new entity and led this company to touch greater heights. Under his leadership and vision, Acsen HyVeg has been continuously providing the best quality vegetable seeds to small and medium land holding farmers. Dr. Kapur’s aim is not limited to developing the best quality hybrids but he is also working diligently to improve local open-pollinated varieties of vegetable crops. It is this foresight and futuristic vision that has led the company to be the 5th ranked company in Asia and number 1 in India ranked by ‘Access to Seed Index’ a global organisation supported by Bill Gate Foundation and FAO, a UN body. Dr. Kapur has made it as his mission to cover more acres with performing seeds and protect the soil as well as the environment through resistance breeding to reduce the chemical usage. Since the beginning of his career, Dr. Kapur has been committed to transforming agriculture through improved genetics and new technologies and he has translated this passion into his work at Acsen HyVeg. Dr. Kapur’s passion is contagious and rubs off on all his team members. The targets might be difficult to achieve but it is his strong support and work ethic that makes his entire team dedicated to the same cause. He is a people’s manager and believes in taking his entire team with him. He listens, guides, supports, and delegates work according to the team member’s ability. Only a true leader can bind a team together and ensure that while the collective dream gets fulfilled, each team member also gets enough space to grow and realize their own personal career goals.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Dr. Kapur has over 40 years of legacy behind him and his expertise in the food production area is truly unmatched. For his stellar contribution to the agriculture sector, he received the Bhartiya Udyog Ratan Award in 2006 and again in 2015. This award was presented by the Indian Economic Development and Research Association (IEDRA). He also received recognition from one of the leading publications Marquis Who’s Who which publishes short biographies of exceptional performers from all over the world. Dr. Kapur was listed in this prestigious magazine for three consecutive years from 2013-15. In 2020, he was named amongst ‘10 Best Leaders in Agriculture Industry’ by CEO Insights Magazine. He has also won the “Best Leader in Agriculture” Award by Food 2.0 Dubai. He has also shared the depth of his knowledge and experience in many papers and articles. With over 25 scientific articles and 25 professional articles to his name, he is one of the most noted authors in the sector. He also has published book chapters in Michigan State University publication on Vegetable breeding in climate change. Dr. Kapur is also a very sought-after name for lectures in India and all over the world. He has delivered more than 250 lectures on Biotechnology, Agriculture policies, IPR, and other related subjects. Most recently, he published an article in the magazine Business Sight’s 10 Most Trusted Brands of the Year 2021. He is also a prominent member of CII, FICCI, ASSOCHAM, and PHDCCI, Chairs the APSA Committee, and also member of the IP committee of ISF and was a board member of the Indo- Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology (ISCB). Presently he is vice chair of FSII.

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.

Primus helps elders reduce the process of ageing by eradicating loneliness and ensuring ‘Zero Falls’. We ensure being proactive than being reactive, a set of assessments are done before on boarding elders so that they can be monitored under a customized care plan by our in-house medical team. Adarsh’s main objective is to improve the quality of life for elders.

THE VISIONARY APPROACH

Young, passionate, and confident, Adarsh has always believed in the excellence that comes with experience. Thus, when he thought of devoting his time to building a senior care facility, he did not jump into the entrepreneurial journey impulsively. Instead, he decided to gather data and experience to create a relevant model. So, he traveled across countries to study the best practices in geriatric care. From understanding the model of retirement communities to living with them, he did it all to discover what is best for seniors. Finally, in 2013, he launched Primus Reflection – a safe haven for elders offering complete senior care via a robust and self-sufficed ecosystem. It was such a success that the project was awarded the ‘Senior Living Project of the Year’ at the Realty Plus Awards, 2014. Under his supervision, the company was felicitated with Times Business Award 2022 – The Best Senior Citizen Community, ET Business Excellence Award 2020 – Excellence in developing in Senior Living Community, Times Business Award 2021- Best Senior Living Community in Bangalore, & Realty+ Award – Best Senior Living Project of the year 2019. His goal for Primus is to be the leading CCRC Player and be there at every stage of an elders life.

ACING AHEAD WITH PASSION AND KNOWLEDGE

Under the leadership of Adarsh, Primus has seen tremendous growth. From 200 units, now Adarsh has signed up for 2000+ units across India in four cities, namely Chennai, Hyderabad, Pune, and Bangalore. And this is not the end. More than 1500 branches are in pipeline and he will soon launch at-home geriatric services. This accelerated growth of Primus is a direct result of Adarsh’s passionate and skilled business acumen. The hands-on knowledge that he gained while pursuing a Master’s degree in Construction Management from the University of Leeds helps him understand how to make his real estate projects successful. As for his engineering base, it comes from his graduation in Industrial Engineering and Management from the RV College of Engineering in Bangalore. In fact, he gets involved in all the projects right from conceptualization, planning, and development, through the marketing and sales phases, leading up to the post-sales support for the project.

EN ROUTE TO BIG THINGS

While Primus is close to Adarsh’s heart, he also invests his time in other ventures. For instance, he is also a Managing Partner of ReWild Retreats LLP, which specializes in gated communities of managed, uber-luxurious farmhouses. He has also partnered with India’s largest warehousing player, Indospace Logistics Parks.

His business portfolio also includes land banking & aggregation along with the development of residential and office spaces. He was recognized with Times 40 Under 40 Award 2020 and Young Entrepreneur Award Construction Times for his remarkable contribution in developing senior care communities. And looking at his long list of achievements and accolades, it is right to say that the sky is the limit for him.

Leadership is a trait that many people learn later in life. However, it is inherent when it comes to Dr. Shalya Raj. Her mentorship has been instrumental in the institution’s growth for the past few years. She intends to continue striving for world class education for her students.

IMPARTING KNOWLEDGE WITH DEDICATION

Dr. Shalya Raj’s tryst with education began long ago. She completed her graduation from the SDM College of Dental Sciences, Dharwad, and then pursued a Master’s in Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics from Subharti Dental College.

Over the years, she published numerous research papers and articles and even authored academic books. Her sense of purpose and passion for academic excellence impressed the board of trustees of Swami Vivekanand Subharti University so much that they chose her as the CEO of the university.

Under Dr. Shalya Raj’s aegis, the university continues to create new knowledge through research, provide extraordinary patient care, maintain excellence in the classroom, and a care for the community.

Dr. Shalya Raj is more than a celebrated academician and teacher. She is a good clinician, a trained Kathak dancer, and a Hindustani classical singer. Her versatility has made her an integral part of all the cultural as well as social events of the university. So, she not only guides students in academic fields but also encourages them to nurture their artistic streaks.

THE GOOD SAMARITAN

Her dedication to the environment is also commendable. She is an ardent environmentalist who loves to ‘Go Green.’ Due to her efforts, the Subharti University campus is filled with lush greenery and has adopted innovative initiatives such as solar-driven vehicles, rainwater harvesting, compost pits, etc. Dr. Shalya Raj also started the “One person Adopts Two Trees” initiative on the campus wherein students, teachers, and the non-teaching staff participated.

One more impressive initiative of Dr. Shalya Raj is the donation drive in collaboration with “Unmukt Bharat.” As a part of this organization, she conducts donation drives for underprivileged people where she collects food, medicine, clothes, etc.

The list of her good deeds doesn’t end here. Dr. Shalya Raj has also started a free crèche facility for working women on campus.

BALANCING LIFE AND SUCCESS

Maintaining the perfect work-life balance is Dr. Shalya Raj’s forte. She manages her personal life while passionately working for the university. She understands the importance of physical and mental health in achieving new milestones in life; therefore, she indulges in outdoor activities like badminton and swimming. She also loves spending time with her kids and imparting her beliefs and values to them.

WINNING ACCOLADES AND HEARTS

Dr. Shalya Raj leads by the example and has received multiple awards and accolades over the years. For instance, she was named the CEO of the Year by SUMMENTOR PRO. In 2020, she was also bestowed with The Education Covid-19 Warrior of the Year 2020 Award by Asia Today.

She also received a Certificate of Special Achievement, Naari Shakti Ko Pranaam, from Brijbhoomi Foundation. In addition, in 2021, the Arunodaya organization bestowed her with The Influential Women Award for her inspiring journey.