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Jeff Kushner: An Eminent Business Leader, Industry Veteran, and Marketing Expert

His inside story narrates the inspiring and triumphant journey of an accomplished marketing and business leader, Jeff Kushner, the CMO of Allgress, Inc.

Jeff Kushner is a visionary hands-on leader focused on business development, market expansion and go-to-market leadership. Throughout his professional journey, Jeff has nurtured his business and marketing expertise by working for various visionary national and international IT technology focused firms. With every engagement, Jeff quickly rises to the new challenges, upholding the company’s vision, and mission, aligning goals with a market strategy to drive positive business outcomes. His experience extends to IT risk management, compliance, and SaaS development, showcasing a dynamic ability to adapt to diverse markets and drive substantial business outcomes.

In the pivotal role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at Allgress, Jeff shapes global marketing strategy, positioning, branding, and market communications. Prior to joining Allgress, Jeff worked for top firms like BindView (now Symantec), BMC Software, and Sun Microsystems (now Oracle), in addition to consulting for numerous companies. Throughout this journey, Jeff drives substantial increases in revenue and market penetration. His accomplishments in the areas of advancement of risk management, compliance, and SaaS development contributed significantly to adoption.

The Tale of Jeff’s Inspiring Journey: At a Glance

Many years ago, Jeff Kushner started his career as a technical practitioner. He moved into Marketing Management and then became a Chief Product Officer. He participated in direct and channel business development for leading high-tech businesses. Ultimately, Jeff’s drive and success led him to the role of Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). This journey evolved through his passion for technology and dedication to positive, value-driven business focused customer outcomes. In every organization, he did this by addressing the most pervasive IT challenges and risk reduction solutions with decision-making shareholders and top-level management in a language they understand from both a business and technical perspective.

Jeff has taken a customer-centric approach throughout his career, interacting directly with the sales organization, account managers, and customers. Jeff focuses on hearing firsthand about their business and technological challenges, operational pain points, and how the organization can drive value and a positive business outcome for the customer. For Jeff, it is critical to hear their journey to spearhead the creation of actionable marketing collateral to support the sales process, deliver key value points and and a total product understanding in order to maintain the interest of the buyer and the approver. A marketing leader must deliver information about product solutions and services for the challenge at hand and the scope of preliminary considerations that may evolve over time.

“To gain the trust of customers or potential clients in sharing their time or contact details, it’s important to establish a fair exchange of contact details for valuable information. This means providing them with useful guidance that quickly helps them grasp complex industry topics, making it easier for them to stay informed,” Says, Jeff Kushner, CMO of Allgress

Allgress: At a Glance

Allgress is a multi-award-winning, internationally recognized supplier of cutting-edge integrated Compliance, IT Security, Risk Management and GRC solutions that help businesses achieve their risk in less time and complexity. With the help of Allgress’s solutions, companies can handle IT risk assessment, monitoring, reporting, and remediation procedures more efficiently to get the answers they need quickly so they know where they stand. With Allgress’s technology, clients consistently achieve a faster time-to-value without the need for a large team of consultants, in contrast to competing with alternatives.

The Key Inspiration Behind Jeff’s Career Path

Jeff Kushner has worked full-time around his passion for technology, the high-tech industry, and, more specifically, IT Operations, Cloud Security and Risk Management. Jeff has played a key role in developing and promoting products into industry-leading solutions as a consultant and member of advisory boards. Through his success in developing and promoting best-in-class products and solutions, he is sought after by CEOs or other senior executives. He has been drawn to and has remained in the IT cloud security and risk management space because of his passion and the need for those solutions.

The Upcoming Trends

Multiple planes of hyper-connectivity driven by cloud computing, process automation, trust architectures, and applied and generative artificial intelligence (AI) all contribute to the technology landscape’s ongoing evolution. Marketing automation incorporating artificial intelligence, natural language processing, chatbots, and deeper integration of social media platforms in how people engage and consume products and solutions, along with crowdsourcing, are creating a new landscape that requires new approaches and ways of addressing what is effective, not overbearing and delivers across a global audience.

Various levels of hyper-connectivity, propelled by cloud computing, process automation, trust architectures and artificial intelligence (AI), are shaping the continuous evolution of the technology landscape. In this changing environment, automation, including artificial intelligence (AI), chatbots, and enhanced integration of platforms, is transforming how people interact with and consume products and solutions. Adding no-code platforms further contributes to this shift, necessitating fresh approaches to ensure effectiveness without confusion.

Jeff shared his thoughts on how to be resilient in a demanding and changing market, saying, “First and foremost, concentrate on being proactive, on being positioned to react quickly as unforeseen events emerge. Secondly, develop the versatility necessary to adjust to modifications in consumer purchasing patterns, global influences, and market fluctuations. Position to execute quickly, pose to jump, and be prepared to embrace what comes at you.”

Fostering Innovation and Creativity at the Workplace

A company’s growth is driven by its employees and corporate culture. The companies team must generate fresh, exciting concepts and approaches that drive the organization to reach for the stars. Additionally, with today’s generation of globally and socially aware and engaged people, the concepts and approaches must incorporate a sense of responsibility and global awareness. With the amazing variety of backgrounds, experiences, social awareness found in today’s workforce, it is a great opportunity to build and grow a trend-breaking and success-driven team.

No matter his role or position, Jeff assures that he will always focus on collaborating with product development, sales, customer service, and other teams to avoid groups working in isolation. In engaging at all levels and across all teams, Jeff continues to develop total team chemistry that drives everyone to achieve great things. Jeff is known for organizing brainstorming meetings with every member of the teams regularly so that everyone can present novel concepts, emerging technology, or trends they’ve seen. Through Jeff’s focus on total team inclusion and active participation and input, his teams maintain a customer-centric focus, confidently pushing boundaries and driving to deliver the best products and solutions.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are top priorities here. They believe everyone should be equally involved in and supported in all workplace areas, regardless of who they are or what they do for the company. I think this is an overused cliché that is better shown and delivered through the action of practicing it every day.

Definition of Success

According to Jeff, “Success is continuing to contribute to help deliver and market innovative leading solutions to the market that help protect companies from risks arising from cyber-security-related incidents.”

The Future Outlooks

Allgress has a roadmap for exploring new methods, processes, and technology to advance automation and AI to deliver IT Risk Management solutions that can be deployed and provide insights quicker than previously. In addition to helping Allgress be a market leader, Jeff will continue exploring being on additional advisory boards, speaking at industry events, and interacting with other marketing leaders to share best practices.

Words to Convey by the Visionary…

Never give up, even when the odds are against you. When others say you can’t or won’t succeed, keep pushing progress forward. Build the dream and drive to success!

Innovating Beyond Biometric Authentication Challenges Under the Dynamic Leadership of Frank Sandeloev

Acknowledged globally as an “Authentication as a Service” provider with a solution combining a biometric card with fingerprint verification with a full backend solution, CardLab Innovation has marked its mettle as the strongest cybersecurity solution in the market.

Dedicated to enabling card manufacturers, card issuers, and their customers to take optimal advantage of technological developments, CardLab has its own standard product and is also a one-stop shop for developing biometric card solutions for customers and taking care of the production with the electronic contractors and final card lamination, embedding, and personalization at their own factory in Thailand.

CardLab Innovation is proud of its significant contributions to the cybersecurity sector. They have constantly raised the bar, covering verticals like logical and physical access control, single sign-on, identity solutions like passports, government, health solutions, blockchain authentication, self-custodian crypto wallets, payments, etc.

As Frank Sandeloev, CEO of CardLab, revealed, “One of the founders had his credit card information stolen, which caused the decision to make payments initially biometrically safeguarded. This has eventually developed into a complete biometric authentication solution applicable for all business areas, and this is how CardLab came into existence.”

Difficulties in Navigating and Changing Industry Norms

As AI develops and identity spoofing becomes easier and easier in real-time, secure user authentication will become a major concern. Malware, ransomware, and other forms of cybercrime have all been major issues with double-digit growth rates up to this point, and AI will only make matters worse. Nothing totally digital can be secured against hacking, viruses, and ransomware assaults, which are the main problems of today.

The primary concern now and in the future is that consumers frequently need better comprehension of the magnitude of the cybersecurity threat instead of concentrating on unsafe, totally digital authentication solutions.

Further, the visionary leaders asserted, “I do think that one of our greatest difficulties right now is that development goes so quickly that no one truly knows what they are implementing out of fear of falling behind on digitization. This led to the current era, which is characterized by arguably the highest danger of data and identity loss ever. With its hardware and software biometric authentication solution, CardLab is addressing this issue.”

Nurturing a Skilled and Diverse Team

A strong team is essential to creating a successful business, and Frank’s strategy emphasizes the importance of the individual as a person and teamplayer. Additionally, there is a program that offers incentives for creative problem-solving and “out of the box” thinking. Equal qualifications necessitate equal remuneration, and CardLab adheres to this principle.

Synchronizing with the Latest Tech Advancements

CardLab continuously strives to move the solutions to a better place with greater performance by utilizing the most recent components and technology to maintain an open eye on all platforms and competing solutions on the market. In addition, they have several strategic partnerships with some of the key players in this domain.

CardLab’s Insight on Diversity and Inclusion

All genders, races, nationalities, religions, and sexual orientations, as well as potential physical disabilities, are welcome to work at CardLab as long as they don’t negatively affect the quality of the work. The team’s priority is to hire the most competent candidate for the position, and we already value diversity in the form of various sexes, ethnicities, and physical impairments.

Envisioning the Future

On a personal level, Frank aims to have CardLab listed within the next 5 years. Further, CardLab aims to educate the market to understand the real threats of digitalization; teach companies and government bodies good digital habits, and employ a combined hardware and software authentication solution to fight cybercrime, safeguard data, and ensure a continuous unbreakable connection between physical and digital identities.

The Man of the Hour

The driving force behind this revolutionary endeavor is none other than Frank Sandeloev himself. A 25-year veteran airline pilot and captain who has served as a qualified army officer and military pilot for 11 years. During this time, he has also represented SAS in the “Single European Sky” workgroup, which is tasked with developing concepts for operations, passenger identification, and throughput. Frank Sandeloev’s journey to entrepreneurship has been one of perseverance and hard work following his successful career in defense. He has been the CEO of CardLab for the past ten years and has helped the company transition from a technology development company to a production and sales company with some of the most powerful solutions to combat cybercrime. During this time, he has also represented CardLab as an IATA strategic partner and a biometric expert, assisting in the fight against cybercrime.

Mahrukh Umrigar: A Visionary Leader Shaping the Legal Landscape

Meet Mahrukh Umrigar, a dynamic legal professional and the co-founding partner of Consortia Legal, an independent boutique law firm specializing solely in Indian law. Prior to founding Consortia Legal, Mahrukh worked with a renowned Indian law firm, where she led its global mobility practice. Mahrukh is recognized for providing concise and practical solutions to her clients and business contacts in a timely and cost-effective manner.

One of Mahrukh’s most impressive areas of expertise lies in Indian immigration. She regularly services global multinationals, international relocation companies, accounting practices, law firms, and other service providers in their Indian immigration and mobility requirements. She offers a range of services from strategy advice to assistance in availing appropriate visas to post-arrival compliances in India.

Beyond her legal prowess, Mahrukh is a sought-after speaker at seminars and conferences, where she shares valuable insights on various Indian legal and regulatory matters. She also conducts global workshops for her clients and business contacts on numerous aspects of Indian immigration rules and regulations, employment and labor laws, and HR best practices.

Nurturing Future Leaders

For Mahrukh, leadership is not only about commanding from the top; instead, it’s about nurturing one’s talents and capabilities and guiding people at their own pace. She considers herself incredibly fortunate to have a mentor who has not only become her business partner but an integral part of her family. With unwavering patience, her mentor took the time to guide her meticulously, step by step, day by day, over many years.

For Mahrukh, the essence of effective leadership extends beyond the confines of the workplace. She firmly believes being supportive is the most important aspect of leadership, transcending personal and professional life boundaries. Whether in times of celebration or during challenging moments, Mahrukh emphasizes the importance of always being there for others, lending a sympathetic ear, and, most importantly, being genuine in all interactions.

“A key component of being a good leader is the constant need to learn, evolve, and be approachable. This includes both learning from peers as well as younger members of the team, as everyone has something to offer. The biggest leadership mistake is thinking you know it all,”– she explains.

Building a Healthy Work Environment

Mahrukh feels maintaining a healthy and inclusive work environment and a work-life balance is a key feature in retaining quality team members. Although some people will always be motivated by money, patience is necessary to enable a person to flourish properly.

At Consortia Legal, Mahrukh likes to encourage her team to come forward with ideas or suggestions, be it for work-related matters or administrative and logistical issues. She firmly believes in offering autonomy, space, and support for team members to discover their potential and grow with the firm.

Fostering Diversity, Equity, and Innovation

Under Mahrukh and her partners’, Jehaan and Satyendra’s visionary leadership, Consortia Legal is steadfastly committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Despite being a corporate boutique in its infancy, Consortia’s team represents diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity.

In an era where diversity and inclusion have become paramount in the professional world, Consortia Legal stands out as a firm that recognizes the inherent value of different perspectives and backgrounds. It believes embracing diversity fuels creativity and innovation, which is essential in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Managing Work-Life Balance

For Mahrukh, maintaining a proper work-life balance has been exceptionally challenging as she had to navigate the complex process of establishing her firm alongside her trusted partners while simultaneously embracing the role of a first-time mom.

“2021 was my year of two births. It has been hard but not impossible. It might sound cliché, but where there is a will, there is a way. Organization and forward planning (as much as possible with a newborn, who is now a toddler) have been key in managing the work-life balance these past two years. Not to forget, having a supportive family structure and the best business partners and team (who are like family) have immensely helped me along the way,“- she explains.

Growing Consortia Legal

As India continues to shine in the global economy, its legal landscape is poised for a transformation. So, Mahrukh and her partners aim to nurture Consortia Legal into a truly unique Indian law firm and expand its operations across multiple Indian cities.

“Whilst we hope to expand our operations across various cities in India, our focus to actively promote inclusivity and fairness while building on our principles of partnership, association, collaboration, and trust remain at the forefront of our endeavors,”– she says.

Future Roadmap

Mahrukh’s focus for the next five years is to grow as a person and professional. From a professional perspective, she aims to expand her practice, grow her team, and be a better version of herself daily. She doesn’t expect miracles overnight but small, steady steps along the way. Personally, Mahrukh hopes to achieve more self-awareness, better time management, and, most importantly, to ensure that her team, family, and she are happy.

Suggestions for Women Leaders in Business

Mahrukh suggests that women business leaders should never give up and be disheartened by the voices. There will be times when it might feel like a lost case; there will be days when they might feel it is not worth it and it is too hard. However, irrespective of all these challenges, they should take small steps, take deep breaths, and tackle one day at a time.

“Do not be afraid to venture into the unknown or out of your comfort zone. Being an entrepreneur and starting our firm with my trusted partners has been the best decision of my professional life by far. There will be a million naysayers, but remember, they are the ones who do not want you to prosper because it isn’t in their best interest. Trust your instincts and never be afraid to be authentic,“- she concludes.

Mário Leite da Silva: Assisting Clients in their Specific Business Problems

Mário Leite da Silva began his career in the banking industry and the assurance division of one of the Big 4 corporations. He has twenty-five years of experience, 15 of which were spent in top management positions with numerous industrial companies, business family offices, and financial institutions in several nations, including several listed companies on the stock exchange.

Mário was also an experienced university and post-university planning and management control professor until February 2020 and a member of the General and Supervisory Board of Porto Business School till April 2019. Mário also has extensive experience as a member of risk, audit, finance, and remuneration committees.

In 2020, Mário realized it was the right moment to launch his consulting project with an unequivocal and differentiated market position focused on value creation for his clients and not a mass market consulting company fighting on daily rates and with junior consultants. This led to the launch of PTCG, an independent management consultancy boutique that assists clients in their specific business problems related to planning, management, and control, change management, strategic planning, corporate finance, restructuring, project management, and specific challenges arising from family businesses. PTCG has the skills of a large management consulting company without its cost structure, so the company believes it can offer a highly competitive proposal with total flexibility to its client’s needs.

Rethinking the Way of Doing Business

PTCG operates in a reasonably relaxed work environment, and its team members get along well with each other. As part of its process of rethinking how it does business, the organization also promotes the introduction of fresh ideas and carefully considers each suggestion.

As the organization’s founder, Mário believes diversity and inclusion are essential topics not because they are now on the business leaders’ agenda but because they effectively increase the results of the companies. “It’s one of the topics that today, as members of some HR committees, we work more carefully given the cross-cutting impacts it can have on our organizations,“- he explained.

Creating Value for Clients

Since its inception, PTCG has grown a client base that recognizes the value that the company creates in each assignment independently of the experience of the promoters. “This is something special. To realize that the initial vision was right and that we can have a direct impact on our client’s portfolio, our teams, and our community,“- Mário said.

Looking at the Future

Under Mário’s leadership, PTCG wants to continue on the path of growth with consistency and profitability. PTCG also wants to help its teams to have a positive impact on its clients’ business. It is currently working on launching a new project that combines IT technology with management know-how as it believes that lifelong learning platforms are essential to improve its clients’ performance and to give them the tools that meet the current market volatility and complexity requirements.

Suggestions for Younger Self

Mário believes that when someone aspires to launch a new project, the individual should develop the concept carefully and study the market, competitors, and the client’s needs. He feels it is always better to be present in a context of growth, so it’s essential to tackle the timing for the launch properly. It’s never an easy journey, and young entrepreneurs must stay prepared to make some hard decisions. However, if the individual believes in the project and the vision, he/she should fight for it.

Barbara Amerio: Helping Clients Sail Away to a World of Luxury and Adventure

Fernando Amerio founded the Permare Group in 1973 to provide marine services to the expanding Ligurian customers and the nearby Côte d’Azur. Later in the 1990s, the Permare Shipyard began producing boats under the brand name “Amer Yachts,” which would later become synonymous with quality and customization in the boats and ships segment. The Permare Group is a family business led by its founder Fernando Amerio and his children, Barbara and Rodolfo. In the last 40 years, the shipyard has created over 90 custom-built yachts for Italian and foreign customers. Amer Yachts have been exported to the United States, the Far East, the Middle East, and Arab countries. The shipyard also facilitates yearly training by partnering with several universities, including Bocconi, Istituto Marangoni, IED – European Institute of Design, and IAAD – Italian University of Design to stimulate growth, innovation, and research in design and, most importantly, educate upcoming designers about the significance of integrating environmental awareness into their designs. We recently got a chance to sit with Barbara Amerio, the SPP Ambassador of the Permare Group, to learn how the organization serves its clients with its luxury products.

Below are the highlights of the interview

Q) Please tell us about your professional journey.

Superyacht building is a fascinating work of creativity, innovation, and technology for a unique handmade good strong enough to survive decades at sea and under the sun. Italians are at the top of the industry, and our company is at the top of the list for semi-custom superyachts in composite and steel.

Q) Please tell us about Permare Company and how it is serving its clients.

They are exceptional, sophisticated, and talented businesswomen and men with previous experiences in yachting and with professional crews. Both want the best and agree with our theory to prefer a limited production for saving the high quality and the detailed finishes. This fact permits a plus value in case of reselling.

Q) How do you motivate creativity and innovation in the workspace while maintaining a healthy work environment?

With healthy competition, our shipyard incentivizes and invests in the human factor to grow our workers’ skills. It helps competent and specialized people become comfortable and ready to face new challenges and find unusual solutions and new ideas for Ameryacht’s product development and company strategy

Q) Please share the pandemic’s effect on the shipyard.

It was like an invisible war. We protected all the workers, giving assistance and free health insurance coverage just in case of covid illness for them and their families. We have worked for several months only remotely. Some activities have remained on for granting base services. Casually I have spent a few months living on board due to a home change, which has permitted me to discover the boat as a private and safe place. After the first covid wave, many people did the same thinking. Boat = freedom+ health place+ oxygen. This is the best explication for the new after covid boom in yachting, coming back to being close to nature and giving the right weight to actual values, like life, family, and a holistic vision, never seen the same in the past.

Q) What are the primary challenges of the industry? How are you tackling those?

Good question. In the past, profit was the primary factor used to assess a company’s performance, but now the focus has shifted in the opposite direction. Profit is viewed as a result of a company’s actions and ability to propose well-defined and targeted strategies toward stakeholders and shareholders. ESG goals serve as the roadmap for the future. Building a reputable image is crucial and cannot be purchased, as it can greatly impact a company’s ability to sell its products and services. Our clients adopt similar principles in their own companies, seeking to purchase ethical products with added value.

Q) What milestones and achievements are you most proud of today?

We are growing fast. We have obtained excellent multi-awarded results to be shared along 50 years of activity and more than 90 units sold and under construction. Thanks to our confident customers, we contribute to building their best time and holidays. We recognize that the time our customers spend with us is invaluable, and as a result, we hold a great responsibility to ensure their safety and sustainability while reducing consumption, emissions, water, and energy. We invest in various fields to bring innovation and collaborate closely with our suppliers to achieve this.

Q) What are your priorities for 2023 and beyond?

We are working on new projects and testing basalt fibers to create a new recyclable composite. We have nine semi-custom superyachts under construction, and we are actively pursuing several potential deals to expand the Amer community

Q) Give us a piece of advice that you would share with entrepreneurs just starting out.

To create a strong reputation is important to keep the word and create a smart team. Make your story a good example, and be part of the change by actions for a new sustainable world.

Dr. Aspi N. Patel: A Steadfast Leader Pioneering Innovation

Dr. Aspi N. Patel is an accomplished leader with over three decades of international experience leading various technical, manufacturing, and tech marketing functions in the global textile, chemical, and flooring markets, building products, filtration, and aerospace industries. He has held leadership positions in organizations like GE, DuPont, and Invista and is the present CTO of Aditya Birla Group Mumbai. During his three-decade-long career, Dr. Patel has demonstrated his ability to lead and mentor cross-functional teams with the responsibility of research, development, and commercialization of new products, processes, operations, quality, and customer technical services.

He has developed a reputation for excellence while dealing with various stakeholders thanks to his ability to lead and mentor international cross-functional teams with responsibility for technological development and commercialization of new products, processes, engineering, and manufacturing. Dr. Patel is proficient in developing technology, vision, and strategy, recognizing emerging industry trends, and identifying competitive threats and acquisition opportunities.

Dr. Patel has received several awards and accolades during his long and illustrious career. In 2015, he received the Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Leader; most recently, in 2019, he received the prestigious Aditya Birla Group’s Leader of Leaders Award for his immense contributions to shaping the organization’s technology strategies and for the lasting impact of his leadership.

The Leading Textile Manufacturer

Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, ranks amongst the top publicly listed companies in India. Established in 1947, Grasim started its journey as a textile manufacturer in India. Now, it has evolved into a leading diversified player with a presence across several sectors. It is a leading global producer of Viscose Stape Fibre and Viscose Filament Yarn, the largest Chlor-Alkali, Epoxy, Linen Yarn, and Fabrics in India.

Recently a team of fiber experts at Birla Cellulose, a unit of Grasim Industries Limited and Australia-based leading research and development company, Nanollose, has filed a joint patent application for a high-tenacity lyocell fiber made from bacterial cellulose.

The patent application, titled ‘High Tenacity Lyocell Fibres From Bacterial Cellulose and Method of Preparation,’ represents a significant advancement over Nanollose’s previous viscose versions of nullarbor™ and nufolium™.

“It is potentially a path-breaking innovation that can replace some of the current MMCF feedstock with microbial biomass developed from food and agricultural waste. Birla Cellulose filed a joint patent with Nanollose, where we successfully converted microbial biomass to a high-tenacity lyocell fiber. We are now exploring pathways to scale up this technology from food and agriwaste streams,“- said Dr. Patel.

Pioneering Environmental Control Technologies

Birla Cellulose’s approach involves the development of innovative solutions to increase circularity, resource efficiency and minimize environmental footprint. For example, Birla Cellulose’s work on chemical recovery from waste streams has led to the development of a new membrane distillation process that can use up to 50% less energy than the existing process, which has a significant impact on lowering GHG emissions. There is also a new process in development for recovering low-concentration zinc from waste streams and recycling it back into the process. Over the past few years, the organization’s intense focus on recycling has reduced chemical consumption by an annualized rate of 5% to 7%.

Birla Cellulose is the first manmade cellulosic fiber (MMCF) producer to have achieved Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) in the viscose and lyocell process. Although MMCF manufacturing is water-intensive, Birla Cellulose has become a global leader regarding the lowest water consumption per ton of cellulosic fiber. At one of its plants, Birla Cellulose recently completed a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) project that essentially eliminated all liquid discharge. This is an entirely new development, as no existing ZLD technology was available to treat viscose and lyocell effluent along with high organic and inorganic content, dissolved solids, and hardness. Birla Cellulose has also developed and commercialized the process in a way that the salts extracted from ZLD are of sufficient purity for reuse in industrial applications.

Building a Sustainable World

Grasim and Birla Cellulose’s business strategy and organizational culture are both fundamentally based on sustainability. They have a long-term commitment to building a sustainable business that is in line with their sustainability model, which is based on identifying risks and opportunities, mitigating risks, inclusive growth of all their stakeholders, building transparency in the process, and public disclosure of commitments.

Future Aspirations

As a global conglomerate, Aditya Birla Group is governed by a robust set of unifying values with a vision of creating value for all stakeholders. The organization seeks to be a leader in the industries it serves, with a focus on the following;

Excellence in Quality
Sustainability across the value chain – Implementing measures to continuously improve consumption ratios, reduce water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.
Customer centricity- Understanding customer expectations and obligations to convert them into meaningful long-term partnerships for shared benefits and goals.
Responsible governance- Creating sustainable employment, stimulating economic growth, and creating positive value for all our stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, surrounding communities, and society at large.

“In today’s globally connected world, new ideas and innovations come from all corners of the world at a continually accelerating pace. Scientists and engineers need to be open and flexible in absorbing new knowledge and learning to apply it in different ways to develop new products and more efficient processes. I believe in Edison’s motto of not inventing or developing things that won’t sell since “sale is proof of utility and utility is a success,”– said Dr. Patel.

Andrew Stotter Brooks: A Global Leader with a Human Vision

Meet Andrew Stotter Brooks, the Vice President of Learning and Development for Etihad Airways, an international airline based in Abu-Dhabi, providing service to hundreds of destinations in 74 countries. As the Vice President of Learning and Development, Etihad Aviation Group, Andrew leads the creation of innovative, leading-edge learning solutions to support the development, growth and performance of Etihad’s incredible employees.

Andrew started his career in a small hotel in Dorset and learned the Art of Service in a variety of hotels on the south coast of England. In 1985 he joined Berni Inns, where he was tasked with the daily operational running of restaurants and Public Houses with Grand metropolitan in London. In 1987, he moved to Bass Hotels as an Operations Director and handled the daily operation of three small Hotels on the Southeast coast of the UK in 1992, Andrew joined the London YMCA as Hostel Manager, where he ran a multi-unit operation with over 200 bedrooms, restaurants, a children’s activity center, and a gym with a large after-school service and outreach programs for the broader community around London. In September 1995, Andrew joined TGI Fridays in Leicester Square, Central London.

In 1998, he joined Pinnacle Health Clubs now Nuffield Health as a Training/Recruitment Manager, responsible for the training department’s conception, creation and leadership development strategies. In 2003, Andrew joined Hilton Hotels Corporation and looked after the development of 16,000 team members across the 8 Hilton Brands in the UK and Ireland with a primary focus on Performance Management, Guest Service and Leadership Development. After serving Hilton for more than seven years, Andrew joined Carnival Australia, where he worked in partnership with the Regional HR Directors and the People and the Performance teams to provide specialist training and development advice and support to the South Pacific fleet. In 2011, Andrew joined Kout Food Group and it’s family of brands including Pizza Hut and Burger King in Kuwait in 2011 as Head of Learning and Development then in 2013 joined M.H. Alshaya Co. as Head of Learning and Development, where he was responsible for providing field education and development to thousands of leaders and team Members across the MENA region — supporting and developing learning and human capital for over 90 world class retail and restaurant brands, including Starbucks, the Body Shop, Harvey Nichols, H&M, Muji, the Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs and Foot Locker in 19 Countries, ultimately joining Etihad Aviation Group as Vice President Learning and Development in August 2019.

Tackling the Pandemic

Six months into his role and with growing numbers of coronavirus cases and travel bans around the globe, Andrew formed an online community to share knowledge and daily updates that connected teams around his network to keep communication human. Thousands of employees joined to listen to and enjoy, regular updates from fascinating people and famous guests. Daily video recordings of conversations quickly morphed into a weekly podcast.

“We’ve competed 135 episodes of the World Class Wednesday Webinar (WCWW); it’s been a fascinating and insightful journey. We’ve had an amazing time thanks to all of the incredible and brilliant guests that have joined us.”– he explained.

Advice for future talent

“It’s difficult to avoid hard work. But aspiring leaders should also think about their legacy and the value they add to the people they lead. Never underestimate the importance of understanding what the person in front of you needs, keep it human. People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. People will never forget how you make them feel. All humans need four things from each other. Respect, Acknowledgment, to be Heard and ultimately Remembered.”

“Never underestimate the power of strong eye contact and a smile. Two, focus on a genuine, warm welcome. Three, a friendly offer of assistance, How can I help you today? What do you need from me? Four, follow up with additional offers of help and a personal introduction, for example ‘my name is Andrew if you ever need anything from me just ask! Finally offer a fond and sincere farewell.

Nicholas McQuire: Shaping the Future of Cloud and Technology

Meet Nicholas McQuire, a globally recognized thought leader and a former 20+ year technology analyst with a knack for artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and enterprise innovation. Nick presently serves as a Director in Microsoft’s Strategic Missions and Technology Organization, a scale-up innovation hub for Microsoft.

“SMT is the nexus between Microsoft’s research organisation and our solution portfolio with the goal to imagine, develop and scale the next generation of transformative technologies that will fuel the advancement of Microsoft, the future cloud as well as industries, governments, and society.”– says Nick.

Nick is also a startup advisor and a board member with a demonstrated history of advising various C-level executives and enterprise IT professionals on technology innovation. Additionally, he is the judge of the CIO 100 and Next CIO of the year awards, which recognize the most transformational CIOs and the next generation of IT leaders in the U.K each year.

The Primary Motivation

Nick’s primary motivation was the opportunity to work with such a talented and diverse group of people and customers in advanced technology and innovation. Working within Microsoft’s SMT division has made Nick feel like a kid in a candy store, as there are many vital areas that are shaping the future of technology and the cloud, whether in areas like 5G and in empowering telecommunication providers; or in research into scalable and accessible quantum computing, or connecting cloud to the satellites in space.

Nick and his team at Microsoft are incubating businesses that will eventually determine the future of the industry and our beautiful planet.

He says, “I have always loved researching, learning, and advising companies about how businesses apply the technology shifts of the future to help them innovate, change how they work, and succeed in their respective markets, so joining Microsoft to continue this effort is really rewarding.”

Nick started his career as a Senior Analyst in Pyramid Research, Economist Group, then he joined Yankee Group in 2005 as a Program Manager. Later he joined BT Global Services as a Senior Marketing Manager, Insight, Strategy, and Planning. In 2010 Nick started working for IDC as a Vice President, leading the organization’s Enterprise Mobility Strategies and research practice.

In 2013, he joined Gema International AG as the CEO, where he managed the overall strategy and operations of the organization, including overseeing its financial performance, member and partner recruitment, product development, marketing, and geographic extension. In September 2014, Nick joined CCS Insight as a Senior Vice President and rose to the ranks of Chief of Research, Enterprise, where he led the firm’s Enterprise and Artificial intelligence research.

Mission and Vision

Microsoft enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an edge. The organization’s mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more. It believes that technology can and should be a force for good and meaningful innovation and will contribute to a brighter world differently. Microsoft thrives on diverse voices and engages its employees’ and customers’ experiences, strengths, and other points of view to inform, challenge, and stretch its thinking.

Nick says, “We feel that technology is a powerful force for good and are working to foster a sustainable future where everyone has access to the benefits and opportunities created by technology.”

He believes that just as every company today is a software company, every business will soon become an AI business. Microsoft aims to help organizations make this transition, foster innovation, and ultimately succeed in their future cloud technologies.

In addition to that, Microsoft is entirely focused on democratizing access to emerging technologies of the future, empowering developers to innovate, industries to transform, and helping every person in the society for the better.

Preparing for the Future

Nick says, “At Microsoft, we’re deeply invested in the future of the cloud and being at the forefront of the disruptive technologies of tomorrow that will enable broad economic growth with major business and societal advances that ultimately will help create a more prosperous and resilient world.”

The organization believes that innovation is the primary force of any enterprise, but innovation requires prioritization and investment, so it continually invests in helping businesses plan for what’s next. At the same time, the organization understands that gaining a foothold in emerging technologies is difficult for enterprises. So, the organization is entirely committed to bringing the latest technologies to a platform level, helping companies to spend less time worrying about the foundation and more time innovating. Microsoft is now seeking to create a culture of co-innovation which helps customers break through barriers in order to access the needed groundbreaking ideas.

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, Son Dong Jin, 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.

Marc Starfield: Helping Global Organisations to Deliver Complex and Transformational Initiatives

Meet Marc Starfield, the Group Head of HR Systems and Programs, Vodafone Group, a multinational technology communications company responsible for digitally connecting over 34 million mobile, fixed line, TV customers and organizations of all shapes and sizes. Globally, Vodafone ranks among the top five internet providers. It is also one of the largest operators of submarine data cables.

Vodafone is the largest mobile and fixed network operator in Europe with the largest 5G network. The telecommunication company is also the world’s largest IoT connectivity provider, connecting over a hundred million devices annually.

Marc is an Information Technology, HR Transformation, and Global Program Leader, who has successfully led the strategy and transformation at several leading global organizations, including AstraZeneca, BP, and Barclays. Currently, as the Group Head of HR Systems and Programs of Vodafone, Marc has led the delivery of digital HR transformation for 100,000 employees in more than 26 markets.

The Steadfast Leader

An excellent opportunity to lead a multiyear digital HR transformation program, including innovative applications and a world-first solution to enable consumer-grade AI-powered cloud service for 100,000 employees in over 26 countries, led Marc to join Vodafone in 2018.

Armed with his objective of Employee Experience Excellence, Marc has the privilege of leading a global team implementing a new, simple, and integrated digital experience for the brand’s employees. This program covers the implementation of SuccessFactors functionality, process automation, AI capabilities, and introducing TOBi, Vodafone’s employee chatbot, also the single access point for all its employees to search, find, transact and resolve queries.

The Greatest Achievement

Marc feels his most significant professional achievement is implementing a future-proof, leading HR cloud architecture and technology stack, which is the foundation for a world first integrated AI solution for resourcing, skills, learning experience platform and a new HR organizational construct. However, he also realised that this was not about the technology’s sake; it was about supporting new ways of distributed working and enabling skills for the future, which directly contributes to Vodafone’s corporate vision to become a new generation connectivity digital service provider.

“Skills are the currency of the future, and AI in HR can enable unbiased and democratized opportunities for all, which will be the required response as individual values replace the collective’s for the future’s workforce.”

Marc deems his most significant personal achievement being accepted and completing an MSc at the University of Oxford, which foundations where built on three pillars; his Mom, who as a single parent to three children created the love and space for them to achieve their dreams, a munificent business man who provided a bursary for his first degree, as they could simply not afford or even get a loan to attend university and finally the unwavering faith and encouragement from his wife.

Presently Marc and his team are working to deliver an outstanding and engaging employee experience, which is based on the following foundational rudiments:

Standardise and Simplify: Entirely entrenched in a single, simplified global platform that fully integrates all HR functions, processes, and data, including API services.
Productivity Savings: Provided an engagement platform to drive large simplification and productivity savings via consumer-grade employee experiences.
Innovative Product Roadmap: Targeted innovation in critical areas of the HR processes, specifically Skills Mobility and Talent Marketplace.
AI for HR: Implemented and embedded AI for HR Automation, Digital Assistants, and Machine Learning.
Analytical Capabilities: To deliver multilateral insights and predictive analytics that syndicates multiple sources of data and ensure data driven decision making.
Agility: Establish an agile, demand, governance, and ethics model.

The tagline Marc uses for his team is “Align, Innovate and Value Create”, which is a simple summation of the digital strategy and approach employed by Marc.

Picture of the Future

Marc definitely connects with the Vodafone “Together we can” belief that is aptly summarized by this Vodafone quote, “At Vodafone, we are known for our technology, but the truth is, it is humanity that drives our business forward. With the global pandemic raising so many questions for tech brands, it has highlighted the leading role that we need to play.”

Marc personally connects too and is inspired to continue the transformation to build and implement the ‘Human Spirit of Technology, as an inclusive and growth environment where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.’

A central part of Vodafone’s strategy is to move from a Telco to Technology Communications Company. Along with technology, people and culture are key enablers in achieving this. Marc believes there are two decisive foundational elements to achieve this.

Attract and retain the best digital skills: Where the culture and HR journeys represent an environment where digital natives feel like they belong.
Grow Skills: The culture of continuous exponential learning and transparency with employees helps them feel empowered.