Exclusive Interview Archives

Naveen Puttagunta: Helping Organizations with User Experience and Interface Designing

Meet Naveen Puttagunta, CEO of Divami Design Labs, started his career working with QA and product development teams. Later he served as a product manager in multiple large enterprise software firms, where he has been a vital part of the entire product lifecycle of software development. Thanks to his years of experience, Naveen has observed the evolution of UI and UX and quickly realized its incredible potential to transform digital products and experiences, which eventually led to the foundation of Divami.

As a UX and UI design and development agency Divami aims to create user experiences that add outstanding value to various digital products and platforms, one design at a time. The organization solves complex problems across verticals like; Data integration, FinTech, HealthTech, EduTech, HRMS, Transportation, Supply Chain, Logistics, DevOps, IoT, AR/VR, AI/ML, etc. The design firm impresses its clients by pushing itself beyond the finishing line with its strategic solutions, unique UX and UI designs, and efficient design-led development.

Divami’s tech stack is filled with recent technologies like Javascript, React, HTML 5, CSS3, SASS, LESS, Android Studio, Bootstrap, MySQL, iOS, Swift, etc. As India’s one of the first UX agencies in 13 years, Divami has specialized in domains like Data Integration & Analytics, Real-Time Monitoring, Voice User Interface, Content led Commerce, Crypto, MEL education, and more. The firm’s primary strength lies in Enterprise software, SaaS and Cloud Platforms, Digital Transformation, and Consumer and E-Commerce applications.

Innovative Solutions

Since Divami’s inception, Naveen’s eyes were set on the global stage. The leadership team wanted to deliver exceptional digital product experiences and become an aspirational global brand. With 80 team members, Divami is currently providing a cutting-edge digital experience to its international clientele.

The firm’s core service offerings include UX Strategy, UX & UI design, Design-led-Development Services for B2B SaaS platforms, User Research, Technology Software products, Enterprise Digital Transformation Projects, eCommerce marketplaces, and Consumer Applications. Till date, the company has worked with some of the biggest names in the tech and SaaS industry, including HCL, Collins Aerospace, Google, RightData, Zenoti, DarwinBox, etc.

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Divami is the number 1 ranked UX and UI Design Agency in India on ‘Clutch.co.’ The firm has worked with more than 200 clients around the planet and touched over 50 million people. Recently, the firm was honored with the CII Design Excellence Award and Web Excellence Award for its platform designs.

Keeping it Going

The Divami team is continually motivated to achieve efficient excellence and perfection in every aspect of a project. Naveen says, “At the end of the day, we are only as successful as our work is. This is why most of our clients come back to us because our designs have made them and their products successful.”

With the leadership team providing a sense of ownership and belonging, the average employment period in Divami is somewhere between 3-5 years. Many of the team members have started their careers with the firm and have stayed with it for a long time.

With very high attrition rates, the entire leadership team is proud to treat employees as stakeholders rather than contributors. So, Naveen Puttagunta believes that as long as the employees are motivated to improve both professionally and personally, that allows them to face challenges, they will perform.

The Era of Uncertainty and Instability

The pandemic has brought many uncertainties and instabilities over the past two years. In order to combat those, Divami has adopted Adaptability and Risk-Taking as one of its core values. Although the firm’s core business model hasn’t changed during the pandemic, these core values helped it a lot. Since the team was already accustomed to remote work, there were very few changes in the execution model. However, it revamped the project management, design, and delivery process to run everything smoothly.

Tackling Challenges

Naveen Puttagunta feels that design firms primarily compete for promising talents instead of customers. However, that isn’t to suggest that there’s no competition; there is always competition.

There are instances of prospects comparing established design firms like Divami with freelancers and other small design companies; this is when the leadership team explains the upper hand clients will get after partnering with the company.

Picture of the Future

Divami is transforming with each passing day. Thanks to an influx of long-term clients and multiplying projects, the firm is looking to expand its team in the upcoming years. It has set aggressive targets to equip itself with the right resources, training, and team expansion, ensuring the delivery of efficient excellence to all of its clients.

In an attempt to stay future-proof, Divami has also started working on solutions in the emerging trends like; Metaverse, Web 3.0, AR/VR, IoT, and more to deliver on upcoming requirements.

Mr. Julio P. Gonzalez: One of the Most Innovative CEOs to Follow in 2022

Meet Mr. Julio P. Gonzalez, the Most Interesting Man in Tax, the founder and CEO of USA’s most prominent specialty tax engineering firm, Engineered Tax Services, Inc (ETS). The firm started its journey in 2001 with the hopes of bringing specialized tax credits and incentives to mainstream America, which were only available to the Fortune 500 and public companies through the Big 8 National Accounting firms. Recognizing Mr. Gonzalez’s selfless contribution to the American society, Tycoon Success magazine has awarded him as one of The 10 Most Innovative CEOs to follow in 2022.

Consistently named one of the Top 100 most influential people in Accounting by Accounting Today, Mr. Gonzalez acquired The Growth Partnership, The Rosenberg Survey and ABLE CRM to establish USA’s largest specialty tax and consultive firm to the accounting community.

Nation’s Forefather of Specialty Tax Services

As ETS CEO and Founder, Mr. Gonzalez’s main priority is to arm the accounting firms with needed resources, enabling them to provide tax credits and incentives to their clients, resulting in job growth.

He works closely with Congress on tax reform and is the go-to tax expert representing many national organizations and associations around the country as it relates to federal tax code and tax law. Additionally, he is a regular public speaker on the national level specializing in tax reform and tax sophistication for wealth preservation.

In 2021, Mr. Gonzalez founded Rockerbox to bring the accounting industry best in class resources in employment retention credits and work opportunity training credits. Also, at the end of 2021, he acquired Inside Public Accounting to strengthen his company’s ability to become a go-to resource for the accounting community.

Mr. Gonzalez is known as the nation’s forefather of specialty tax services. He and his companies have also been recognized multiple times for their assistance in preserving jobs in the United States. Presently Mr. Gonzalez and his company ETS are USA’s biggest licensed engineering tax resource to more than 1000 CPA and accounting firms.

Helping Organizations in R&D Credits

Engineered Tax Services focus entirely on federal, state, and local tax benefits as a licensed engineering firm. There are many federal tax incentives, for which the IRS requires professional engineers and scientists to determine the tax benefits in areas like real estate and manufacturing. The firm also uses its engineering, scientific, and tax teams to provide one of the most crucial federal and state tax credits available to businesses in the United States in the form of Research and Development tax credits. These tax credits are meant to incentivize manufacturing, innovation, technical design, and job creation in the country.

The R&D Tax Credit is a crucial federal incentive that helps U.S. companies remain globally competitive. In order to qualify for the R&D credit, companies may develop new techniques to improve their products.

Mr. Julio P Gonzalez’s vision was to first bring awareness to mainstream America by educating the accounting firms. Over the years, ETS has become an industry leader in these services, eventually increasing cash flow, job creation, and expansion.

Engineered Tax Services tax attorneys, engineers, and scientists are the experts who have performed millions of these tax services over the past decades. Through this service, Mr. Julio P Gonzalez and his team have generated billions of dollars in stimulus that has positively impacted millions of jobs across the country.

Picture of the Future

When it comes to the organization’s future, ETS will continue to influence excellent tax codes in the U.S. by working with the president’s administration and congress. Additionally, Mr. Julio P Gonzalez will continue to grow and support small businesses while educating them about the tax laws with their CPAs and accounting firms to assure their success.

Ajay Gupta: Helping Clients with Authentic Data

Growing up in a small town in India, Ajay Gupta, CEO of Stirista, lacked the luxury of a telephone at home as he lived too far out. As a result, since his childhood, Ajay has always been fascinated by how modern technology can help find information and connect people efficiently. This fascination eventually fuelled his dream of developing products that could make communication easier. His first foray into the digital world happened when he was 14. At that time, he started up a pro-wrestling website that updated its users through a newsletter. Quickly it garnered more than 5000 readers, which helped Ajay understand how attentive his audience base was to his emails.

The Beginning

Fast forward … Ajay and his wife founded Stirista in 2010 with a simple mission; to help marketers and brands remove the roadblocks to reaching their audience efficiently, ethically and effectively with the industry’s best data, technology and solutions.

Stirista understands that one size does not fit all, and decayed or outdated data doesn’t work every time. So, it has built a modular and real-time OMNA identity graph from its infancy to arm its clients with marketing data that works.

The organization’s primary goal is to solve complex data and media challenges for mid-tier brands who are looking to use solutions and platforms only available to Fortune 500 companies. Ajay believes these companies can handle things like their Facebook buys independently, but while using their client’s data to place a tailored ad, they need help.

The firm’s three main product areas include; data as a service, email marketing, Adstir, its media buying and activation platform.

Stirista’s client services team, combined with their software-as-a-service platform, can help a brand manage, activate, and execute campaigns from email to display to CCTV. Stirista can seamlessly run omnichannel campaigns across CTV, OTT, Email, etc., with the identity graph.

The Steadfast Leader

Knowing Stirista’s data makes a difference for its clients keeps Ajay moving forward. He feels that the marketers buy and rely on inadequate and insufficient data, so Stirista must help them utilize better data for targeting decisions.

Ajay began his education at St. Lawrence University, where he received his dual Bachelor’s Degrees in Financial Economics and English. However, he wanted to further his education, so he started a Master’s Program in Creative Writing the same year he graduated. After graduating, he decided to work on political campaigns, which eventually showed Ajay how data interacts with messaging.

It was later that year, in 2010, two years after receiving his Master’s Degree from Texas University, Ajay and his wife founded Stirista.

Realigning the Business

When Covid19 hit our beloved planet, one pivot that Ajay put in motion was to redirect Stirista’s marketing focus from brick and mortar retailers to telecommunication and e-commerce companies. This change in direction has helped the organization achieve its revenue goals even after the economic disruption.

It took some time for the team to organize themselves out of the office, as it was hard dealing with the pandemic, however, Ajay feels proud that Stirista has not only successfully retained all of its employees during the pandemic but has actually grown its workforce. The organization also grew by more than 2x in revenue and helped everyone adopt the new working culture.

During this time, Ajay and his team at Stirista also launched a Marketing Stir Podcast to replace physical conferences and summits.

Challenges of a Leader

Ajay understands that he has to make tough decisions that everyone might not like or enjoy. Stirista witnessed a considerable increase in employee numbers with its expansion, limiting Ajay from interacting with everyone as he used to when Stirista was a start-up. Although he still focuses on instilling Stirista’s core values into the executive team, allowing them to lead and interact with people the same way Ajay would. He says,

“We all have reasons not to do something challenging. We can rationalize things we don’t succeed at, but to build a high growth mindset, whether as a company or an individual, you have to love what you do and not count the hours that you are working. If you love what you do and excel at what you do, nothing can stop you.”

As the founder and CEO of the firm, Ajay Gupta understands his employees’ role in making Stirista the growing company that it is. From employee team building to training and planning, Stirista offers much more than a job. Whether it is a virtual event, Spurs games or a Chemical Romance concert, Stirista tries to do something that caters to a wide variety of people. As Ajay Gupta believes, happy employees are more productive than unhappy employees. The firm has recently added a full time Event Coordinator, entirely dedicated to improving the employees’ experience.

Future Roadmap

Ajay Gupta always wanted one-word associations with Stirista to get to a point where the words “Identity” and “CTV” are synonymous with Stirista. The firm seeks to become the spine of every significant ad tech platform and the audience behind every influential brand’s CTV buying decision.

He adds, “We have grown from 2 to over 100 people over the last ten plus years. When you truly believe in your product, your purpose, and your approach and hire people who feel the same way, success comes naturally.”

Bibhakar Pandey: Simplifying the Entire Customer Experience

Meet Bibhakar Pandey, the Co-founder and CEO of CX Studios, a full-service Customer Experience organization. It focuses entirely on simplifying customer experience implementations and driving clear business outcomes by directly influencing buying behavior across their entire Engagement Lifecycle.

Bibhakar is an industry pioneer with more than 25 years of experience leading global and multi-cultural experience teams across North America, Europe, and APAC. His professional career started almost three decades ago with an entrepreneurial stint right out of college. Although the venture was initially successful, it tanked miserably when he decided to scale. Looking back at his initial leadership experience, Bibhakar often says, “Perhaps we didn’t have the maturity and rigor back then. But it was a good life lesson very early on in my career about learning to Fail Fast.”

Later he joined the IT boom through a multi-national company. Bibhakar was fortunate to work with some demanding and challenging clients across the globe. The experience taught him things that he still cherishes.

Generating High Yield

CX Studios realizes its clients’ vision by generating high yield from every customer touchpoint. The firm’s approach toward CX is entirely data-driven and led by insights and intelligence. When it comes to building a seamless customer experience engagement model, the firm uses industry-leading tools, platforms, holistic strategies, and services to deliver complete solutions in industries like, Healthcare, Pharma, Insurance, and Financial Services.

With a significant focus on continued learning within the organization, CX Studio has also founded CX Studios University. The university trains every associate for more than 1000 hours before they get deployed in small PODs for client engagements.

Punching Above its Weight

The entire team of CX Studios motivates Bibhakar every day. He feels working with the new generation is quite refreshing and full of learning experiences. Additionally, the firm’s focus on solving its client’s problems and identifying new opportunities to drive growth in their business is a big motivating factor for him.

After working for MNCs for most of his career, Bibhakar feels surprised to witness, that clients are more transparent about sharing their opportunity areas with a comparatively small start-up like CX Studios. For him, it is an attestation of the company’s goals and the capability of its team.

As famously said in a movie, “With great power comes great responsibility”– Bibhakar feels it’s his responsibility toward the team of CX Studios and its clients which keeps him, and the entire leadership team motivated to be consistently proficient.

Delivering Business Outcome

Bibhakar believes currently, the most significant challenge hampering the industry is talent gap and the Great Resignation, which together are now having a compounding effect on delivering customer experience solutions. Adding to the complexities, customer experience and customers’ expectations around their experience are evolving faster than anyone could have imagined before.

He feels the pandemic pushed the digital customer experience evolution by 5-6 years. It has made it challenging for clients to keep pace with best-in-class technologies. Since Covid, few of the CX Studios’ clients are looking to change their business models and go directly to consumers. However, at the same time they are struggling to identify their buyers, as the pandemic has changed buying patterns and engagement expectations. With all these going on, CX Studios launched its CX solutions for its clients to help with their direct business outcomes is becoming paramount.

With the core leadership bringing more than 150 years of combined experience in this space, Bibhakar and his team realize that the company is at an influx point in the industry where old will not be able to hold.

A Constant Evolution

Due to the constant changes in clients’ and the team’s expectations, Bibhakar feels that leaders need to be more agile, patient, and adaptive post-pandemic. He says, “There’s no right or wrong approach – what’s right today may not work tomorrow. We need to be patient with the ongoing changes, with our teams, and with our approach, knowing that our solution is only as good as yesterday. We are in a constant state of evolution and live in a very uncertain world where continuous change is the only certainty.”

Bibhakar also added, “Companies and leaders who would succeed in this decade are the ones who are nimble in their approach, can adapt and take accountability for the outcomes to ever-changing market demand.”

Tackling Challenges

Leading an organization like CX Studios in uncertain times is not easy. Bibhakar Pandey believes that while everything has been laid out as organizational goals and vision, the firm will still have to execute and meet its revenue goals. However, he feels if the firm only focusses on the goal of revenue growth, then it might not be able to achieve its core purpose. So, it’s more important to focus on the journey and the process rather than the destination. As an organization, CX Studios focuses on making its process and approach stronger without thinking about the final result. As per Bibhakar Pandey, the final result is the simple derivative of a strong process that continues to evolve based on the learning and is executed through a disciplined approach. According to him, the CX Studios Team is also fortunate to have an Investor team who have wealth of leadership experience in this space and beyond, who also share similar values and goals for the growth of the organization.

Picture of the Future

CX Studios was established to drive its client’s business outcomes in the CX space by leveraging its multi solutionist talent and capability. In the future, the firm will continue to pursue its core purpose to scale and create a niche for itself in the Digital Customer Experience industry space.

The firm continues to grow its client base by creating next-generation capabilities and talent in the CX space and consistently strengthening the execution for driving Client’s Business outcomes.

Company Name: CX Studios

Management: Bibhakar Pandey, the Co-founder, and CEO

Sealmatic: Providing Innovative And Tailor Made Sealing Solutions

Leadership is the key element in today’s cutthroat competitive market that makes everything perfect. When it comes to taking any strategic decision or motivating employees, the leader’s role is unparalleled. So, each organization needs a dynamic leader, who can lead from the front. Clarity in vision, honesty towards ambition, and compassion in behaviour are the qualities that help to become a transformational leader.

One such visionary leader is Mr. Umar AK Balwa, Managing Director of Sealmatic. The company is the industry leader in, designing and manufacturing mechanical seals and associated products mainly for Oil & Gas, Chemical, Petrochemical, Fertilizer, Pharmaceutical, Mining, and many other process industries.

In an interview with Tycoon Success Magazine, Mr. Umar AK Balwa shared the insider story of, his entrepreneurial journey and success. So, let’s dive into the interview!

Tell us about Sealmatic’s focus and innovations in the area of research & development and technologically advanced products?

I am pleased to state that Sealmatic has the honour and distinction of being recognized as an approved R & D manufacturing unit by the DSIR – Department Of Science & Industrial Research (Under the Ministry of Science & Technology). Our prime focus always has been to think ahead of the competition with innovative cutting-edge technology for our customers. Our products are employed in mission-critical applications in the oil & gas, refinery, petrochemical, nuclear & thermal power plant, pharmaceutical, fertilizer, chemical, and many other important industries. Innovation is a promise that we have made to our customers. We create benchmarks in terms of innovation, efficiency, reliability, and sustainability. Our products assist our customers to seal, efficiently various media in the form of liquid or gases. Irrespective of any challenging application, Sealmatic keeps the lifecycle costs low for its customers. Today, we are a global player present in 45 countries and still growing.

Tell us about the importance of the Indian market for Sealmatic? What are the opportunities in the country?

India is the most important market for Sealmatic. While 1/6th of the world’s population lives in India. The Indian industry is robust in its characteristics, matured, and advanced. We are a 3 trillion economy and the vision of our honourable prime minister is to make it a 5 trillion economy in the coming years. This creates an opportunity for the pumps /mechanical seals industry to develop products and solutions for the process industry. In addition to this, the growth of the infrastructure sector has a direct impact on the pumps / mechanical seals industry.

What is your vision for India in terms of market share, manufacturing facilities, workforce, etc?

India is one of the most important markets for any international company. As mentioned earlier that we supply our products to over 45 countries, but at heart, we are deeply committed to India, operations have been profitable, and we have been witnessing double-digit growth since our inception.

We consider ourselves to be an important player in the mechanical seal industry, we have a significant presence in the country, and we are increasing our market share in the various business segments where we compete with the international manufacturers by focusing extensively on our heritage of 35 years in this industry. Sealmatic has more than 200 employees and we work with qualified distributors and dealers with offices in all major cities across India. Our manufacturing facilities in Mumbai have enough capacity to accommodate future requirements at least for the next five years.

We will continue to strengthen our offerings through efficient sealing solutions for various applications.

Sealmatic is a global player in advanced sealing solutions in the process industry, kindly tell us about your journey into this industry so far?

We are a global player in the business of sealing technology, committed to cutting edge solutions for the critical process industry, thus improving the quality of mean time between failures. Mechanical seal is our business. We have deliveries to more than 45 countries across the globe. Since 2011, when we started our business in India, we have grown and are now represented in more than 45 countries.

Over the years, there has been a very big vacuum in the market, it was dominated by the three big boys of the mechanical seals market, we wanted to change that and prove to the industry that there can be an indigenous manufacturer who is equally competent and can supply high end sealing solutions at a competitive price.

Today we are approved by major companies such as IOCL, RIL, BPCL, HPCL, EIL, BHEL KSB, Sulzer, Ebara, and many more.

Today besides the three big boys, Sealmatic is the only company that has the distinction of supplying mechanical seals as an OEM for 660 MW supercritical thermal power plants. Today, we are well known as one of the top sealing technology companies globally.

What are the industrial applications that are likely to drive the mechanical seal industry in the Indian core sector towards sustainability and why?

The sectors most important to the growth of the Indian industry are oil & gas, power, infrastructure, iron & steel, and so on. The growth of the mechanical seal industry will come from high-end solutions for demanding applications in the API segment. We have been approved by API Q1 and are pleased to announce that we are the only Indian mechanical seal company that has this approval in place, besides ATEX, etc. The growth will come from the enormous infrastructure spent the Government of India has announced in the core sector of power, oil & gas, refinery, and so on. We see a CAGR growth of 20% for our company for the next decade.

The global industrial pumps market is estimated to be at approximately $70 billion today and is projected to reach $90 billion by 2025, what are your views on this?

Yes, this estimated growth of USD 90 Billion will come from infrastructure spending in the core sectors. It thus creates a great opportunity for any mechanical seal company, growth in the pump industry directly corresponds to a growth in the mechanical seal industry.

Barring a few companies, most of the mechanical seal companies fall in the MSME category, what in your opinion, are the major challenges that the MSMEs continue to face, despite the numerous initiatives?

The Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector is a significant stakeholder in the Prime minister’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and building a $5 Trillion economy.

Recently we have seen growth in the MSME sector because of various initiatives taken by the Government of India and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Liquidity has been injected and interest rates are cut which has reduced the burden on MSMEs. MSMEs are the foundation of India’s economic growth and account for at least 30 percent of the country’s GDP. At the same time, they are extremely diverse, ranging from highly advanced operations to a simple entity managed by a microentrepreneur. Furthermore, the sector employs nearly 100 million people, making it the second-largest source of employment in the country after agriculture. Thus, the development of this sector is critical to India’s future. Typical of any small to mid-size business, certain challenges are faced by this sector. The major challenges that the MSMEs face and which make them vulnerable are; Lack of financial literacy, Size of the business, Absence of suitable technology, Lack of transparency, and Inadequate Collateral & Unskilled Labour.

What, in your view, can engineering companies learn from the pandemic crisis in terms of planning and preparedness?

The crisis that the world has witnessed is once in a lifetime event. Most of us had never expected to experience a crisis like this ever. It has offered us various opportunities to learn and be respectful towards the environment. The industry has learned immensely from this event. It is surprising to note that the learning was quick and people have responded to the crisis with great resilience, innovation, and bravery. While it is important to have a strong plan, it is equally essential to adapt to the changing dynamics of the environment. Employing several technology tools like webinars, online meetings, video sessions, etc., the employees stayed connected with their customers and other important stakeholders to maintain continuity thus causing the least business disruption. Overall, I would say that we all learn from every adversity and this pandemic has been no different, we all have learned a lot.

Well, one last question, where do you see Sealmatic in the next decade?

As we turn the page on Sealmatic’s next year, we enter our next decade with a clear sense of purpose – to help our customers with state-of-the-art and reliable sealing technology. Which will be more effective and efficient, while minimizing environmental impact. We have immense pride in our heritage and our history of innovative engineering. As a team we work together, supporting and challenging each other, with a passion to build a stronger legacy for the next decade. A safe, and engaged workplace, that supports innovation, high performance, and continuing personal development. We are extremely grateful to our customers for their business and trust. To our employees for their hard work and dedication. And our shareholders for their support, as we start the next decade for Sealmatic.

PS Energy Group: Providing Comprehensive Fuel Solutions

Our world is entirely dominated by fuels that generate our electricity, power our cars, and heat and cool our homes. Fuel is the main driving force for all industries. Have you ever wondered what might happen if we experience a major disruption in our fuel supply??

With a disrupted fuel supply, many industries will find it very hard to operate. Fuel shortages can cause power reductions, food shortages, and disruption to our daily lives. It is estimated that high food and fuel costs have contributed to the increased number of the world’s extremely poor by the millions. While the impact of food and fuel shortages affects both urban and rural populations, research shows that the urban population is hit the hardest by the rising costs.

PS Energy Group, Inc is a leader in fuel management and fleet asset management. Founded in 1985, the organization’s expertise in fuel delivery, refueling, and fuel management keep commercial fleets, industries, and utilities fully fuelled and running at their peak efficiency – even in times of uncertainty.

Ranked amongst the nation’s top diversity-owned businesses, PS Energy Group is a premier partner to Fortune 500 companies, strategically assessing and managing their fleet and facility’s fuel and energy usage. From transportation fuels to emergency fueling, the organization’s fleet management service includes etrac®, a wireless telematics solution that boosts workforce productivity and fleet profitability. It also helps increase energy efficiency and environmental quality through better asset monitoring and tracking.

Experts in Fuel Management

PS Energy Group manages as many as 6000 customer sites nationwide and manages, supplies, and sometimes owns the inventory for all types of fuels and tank capacities starting from 500 gallons to 2,000,000 gallons.

The organization additionally owns and operates two natural gas pipelines in Yazoo City, MS, and Hazelton, WV. Both pipelines are instrumental in supplying the federal prisons of the areas and are ready for future expansion for providing natural gas to businesses in the industrial area nearby.

PS Energy is very proud of its Emergency Fuelling Program, a “first of its kind” program. Developed in 1993, the program has provided relief to multiple industries and utilities during natural disasters. Between 2013 and 2022, PS Energy Group deployed 1000 assets, delivering an estimated 3.3 million gallons of fuel to more than 156,000 vehicles.

Livia Whisenhunt is the President, CEO, and founder of PS Energy Group. She has been instrumental in spearheading and executing most of PS Energy Group’s milestones. She is also responsible for setting the company’s strategic direction and leading its growth.

“The More Complex the Mind, the Greater the Need for the Simplicity of Play”

Ms. Whisenhunt served as the Region IV Chairperson of the Federal Regulatory Fairness Board, established by Congress and the President, to represent small businesses and comment on the enforcement activities of federal regulatory agencies. She was also appointed by Georgia’s Lt. Governor to the House-Senate Study Committee for House Bill 215, which deregulated natural gas in the state of Georgia.

Awards and Accolades

Under Ms. Whisenhunt’s leadership, PS Energy Group ranks among the top Hispanic and women-owned companies in the nation. The company has been the recipient of multiple awards including the 2014 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Supplier Diversity award in recognition of PS Energy Group’s “exceptional contribution and commitment to the EEI Supplier Diversity Initiative”.

In 2006, PS Energy Group received the Supplier of the Year award presented by the Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council recognizing the company’s energy-based relief efforts during the devastating Hurricane Katrina. The company received the recognition again in 2015, and in 2016 was awarded the Regional Class IV Supplier of the Year by the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Tackling Challenges

As it has often been said, the pandemic has changed the world as we have known it. During the initial days of the pandemic, lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were imposed to contain the rise of infection. With the decrease in transportation, fuel consumption fell nearly 10 percent in March and 30 percent in April 2020. This drop in consumption presented a challenge for the fueling industry and their ROI. However, PS Energy Group held its own and continues to manage its customers’ fueling needs, keeping their fleets running at peak efficiency.

Although the primary challenge in this industry is creating interest in, and availability of transportation fuels and fleet solutions, another challenge that presents itself is developing new services and products where the ROI outweighs the cost of development. Data-driven products like PS Energy’s etrac® GPS and telematics solutions are only as good as the platform on which they are presented. PS Energy’s technology allows clients to grow through acquisitions, utilizing existing assets and avoiding stranded costs with its open architecture and device-adaptable platforms – a platform where virtually any device can be presented and managed on a single platform.

Mobiliz Information and Communication Technology Inc.: Revolutionizing Fleet Management

With a massive experience of more than 15 years in providing advanced telematics solutions to the construction, energy, transportation, logistics, FMCG, and other industries, Mobiliz Information and Communication Technology Inc . is Turkey’s leading tracking and telematics fleet management service provider.

The firm was founded back in times when customers with a vehicle fleet were worried about tracking them in real-time and monitoring fuel levels to control expenses. The industry matured very fast as there are relatively low barriers to entry and as a result margins started to erode. 5 – 7 years ago many industry analysts predicted consolidation waves with little room for transformation.

At this point, the company was already aggregating and processing a huge amount of real-time data generated from customer vehicles. It became clear that Mobiliz may play a key role as an innovator in the world of mobility. In essence, the company was among the biggest operator of real-time data, i.e. a true IoT player. So, the key milestone was to deploy a modern IoT backend as a platform for efficient data aggregation and processing engines. In 2021, Mobiliz became a part of the Fleet Management Services Group of Companies, which is the largest fleet management service provider in Southeast Europe. Both organizations have implemented an IoT platform in line with the vision of further development of data analytics services and IoT applications.

The Steadfast Leader Nikolay Kichev is the Chairman of the Board at Mobiliz Information and Communication Technology Inc. He graduated in Economics at the American University of Paris and made a career at a European Telekom group, where he learned by practice the importance of technology in the modern world.

Nikolay is a seasoned ICT manager, who is skilled in business administration, finance, regulatory, public relations affairs, and corporate governance. Nikolay is persistent and tenacious in pursuing results, comfortable with decision-making, demanding targets, and multiple concurrent projects. His empathic, ambitious personality, helps to identify self-fulfillment through the development of teams and people.

Nikolay is also a strong negotiator, who is looking for opportunities to gain mutually satisfying results by building long-standing relationships based on respect and trust.

Helping Clients with Path Breaking Solutions

As an organization, Mobiliz believes, the value chain is rather complex, and it comprises the design of advanced hardware, service installation and activation, state-of-the-art software application, and uncompromised aftersales support. Service excellence and constant innovation have been naturally developed as key values of the company which leads to above-market level growth. For the last 2 years. Mobiliz practically doubled its customer base.

New business lines. As part of the digitalization process across various business segments, Mobiliz is moving ahead toward IoT applications, data analytics, asset tracking as well as workflow management, and process optimization.
Turkish market size. Mobiliz has a strong presence in 81 provinces in Turkey for its sales and after-sales services. The size of the Turkish market provides, the right scale of operation. It drives the deployment of the newest technologies and requires agility in innovation. The firm tries to stay competitive by quickly responding to customer demands.
Turkish market – people. The availability of young well-educated talents is another advantage that the company enjoys compared to its international peers. The start-up environment is booked with more than 150 R&D centers in the mobility segment only.
International expansion. Mobiliz performs major projects abroad and continues to grow in international markets with its partners in countries such as Azerbaijan, Germany, Austria, Qatar, and Nigeria. The firm plans to foster further expansion to adjacent countries, Europe, Asia, and Africa with Mobiliz operations being a core part of the expansion process.

“Technology should be used for good. It is a bit provocative statement, but advanced, sometimes disruptive technologies should be used to enhance sustainable, transparent, value accretive relations between all – businesses, partners and people.”

The Pandemic

During the last two years of the pandemic, Mobiliz made record sales. Even the usage of the company’s software platform was doubled very quickly. The pandemic made many businesses reconsider their models of operation, seeking efficiency and process optimization gains. The pandemic has helped to accelerate the digitalization process in many areas.

Awards and Accolades

The firm ranked 2nd for two consecutive years in the Turkey-based Manufacturer IoT and M2M category. It has also ranked 3rd in the IoT and M2M category with Turkey Centered Software Mobile Applications in 2020.

Mobiliz has also rightfully entered the list of the most important companies in Turkey providing systems and solutions on the international level regarding mobility in the transportation sector.

Tackling Challenges

For Mobiliz, the biggest challenge is to be agile in the deployment of the new technologies. The world is global, i.e., very fast. The technology stack is changed (enhanced) every 3-5 years, maybe faster in the future. As a company, we recognize that constant learning and agility should be key capabilities going forward. Therefore, the company plans to further invest in R&D and technology education.

Picture of the Future

As an organization, Mobiliz knows the road ahead is clear and challenging. It would like to play a major role in delivering advanced data analytics services based on IoT applications. This requires the employment of machine learning and AI algorithms to make the data business meaningful for its customers. Further, the business ecosystem between suppliers, dealers, and customers become more sustainable and long-term oriented. It calls for new applications based on blockchain technologies providing real-time data processing and transparency. Last, but most important, Mobiliz is planning to establish an IT academy to provide education in the most advanced technologies, as the established educational framework lags in content and intensity.

Antonella Rubicco: Transforming Servers into Super Computers

To provide computing power at an affordable cost, so small researchers with limited budgets could have a supercomputer, A3Cube Inc was Co-founded, by its CEO, Antonella Rubicco. It all started as a game for Antonella, an experiment to build a Cray-like supercomputer, using standard hardware. To do this Antonella and her team studied a lot and every single progress was so exciting that soon it became their mission.

Antonella was born in Italy, where she completed her scientific studies. During her University days in 1996, Antonella and Emilio Billi, who is also the CTO of A3Cube, Inc started to work on the possibility to build a supercomputer using standard hardware, it started as an experiment of two students. Antonella says, “We realized the first “personal-supercomputer” SC-12 in 2005 and during these 10 years our knowledge grow a lot, I studied business, management, law in order to complete my education and to be able to manage and drive a company.”

Path Breaking Services

A3Cube was founded back in 2012. Thanks to the unconventional and crazy vision of the firm’s co-founder and CTO Emilio Billi, the company was and is a pioneer in several fields with its technologies and solutions. The firm currently develops and realizes supercomputers for Machine Learning, Big Data Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence, solutions for data acceleration.

At present A3Cube have 3 product families:

DB-Turbo accelerates data access while reducing TCO and energy costs.
KIRA Supercomputer large-scale data processor for ML, Analytics, and AI problems.
GRIFO massively scalable GPU array for large deep neural network training.

Awards and Accolades

A3Cube is amongst the very few companies that, understood the key role of data in transforming every aspect of modern society, years ago. This vision has led A3Cube to become the game-changing enterprise of today, pioneering the transition from High-Performance Computing systems to High-Performance Data systems.

A3Cube has received several awards over the years, which proves the means the organization is going in the right direction, and it is working well. However, Antonella feels there’s still a long way to go. Antonella was honored and happy to be selected as a member of Dell’s 50 Founders cohort 2016, it was the first time she felt like a good CEO who was doing a good job. From a personal perspective, the best accomplishment is her family, which is the best place to live.

“There are no shortcuts to a stable and strong outcome, determination, knowledge hard work and optimism are key.”

Picture of the Bright Future

Antonella sees her company as a small jewel, well organized, with a happy, committed and knowledgeable team. A3Cube is the benchmark for innovation and new technological challenges. In the future, Antonella Rubicco would like to have a good group of collaborators with whom she can discuss market changes, and new business opportunities and delegate some responsibilities so that she has a little more time for family.

Mission and Vision

A3Cube was founded by passion and is driven by the mission to lead the revolution of the new data age. The organization’s goal is to enable the Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, High-Performance Data, and High-Performance Computing revolution. Only through new system architectures can new challenges be overcome. The firm designs the future “elastic” computation by combining its innovative use of AI, new algorithms, and applications to realize the next step in the human revolution.

The organization’s mission is to be the premier provider of supercomputing solutions specifically tailored for machine learning, data analytics, and high-performance computing. A3Cube’s products solves the most challenging problems by providing hardware, software, and strong expertise to its customers. The firm strongly believes that the data center of the future is a supercomputer like a data center, and it wants to lead this transformation.

The firm fosters an environment that motivates its employees, empowering them to work as one integrated team where the efficiency of business organization is combined with human dignity, and values such as creativity, harmony, and a sense of beauty.

Advice for Younger Self

Antonella Rubicco explains that building a company is not easy and there is a lot of work to do, there are no shortcuts. An entrepreneur must never stop studying, must know the evolution of technologies, the evolution of customers, and the market, to be one step ahead of the competition and be able to execute the best possible strategy. And another important thing is never stop dreaming. Everything is possible, it’s not easy, it’s hard, but knowledge and determination make the difference. Never stop studying and never stop dreaming.

Quintel Sumrall: Solving People’s Credit Problems

With the intent of helping people to solve their credit problems, Quintel Sumrall founded, My Credit Approve, LLC in 2020. Quintel was a credit repair specialist for more than seven years and has enough experience in how credit score works and how to manage them. To date, Quintel has helped many people to reach their credit goals. He started his firm, My Credit Approve to educate people and help all American to improve their financial stability.

Quintel believes each one of us can get behind our bills or loan installments. Being aware of what impacts the credit score is an added advantage when it comes to planning the expenses accordingly. Repairing and maintaining a good credit score can be done with self-research and studying and My Credit Approve can help its customers get their much easily. Thanks to Quintel Sumrall and his team, users will not get any surprises like getting unapproved of their mortgage, finance, or insurance. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 1 out of 5 people has at least one issue on their credit report. Having bad credit leads users to get their loans at higher rates and usually they pay more than usual.

Why Credit Score is Important

The credit score is often the most trusted source of the lender if an individual has the potential to pay back a loan. In other words, the credit report is the trusted source between the lender and the borrower. At the moment when users apply for a loan, credit card, or mortgage, the first thing checked by the credit issuer is the credit score. If the users’ credit score is lower than expected, then they have to improve it and show their reliability in paying off the loan on time. If a user doesn’t meet the required credit score standards, it may be in result disapproval. Some lenders are ready to provide money for people who have bad credit reports. But they have a lot of conditions and higher interest rates than the regular money lenders. This will make the borrower pay more than the loan’s worth and fall into deeper financial issues at the same time.

A good credit score can help you as a user to get the loans without any hassle and with a lower risk. The most important thing is, that users can find lenders who are ready to lend money at a lower interest rate. Therefore, My Credit Approve can save its users from trouble and help them maintain good credit.

Helping People with Credit Score

Quintel Sumrall explains, that My Credit Approve is cloud-based software, which checks its users’ credit scores. It has a user-friendly interface and can be set up quickly. The process has four steps and begins at only $29.99. The process eventually teaches its users, how to obtain the FICO credit score and credit report and monitor it just for $1. There are more than 100 customized dispute letters available in My Credit Approve, and they are created by experienced attorneys in the field.

Users can now monitor, repair, and maintain their credit score with the new approach of My Credit Approve. With the firm, there’s no need of spending hard-earned money or depending on a third party.

My Credit Approve helps its users to practice good financial habits and makes them aware even of simple financial matters.

My Credit Approve also educates its users about the financial situations that can negatively affect their credit score and the way to get rid of them.

“The best scenario is when someone takes care of their credit score on their own and tries to educate themselves about repairing and maintaining it.”

Path Breaking Service

The firm provides three customized options according to the clients’ requirements. My Credit Approve understands that the financial situation is different from person to person and the software should be appealing to everyone. All the details submitted by users are protected as My Credit Approve respects the privacy of its users. With a few steps, users can check their credit and find out the short comes in it.

My Credit Approve is the new approach to leading people to take care of their credit status themselves. It is also affordable software for credit advice and credit management. The affordability and user-friendliness have made the software popular among users.

Katarina Maloney: Solving Complexities of Minds by Using Hemp Based Products

Meet Katarina Maloney, the CEO of MCNB Holding Corporation. Her story began in her youth, during which she had spent growing up in continental Europe. When the time came for Katarina to attend the university, she decided to pursue a degree in Political Science at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra.

At the age of 20, a friend from college asked Katarina to go to the United States, an opportunity she decided not to pass up. Without any knowledge of the English language and only $300 in her pocket, she found her way to Los Angeles, California.

From the moment she stepped foot in California, Katarina knew she was right where she was meant to be. She continued working her way up the ladder-climbing from a position as a bartender up to working as the right-hand woman to a successful entrepreneur by the time she was 25.

Shortly after, Katarina worked as the CEO of Livecustomer Inc., a company specializing in SEM Consultancy marketing. While there, she gained valuable insight that would one day help her build a company that aligns with her mission in life- a mission she found after becoming diagnosed with Crohn’s disease.

During this challenging journey, Katarina learned about the many benefits CBD offers. The more she learned, the stronger desire she felt to create more access to it for everyone. That is why she invented one of the first CBD retail vape product and worked her way to becoming the industry frontrunner. As she watched customer after customer find a better quality of life from having greater access to CBD, I worked to continue growing my product’s reach.

After a traumatic accident in 2018, Katarina found herself fighting for her life once again. As she recovered, her company and herself have continued to push toward their mission to help those suffering from brain injuries and mental health issues.

Today, Katarina is a biotech executive who is currently the founder of MCNB Holding Corporation and COO of Labyrinth Sphere Inc. As the CEO, she oversees how the organization works toward the vision, mission, and direction she has dreamt it would follow. She works every day to develop and implement both MCNB Holding Corporation’s and Labyrinth Sphere Inc.’s business strategies and act as a guide for these company’s executives to run a high-quality, unique business with the best customer service.

Katarina also spends her days working closely with scientists and doctors, running clinical trials to learn more about the effects of CBD, THC, Psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT. As she pushes to learn more about the advantages these substances offer, Katarina has created a team that fights for making progressive treatments that have been found to provide quicker, more effective, and more natural pathways to recovery mainstream.

“Live a life worth writing a book about”

Inception Story

Katrina discovered the healing properties of CBD when she was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease. As she experienced the symptoms, she found herself quickly losing weight and being unable to digest anything. After giving CBD a try, she found it completely healed her digestive problem and wanted to spread the word to everyone she knew.

That desire to spread the benefits of this natural, very simple, and yet widely unknown substance led Katarina work hard to ensure the benefits of CBD be widely available to customers worldwide using the business knowledge she gained throughout her career.

This only pushed her to continue to build her CBD business as she dreamt of making the medical benefits of CBD accessible to those who genuinely need it. In pursuing this dream, she and her colleagues introduced many oral, topical, and even rectal application products to the market, supplying options that can work for everybody.

In 2018, Katarina faced one of the most difficult challenges in her life, an accident that caused a traumatic brain injury. Just as she was taking some of the biggest steps in her career as an entrepreneur, Katarina found herself on bed rest and unable to move for three months. Understandably, she hit rock bottom.

Through those months, Katarina found traditional Western medicine ineffective in her recovery. As she grew tired of waiting to feel better, she decided to create her own healing plan using innovative healing practices like CBD, neurofeedback, self-care, micro-dosing supplements, etc.

“Ask yourself what you would like to accomplish workwise if money was no object. That is what you need to do. Once you find your calling, pursue it with all you might. Becoming a frontrunner in any industry will never be easy. You must be willing to put in the work if that is truly your dream.”

A few years later, she found herself fully recovered and full of motivation to support those who suffer from brain injuries or mental health issues themselves. She now works closely with scientists and doctors to run clinical trials to learn more about CBD, THC, Psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT. As they learn more about the benefits these substances have to offer the world, Katarina Maloney and her team continue to fight to allow more people to have access to these progressive treatments.

Transforming Lives

To Katarina Maloney, success currently lies in creating a greater world in which everyone has access to the healing powers of hemp and psychedelics. She wants to witness more transformative stories and see more people experiencing a better-quality life. She knew what her life mission was from the moment she experienced life-changing healing from this natural medicine. And that mission is to help others reap those benefits.

Note to Younger self

When we requested Katarina Maloney for some suggestions for upcoming entrepreneurs, she said, “Setting out to do something impossible, against the odds- not something that society pushed you to do, but something you are doing because the universe has called you to it- is what I consider success. It does not matter whether you ever reach that destination. What makes it a success is the fact that you are choosing to be your own destiny.”

Future Roadmap

Katarina Maloney sees herself and her company playing a significant role in creating more accessibility to the medical benefits of CBD, cannabis, and psychedelics. As they continue running clinical trials, she hopes that the world can see just how effective and fast-acting these compounds can be for recovery from many different mental ailments.

The primary mission of MCNB is to improve the quality of life for those who are interested in overall wellness and who have been unable to find safe, affordable, and effective alternative treatments.

MCNB’s vision is to create physician-backed, reliable products, provide completely transparent clinical trials, and educate society further on caring for their mental health and well-being.