Matrix Applications: Collaborating with Clients on Technology and Operational Solutions

Founded in 2000, Matrix Applications is a New York-based fintech company offering a suite of collateral management, margining, and clearing systems for institutional fixed income trading and equities securities lending. The organization consists of a team of capital markets and systems professionals delivering various financial technology solutions to institutional firms for more than two decades. Led by its Managing Director of Business Development, Stephen Mellert, Matrix Applications works hands-on with its clients to identify the optimal mix of services that fit their needs, from post-trade processing systems to back-office operations assistance. With its in-house and offshore developers, the fintech company provides its clients with the right solutions at the right price. Thanks to its team of industry veterans and financial professionals, Matrix Applications leverages its extensive technical experience, a deep network across the finance industry, and a team of ops, regulatory, and legal experts to deliver personalized managed services for its clients.

Revolutionizing the Industry

Since its inception, Matrix has successfully developed three revolutionizing systems for tackling some of the most complex issues in the post-trade processing arena.

The first system is Elevate, formerly known as “QTIX,” provides comprehensive trade processing support for front, middle, and back-office transactions. Elevate’s modular nature offers unique plug-and-play flexibility to integrate with pre-trade venues and downstream industry utilities.
The second is Margin Calculator, which was developed to offer an simple solution to the complex problem of margining forward-settling TBA transactions for compliance with FINRA Rule 4210 by calculating client exposure due to the market value fluctuations of unsettled positions and margin collateral posted to minimize such exposures.
Lastly, Trade Blazer, an enterprise-grade system, integrates trading, accounting, credit, risk management, settlement, and clearance functions to help with comprehensive trade processing support for some of the world’s largest institutions.

This suite of systems can be coupled with an outsourced back-office service for the organization’s institutional clients. Matrix has seen considerable growth in its Managed Services group in recent years, as many new clients recognize the benefits of outsourcing to a knowledgeable and experienced team rather than trying to hire their own staff.

“Among all the post-trade fixed income technology providers, only Matrix and one other firm offer such a service. We created Matrix and instilled in the culture a client-focused ethic. We pride ourselves on our levels of service to our customers. We view our clients as partners because their success is our success.” – Stephen Mellert

The Steadfast Leader

As a customer advocate, Stephen Mellert delivers much-needed integrity, insight, and impact to every client relationship. Whether working one-on-one with a small financial firm or developing a large-scale solution for an enterprise client, Stephen focuses on developing innovative and customized solutions to meet the clientâ€™s distinctive requirements.

In 2000, Stephen was a co-founder of South Street Securities, a New York-based FINRA regulated broker/dealer and its affiliate, Matrix Applications.

A graduate of Georgetown University, Stephen joined Citibank’s Global Custody Division in 1989 and served the organization for two years. Then he joined the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Fund Transfer and Electronic Securities Division. Later in 1993, he re-joined Citibank, in the Reserve Management Division, before moving to the Treasury Finance Desk to trade U.S., Canadian, and high-yield repo.

Later in 1999, armed with his experience on the Treasury and Repo Desk, Stephen left Citibank to launch Matrix Applications. Initially, the organization was established in 2000 to serve its affiliated companies; however, after a few years of existence, two of the large banks partnered with the firm to improve their fixed income processing and one elected for Matrix’s Managed Services for back-office.

The Flagbearer of Cutting Edge Technologies

As a fintech firm, Matrix Applications has always been at the forefront of various cutting-edge technologies. The organization was an early adopter of virtualized desktops, virtual telephone systems and data center replication. At the outset of the pandemic in 2020, the transition to work-from-home was a near seamless event. The firmâ€™s commitment to fostering solid and long-term relationships with its clients and partners proved to be very important during the pandemic and financial crises.

Over the last few years, the entire team of Matrix Applications has committed to moving to state-of-art technology for its DevOps and SecOps. For example, the shift to container architecture has massively enhanced the ability to control and automate “the factory process” of creating and shipping software code. Additionally, security is woven into everything that the Matrix team currently does.

Picture of the Future

Matrix aims to minimize the associated pain points of high costs and high-touch trade life cycle management by providing seamless post-trade straight-through processing. To do that, Matrix is focused on ensuring all its systems and services are modernized and exceeding its clients’ expectations by staying current with technology, capital markets, and regulatory trends.

Stephen says, “Our evolution has always been client-focused and client-driven, entering new markets and deploying new technologies to meet the needs of our customers. We aspire to bring our solutions to the next level by growing as a firm alongside our existing and new clients. As their business grows, so do we. Ensuring steady growth in today’s environment is no easy task, but our firm is committed to fostering meaningful relationships by educating the next generation of fintech professionals and building our team.“

Andy Tian: Enriching People’s Lives Worldwide

A successful serial entrepreneur, Andy Tian started his career in Silicon Valley, where he co-founded one of the world’s earliest social app companies in 2008. In 2010, Andy and his team sold the company to Zynga, where it became Zynga China. Then he followed the company and served as General Manager of Zynga China, where he grew the Office Into The largest International Game Studio Outside San Francisco Headquarters.

Before founding Zynga, Andy was an early member of Google in Greater China. During his time at Google, Andy oversaw the establishment of Google’s mobile business and introduced the Android operating system in 2014. Before Google, he worked for BCG, specializing in strategy consulting for Chinese mobile carriers and banks.

In 2014, Andy co-founded Asia Innovations Group , which serves more than 500 million users located in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide. Focused on major emerging markets, Asia Innovations Group leverages its track record of innovation, cutting-edge technology, scalable global infrastructure, and global insights with local expertise to deliver user and shareholder value based on the growth opportunities in the entire live social marketplace.

Making Meaningful Social Products

Asia has been the unsung leader in the arena of innovative social technology over the past two decades. Andy’s vision is to make Asia’s best social innovations available to the global market. As the co-founder of AIG, his focus has been on major emerging markets, which are also the fastest growing markets in the world.

AIG makes social products that offer authentic and meaningful opportunities for connection. In order to bring that much-needed authenticity to the social sphere, AIG focuses entirely on live social products, which help people communicate and connect in real time. The organization offers a full suite of social products and services to meet various market needs.

AIG’s flagship live video social app, Uplive, is a leading independent live video app globally. It helps creators showcase their talents to the world. The firm also has a suite of dating apps, including Lamour and CuteU, which serve the needs of different sets of users.

AIG’s portfolio also includes CCNet, a leading payment aggregation service for Southeast Asia and Taiwan, and Haya, which is a voice-centric live social app geared toward users who prefer to socialize via voice rather than video.

Staying Motivated

Andy says, “We face many different types of challenges as a company. Because we are a multi-regional company that operates at a large scale (over 500 million users), we are constantly striving to ensure we are meeting the unique needs of all of our users.”

As an industry leader, AIG is competing against both established players and up-and-coming start-ups, so it needs to stay agile and innovative. Andy feels growth and hiring the best talent in a fiercely competitive market are never-ending challenges. He explains, “In the face of these challenges, what motivates me is simple: we’re building something new, and we’ve already impacted the lives of millions of users.”

The world is your oyster, but you must work hard for a
long time to become the pearl.

Improving Product Portfolio

Andy and his team at AIG are constantly working to improve their product portfolio.

At the moment, the firm is thinking about on-ramps to the metaverse: how users can access that virtual, immersive, connected world. Armed with its core principle of making social media accessible, AIG is working on innovations that will make the metaverse more accessible for all.

Andy is also passionate about making social media a place that can benefit users by bringing value to their lives. The pandemic has shown us the need for social media in our personal lives. Andy believes that live interactions bring more benefits to users, which traditional social media can’t match. So, the entire team of AIG is always working on delivering a more seamless, live, and authentic experience for all users.

Motivating Employees

Andy says, “We have a unique company culture that empowers every team member to be innovative and productive.” Firstly, AIG wants its employees to be proud of their work and the impact they have achieved. One core way AIG does this is through its ESG initiatives, driven by the firm’s local offices and entirely focused on the needs of the communities where AIG operates. The firm also empowers its employees to make key decisions and bring their ideas to the table. Andy explains, “One of our values is “be CEO,” by which we mean every person in our company needs to take ownership of our success and make impactful decisions to move us forward.” He also adds, “Alongside this, we provide our team with active feedback. By emphasizing building company culture and team training, we build our team into a cohesive unit. Our robust quarterly performance reviews are also a source of feedback and an opportunity for employees to set goals for their performance moving forward.”

Future Roadmap

Andy’s vision is to create a global company that empowers underprivileged users from emerging markets and connects different parts of the world while respecting and celebrating diversity. He wants to provide users with the tools needed to connect with others, earn their livelihood, and pursue their dreams. Andy also wants to create a space where culture and tradition are celebrated, irrespective of the traditional boundaries of language and geography, to form authentic global communities.

Helping with Energy Management: Nikhil Ramanlal

Numerous years of living abroad and the intuitive need to return to India was the birth of an Idea, an idea that would today be Atandra Energy.

A passion to make a difference in the energy management sector followed by a chance meeting with Mr Sreenivas Koganti resulted in the birth of the company.

Nikhil Ramanlal, an undergraduate from Boston University and an MBA from Instituto Empresa, Spain dived headlong into starting and building Atandra brick by brick.

His military training at the Singapore Army and Years of working at Ingram Micro added to his portfolio, and helped him plan and execute better.

Path Breaking Products

Founded on 12th April 2005, Atandra Energy Pvt. Ltd. is a Chennai-based organization built on a platform for more than 35 years of experience in the Power and Energy Management Sector. The organization offer solutions to various industrial and commercial establishments under its famous brand named KRYKARD. The organization’s product portfolio includes Servo Voltage Stabilizers, UPS, Portable and Panel Load Managers, and Energy Management Software.

The Quality of a leader is reflected in
the standards they set for themselves

It has developed Alensoft, an Energy Management System on the premise that advises users on electrical load balancing, machine side losses, specific energy consumption, productivity analysis, and overall process/plant Industry. And its Alencloud is a Cloud-Based Energy Management System that provides a quick energy consumption analysis and enables users to take an action using the user-friendly KPI dashboard. Additionally, Atandra’s Lighting Energy Saver saves energy by maintaining the power delivered to the lighting loads at an optimum voltage without compromising lighting quality and comfort.

With over 350 employees and a network of more than 75 branches all over India, the organization has installed over 400,000 Power Conditioners and 150,000 Portable and Panel Load Managers, which has helped KRYKARD become a leading brand in the area of Energy Management.

With its CE-certified Servo Stabilisers and Transformers, Power conditioners, Atandra Energy ensures that its products conform to global health, safety, and environmental protection standards.

Tackling Challenges

Nikhil believes India’s diversity often brings a challenging set of professional and personal situations across a widely diverse demographic of employees and clients. He feels victorious when he is able to emphasize and address every roadblock with the same level of concern, understanding, and compassion.

He believes , “Leaders need to constantly evolve as people while also keeping the business abreast with advances in technology. Keeping a keen eye on the competition whilst motivating his own team is something he feels always necessary.“

Mission and Vision

Atandra Energy’s mission is to become a global leader in the energy space and create various new software and energy management verticals. Additionally, the organization aspires to create employment opportunities for people and always looks out for the best of its employees.

As the organization’s leader, Nikhil frequently calls for an external set of professional eyes to evaluate, audit, and upgrade the work environment, business culture, and customers’ perception of Atandra Energy. He also keeps the mid-management on their toes by frequently and directly seeking inputs on brand and customer satisfaction levels from the entire employee pool to ensure the company and its employees are operating according to his mission and vision.

Rohit Agrawal: Flying an Aircraft with Creative Ideas, Real Thoughts and a Focused Mindf

A pioneer in eye care for more than two decades, Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals believes in providing the best quality eye care for everyone. With the trust of more than 10 lakhs satisfied patients and over 1 lakh successful surgeries and procedures, Sharp Sight has established itself as one of the leading eye care providers with 14 centers spread across Northern & Eastern India.

The eye care provider was the first to be accredited with NABH, which stands for its international quality clinical services. From severe eye conditions to pediatric ophthalmology, Sharp Sight has expert ophthalmologists and clinical support to care for patients with eye problems.

Rohit Agrawal leads the Group Corporate Communications of Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals as an accomplished, innovative, and successful media professional with more than a decade’s experience in mining new and ROI-driven creative strategies for establishing organizational goals.

Rohit has completed his academics in Mass Communications at GGSIPU University. He then started his professional career as a trainee reporter at UNI and SI News Channels. Later he shifted to Cogent EMR Solution as a Public Relations Officer.

After that, Rohit shifted his focus toward the corporate world, where he got the chance to work as a Deputy Manager in the Branding and Communications Department at the Center for Sight Group of eye hospitals in 2008. Later in 2011, Rohit joined Paras Hospital as a Brand Manager, and in 2020 he joined Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals as the Departmental Head- of Corporate Communications.

Rohit says, “I believe in character, values, vision, and action. I am a quick learner and believe in learning from my mistakes, for I strongly feel that this virtue will take me ahead in life and my career.”

Diversifying Offerings

The first thing that Rohit does is market research. At first, he learns about his target audience, what they care about, etc. Then, he chooses the way he will communicate with them and run an A/B test. Rohit wants to learn what type of messaging is most important for this group. After analyzing his results, He opts for the winning test but continues to refine the messaging throughout a campaign’s lifetime.

On the other hand, Media Relations is Rohit’s favorite Corporate Communication method. As mentioned above, he shared a warm bond with journalists which can offer a wide PR to his company. He added, PR is a direct way to connect with your target audience via News channels, Print Media, Digital, Radio and Magazines which helps in establishing company’s voice and branding decently.

Accept Challenges with a Smile

Rohit feels that a workplace challenge is anything that prevents you from succeeding in your role. Multiple factors like changes in the workplace, lack of expertise, conflicting management styles, or contrasting personalities can create challenges in your workplace.

Every role has its very own set of challenges that can occur at any part of a professional’s career. How you are tackling challenges in your workplace can leave an impression on how your colleagues view you. So, it is very important to develop a strategy to deal with workplace challenges.

“In fact, I would recommend each and every professional that ‘accept challenges with a smile.”- Rohit states.

Leadership Principles

With the rise of social media, the way of communication changed dramatically. Starting from your websites to your handouts to tweets what you say and how you say it is absolutely critical to stay relevant, current, and influential in your markets.

Finding the answers to a few basic questions like ‘who needs you,’ ‘who do they need you?’, and “what is your value’ helps to a large extent. Rohit believes answers to these questions form the messages that are unique to you. These messages must be consistent, and everyone in your organization reflects that.

He also feels various key message variations can also be developed for numerous purposes, including speeches, public service announcements, or industry presentations. However, that needs to be consistent with stemming from the overarching corporate key messages. A well-crafted set of key messages will showcase all your key benefits, support your mission and highlight your value.

Future Roadmap

As a leading eyecare brand, Sharp Sight Eye Hospitals firmly believe in developing a culture where the team and performance thrive. The eyecare brand has opened 14 centres in just two decades and provides world-class ophthalmic services with great passion and dedication. Sharp Sight is currently eyeing Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi NCR, and the northeastern part of India to add nearly 40 new centers within the next 5 years.

Rohit states, “Recently, Sharp Sight has collaborated with LOGY.AI, which introduced an AI-based screening solution to identify cataracts on the spot within a few seconds and that too with 92 percent accuracy. We ensure that we will be introducing more new technologies in the coming 5 years.”Â

Abhinav Thakur: The captain of India’s Diagnostics Industry

The expansion of diagnostics services has been spurred by demographic ageing and changing lifestyles, which have increased ailments such as cancer, diabetes and heart disease. The COVID-19 outbreak has increased the demand for diagnostics even more. While many countries are improving their diagnostic product manufacturing efforts, India continues to import the majority of diagnostic items. India imports diagnostics items that are generally made in high-wage countries like Europe and America. Because India is a low-wage country, the great majority of people cannot afford these things. Accurex Biomedical, a pioneer in the Indian in-vitro diagnostics (IVD) business, has been meeting this need for more than three decades.

The Mumbai-based healthcare corporation has created a reputation for quality goods, a strong financial base and innovative marketing as one of the top three Indian enterprises in the field of clinical chemistry. It was the first company in India to manufacture urine test strips and enzymatic clinical chemistry reagents. India’s IVD clinical chemical production sector began with this. Accurex now offers a wide range of innovative and reliable medical diagnostic solutions. Abhinav Thakur (Managing Director of Accurex Biomedical) leads the company, which is well-known in the Indian diagnostics market.

Accurex Biomedical traces its roots back to 1984 when nearly all diagnostic reagents were imported into India. Accurex Biomedical was founded by Anil Thakur (Founder and Ex-Managing Director) to indigenize the manufacturing of foreign reagents in India. It was India’s first manufacturer of urine test strips and enzymatic clinical chemistry reagents. In India, this was the start of the IVD clinical chemical production sector.

Accurex has had consistent growth since its establishment. The company established a brand name in the Indian IVD industry by releasing innovative products regularly. Unfortunately, Anil died too soon while his son Abhinav Thakur was studying in the United States. Abhinav Thakur had to return to India to operate his family’s business after the unfortunate tragedy. Abhinav Thakur, Managing Director of Accurex Biomedical, is in charge of the company’s activities. Before completing his PGDM at NMIMS University in Mumbai, he graduated from the world-renowned University of California-Davis. By taking over Accurex in 2005, the adaptable leader insured the family business’s survival. Abhinav Thakur has led the company with zeal and determination since then and has played a key role in its 4.2x sales growth and expansion from 90 to 170 individuals. Accurex has evolved from a diagnostic reagent firm to a diagnostic reagents and instruments company during the last decade.

Abhinav believes that to respond to changes in the external environment, a business must be flexible. As we have seen in millions of years of evolution that it is the species that adapt & survive the longest and the species that don’t adapt go extinct he claims. He goes on to say that in these uncertain times, firms who innovate and adapt to the changes brought on by the pandemic will survive and grow.

Due to the pandemic, Accurex transformed the majority of its fixed expenditures into variable costs because the top-line estimate was uncertain. This allowed the company to sustain its cash flow and continue operating. As a result, Accurex intends to adapt its business model to meet and overcome the obstacles posed by the pandemic. The company aims to generate a turnover of 100 crores in FY22 and plans to keep expanding in the years ahead.

Quality is the most important factor in the medical diagnostics market, according to Abhinav, because patients lives are dependent on diagnostic reports. As a result, the organisation is concentrating on creating high-quality diagnostic solutions. The company has proven itself in the industry and built a solid brand over the last 35 years.

Since we have been providing quality products in the market for over 35 years the customers in the industry trust our brand. This trust built with our customers on quality is our USP, states Abhinav.

Healthcare is a fundamental right of every human being. Currently, healthcare is not affordable to a majority of the population of our country since 70% of medical diagnostics are imported. My indigenous medical diagnostic manufacturing in India will make medical diagnostics affordable to more people in the world, states Mr Abhinav Thakur. The lack of technology in India is an area of concern for me. We need to invest a lot of capital into R&D to develop indigenous products in India The company’s products are designed to democratise healthcare. Therefore, Mr Abhinav Thakur aims to modernise traditional ways by combining innovative ideas.

Professional success requires the ability to learn new things and improve. Abhinav Thakur believes that teaching is the greatest method to learn. Self-education and then sharing that knowledge with others boost personal and industry progress. He shares, When you share the knowledge with other people with end up absorbing the knowledge 10x better. Mr. Abhinav goes on to say that in today’s internet age, knowledge is democratised and everyone may find the greatest source online. In today’s age when you are on a quest for knowledge the best sources are easily available at your fingertips online. An Aspiring business leaders should make use of all available opportunities to better their talents and contribute to society, he recommends. The best charity one can do is to create employment, states Mr. Abhinav

The epidemic created significant interruptions in business operations. Getting millions of people to work from home has expedited a workplace experiment that had previously failed to gain traction. The resurgence of the Work from Home approach, according to Abhinav Thakur, is the most positive shift brought about by the epidemic and is here to stay. Work from home will reduce pressure on the commuters and traffic, and people will still be able to work, he says further. Many firms, Abhinav Thakur believes, will transition to a hybrid WFH model in the future, allowing certain employees to work remotely while others work on-premises and occasional WFH days.

Because the top-line outlook was uncertain owing to the pandemic, Accurex transformed most of its fixed costs into variable costs. This allowed the company to preserve its cash flow and continue operating. As a result, Accurex intends to survive and overcome the obstacles of the pandemic by altering its business model to meet the needs produced by the epidemic.

How Sidharth Jain built a successful IT company GraffersID that is serving global market leaders?

“There are no limits on what you can accomplish, except the limits you place on your own thinking”

Sidharth Jain, founder of GraffersID: an award winning Website and Mobile App Development Company. He is on a mission with his team to increase the startup success rate by being their tech partners.

He was born and brought up in a small-town Barwaha, which is about 60 km from Indore, after his schooling he got a college education from Mumbai. Laughed and Mocked by the other students in his initial years, the struggle started early in his life.

With no previous knowledge of the technical field, there was a mountain to climb for Sidharth. And, he did it.

With some assistance from good friends and aspirations to become the Best, Sidharth gave it all to learn the technical aspects. His mindset after college life was changed. He chased every single opportunity and conquered the best results.

After his college he looked for job opportunities in IT sector and gets one to work with biggest IT Company at that time where he learned market-leading technologies and impressed the team in the first 6 months itself.

While the office and work was amazing, he understood that the technologies used were pretty old and people were working on same products for 5-10 years. It seems pretty repetitive for him and don’t find new learning opportunities. After completing 2 years in the same company he quit and focuses more on tech and startups.

When he started his journey to create billion dollar company, he noticed that startups are struggling. Many startup clients had shut down and others were struggling to stay afloat. After finding the reason he realized there is a huge gap in the IT domain.

From his saving he took a co-working space for 4 month started writing blogs and spreading his knowledge on social platforms like Quora, LinkedIn, and Medium.

People supported and appreciate his efforts on Quora, and LinkedIn and he became a top writer in Startup category in few days. Soon, Sidharth realized that he is capable of helping more people and in many ways.

The Rise of GraffersID – Most Reliable tech partner for Ambitious Startups

With his mission of multiplying the startup success rate (from 10% to 90%), he launched GraffersID in 2017. At the initial stage, he managed almost work of the company himself.

After getting his first project in the name of GraffersID, he starts hiring skilled and talented team of designers and developers. They prefer to hire talent over degrees. Within few years, team size of GraffersID has grown up to 100+ employees.

Now, GraffersID is a team of design, and development veterans who share the passion for helping Entrepreneurs to bring their stories to life. GraffersID Team specializes in identifying the loopholes, in the flow of the application and then brainstorming the possible solutions to make the final product robust and market fit.

The first project was not a success that hit him very hard. The client failed due to late delivery and it impacted Sidharth directly.

From then on, he formed a set of values and always followed them. The same client came back to him because of his professional behavior and dedication. This time, the client bagged an investment in a seed-funding round. It was a remarkable achievement for a small team of GraffersID.

Sidharth and his team always focused on bringing success to their clients. From this experience, it was very clear that Growth & Success for the client is directly going to bring success to GraffersID.

Forming a result-driven system that outputs Client Satisfaction & Success

Smaller milestones never satisfied the desires of Sidharth. And, that is what made him chasing for more and more. In the initial years itself, GraffersID won “Best User Experience” and “Rising Star” IT Company awards.

Those were just the beginnings of what would become an inspiring journey later.

Constantly enhancing the processes of Hiring, project management & project delivery, a system was formed which ensured 100% client satisfaction.

Ongoing hard work resulted in prestigious awards for the team of GraffersID. Being recognized by Clutch as “Top 15 Web Development Companies in India” and Zoom awarding as “Most Impactful Company“.

The struggles of years were producing scintillating outcomes for this motivated team. Sidharth was recognized in the list of 50 Most Influential Youth Marketing leaders.

The Client-first approach and user-centered product development made GraffersID among the world’s best tech service providers.

Awards and Recognition were milestones that proved that GraffersID is on the right path of growth. Working with GraffersID, the success rate for Startups was +80% as compared to 10% in general.

GraffersID has disrupted a major market already. With bigger targets and goals, GraffersID is going ahead in the journey along with helping more and more startups.

Yogita Tulsiani: Delivering Outstanding Workforce Solutions To Businesses

The Director & Co-Founder of iXceed Solutions, Ms. Yogita Tulsiani has been firmly driving it towards exponential growth. As the head of one of the fastest growing workforce solutions providers, she has been consistently bringing forward some of the best talent solutions to her clients

With her immense potential and a decade-long experience in Business Development & Consulting, in diverse sectors cutting across continents, Ms. Yogita Tulsiani has been leading from the front. Besides fulfilling her roles and responsibilities, she has a keen eye for lucrative business opportunities, which has helped the business to achieve higher grounds.

Ms. Yogita Tulsiani, who is a keen observer with sharp business acumen, strives to look out for newer avenues and ventures to develop innovative solutions. She ensures the smooth functioning of all operations in the company including sales and delivery work. As a business leader, she is also mindful about keeping clients and employees happy.

A GIFTED LEARNER

Ms. Yogita Tulsiani, who completed her schooling from Holy Child School, remembers her childhood fondly. She pursued engineering from the esteemed Delhi Institute of Technology (now known as NSIT). Following this, she completed her MBA from the renowned Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. A student with an excellent record all throughout her academic life, she had set high goals for herself, which eased the process of finding clarity in life.

With tremendous passion and enthusiasm, Ms. Yogita Tulsiani gives her best to all the tasks she undertakes. She draws inspiration from her mother, who has been her pillar of strength. Her concentration and whole-heartedness in work has helped her achieve many awards and accolades throughout her academic and professional life.

ENVISIONING GROWTH

Ms. Tulsiani believes that for any organization to prosper, creating valuable business relationships is of prime importance. This relationship can be strengthened by providing distinguished talent solutions and in turn, opening global opportunities for the youngsters stepping into the corporate world. Replenishing the vacuum of talent by finding candidates with the perfect skill sets, she has strengthened the foundation for generating employment. Under Ms. Tulsiani, iXceed has been utilizing new-age technologies like AI and ML for a sustainable business. By expanding over to the Americas and Asia Pacific, the organization is now a trusted partner for clients across the globe.

An able leader, Ms. Tulsiani has always been open to challenges and has worked in the direction of accomplishing goals with the help of efficient and streamlined processes. Her customer-centric approach has always formed the core of the business and has earned the company a name in the market. Her unceasing, consistent and diligent efforts, integrity and respect for every idea brought forward by the team members make her an employee-friendly leader.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION With The Leaders Globe Award for the 10 Most Innovative Entrepreneurs of the World in 2020 and iXceed winning the Top 10 Most Trusted HR Solution Provider 2020 by Business Connect, she has brought multiple accolades for the organization. Besides these, Top 20 Most Promising Recruitment Consultant Award 2018 by Silicon India and Star Partner HCL Technologies Award in 2014 are some of the other awards that grace the exhaustive list.

Charikleia G. Stouka: Most Influential leader in Real Estate

“Global Business Excellence Awards” winner, Charikleia G. Stouka founded “ALMA” Real Estate Hellas in 2001 in Athens, Greece. Over the years, she has built a solid reputation as one of the foremost real estate professionals in the country, delivering world-class personalised services. Most recently, Charikleia G. Stouka Stouka was named “Most Influential leader in Real Estate 2021” – (Greece) at the “Corporate Excellence Awards” 2021, and was the winner in the “Outstanding Public Relations”, “Outstanding Entrepreneur”, and “Outstanding Customer Service Initiative” categories at the “Global Business Awards 2020”. She has appeared in several magazines including “Who’s Who” Women Leaders, “Business Partners”, “CIO Look”, “Corporate Vision”, “Prime View.” She was also featured in the 2019-2020 and 2021 editions of the “Who is Who Women Leaders” compendium of prominent Greek businesswomen and leaders.

From a small operation run out of a corner of her parent’s living room to renown as a leading figure in her field in Greece, Charikleia G. Stouka has made a name for herself by insisting on a handful of key principles: truly customer-centric thinking, outstanding personalised service, and a commitment to lifelong learning and always keeping up-to-date with developments in her field. It’s these principles that have seen Charikleia and her company, ALMA Real Estate Hellas, win awards, recognition and, most importantly, customer loyalty.
“It’s our international recognition and our way of thinking that separates us from the competition,” points out Stouka, one of just 20 certified Realtors® working in Athens. “For us, the customer always comes first. The real estate market can be intimidating, and our job is to take the stress out of play so that our customers can enjoy the process and make good decisions. When we look back on our careers, we want to know that we have made a difference in people’s lives and in the life of the community.”

She’s a firm believer that dedication to outstanding quality pays off—not only because of all the satisfied customers but also because pushing for excellence builds expertise and knowhow which in turn build confidence which attracts better quality clients.

The ongoing and growing success of Stouka and ALMA Real Estate Hellas often prompt questions about her secret to making it in such a competitive business. The answer, tellingly, focuses on commitment. “My advice to young people starting in the business, in any business, is to always strive to finish what they start before moving on to the next thing, and in the process strive to do it well,” she points out, reiterating the link between effort, results and confidence. “You must always be willing to learn and to take initiative-opportunities are not handed to you; they must be seized! Real estate is a tough business, so you have to have drive and vision and the will to do go above and beyond. You have to stop asking yourself whether you can do something, and just find ways to do it.”

Looking inward to the principles and behaviours that drove her own success, she underlines the importance of always putting the customer front and centre. “Our business is all about building relationships. About acting fast and leading by example. About finding ways to make things happen for people,” Charikleia G. Stouka says. “You have to ask yourself, what kind of difference do you want to make in people’s lives?”
Some of her recent accolades include:

Named Most Influential leader in Real Estate 2021 (Greece) at the Corporate Excellence Awards 2021 winner in the Outstanding Public Relations, Outstanding Entrepreneur, and Outstanding Customer Service Initiative categories at the Global Business Awards 2020

Business Partners magazine: central interview in the magazine’s 100th anniversary issue (January-February 2019)

CIO Look magazines: featured in “The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Revamping the Future 2021” and “The Most Admired Women in Business 2021”

Corporate Vision magazine: “The Minds Behind Customer Facing Greek Real Estate”

Prime View magazine: featured in “The 10 Most Innovative Business Leaders Making a Difference in 2021”

Who is Who Women Leaders: featured in this annual, luxury edition, collectible encyclopedia of prominent Greek women in both the 2019-2020 and 2021 editions

Randy M. Knutson is the Founder & CEO of DynaQuest Technology Services Inc., an award-winning provider of innovative Blockchain solutions for emerging markets

Randy is the Founder & CEO of DynaQuest Technology Services Inc., an award-winning provider of innovative Blockchain solutions for emerging markets. With over 35 years of experience in managing enterprise technology operations from startups to global companies, Randy’s expertise is focused on transforming enterprises and economies with technology. He is passionate about finding digital solutions for the inclusive, sustainable and economic development of communities that have been underserved, left behind or forgotten.

Shortly after graduating from Utah State University, Randy was on the founding team of the first commercial artificial intelligence expert system that automated the consulting process to assist small- and medium-sized businesses on how to computerize their operations.

Following the initial startup experience, over the next three decades, Randy had a successful career in financial services working in the technology area of insurance and banking. His roles as a regional CIO and global CTO include managing enterprise adoption of information systems, mobile communications and internet applications across multi-national operations in global strategy.

Driven by his experience and vision on how technology can reshape business and commerce, Randy then founded DynaQuest in 2013. Under his firm leadership and clear direction, he first grew the business into a successful startup, and then strategically repositioned the company from a traditional BPO and IT Solutions organization to an award-winning Blockchain solutions provider for emerging markets. He is known in the Asia-Pacific IT and Shared Services industry as an innovator and enabler of emerging technology for economic transformation.

To date, the company have won awards:

BLOCONOMIC 2019 EXPO : Top Blockchain Achiever Award of 2019

Enterprise Security : Top 10 Identity and Access Management Consulting / Services Companies in Asia and the Pacific 2020

Enterprise Blockchain Awards : Finalist for Blockchain Leadership: Entrepreneurship 2020

Asia CEO Awards : Circle of Excellence Award 2020

Asia CEO Awards : Finalist for Technology Company of the Year
ASEAN ICT Awards Nominee for ICT Top Social Responsibility Award : Economic Identities for the Inclusive Economic Growth of the Caraga Region

Dr. Kushant Uppal: An inspiring entrepreneur

“Entrepreneur’s need to remember that they are the best marketer’s for their products and company” says Dr. Kushant Uppal, Founder, and Managing Director, Intelizon. He founded Intelizon in 2007 with the vision to create a world of smart energy which formed the basis for the name. INTELIZON means intelligent solar- ZON means sun in Dutch and INTELI is short for intelligent. “The idea of Intelizon was seeded in 2006 when I was in Silicon Valley and solar was catching attention. The opportunity to create solar lighting products for rural markets was a dream since it had a social, environmental and economic impact” speaks Dr. Kushant. Intelizon is a journey where they have created technologically the most advanced solar systems addressing the requirements at the bottom of the pyramid. The lithium-ion based solar street lights and the DC systems are state of the art, cost-effective and have been proven to work in tough conditions. The IOT based remote monitoring and control and the AI-based inbuilt camera systems are path-breaking with a global market.

“I was exposed to entrepreneurship at an early age as my father had his own business. I have a B-Tech from IITM and a PhD from University of Southern California and worked at the hub of entrepreneurship, Silicon Valley for a decade creating world leading products in the telecom sector. Having seen corporate success and with encouragement from my wife, the idea to work on a business with triple impact became the driving passion for my career” says Dr. Kushant. Intelizon has a team of professionals who are dedicated to the company’s vision and are passionate about their work. They work tirelessly to build trust and long-term relationships with their customers and suppliers alike. He believes the ethics they have built has set the platform for a long-lasting entity which will impact the world positively. The initial challenges were to understand the Indian ecosystem for building teams, projects and channels for the rural markets. As with any entrepreneur, you roll up the sleeves to understand the problems at its root and solve them one by one. “It took us a few years to get the market and product fit right. The markets were not ready for our products in the initial years. It took us the first 5 years to focus on the right market segment and have grown 4X in the past 5 years. Solar streetlights has become our bread and butter” says Dr. Kushant.

Unique Offerings

“We are pioneers in lithium ion based solar street lights. We are the only company in the world who has lights successfully operating in the field for more than 6 years. We also have home lighting systems based on lithium ion batteries. Our uniqueness lies in innovation- Theft proof designs for street lights, remote monitoring and control systems using Wi-Fi/GSM/Bluetooth and most recently inbuilt lights and cameras for wireless surveillance. We also provide best in class quality, reliability and customer service” speaks Dr. Kushant. Solar street lights is an unorganized sector and they are unique in terms of providing technology and building a brand. Their customer satisfaction metric is based on the strong and long lasting relationships built with their channel partners. They are seeking people and businesses who are as passionate in creating the world of smart energy and building not only a business but also impacting lives and helping the environment.

They have a team of self-driven and passionate people who are encouraged to come up with ideas and excel in execution. Their passion for innovation, quality and customer service drives excellence. This has led to an installed base of over 25000 solar street lights and 100000 solar home systems with a return rate of less than 1%. Intelizon has impacted more than 2 million people, reduced CO2 emissions by 30000metric tonnes and saved over 16million units of electricity to date.

A realistic Work life-Balance Dr. Kushant believes work-life balance is the key to success. This philosophy allows one to work efficiently at work while being an effective support at home. Family support is critical to maintaining sanity and balance in the life of an entrepreneur. “In my case, my wife has been the pillar of support since the ideation in 2006 till today. I have also received tremendous support from my father who is involved in the day to day finance management at Intelizon and gave me good advice on the Indian business environment in the early days. My wife, parents and kids inspire me the most” asserts Dr. Kushant. Kids in general have a positive mindset and are passionate about learning which forms the crux of an entrepreneur’s life. His wife multi-tasks and balances work, kids, parents, home, etc., which is a huge motivation and makes entrepreneurship feel simple.