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Rohit Gaur: Driving Productivity Across Digital Product Teams
Founded in 1989, Infragistics is a world leader in providing tools to accelerate application design and development. Several blue chip companies, including Fidelity, Morgan Stanley, Exxon, Ikea, Bank of America, and Intuit, depend on Infragistics tools to build their applications.
Based in Gurgaon, India, Rohit Gaur has spearheaded Infragistics operations in India for the past decade. As the company’s Managing Director, he leads sales and operations for all Infragistics software and services in India. An industry veteran, Rohit has over two decades of experience in sales, building relationships with clients and partners at several large multinational companies, small and medium-sized businesses, and Indian government organizations. Being a leader of the organization, Rohit helps Infragistics maintain its position as a world leader in UI development tools and multi-platform enterprise software products and services. With his help, Infragistics has more than 250 employees, with offices spread across the U.S., Australia, Japan, Uruguay, Bulgaria, India, and the U.K.
“I am proud to lead Infragistics’ growth in India and provide leading-edge enterprise software that solves problems for those working in the fast-paced field of technology. I enjoy building trusted client relationships, forming true partnerships with our customers, helping them tackle new challenges, and meeting their customers’ needs in innovative ways,” he stated.
Rohit started his first job as a Channel Manager at Symantec Corp in 2001. He continued in the IT space further and moved into Serena Software as an Enterprise Account Manager. Later he joined Microsoft as Alliances Manager – North India. In June 2011, he started serving Symantec as the National Sales Manager – Enterprise (PSU) before joining Infragistics in May 2013.
Groundbreaking Products
As an organization, Infragistics stays ahead of its competition by encouraging internal innovation in product development and enhancement. One of its latest product offerings is Reveal, an embedded analytics platform allowing clients to integrate analytical capabilities into existing applications to bring real-time data insights to decision-makers. Reveal brings the power of data to all users and enables much quicker data-driven decisions inside the application without switching the context. Embedding Reveal into an application saves time, increases productivity, and helps with a better analytics experience.
Recently the organization has also built a new digital workplace tool named Slingshot. Clients can use this platform to get the work done in the digital realm and be productive irrespective of their location. The best part about Slingshot is that it streamlines a company’s workplace tech stacks by providing remote, in-person, and hybrid teams a single place to collaborate, set goals, make data-driven decisions, share content and communicate within the context they are working on. This revolutionary tool keeps people connected even when they are far apart and transforms the digital workplace with a software platform that can connect all departments, including R&D, marketing, sales, customer support, manufacturing, HR & IT.
The firm’s other popular enterprise software products include Indigo.Design, a design-to-code system; App Builder, low code/no-code software; and Infragistics Ultimate, a leading UI/UX toolkit.
Embracing Innovation
Rohit says, “Companies like Infragistics, which are clear market leaders, have one common factor — they all embrace innovation. Not only can internal innovation represent significant cost savings, but it can also successfully originate new concepts and enhance employee engagement. Because we create teams that support innovation and welcome creativity, everyone can be involved in generating ideas, improving those ideas, and prototyping the best ideas.”
With the launch of the Infragistics Innovation Lab, Rohit and his colleagues successfully cemented the firm’s commitment to its internal inventors and entrepreneurs. For several years, the organization informally developed game-changing enterprise software products in-house. Presently, Infragistics has a $50 million fund and a formal process for constant innovation, which it needs to continually stay ahead of the technology curve. The firm’s Innovation Lab encourages its employees to contribute with a regular stream of insights that could help shape any upcoming innovation. It also empowers internal inventors to experiment with innovations beyond its core UI/UX products without the need to generate immediate revenue.
Tackling the Pandemic
When the pandemic started impacting organizations and their employees, everything quickly moved online, and employees struggled to tackle the new normal and be productive without being able to collaborate in person. However, Infragistics’ global company already had a lot of people working remotely, and the organization had the needed infrastructure in place to completely shift its workforce online, resulting in high productivity levels.
During the pandemic, many organizations started working to redefine their workplaces to be much more productive for in-person, remote, and hybrid teams. As a company, Infragistics recognized that these businesses were in dire need of a better digital workplace with a single platform allowing their teams to collaborate on data analytics, projects, content, and chat. So, it ramped up its effort to develop the revolutionary Slingshot platform to support firms that were not fully prepared for the pandemic and released this platform to meet the needs of remote, hybrid, and in-person employees.
Picture of the Future
Infragistics is leading the enterprise software market with cutting-edge innovations in low-code software, business intelligence embedded analytics, and transformational team-performance software. Its development strategy goes beyond the UI/UX tools to include product development tools, embedded analytics, and digital workplace software.
Infragistics’ founder and CEO Dean Guida guides the firm in maintaining its focus on innovation, improvement, and success in the enterprise software tools market. Over the past three decades, Infragistics has demonstrated a passion for excellence and takes pride in the quality of everything it does. In the future, it will continue to develop solutions for its clients that are rooted in a deep and thorough understanding of their needs.
Dong Jin Son: Helping Brands Grow, Innovate, and Transform
Based in Seoul, Korea, Krema Worldwide has created various award-winning ideas to help brands grow, innovate, and transform. With its wide range of strategic and creative talent, Krema derives optimal strategies and crafts globally competitive campaigns.
Having worked with global behemoths like LG Electronics, Samsung Mobiles, Lotte, and Disney Korea, the founder, and CEO, of Krema Worldwide, Dong Jin Son, brings more than two decades of experience with him. Majored in foreign literature, Son joined Korea’s number one advertising agency Cheil Worldwide, where he was assigned to the department of global marketing business. Soon, Son went on numerous business trips across the world and accumulated local marketing insights, and realized that advertising is not just a creative video that appears on the viewer’s screen but it is a solution that solves various concerns of the marketers. At this point of time, Son understood that his role was limited only to large organizations, so he voluntarily left Cheil Worldwide and moved to a three-person startup. Meanwhile, he completed his MBA from a University in Finland and received his doctorate in digital content, which helped him understand clients’ concerns in their broad business
activities. Later in May 2009, he founded his own company Krema Worldwide, focusing on providing specialized services for overseas marketing and clients who can utilize the organization’s capabilities while conducting global marketing.
Path Breaking Services
Since its foundation, Krema Worldwide has successfully established itself and proliferated in sales and size in a yearly manner. As a result, Krema received 17 awards in the last five years in various leading international festivals like Cannes, New York, and One Show. The organization was also ranked among the top 10 across multiple ad journals, including Ad Age and Campaign. “This is proof that our company has been recognized worldwide for creativity, which is the core of advertising. Since January 2019, we have also expanded the area of ad agencies to an e-commerce business that encompasses all participants in the marketing ecosystem.”- says Son. He explains the primary goal of his business is to provide A to Z solutions starting from overseas marketing to sales agents for various small and medium-sized companies that have competitive products but lack an international presence. Krema also has a roadmap to build a very competitive e-commerce platform by connecting clients, individual sellers, digital media owners, and financial & trade businesses.
Working as the backbone of the company, Krema’s planning professionals make the most timely, trendy, and accurate marketing results by learning fast trends. They are the strategists, communicators, and do-it-all creatives who deliver flawless project execution from concept to creation. Additionally, the firm uses current technologies like AI, data, and metaverse to internalize all the internal and external resources in the shortest time possible; depending on that; immediate service can be operated. With its agility and mobility, Krema’s business model is much ahead of other professional agencies.
The Asian Business Environment
Son feels growth in Asia will be much more noticeable in the future, especially in Indonesia, which has witnessed a rapid recovery of the advertising market since late 2020. The proportion of digital advertising costs in countries like India and Indonesia stands around the 20% range. However, with the rapid growth rate of 10%, they will soon become the pillars of the global advertising market. As a result, the traditional North American and Western European markets will start decreasing in the future.
He explains that Asian consumers are highly interested in social networks. They know the process of learning information quickly and communicate actively, even in non-face-to-face situations. Additionally, their huge interest in the latest technologies meant they were the first to embrace Metaverse and NFT to grow their businesses. So, marketers need to study diligently and move quickly because of these unique characteristics of Asian consumers. Ad-agency’s flagship products have also changed along with those trends. Even a decade ago, an advertising agency’s primary job was to plan and produce commercial advertisements for a market mainly focused on TVC and print. Now cut to 2022, most of the organization’s products are YouTube-based video advertising or a website for consumer awareness of corporate brands and content to communicate with consumers over various communities. At present, organizations are paying much more attention to AI, metaverse, and OTT platforms.
Future Roadmap
As the founder of his company, Son’s short-term goal is to successfully pivot from the world of digital content to the new area of media. He says, “Global advertising trend is shifting to non-face-to-face, virtual reality after endemic, enabling agencies to propose the most practical and efficient ad packages the clients need. To this end, the company’s professional staff are working hard on R&D every day and night and, at the same time, continue to challenge through constant internal collaboration. In the mid-long term, it is to properly demonstrate the synergy caused by M&A. It is to successfully combine marketing assets based on IPs of ads, movies, and dramas to develop service products for clients that have never existed before.”
Led by Son, Krema recently ran M&A with Asia’s one of the best new media content production companies Dexter Studio. He feels the synergy of M&A is of utmost importance in realizing Krema’s dreams. It’s also much easier to raise investment funds than it used to be. “I strongly believe skilled tech resources combined with our planning resources would greatly increase the chances of achieving business objectives. We’re not going to stop here, but we’re going to expand our reach further as a group specializing in global digital media and content.”– he says.
Few Thoughts
As an industry, advertising is well known for its cutthroat competition. Recently multiple cases of business failure have emerged due to the pandemic. Son says, “But in the meantime, someone is making money out of this red ocean, leading the market, generating demand. I try to keep Dexter Krema (changed company name after M&A last year) listed in that mainstream. Only diligent research and development, maintaining a young and fast organization, and constantly finding newness and collaborating with outside powers make this possible.” This year, Dexter Krema plans to lead the industry by introducing the latest marketing by combining various partners and technologies related to the 4th industrial revolution. “In addition, we will share the fruits of the fast-growing company with all our stakeholders, helping to create a successful future for each employee, not the fundamental goal of sales as mentioned earlier.”– he added.
10 Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills
Communication skills is one of the required skill for any employee and businessman in every field of work. Being able to communicate with people creates your impact and impression on them. Better speaking abilities help you to get tangled in daily conversation and people easily. If you have a vast knowledge of things but are unable to communicate your ideas firmly, then your thoughts and innovative ideas cannot reach many people.
The ability to communicate with people often helps you in your personal and professional life. One cannot develop good communication abilities in one night or a year. It is a long process; you must be attentive and a learner throughout your life. If you are practicing daily for the skill which you want to acquire then you can be able to get perfection in any skill. Communication is a two-way process, so the most essential thing is practice, it helps to flourish your abilities and perfect your skills. First, try to understand anyone in front of you, and then by thinking in mind give an appropriate and suitable answer or explanation to him. Many people try to give quick responses to others while discussing, but this is the absolutely wrong thing; you should prepare your solution by analyzing that person’s point of view and then give a response to it.
So, let’s seek some basic steps to improve communication at personal and professional levels.
- Enhance your listening abilities
If you think speaking has a vital role in communication, it is not entirely true because listening is also a very important part of communication. If you listen to the other person carefully and give 100 percent attention to him, you get more prepared for your response because if you know the subject and issue, you can conveniently give your response to that person. While talking with another person, if you take a call or are busy with some other work, your distracted personality can make an impression on that person. So be attentive and reactive while talking with others, especially with professional people.
- Try to put forth your ideas in a simple way
No matter how much people listen to you or who listens to you, just convey and deliver your ideas in simple words with confidence. One thing is you noticed that people listen and give keen attention towards those things and communicate where they sound like some simple things. Actually, simply delivering complex ideas or things is an art of communication! So anyone can gain it by practicing and observing small things. So it does not matter how difficult things are; make it simple stupid!
- Be confident and self-aware
Your good communication is the reflection of your self-belief and confidence through which you are able to impress people. If you are clear about your thoughts, emotions, and ideas, you can easily communicate with people by pulling their attention and interest toward your speech; this is called self-awareness. Emotional intelligence plays an integral part in all processes of communication. Self-aware people with good emotional intelligence can handle various hard and exciting situations with great attitudes. So before listening to others in the communication process, give priority to listening to your mind and inner voice; then you don’t need to hesitate while speaking.
- Focus on Body Language
Though now, there are virtual meetings and videoconferencing in business meetings as well as any other meeting. But body language is necessary for the communication process between two people. The position of your hand, crossing your legs, and eye contact with another person define your personality and speaking skills. So give, focus on your movements, and make eye contact while communicating with people.
- Pay attention to your tone and voice.
At the time of any conversation, voice tone matters the most. Tone or voice is not much important during informal communication, but at a professional and formal level, your voice tone tells many things about your overall personality. Sometimes many understandings between people happen due to the wrong pitch of voice during the discussion, don’t be so loud. Say your point with politeness and softness. Your low-pitched voice and etiquette tell about your calm nature and thinking mind. So also, in tough situations, think in your mind before you say something and then answer calmly.
- Make eye contact
Effective eye contact shows your confidence level with people while communicating. It shows the honest side of your personality. Making eye contact with a communicator tells you that you are paying full attention to his speaking and are interested in talking with him. Don’t creep in between the communication; it creates a wrong impression and misconception.
- Ask Questions
Good communication happens when one is eager to ask a question to another person. It shows the interest of that person in his speaking. This questioning of one another results in the exchange of information and knowledge between the two people, which is known as effective communication. As discussed in one of the above processes, communication is a two-way process. The response from another person matters the most to continue the speaking between the two people.
- Clear in mind before speaking
If we share our thoughts or ideas with people, especially at a professional level, then make sure to think and plan about the important points in our minds. In formal cases and at any other time, try to speak after you get clear in your mind, which helps you convey your point of view to another. Do not stand in front of people without preparation or practice for any important meeting or presentation because this communication does not impact the audience or listeners.
- Be to the point
The sign of an effective communicator is that it catches the desired subject or topic on which he has to speak. You have seen the leaders in the world who communicate with people at the time of the speech, they already prepare the important points and topics to cover, and they can effectively put their thoughts up to their audience. The other benefit of speaking is you get clear about your thoughts and don’t hesitate while speaking. Many times while saying, people think that effective communication means too much speaking, but it makes a wrong impact on other people. If you talk by considering specific ideas and thoughts, then people start to give you respect and value to your sayings and visions.
- Record your voice while speaking
Good communication is not an inborn skill. You have to acquire it through practice and keeping yourself updated. But it requires consistency. To improve your communication skills, you can try one simple process. You only have to record or make your video while speaking on different topics and observe your body language, voice tone, pronunciation, and confidence level, which help you brush up your skill daily. By giving only half an hour for this process, you will get better at communication within a few months or years. You will notice your changing personality and communication level in a few years by practicing it daily.
Bizsu: Helping with Best Energy Savings Solutions
Founded in 2019, Singapore-based Bizsu helps companies save 25% on air conditioning consumption by using a very simple and patented net. Bizsu helps its clients by providing the easiest and one of the most energy-saving solutions on the market presently. It does not use high-tech solutions like others; instead, it uses a low-tech solution entirely made of natural ingredients.
Over a century ago, Willis Carter invented the air-conditioning machine, which is about the same type we use nowadays. Although very useful, we humans added this system everywhere possible, resulting in an enormous amount of pollution. So, now we need maximum energy efficiency to minimize its impact as soon as possible. Bizsu wants to help its clients reduce their carbon footprint and energy consumption. For example, the startup ran a pilot at CapitaLand, and the result showed that it has achieved up to 51% savings on their AHU in LogisTech, a certified Green Mark Platinum Super-Low Energy building and one of the most efficient buildings in Singapore.
Bizsu’s primary solution, named CONTINEWM®, is a Japanese patented net made out of a specific ceramic, saving 25% on air-conditioning consumption on average. Unlike any other energy-saving solutions, CONTINEWM® fits every kind of air conditioning system, making it accessible and compatible for all. This also uniformizes the temperature while purifying air, requires only a few minutes for installation, fits any air conditioning system, and lasts a lifetime.
As a startup, Bizsu has witnessed companies set up carbon reduction objectives without the knowledge to implement them effectively. So, the firm also provides sustainability workshops to educate employees regarding climate change, and then according to their company activities, BIZSU helps them define the initiatives they want to carry out in the short, mid, and long term.
Saving the Environment
Brice Degeyter, a serial entrepreneur, a human-centric person, and an environmental defensor, founded Bizsu in 2019. While working on his dream job in 2016, Brice was shocked by how we humans treated the environment and amazed by the solutions and opportunities available to us. Brice then decided to devote his time and energy to bringing sustainability solutions with maximum impact.
Experienced in sustainability initiatives for several big companies, Brice understands the importance of making customers loyal, suppliers happier, and employees prouder. Under his leadership, Bizsu works with some of the biggest companies, including CapitaLand, Keppel, JLL, Bollore Logistics, Food-Panda, etc.
Asian Market Trends
Brice believes that the Asian market has enormous potential, and he feels this is just the beginning. According to a poll by JLL in the Asia Pacific region, as much as 70% of organizations were willing to pay higher rents for green-certified buildings. So, an increasing number of employees and companies want to focus on sustainability and environmentalism. Also, the younger generation prefers to work for an organization that cares for the environment. Another research says, around 40% of millennials have selected a job due to the sustainability factor of the company, whereas 70% feel that their company’s good sustainability plan will encourage them to work there long term. So, working for the environment is essential to attracting and retaining talent. This showcases how all the stakeholders are ready to pay a premium for sustainability; hence, going green is definitely worth the company’s cost.
Changed Priorities
Once founded, Bizsu started offering different solutions. As many sustainable solutions exist, Brice wanted every company to know them and be able to buy and use them. However, it failed to meet the market need. Eventually, Brice realized air conditions represent 30% of Singapore’s CO2 emissions. With the massive number of air conditions across the country, Bizsu and its clients have a lot to gain by saving energy. So, step-by-step, the company focused entirely on air conditions and devoted time and energy towards bringing sustainability solutions to maximize effect and impact.
“Air conditioning represents an astronomical amount of Singapore’s CO2 emissions, roughly 30%, so we want to provide the region with our solution and help save one million tons of CO2 in Singapore by 2027.”– says Brice.
Mission and Vision
As an organization, Bizsu aspires to create fast ROI and easy-to-implement solutions to reduce energy consumption for real estate, hotels, warehouses, and schools. The firm wants to help clients reduce their carbon footprint as much as possible for as long as possible.
Sustainability for Bizsu means reducing the amount of CO2. So, as a business specializing in energy savings, Bizsu’s main priority is to help companies do that. It believes that the best strategy for companies to reach their objective is to focus on sustainability and reducing carbon emissions.
“We should not have to compromise between business and sustainability. Both are compatible, and we prove it every day.“- states Brice.
Preparing for the Future
Bizsu believes that we are currently in the age of the sustainability revolution. Earlier it was the digital revolution of the 1990s and 2000s. Now a sustainability revolution is ready to start, indicating that if businesses fail to choose the proper course of action, they will struggle. We have already seen several companies, like Kodak, Blockbuster, etc., fail due to a lack of adoption. So, as we witnessed decades ago, if businesses are not evolving quickly enough, they will face serious consequences. In the coming years, just like the digital world is crucial to our daily lives now, businesses will have to focus on doing good for the environment.
Mary Radenkovic: Celebrating Feminity by Creating Iconic Styles
Meet Mary Radenkovic, the founder and designer of London-based women’s luxury brand Lavishly Appointed. Hailing from the Mediterranean, Mary’s connection to the sea and nature, coupled with her love for fashion, inspired her to create her own brand that celebrates femininity, style, and luxury with sustainable practices at the forefront of the process. The brand was created for like-minded women seeking unique and eye-catching dynamic pieces that can take them from day through night.
Launched in 2016 in London, Lavishly Appointed offers essential costumes, bikinis, loungewear, innovative body adornments, and dresses that are designed and developed by Mary.
Following its philosophy, ‘buy less, buy better,’ the luxury resort brand creates several unique, multifunctional, and timeless pieces with a razor-sharp focus on craftsmanship. Most of the products made by the brand are artisanally handmade by women for women.
It’s all About Sustainability
Mary says, “The company values are all about sustainability. The swimsuits are made out of recycled plastic. Resortwear is 90% handmade – in that way, we are helping artisan women.” The brand’s garments are made of exclusive, premium, sustainable materials. The brand doesn’t believe in only practicing sustainability. Instead, it strives to create a movement to spread awareness. In order to bring change and awareness, Lavishly Appointed has started the ‘Save the Fish campaign,’ encouraging its clientele to participate in the change. When clients buy any products bearing the brand’s Goldfish logo, 20% of the profit goes to several non-profit organizations working on ocean wildlife preservation and the reduction of plastic pollution.
However, when it comes to practicing sustainability, Lavishly Appointed’s manufacturing process uses solar energy to power its warehouse. Additionally, it is also fighting for equal pay for the workers. Mary and her team at the company want to show that they are not only selling fashion products but are also selling a lifestyle and a message.
In addition to its environmental awareness, Lavishly Appointed takes great pride in handling the production process. The human aspect is also cherished in every step of the production process, taking into account the human rights of every artisan by providing a nourishing environment for their creative process. As a firm supporter of women’s and children’s rights, Mary makes sure that Lavishly Appointed’s female employees have equal status with its male workforce.
The True Mentor
Although Mary is friends with many successful entrepreneurs willing to share their words of wisdom, she only considers her late grandfather as her true mentor. Also, a fashion designer, Mary’s late grandfather helped her develop a genuine passion for fashion at a very young age that has been with her.
Mary made sketches for her first collection at the age of 12 and started working in the fashion world at 15. Initially, she worked as a model for beachwear, make-up, and hair products and became a face for multiple European brands.
Suggestions for Younger Self
Mary suggests that entrepreneurs must love what they do. She says, “You can only be your own and enjoy your own success if you have fought for it, failed several times, and eventually achieved it yourself. I think it is when you turn behind and reflect on everything that happened, and you realize that despite all the difficulties, you managed to get your idea and your dream to come true.”
Picture of the Future
Mary’s goal is to go back to the days of handmade production, just to bring back individuality and uniqueness. So, every design from Lavishly Appointed is entirely handmade by some of the finest artisans in the business.
When it comes to the future, the brand is hoping to have its own fashion show at the Miami Fashion Week. Mary states, “Opening our first branch store would be the next challenge and the next step, but we have not yet decided on the details.”
Rajiv Malik: Revolutionizing the Digital Ink Experience
Established in 1983 in Japan, Wacom is a global leader in the pen display and tablet market for creative users across the planet. The brand Wacom is derived from the word ‘Wa,’ which means Harmony in Japanese. Wacom products are widely used by the creative communities, including; illustrators, animators, graphic designers, editors, fashion designers, and industrial design professionals.
“Led by its current Sr. Director, Rajiv Malik, Wacom India also provides digital ink solutions for its wide range of partners at the global level Wacom is providing Ink solutions to various partners using and producing tablets and smartphones. However, Wacom India is focussed on developing Creative, Education, and Digital Signature solution markets only.”
Journey of the Leader
Rajiv started his professional career with an exciting opportunity to promote Professional Recording Media products in Film and Television Studios, News and Entertainment Channels, Independent Documentaries, and Film Makers.
He says, “As I networked with the industry, and made many good industry friends while interacting with some of the amazing and highly successful Creative Directors, Artists, and Technical Heads, I felt the need to go deeper to understand how technological advancements are helping the industry to unleash the creativity.”
This was the crucial time of transition for the industry from analog to digital. It eventually enabled Rajiv to switch to the core industry of A/V professionals, where core broadcast and digital imaging products have been an integral part of all film and broadcast studios. With Electronics Engineering as a base qualification, Rajiv has always been very passionate about working closely with the Creative Community and Technologists. He has also pursued a master’s degree in Business Administration at a later stage.
Not a Typical IT Company
“What I learned while joining Wacom is that it’s not a typical IT trading company.”– Says Rajiv. Creativity flows in Wacom’s DNA. It designs products with a strong intention of supporting creative professionals. He adds, “Diversified culture, strong leadership, values, and ethics, with creativity at the core, were reasons enough for me to join this amazing company. This very well resonated with my previous work background.”
Rajiv’s most ambitious project is transforming traditional Wacom office set-ups into Creative Experience Centers. He plans to redesign these spaces to reverberate with creative minds, not just for aspiring artists but also for internal team members. He feels Wacom’s customers must get the feel of its products by simulating an artistic environment. Along with the metro cities, Rajiv also plans to expand Wacom India’s presence in smaller cities and towns to provide the best experience to the widely spread creative communities with diverse backgrounds.
Tackling the Pandemic
Rajiv says, “Though the Pandemic was unfortunate for all, however on the brighter side, our business saw exponential growth.”
The pandemic increased the practical usage of pen tablets in the education sector. During the lockdown period, academicians discovered how digital pen tablets and displays play a critical role in remote teaching and learning. It helped people realize the power of digital tools, helping professionals and students communicate much more effectively without missing the natural flow of knowledge transfer.
Soon distance education became much less cumbersome. With more accessible and effective education, many of the ed-tech groups came forward and established themselves very quickly. Rajiv further adds, “The Media and Entertainment industry saw a big shift towards OTT. Access to Creative as well as Academic Education, and WFH for the Corporate sector gave a big boost to our business.”
Current Market
Rajiv feels the market is changing rapidly, even faster than it ever did in the past. With the ever-changing situation, most institutions that have already experienced the advantage of digital tools are constantly working on setting up Hybrid set-ups/classrooms for a long-term perspective. He believes the market has evolved to a large extent and will continue to evolve in segments like education, film, and television production in the coming years. Also, content creation for cinemas is bouncing back to its earlier levels after two consecutive years of slowdown.
Picture of the Future
Wacom plans to further develop and introduce its state-of-the-art products and cutting-edge technologies to support artists express their creativity safely. Rajiv says, “Supporting communities by introducing easier-to-use, highly accurate devices to support creative expressions will remain at the core. There’s a growing need to secure the precious content created by artists, which is being made possible with the help of blockchain technologies.” The company wants to further expand its presence and strengthen close two-way communication with its clients via various platforms. By demonstrating its latest products, solutions, and the best hands-on experience to budding professionals, Wacom’s direct presence as a legal entity in India makes a lot of difference.
The 10 Most Futuristic Business Women Pioneering Innovation, 2022
Leadership Lessons : Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
I have had the privilege of being the country manager for Poly India & SAARC for over 3 years and one of my
biggest learnings so far is: becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. As a business leader, you will have
to be decisive, take tough decisions (and stand by them), and see how you motivate your team to achieve the
best outcomes.
If I could impart five tips and learnings from my personal leadership journey, it would be :
- Take that giant leap of faith. You never know; it might just be worth it, and the decision to make that jump may end up changing your life and career.
Often, growth happens when we step outside our comfort zone. Have conviction and self–belief in yourself and your abilities, and take a giant leap of faith when you are presented with an opportunity. It may be scary at first and you may even end up failing, however, you would have had the satisfaction of having tried.
- Give in your 100%, no matter what you are doing
The Bhagavad Gita also says, “The wise man lets go of all the results, whether good or bad and is focused on the action alone.”
I want to take this a step further and modify it by saying, give it your 100%, whatever actions you perform, personal or professional, give it your all, and whenever you do this, despite the fact that you may not get your most desirable or ideal outcome, the results still won’t be half as bad because your hard work and efforts never go to waste.
- Master the art of intrinsic motivation
Even when no one else is watching you, or there is no one to support you or push you to deliver your best, you owe it to yourself to discover your own potential. When you learn to motivate and push yourself without any external motivators like a manager watching over you or even when there are no sales numbers or deliverables that are attached to your performance, is when you have become a true leader and a great performer.
- To be a good leader, you need to learn to lead with your head, heart, and hands.
The head to envision the future and the priorities that are needed to succeed, the heart to inspire and empower my employees, and the hands to ensure innovative and agile–execution capabilities.
- Be decisive, loyal, and committed
As a leader, you will have to sometimes make tough decisions. Make these decisions and stick by them. There is no shortcut to hard work; learn about loyalty and commitment and embody its principles. Be loyal and committed to your organization, customers, and partners. Always put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about their pain points and how you can support them. Be committed not just to your own professional growth but also to the organization’s overall growth and success.
Rohan karnataki: Revolutionizing the Indian Tech-Industry
Hindavi Technologies, led by its founder Mr. Rohan Karnataki, is a US-based IT Services & Product Development company. Over the last 14 years, Hindavi Technologies has been at the forefront of providing IT solutions and has completed over 1000 projects for more than 300 clients globally.
Since its foundation in 2009, the organization has ventured into Product Development in 2015 with its flagship product Xporience, an Event Technology Platform for various exhibitions and conferences. It is now one of the most sought-after products for global event organizers spread across Dubai, Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe. Till date, Xporience has worked with many coveted clients, including Dubai Expo 2020, MCI(Switzerland), and dmg::events, amongst others.
After the overwhelming success of its flagship product, Hindavi Technologies has launched its second Product – CareerFirst Edutech, which is India’s first 360° degree Career Design Platform for upskilling and making India Employable.
Rohan and Hindavi Technologies has been recognized with awards like “Top 10 Mobility Companies in India – 2018”, “Best Product Development Company – 2019”, and the “Best Entrepreneur Award – 2021”, “Best Companies to Work for – 2022.”
The organization leverages its massive domain and technology experience to provide various services like IT Services (UI/UX, Mobility, IoT, Cloud Computing, and Digital Marketing), IT Solutions (Application Development, Product Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Testing, Startup MVP, IT Consulting, and Enterprise Product Development), Cyber-Security Consulting (Assessments & Audits, Compliance, Infrastructure Security, Vendor Assessment, Cybersec Awareness), Remote Staffing(Staff Augmentation, Offshore Staffing, IT Outsourcing, RPO Services, and Contract Staffing).
The Steadfast Leader
As the founder of Hindavi Technologies, Mr. Rohan Karnataki realized pretty early that India is one of the youngest countries, with over 62% of the population in the working age group and 54% of the population below 25 years of age. He feels the present era of technological innovation provides an excellent opportunity to leverage intellectual capital and positively impact Indian society.
“My main motivation to start a business venture is to work with such bright young minds and create innovative products in the field of education, healthcare, and core technology.” – he says.
A first-generation techpreneur with more than a decade’s experience in the IT industry, Rohan is a Computer Science graduate and holds a management degree from Australian National University, Canberra.
A serial entrepreneur at heart, Rohan started his first business at the age of 8 by selling popsicles at a local bus depot, which helped him learn the value and meaning of time, money, and an honest day’s work. Later while studying in college, he ran a successful facility management service, employing seasonal farmers who were out of work during the off-season. He also curated an entirely commission-free marketplace for farmers to sell their products directly online, eliminating middlemen and increasing farmers’ profits.
Later in 2011, Rohan Co-founded Colortronic Studios Pvt Ltd, a Pune-based creative agency encompassing strategy, design, technology, and media. He launched 100 Days of Walking in 2020, a global health and fitness movement aimed to motivate people and inculcate walking as a part of their lifestyle. Rohan is also the Founder of CareerFirst Edutech, India’s premier Ed-tech 360° Career Design Platform.
Implementing New Ideas
Rohan kickstarted an Intrapreneur Program in the organization, where employees come up with their product ideas, and the company encourages them to work on their ideas by giving them the necessary creative independence to work on a minimum viable product (MVP). Rohan is also making giant strides in upskilling these intrapreneurs to help them understand various aspects of business and become successful.
Additionally, Rohan’s new edtech startup CareerFirst Edutech assists students and employees in identifying their best career roadmap and pursuing the proper education and skill-sets to get their dream jobs or start a business, depending on their aspirations, values, and interests. CareerFirst provides technology training and upskilling to graduate students and also provides full scholarships to deserving students.
Tackling the Pandemic
The 2020 pandemic affected most industries to a great extent. However, Rohan recognized this as an opportunity and created a roadmap to enhance the employee skill sets, create various new future-ready products, and a post-pandemic growth roadmap.
He helped employees to get trained in the latest technologies, and was also allowed to publish white papers related to the IT sector and other domains related to various products of Hindavi Technologies.
In order to upgrade the employability skill sets, Hindavi technologies also conducted various non-technical workshops within the organization. Also, regular brainstorming sessions helped its teams to discuss new product feature ideas, and employees were also rewarded for their valuable contributions.
As a result of these activities, the organization started an entirely online Event Technology Platform for Event organizers, which empowers online exhibitions and conferences and seamlessly integrates with their existing product offerings. Led by its founder Rohan Karnataki, Hindavi Technologies also ventured into its second product CareerFirst, an ed-tech platform addressing the employability gap in India.
Exciting Times Ahead
Rohan feels this is the most exciting time in the technology industry. Innovation is being made in various fields, including AI, ML, Robotics Process Automation(RPA), Quantum Computing, VR, AR, IoT, Blockchain, and Cyber Security.
He says, “There is a huge gap for Product and Service Providers in this trillion-dollar economy. Considering the current startup eco-systems and govt. policies, I believe that the current market scenario opens up a huge business opportunity for the millennial generation.”
When it comes to the future, Rohan aspires to be at the forefront of technological innovation as a technology evangelist. On the other hand, Hindavi Technologies also plans to create various value-based products in the healthcare and education sector by using technologies like AI/ML, AR/VR, and Blockchain.
To achieve this, the firm has an R&D team that works in tandem with educational institutions, industry mentors, and innovators. Hindavi Technologies also has strong connections with the investing and startup community to kickstart various new projects and create the new unicorns in India.