Powerful Men in Business-2022 | Ciolook India

I N D I A
Deﬁning Leadership
Comprehending
Essential Qualities
of Leadership
Powerful
Men
in Business
2022
Abhishek
Devidutta Samal
An Exceptional Leader
VOL-03
ISSUE-03
2022
Leadership Advents
Fundamentals of
Different Leadership
Approaches

Editor's Note
BUSINESS ARENA’S
SUCCESS EMPOWERERS
n the path to success, achievements are the
Omilestones to be cherished when faced with
the severest of adversities. It is during such
times that your past accomplishments become your
future empowerer.
Establishing, running, and making a business
successfully demands continuous passion,
perseverance, powerful motivators and a resilient
attitude.
Few accomplish this herculean task day-in-day-out and
make winning an integral characteristic of their
personality. They are powerful businessmen. Their
mind is always set on the ultimate goal; the goal of
personal, professional, and social improvement.
To achieve it, they constantly improvise upon their
skillset. The fundamental skill they possess includes
readiness for hard work, longevity in arduous tasks,
challenging the self every time, and innovating their
perspectives and approaches towards the self and
others. Their other traits are learning new things,
updating themselves continuously, keeping up with the
times, and bringing in positive change by developing an
open mind.
Similarly, they are concerned about the people more
than the profits. They are also compassionate about
their fellow human beings, colleagues, employees, and
professional peers, including competitors.
Whatever the situation, they do not forget their
humane approach. This quality makes them stand apart
in the crowd and helps them keep up their winning
momentum in the long run.
For them, success is a journey and not a destination, to
be reached together with their compatriots. It is to be
journeyed, experienced, and celebrated through the
winding, upping and downing times. That is the way to
live, work, play, and have fun all the time.
Challenging times come and go, but since these
powerful entrepreneurial spirits are untethered, they
keep the flame of enterprise permanently enlightened.
Their persona brings positivity in times of depression,
balance in chaotic situations, and harmony in a time of
turbulence.
These are the business arena's success Empowerers,
making a powerful impact of positive difference in the
social and business mindset. Insights Success brought
this edition of Powerful Men in Business – 2022 to
celebrate their journeys, stories, achievements,
accomplishments, and success.
Read on to learn, live, laugh, and celebrate with them
and get mesmerised by them. You will also find some
trendy articles crafted by our in-house editorial team to
enchant you further with their stories.
Hop in and have a powerful reading ride!
Abhishek Joshi
Deputy Editor
abhishek.joshi@insightssuccess.com

Team Sustain Cochin
Equiniti India
U2opia Mobile
iBraine is an online marketing company providing specialized
web promotion services through search properties.
TeamSustain is a leading clean and green technology
solution provider that offers premier quality and cost
effective energy solutions for sustainable resource
utilization to markets around the world.
Equiniti is a leading specialist in technology, finance and
administration services.
Kalinga Commercial
Corporation
Kalinga Commercial Corporation is a leading Turnkey Service
Provider for the mining sector to undertake contracts for raising
and transporting ores and minerals.
U2opia Mobile is a Singapore-India based innovator in mobile
technology and applications.
iBraineDigital
LLP Mumbai
Brief
Company Name
Anand Ramakrishnan,
Managing Director
Ritesh Bhatnagar,
CMO
Harsh Pareek,
Co-founder
George Mathew,
Founder and CEO
Abhishek Samal,
Vice President
Featuring
Powerful
Men
in Business
2022
APLApollo
APL Apollo Tubes Limited is India’s largest Structural Steel
Tubing Company with an extremely strong local presence,
thanks to our philosophy of Make in India, extensive
distribution network and world class quality.
Vinay Gupta,
Director &
Anubhav Gupta,
CSO

Abhishek
DeviduttaSamal
C
O
V
E
R
S
T
O
R
Y
Articles
Decoding Leadership
Comprehending
Essential Qualities
of Leadership
Leadership Advents
Fundamentals of
Different Leadership
Approaches
18
30
08

c
o
n
t
e
n
t
Anand Ramakrishnan
A Global Fintech Leader
Dr George Mathew
A Certificated Expert in Climate
Change and Environmental Sustainability
Harsh Pareek
Staunch Leadership Acumen
Ritesh Bhatnagar
An Exemplary Leadership Personality
Vinay Gupta and Anubhav Gupta
Men of Real Steel Proving Their Mettle
14
22
26
34
40

CONTENT
DESIGN
Visualizer Sandeep tikode
Art & Design Director Rashmi Singh
Associate Designer Revati Badkas
SALES
Operations Head Megha Mishra
Assistant Manager Tejaswini Whaval
Sr. BDE Suraj Gadekar
Business Development Executive Meera Patel
TECHNICAL
Technical Head Aditya K.
Technical Consultant Tanaji
MARCH, 2022
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I N D I A
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Deputy Editor

ABHISHEK
DEVIDUTTA
SAMAL
" Always work with
self-confidence and a
drive to succeed; achieve
exemplary results and
gracefully accept
the challenges
‘‘
‘
‘

How frequently do we come across selfless leaders
who provide a creative component to society with
the potential for widespread opportunity growth?
It’s incredible to observe how great leaders turn their ideas
into reality. A wise leader has a strong desire to listen and
interact, and it is their modesty and honesty that
distinguishes them. Abhishek DEVIDUTTA Samal is
leading by example with his sincerity.
Vice President of Projects and COO-Chrome Business at
Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited, Abhishek
started his career at Tata Steel, Kalinga Nagar, in 2017 as an
intern. After training in electronics and telecommunications,
he bagged the ‘Best Intern of The Year’Award at Tata Steel
Ltd.
He joined Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited in
June 2017 as a key management person directly under the
Chairman cum Managing Director with responsibility in
both technical and non-technical areas to bring
improvements in the company’s performance.
Abhishek believed that there can be a successful career,
while he accepted that, “Every day is important in his life.
Every day is a new day, and it gives different experiences.
To be very honest, there has not been any biggest
accomplishment,” says Abhishek.
And the only goal that Abhishek follows is to take his
dreams and the company forward with promising growth.
Managing Assets
Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited is a leading turn-
key service provider to the mining sector. Kalinga entered
mining during 2003-2004 in small mines adopting semi-
mechanized operation, gaining proficiency in the
development and operation of state-of-the-art fully
mechanized open cast mines, presently operating eight large
and important Iron Ore, Coal, and Chromite mines of
Odisha belonging to OMC, SAIL, MCL and TSML.
Today, the company can excavate 27-30 million cubic
meters and produce 18-20 million tons of finished saleable
products.
The company engages 7000 employees, out of which 4100
are direct employees of KCCL, mostly working at different
mining sites. Among this major workforce are engaged in
operation and maintenance of various mining equipment
(HEMM), facilities for crushing and conveying, and
transport of finished goods and waste.
Despite constraints during the pandemic period of the last
two years, achieving steady growth continued in the
previous five years, Kalinga with confidence, plans to
achieve a turnover of 1500.Cr rupees during the financial
year 2021-22.
Taking Onus as a Vice President
Abhishek was awarded with the responsibility of Vice
President (Projects) and COO in September 2020. It was a
challenging job awarded by TSML to develop and make
operational three chromite mines that were non-working
and abandoned for over nine months in the Sukinda area.
One of these was 200 m deep where de-watering though
continued and opening access roads to develop operating
faces for immediate mining was exceedingly difficult. In the
other mine, de-watering itself was the problem to open the
mine. With combined efforts, Abhishek and his team started
the production and achieved their target.
Another chromite mine of OMC being earlier worked was
also taken as a composite area for operation under his
leadership.
A Transformative Leadership
There was also a need for improvement in technological
and operational areas for an innovative approach, cost
reduction, timely availability of spares of HEMM, etc.
Improvement in the HR area, particularly training and skill
development, commitment, and team effort, were felt
necessary for higher productivity and growth prospects.
To improve HR Management, Abhishek implemented the
following strategies:
• Before starting operation, National Anthem was played
in an assembly in the operating mine sites attended by
bothexecutivesandnon-executives.
• Workers also participated in various welfare and CSR
activities of the company conducted in the mines for the
benefitof thelocalcommunities.
• BloodDonationCampincoordinationwitharedcross
• EyeCheck-upandHealthCamp
• DistributionofBlankets
• Rations (grocery) and medicines to local inhabitants
duringthepandemic
• Plantationofsaplingsandsports activities
Powerful Men in Business-2022

To bring all the categories of employees of the company
together, cricket matches were organized among different
mine sites. This helped employees to mix and understand
each other to develop a feeling like a family. Picnics,
functions, and get-togethers under employee engagement
activities are also a part of this process. The company
arranged tournaments as a part of employee engagement
activities by participating in inter-site tournament 2018-19
and awarded Runners up medal and prize.
This helped Abhishek know about other mining sites and
various company activities. A basic organizational structure
was developed with the introduction of co-curricular
activities to improve coordination between employees on
different sites.
With the above steps being initiated and structural changes
in the organization under progress, considering contribution
and performances, in this chromite project, the greatest
challenge was to handle the labour unions of the previous
and local issues demanding recruitment.
This was a complex problem involving socio, political, and
local issues that required a sincere approach, proper
communication, and management. Abhishek and his team
settled these issues and ensured the operations of the mines
were continuing smoothly.
Development activities could be achieved as planned with
the co-operation of colleagues and staff. But this challenge
for the reopening of chromite mines was a challenging task
that could be taken care of with much efforts with an
amicable settlement of disputes.
Surpassing the Challenges
During the pandemic, the company has done many changes
in the technical as well as in its nontechnical fields. Kalinga
adopted a biometric fingerprint and RFID card-based time
attendance system, compulsory for both executive and non-
executive employees.
On the mining sites, the workers regularly screened the
temperature and oxygen level of the employees after
coming and before leaving the workplace—installation of
sanitiser machines and ensured sanitization of workplaces,
machines, and vehicles on a regular basis.
Besides this, the company built its own isolation wards and
quarantine centres in each site, and in cases of emergency,
the company enabled the provision of oxygen cylinders,
oxygen concentrators, and ambulance facilities.
An Expert’s Advice
Abhishek would like to advice to the budding aspirants,
"Always work with self-confidence and a drive to succeed;
achieve exemplary results and gracefully accept the
challenges."
Advancements Driven by Technology
With regards to technological developments and operational
efficiency, the following activities have been taken:
The company introduced Green Energy, Solar Systems for
the lighting of haul roads and camps besides heating
arrangement for supply of warm water to the camp. The
company generates one megawatt of energy synchronized
with the grid system.
The company uses mostly imported equipment for better
availability and assured productivity. Availability of spare
parts was a major constraint even though there was a
contract for maintenance services.
Low-cost procurement was brought successfully to manage
this, indigenization, and alternative sources. This enabled
improvements in resource management, efficiency in
availability and utilization of equipment, quick
identification of problems, and immediate action.
Exhibiting Excellence
OMC awarded Kalinga Commercial Corporation Limited
for 100% achievement on production. With quality,
commitment, honesty, and integrity, the company has
become the ‘Fastest Growing Industry’ and achieved ‘The
Fastest Growing Indian Excellence Award’ by International
Achievers Summit.
The Future Roadmap
Digital transformation is currently changing the shape of
business in various sectors. The mining industry cannot
remain isolated. The geological database is now used for
mine planning and progressive assessment of mining
activities undertaken. It also helps in the assessment of
stockpiles, dumps, production, etc.
The company is seriously working on improving MIS, ERP
systems, data entry, data management, etc., for better
efficiency in the management of maintenance, operation,
and material management with faster response time.
The company’s vision is to be a global player in the mining
industry by 2030, and Abhishek wants to grow with the
company, and someday, he wants to be recognized as one of
the best influential leaders of the country.

Numbers are captivating entities. They have enabled
the mathematical revolution. Mathematics, in turn,
made the finance world.
Technological forces have now transformed finance into a
completely new world called Fintech. And mastering
Fintech needs a different kind of leadership.
Mr Anand Ramakrishnan, Managing Director of
Equiniti India Private Limited, is that powerful Fintech
leader. He was always fascinated by numbers and later by
Finance during his post-graduation.
He knew he would always end up doing something related
to management and finance. He also enjoys setting up and
growing new businesses. The challenges are fascinating,
and the number of twists and turns along the way needs one
to be flexible and be able to think on their feet, which
Anand finds exciting.
As with any other child, Anand looked up to his parents as
he grew up, and you could say they were his first role
models. In his professional world, there were many from
whom he has learned and many who have contributed to his
growth.
Anand carries an experience of 20+ years in his career in
the technology sector and has held prominent roles in
various organisations as a CEO, Chief Strategy Officer, and
CIO, among others.
He joined Equiniti India from Quess Corp, where he was
the CEO of MFX India, an Insure-tech Organization
focused on Insurance and Qtek Systems, an IT Managed
Services business he incubated. He was also a Director on
the Board of Conneqt Business Solutions (formerly Tata
Business Solutions), one of India's largest BPO
Organizations.
A Global Fintech Leader
14 | March | 2022 www.ciolookindia.com

During his career, he handled management roles in Wipro,
HCL Infosystems, CMS IT Services, and Sonata Software.
His career included overseeing operations in North & Latin
America and Europe and leading expansion into Southeast
Asia, Japan, and the Middle East. He has built multiple
businesses and turned them into profitable entities in the
past, which have helped him finetune his abilities in
business strategy, leadership and P&L management.
That is why he is Insights Success' one amongst the
'Powerful Men in Business-2022'
Equiniti India, Capturing the Globe
EQ India is EQ's Global India Captive (GIC). It is an
extended arm of the global Fintech business and employs
highly competent professionals delivering complex
transactions. EQ India operates seamlessly with its entities
in the UK, Netherlands, Poland, and USA. It is the fastest-
growing geography in the group in providing financial
technology services to EQ's clients. EQ India provides
sophisticated processing and payment services and effective
technology solutions for increasingly complex and
regulated markets.
EQ India's services include business-centric process
delivery such as shareholder services, estate registrations,
payment reissues, transfers, multi-currency settlement and
central reconciliation, investment services, pension
solutions, KYC, AML and customer experience centres.
These are core business processes of EQ that positively
impact its customers across geographies.
EQ India also drives financial services internally, wherein it
delivers processes in core functions of F&A with quality,
value-addition and transformation as its key drivers. Some
of the key services delivered by EQ India are procure-to-
pay, order-to-cash, record-to-report, payroll management,
master data management, statutory reporting, group
reporting and internal audit.
In IT, EQ India provides application development and
support, software quality assurance, IT infrastructure
support services, messaging, telephony and Infosec
services.
EQ India focuses on excellence in service delivery while
upholding its values of integrity and openness in its
dealings. It leverages innovation, transformation and
automation to deliver contemporary solutions that cater to
its clients' requirements.
EQ India employs some of the best people in India in their
respective fields. In just a few years, EQ India has grown to
20% of its global employee base and continues to grow. At
EQ India, Anand offers exciting challenges and significant
professional growth to his teams. He believes in nurturing
talent and having his teams express themselves. At the same
time, he encourages his employees to have fun at work.
Anand says firmly, “We believe in diversity and inclusion
and have one of the best diversity ratios in the industry. We
look into the future with a lot of optimism for growth and
becoming one of the largest GICs in the global shareholder
management industry.”
EQ Group, a Fintech Leader
Equiniti Group (EQ) is a technology-led financial service
and shareholder management, specialist. As per Anand,
their clients trust them to hold 70 million shareholder
records, send £90 billion in payments each year, look after
1.1 million share plan investors and interact with 27 million
shareholders and pensioners.
Their technology and services cover share registration,
share plans and governance solutions in the UK, equity
compensation and related services for North American
corporates, regulatory technology and services for credit,
remediation and risk/fraud, pensions administration,
payments and software.
Over 70% of the FTSE 100 and 15% of the NYSE rely on
EQ Group to help them respond to the challenges of an
increasingly complex and regulated world. EQ Group
provides specialist solutions powered by technology, which
more than 5,000 employees deliver across geographies.
EQ India focuses on
excellence in service
delivery while upholding its
values of integrity and
openness in its dealings
15 | March | 2022

Looking into the Future
EQ India has grown from strength to strength over the last
few years, and continues this exciting growth journey.
Anand always believes in the growth of not just the number
of people but also in the growth in the quality of work that
his team does. To develop an organisation, it is important to
keep the teams motivated with challenges, which will come
from doing more interesting and challenging assignments
rather than just operational tasks. This is the direction in
which EQ India is headed. Anand wants his teams to think
more innovatively, particularly using technology, and
ensure they move from being doers to influencers.
As he has already mentioned, Anand enjoys setting up new
businesses, growing into new geographies, and setting up
new services. And most of his challenges have been during
these times. The challenges are different, based on the
business or geography he is working on. Setting up the
cloud business and setting up a managed services business
from scratch were extremely challenging, and so was being
one of the first into a new geography.
And as with anyone else who has lived through the last two
years, COVID has been a significant challenge, both
professionally and personally, the effects of which continue
to linger. However, he says that they at EQ India all hope
the worst is behind them.
It delivers its services and solutions through a suite of
technology platforms, which provide resilient, enterprise-
grade technology and functionality to its clients. This
technology underpins its strategy of expanding its service
offering while adapting to changing client and regulatory
requirements.
Anand further says that their infrastructure is configured to
be secure and resilient. The scalability of their platforms
supports their business growth, as they process increasingly
large volumes of data and transactions. They also have a
track record of making targeted acquisitions of companies
with exciting technologies, which opens new growth areas
for them.
As UK's leading share registration services company, EQ
has been recognised as one of the UK's Superbrands for the
last four consecutive years.
EQ group has also received the following awards in the
recent past:
• Financial Times Diversity Leaders 2020
• Corporate Content Awards 2020
• Payment Provider Award at The Rewards 2019
• Digital Engagement Award at Verint EMEAAnnual
Customer Awards

word 'impossible' substantially. A couple of years ago, who
would have thought you could run an entire sales cycle on
Teams without physical meetings? Who would have
thought Food Delivery Apps would be a lifesaver for many
people? Who would have thought 'touch-less' is the way of
the future, particularly since man is such a social animal?
COVID-19 has opened our minds to new ways of thinking,
and he thinks for the first time, people/businesses are asking
for new technologies, rather than it being the other way
round always.
In his own company, they are working on various
technologies and automation that drive their business for
the future, thinking a few years ahead.
Being in the financial services industry and being industry
leaders, their future is about how quickly they grow and
from an EQ India standpoint, how much more they can
contribute to the EQ Group's growth.
Anand thinks their future is indeed looking positive. They
are well on the way to becoming an employer of choice in
the Fintech space in India.
According to Anand, he would define a successful career as
one where he should look back and say he has made a
positive difference to the world and people around him. As
long as he keeps working towards that, he is on the right
path.
Resonating Excellence
EQ India has recently been awarded the “Best Brand”
award for 2021 by Economic Times.
Its recent awards include:
• Export Excellence Award by Department of Commerce
(Govt of India), 2021
• Best Finance Team of The Year Award at the CFO
Summits & Awards, 2021
• Best in Onboarding Solution Award by World Training
and Development Congress, 2021
• Excellence in Training Award at Asia Pacific HRM
Congress, 2019
• Tamil Nadu Best Employer Brand Award, 2019
Breaking the COVID Spell
Anand thinks one of the most essential things that COVID-
19 taught us is the ability to open our minds and look at
things very differently. It has helped reduce the use of the
17 | March | 2022

D e c o d i n g l e a d e r s h i p

These days, leadership is essential for an organisation to accomplish
its objectives. Being a solid management function, it helps to direct
an organisation’s resources for improved efficiency and the
achievement of goals.
Effective leadership is necessary to bring clarity of purpose and motivate and
guide the organisation to realise its goal. Following are the comprehending
essential qualities of leadership.
Possessing Integrity
The foundation of any good leadership is integrity. To run any business
without integrity is next to impossible. Whatever the situation, a great leader
inspires with his principles without compromising.
A great leader refrains from making false promises or taking shortcuts,
choosing thoughts and action over personal gain. To pay the dividend in the
long run, delivering the said promises as ethically and morally grounded is
necessary. Thus, integrity is an essential quality of effective leadership.
Being Innovative
Being innovative does not mean being a creative genius with thought-
provoking ideas. But a person who gives others the freedom to develop their
ideas. People with great ideas also lack the will, determination, and
confidence to take action. So, this quality is significant for the success of the
organisation.
Essential
Comprehending
“
Qualities of
Leadership
19 | March | 2022

Being open to new ideas and
discussions is a sign of being
innovative. It helps everyone think out
of the box and gives an edge over
others. Showing respect for other
people’s ideas helps create a positive
environment in the organisation.
Ultimately it helps in attaining the
goals of the business.
Having a clear vision
A clear vision is a must for laser-sharp
focus on the goal. A person with a clear
vision can understand what he wants to
achieve, its purpose, facts, and its
impact.
With the help of a clear vision, a leader
can formulate clear plans and give
clear and valuable directions, feedback,
and corrections at the right time. If
team members see that their leader is
clear about what they want to achieve,
it makes things easier for them.
Therefore, this is one of the essential
qualities of leadership.
Being Honest
Honesty is essential to garnering trust
and respect from people for reliability.
As the people who walk the talk gain
respect from society, honesty is the
most valued trait for any business
leader or any leader in general.
While working in a team, honesty
helps people trust that the information
they receive from others is accurate to
do their jobs correctly. This helps build
long-term relationships and plays a
significant role in the prosperity of the
business.
Excellent communication skills
A key to outstanding leadership is
excellent communication skills. An
influential leader knows how to put
across his message. Being a good
orator, he can get his work done. He is
not harsh and can choose words and
expressions which suit the situation
and allow others to express their
thoughts and ideas.
A leader with impressive
communication skills is very conscious
and learns from others’ behaviours,
which gives him a deep understanding
of human complexities. Therefore, this
quality is a must for great leaders.
Ability to delegate
One of the essential leadership
qualities is the ability to delegate. A
great leader knows how to delegate
wisely and make the best out of it. For
maximising productivity and team
performance, delegation is crucial. As
the leader is the busiest person in an
organisation, the skill of delegation
gives him more time for his most
important work.
A necessary factor here is that
delegation does not limit delegating
tasks to others. It also includes having
the awareness and understanding of
who has the required skills and
expertise to complete the task. To save
time and future inconveniences,
mindful delegation is vital.
Ability to solve problems
The roles of leadership are not limited
to management or delegating. The
spectrum of leadership responsibilities
has evolved today. Leaders must have
problem-solving skills for the proper
functioning of an organisation. They
should also have an eye for analysing
situations to make better decisions.
While running any organisation, one
must go through lots of new problems.
So, leaders having the innate ability to
respond to issues positively is
necessary. By identifying and defining
problems, he can use data, analyse, and
communication to solve the issues. So,
to eliminate barriers having strong
problem-solving skills is vital.
The skill of decision making
By being decisive and knowing how to
help the organisation, stakeholders help
the business in a beneficial way. A
great leader must have clarity and
certainty for his work.
Great leaders know how their decisions
can make or break businesses. So, they
examine a given circumstance many a
time before coming to any conclusion.
By collecting valuable information,
they can make necessary conclusions
that help achieve the organisation’s
goals.
Wrapping up
Most of the time, after graduating from
college, a millennial will change jobs
four times. So, this is a clear sign that
leaders are failing to foster a sense of
trust and loyalty in their employees.
Therefore, all these qualities are
essential to outstanding leadership as it
helps employees to perform well. That
is why organisations need to develop
these skills in emerging leaders.
- Pooja Jaipal

Dr.George
Mathew
A Certificated Expert in Climate Change
and Environmental Sustainability
limate change is currently one of the world's most
Cserious threats. It poses a fundamental threat to the
places, species, and people's livelihoods. Earlier, it
may be due to natural phenomena, but since the 1800s,
human activities have been the main reason for climate
change, primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels.
If we do not want to face a climate crisis, our focus must be
on sustainable solutions. In addition to this, we also need
newer, affordable, and more efficient technologies to lower
carbon emissions.
United Nations (UN) also works significantly for optimum
solutions. However, it demands more contribution. Thus,
there is a need for some powerful leaders who understand
the situation and provides sustainable solutions.
Dr George Mathew is one such prominent business leader
who recognised the realities of climate change and its
threats to humanity. So, he wanted to have a positive
influence on people's lives. As a result, he introduced Yesen
Sustain, one of the world's most awarded sustainable
energy companies.
According to tech partners, it is one of the world's first
cleantech firms and one of the top five clean technology
companies. The firm is Asia's oldest solar PV and solar
thermal system integrator.
It has revolutionised this field by introducing three electric-
powered boats, namely YS Sunrider, YS Surya, and YS
CIAL. YS Sunrider and YS Surya were awarded the Limca
Book of records for the Fastest Solar Powered boat and the
Largest Solar-powered boats in Asia. At the same time, YS
CIAL Vembanad is the first Solar Electric Boat covering
over 650 kilometres across a single waterway in India.
In an exclusive interview with CIO LOOK India, Dr George
Mathew, Co-founder and CEO, sheds light on the
company's journey, the current industry scenario, and his
vision for the future.
Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us
about your exciting journey of becoming a powerful
business leader.
I graduated from Bangalore University, India, and launched
my sustainable energy company soon after graduation. This
was way back in 1994. Thus, it makes our company one of
the world's pioneers of Net Zero innovations.
Over the years, we spearheaded over 2500 sustainable and
cleantech projects across the world, in countries like India,

We aim to continue
innovating, designing,
and developing
greener, cleaner,
and affordable t
echnologies that
can change the
lives of millions
and help our
world combat the
climate crisis
‘‘
‘
‘
Dr George Mathew,
Co-founder and CEO
23 | March | 2022

Australia, Singapore, Nigeria, Guam, Vietnam, Sri Lanka,
Kenya, Maldives, Dominican Republic, Somalia, Kenya,
Indonesia, Nepal, USA, Afghanistan, Haiti, and UAE.
Yesen Sustain works with many industries, including
telecom, marine, agriculture, tourism, healthcare,
manufacturing, dairy, education, defence, banking, and
mining.
These projects helped fight or mitigate climate change and
brought financial benefits to the stakeholders and the
communities around the projects. The solutions were
impactful in saving the environment and improving the
communities' quality and standard of life.
Yesen's focus is to deliver impactful products and solutions
which helps fight climate change and improve quality and
standard of life.
Products and solutions include – decentralised clean power
and water, waste management solutions, energy resilient
products for regions with unreliable and no- grids, last-mile
cold chain. Electric marine propulsion solutions etc.
What inspired you to step into the business arena?
I understood the reality of climate change and the threats it
posed to humanity early on in my life and always wanted to
make an impactful difference in people's lives. And this was
the inspiration behind my venturing Yesen Sustain.
Brief us about Yesen Sustain and its overall operations.
What kind of products and services does your company
offer?
Yesen Sustain is one of the first CleanTech companies
globally and rated among the top 5 clean technology
companies by tech partners. It is the oldest System
Integrator for Solar PV and Solar Thermal in Asia.
Yesen Sustain has over 26 years of experience in design,
engineering and execution – using diverse technologies. It
has been a Zero debt company since its inception.
The fact that projects executed back in 1994 continue to
perform beyond their life cycle is a testament to the
reliability of Yesen Sustain.
Today the company has offices in USA, India, Guam,
Australia, Vietnam, and UAE. Products manufactured by
Yesen Sustain include – P-Secure, H-Secure, T-Secure, B-
Liph, B-Kool, and E-Secure. Yesen Sustain has also
partnered with leading brands like Phocos, V-Sun, E-Trio,
Polarium, and Elco Marine products.
Please brief us about how you helped enhance the
outreach and development of your reputed
organisation?
Yesen Sustain understands that climate change is a reality
for all humanity and businesses worldwide. We are
developing newer, affordable, and more efficient
technologies to lower carbon emissions.

By intelligently adapting and integrating different
technologies, we create customised solutions that can be
maintained by communities using local resources and local
skills. All our products and solutions are impactful both to
the client regarding immediate financial benefits and the
environment.
How would you define a successful career? What would
you say is your biggest accomplishment?
If I have made a positive change in the way people think
and live their lives, that is a successful career. I believe I
have had one.
Back in 1996, we started our first Net Zero project where
we electrified an entire village consisting of 400 houses in
Mundanmudi, Idukki, in Kerala, India.
Apart from electrification, we also brought in drinking
water and waste management, transforming the lives of the
villagers. It was then the most significant solar electrified
village globally at that time.
Please mention Yesen Sustain's most notable
achievements, accolades, accreditations, and awards.
Yesen Sustain is one of the most awarded sustainable
energy companies in the world, with two Intersolar awards
and six nominations.
It was included in the Limca Book of World Records twice.
Our solar boat, Sunrider, was included in the Limca Book
of Records as the Fastest Solar Powered Boat in Asia, and
Surya was the largest solar boat in Asia.
Intersolar awards honour the companies making a
substantial contribution to the new energy world. Driven
by innovation, with more than two patents and 40 more in
the pipeline, we are one of the world's front runners of
sustainable energy.
We have our indigenous range of products making
sustainable adoptions desirable, suitable, and accessible.
How do you envision the future of Yesen Sustain going
forward?
We aim to continue innovating, designing and developing
greener, cleaner, and affordable technologies that can
change the lives of millions and help our world combat the
climate crisis.
Yesen Sustain was a pioneer in promoting the
concept of Net Zero as earlier as 1995, making it
one of the first of its kind in the world.
• 1996: World First Net Zero Village, the Largest Solar-
powered village consisting of 400 houses. The project
included Clean Power, Drinking Water and Waste
Management.
• 2008: Received ISO 9001:2008 certification from TÜV
SÜD for the design assembly, installation,
commissioning and servicing of solar energy-based
power generation and water heating projects, making
us one of the few companies in the world to have
achieved ISO 9001 for Design & Engineering of Solar
PV and Thermal Systems.
• 2009: The solar boat Surya was included in the Limca
Book of Records as the largest solar boat in Asia.
• 2009: Awarded the International Boating Award (IBA)
for Responsible Tourism.
• 2009: Awarded SE - 1A rating by NSIC ONICRA
Credit Rating Agency. The first Clean Tech Company
in India to achieve this rating. This highest category
rating is given for the highest performance capability
and financial strength.
• 2012: The 65 KW Solar Power Project at Spice
Village, Kumili, belonging to the Casino Group of
Hotels, was nominated for the InterSolar Award under
the Off-Grid Solutions category.
• 2013: Won the Energize Award 2013 for Excellence in
Off-Grid Projects. The Award was supported by CNBC
18 and Ernst & Young.
• 2013: Solar boat Sun Rider was included in the Limca
Book as the Fastest Solar Powered Boat in Asia and the
first production model Solar Powered Boat in India.
• 2013: In Kerala, two prestigious projects - Malankara
Plantations, Kottayam, & Hibiscus Villa, Alleppey,
were nominated for InterSolar Award for the 2nd
consecutive year.
• 2014: Intersolar Award 2014 for Remote Telecom
Solar Solution.
• 2015: Intersolar Award 2015 for design and
engineering of Sun Rider Solar Boat.
• 2015: Authorized channel partner of MNRE and
awarded SP – 2B rating by ICRA Credit Rating Agency
in 2015. This rating indicates the highest performance
capability.
• 2016: Awarded the Solar Innovation & Excellence
Award by Mission Energy Foundation for the
Innovation Project (Off-Grid scale) category.
25 | March | 2022

Harsh Pareek
Staunch Leadership Acumen
Leadership is a driving factor in
the success of a business,
particularly in this era of
innovations.
The pace of change means that today’s
leaders need to be reactive and
proactive in the face of challenges. A
successful digital leader also must bear
in mind that while technology is
essential, the people part of the
transformation is just as crucial.
Leadership today is a balancing act and
requires a unique set of skills to drive
success that reaps the rewards for the
leader, organization, and workforce.
Additionally, The ability to convince
people to follow you down the yellow
brick road is not easy. Still, if you have
the vision and can creatively weave a
vivid picture that makes people believe
what you believe, then the chance of
success is significantly greater.
Successful business leaders will have a
clear vision for the future of their
company and be willing to commit the
resources and implement the changes
needed to make that vision happen.
This is where Harsh Pareek succeeds
as a business leader.
Harsh is the Co-founder of Ibraine
Digital LLP. Under his exceptional
leadership, Ibraine fulfils all the Digital
Marketing requirements starting from
Web Design and Development, Search
Engine Optimization, Performance
Marketing, Social Media Marketing,
Data Analytics, Affiliate Marketing,
Mobile Marketing, Email Marketing,
etc.
In an interview with Insights Success,
Harsh Pareek sheds light on his
journey in the niche, highlighting the
challenges, industry sagacity, and his
opinions on the company’s future.
Harsh, please brief us about your
professional tenure at Ibraine Digital
and your exciting journey behind
becoming an influential business
leader.
I Am Harsh Pareek, Co-founder of
Ibraine Digital LLP, a bootstrap
company founded by Mr Rahul Singh
and me in 2012. Rahul and I used to
work in the same agency when we
started with this exciting journey of
Digital Marketing.
After three years of experience, I
started freelancing to get in-depth
knowledge in handling clients myself.
Spending a few years freelancing and
working for clients from all over the
globe gave me an exposure of a
lifetime, which further interested me in
starting with my agency. The outcome
of it is Ibraine, a full-fledged one-stop
solution for all your Digital Marketing
need.
Until now, Ibraine has handled over
1250 clients from over 20 countries. I
have always wanted to start with my
own business since college. Like
everyone else, it was unclear what to
do, so I had to experiment with various
fields and worked on different jobs,
including HR, Marketing, Finance,
Logistics, Events, and IT. After having
excellent hands-on into different
verticals gave me clarity on what suits
me well and what to get into.
What was your inspiration behind
venturing into the business arena?
I never looked up to one person for
inspiration but had lots of inspiration
on the way. Every person who is
hardworking and intelligent inspired
me throughout my career. I have
always looked up to the small player
who started a business from scratch
and grew it into a profitable venture.

I am not ruling out the giants whom
everyone follows, and even I do in
some sense, but people around me
have chiefly inspired me as I have seen
them grow every day in their life with
small steps.
Brief us about Ibraine Digital and its
overall operations concerning the
products and services does it offers?
Ibraine is a one-stop solution for all
your Digital Marketing needs. Starting
from Web Design and Development,
Search Engine Optimization,
Performance Marketing, Social Media
Marketing, Data Analytics, Affiliate
Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Email
Marketing etc., we deal in end-to-end
solutions for our clients.
We have the solution for Small,
Medium, and Large-scale clients. No
matter your budget, we have the right
strategy for your success.
How did you enhance the outreach
and development of your reputed
organisation?
Comprehending an experience of over
14 years into hardcore Digital
Marketing, I have seen this industry
grow and prosper in the markets of
India. Initially, when I started with
Digital Marketing, the awareness was
low in Indian Marketing, and it started
growing in a few years.
No matter your budget, Ibraine
Digital has the right strategy
for your success
“
“
27 | March | 2022

Being an early adopter, I always had an
edge with domain knowledge which
has helped me a lot to create the right
strategy for my clients. Being in this
industry for so long has also helped
build relationships with so many
companies, which overall helped the
success of Ibraine.
What kind of challenges have you
faced in your initial stage, and
looking at the changing scenario of
the industry, what are the challenges
now?
I won’t say my journey has been really
different for other entrepreneurs as I
have faced almost a similar challenge
that others do which includes
investment, technology, good skill etc.
Overall, it hasn’t been much of a
bumpy ride as I always believe in
advance planning and execution, so
things have been smooth most of the
time. I want to highlight that as the
industry is growing at such a pace that
there are lots of young blood who want
to make a career into it, which is a
perfect thing, but the overall quality is
somewhere compromised in this race
to success.
Finding employees with good
experience has become a bit of a task
lately. Still, it probably can be solved
once new entrants understand that
quality is the key to success with
marketing into the Digital Space.
How would you define a successful
career? What would you say is your
biggest accomplishment?
Success is different for everyone and
cannot be compared. Just growing in
life and making lots of money is not
success. For me, success is when you
make someone successful with your
skills. I still remember when one of my
clients told me that “Harsh, you made
me a millionaire”, which gave me the
real taste of success.
He had a start-up tour and travel
company in South America. We
actually turned that company into a
multi-million-dollar company with the
help of Digital Marketing. There are
many more examples in our journey
that I consider my success.
What was the impact of COVID-19
on the industry, and how did you
manage to surmount the adversities
of the pandemic?
We don’t have to be in one place in the
Digital Marketing space—we can work
remotely from anywhere. Since the
pandemic started, our entire team has
been working from home with more
efficiency.
One challenge was that we lacked the
brainstorming activities we used to do
in the office every day. Nevertheless,
we were saving more time on
travelling and applying the same to
work which has improved the
productivity.
In terms of technology adaptation, we
have subscribed to team management,
client management and project
management software to keep track of
everything we are doing. This also
helps the new joiners understand the
work efficiently and collaborate with
the team.
How do you envision the future of
your Ibraine Digital? What are your
future prospects?
We want to help as many businesses as
we can, so we are registering our
business in UAE and USA so that we
can have a local footstep there.
Though we have many clients, we are
working with from these geographies,
having a local presence helps more.

“
Leadership is a significant part of our professional
and personal lives. Based on our experience or
observations, all of us have ideas about how a
leader should be and should not be.
Most of the time, we tend to align with the leaders who
meet our leadership definition.
Moreover, questions such as: What makes a great leader?
Why do people like to follow some leaders and not others?
What leadership approaches can effectively click with a
group of people to gain maximum results? Are debated in
every organisation all the time.
The quality of leaders is determined by the practices that
they follow to manage their situations, people, and organi-
sations. It can be said that every leader has their own
approach to leading. This means that there are as many
approaches to leadership as there are leaders.
Through scholarly research, leadership approaches are
devised into widely acknowledged different styles. These
are mainly driven by underlying fundamental values that
leaders follow to achieve clear and maximum results from
every employee.
Fundamentals
of Different
Leadership
Approaches

L
eadership
Advents
31 | March | 2022

These different approaches to leadership with their
fundamentals are mentioned below.
Autocratic Leadership
The main idea behind autocratic leadership is to get the
tasks done by the people without them questioning or
adding any input. This type of leadership approach limits
the creative control of the work to the hands of the leaders
only. Employees are expected to complete their tasks
strictly under the guidelines provided by their leadership.
This approach can garner productive outcomes in some
situations, but the possibilities of expansion cannot be
explored due to a lack of creative freedom. Despite this, this
leadership approach can be advantageous when the leader
has far more expertise and experience in the field of work
than the people he is leading.
Democratic Leadership
The participative approach of the leaders drives this type of
leadership. Leaders who adopt this approach allow people
to participate in the decision-making processes. They
believe in the brainstorming process to churn out their
colleagues’ best ideas and input.
The leaders retain the right to make a final decision.
Employees can gain confidence in their leaders when they
are allowed to take part in the decision process. It can
motivate them to improve and work hard to prove their
worth to their leaders and colleagues.
It also includes drawbacks like communication failure,
attaining no results, and subtle conflicts if the discussion is
not carried out under the set rules. Also, employees may
feel pressured to bring their positions in line with the
leader’s viewpoint to earn brownie points.
Delegative Leadership
In this type of leadership, the leader trusts their group to
come up with the decision. They allow them to put forth the
discussion and form the final decision. These leaders will
take full responsibility for the decisions taken by the
employees, yet they will leave the decision-making process
entirely in the hands of the team.
The delegation approach fits well with the group of highly
skilled workers and creative teams. On the other hand, a
group lacking the needed skills, motivation, or adherence to
deadlines can lead to poor performance.
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership primarily consists of exchanging
ideas, directions, and resources. Employees are rewarded or
reprimanded based on their individual outcomes. This is an
effective method of letting people know when they are
doing their best or not meeting the desired results.
This type of leadership is widely adopted in organisations to
keep employees motivated by valuing their hard work. The
drawback to this method is that some employees may feel
ignored if only some are awarded and others are not. It
could make them feel that the leader is lenient toward
selective people.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leaders take the path of motivating their
group towards shared visions of the future. They use the
intellectual stimulation method to drive the performance
growth of their people. These leaders are well known for
their communication skills. They also exhibit their integrity,
self-awareness, authenticity, and empathy to set themselves
as an ideal example to follow.
The drawbacks of this method can be wearing out of
motivation, overlooking the details, employee burnout, and
many more, which can cause a sudden downfall in results.
Servant Leadership
Servant leadership essentially means that, regardless of the
hierarchical position in the organisation, these leaders lead
by meeting the team’s requirements. These leaders are
motivated by the serve-first mindset. They give equal
importance to empowering and uplifting the people who are
working alongside them. Such leaders find value in serving
and not just passing on commands.
Some disadvantages of this type of leadership are that it
takes time to establish values and the possibility of leaders
being viewed as less competent by their team members.
Leadership’s New Normal
The post-pandemic approach of Leadership is more resilient
than ever. It is redefining the business success mantra. The
future is of those leaders who adapt to the rapidly changing
times quickly and overcomes every adversity resiliently.
- Vishal Golekar

An Exemplary Leadership Personality
Ritesh
Bhatnagar
Innovative leadership skills inspire people to complete
a series of tasks according to a specific schedule if they
are in a management position or lead a project. These
are skills that help organising the subordinates to achieve
their shared goals.
However, leadership is not just a skill but a combination of
different skills coordination and unique approaches towards
driving the growth of the organisation. But does it really
make any difference?
Standing out in the competitive world requires an
innovative mindset and an ideology of being unique and
inventive.
Throughout history, great leaders have emerged with their
leadership ideologies in providing directions implementing
their plans to discover new things. Also, motivate people
through their distinctive plans of action in achieving their
desired success. This has been proven effective for almost
all industries and organisations to date.
Moreover, with such exceptional approaches, these
personalities have changed the scenario of today’s world.
Also, their significantly creative innovations in various
industries and organisations are making a huge difference.
One such personality is Ritesh Bhatnagar.
Ritesh is currently working as a Chief Marketing Officer
at U2opia Mobile. He is responsible for the overall
marketing, brand management, and growth strategies
internationally. His most recent projects involve launching a
live gaming streaming channel along with an EA sports
team and making WOO–a leading dating app in India and
for the Indian diaspora globally with an active user base of
12 million users.
An Innovative Platform
U2opia Mobile is a Singapore-India based innovator in
mobile technology and applications. The company holds a
diversified consumer and enterprise products portfolio in
more than 70 countries. U2opia has verticals across
Telecom, Digital Marketing, Gaming, Fantasy Sports,
Dating, and Media.
As a company, U2opia always works on platform-specific
strategies and community outreach to positively impact its
corporate image and brand reputation. The company has
captured international markets and increased its consumer
base with this. The company uses diverse platforms like
email, mobile social media, and marketing campaigns to
enhance outreach and development. U2opia also nurtures
leads through its website and SEO first content strategy for
each of its products, which helps global organic reach.
Below are some of the marquee products within U2opia.
Dating: Woo is a leading dating app in India and for the
Indian diaspora globally, with over 12 million actives plus
subscribers. Woo is a dating app that puts women first. This
digital app is aware that gut-instinct plays a crucial role
when you like someone new, so U2opia has built its app
from that place of sensitivity.
The app makes it easy to navigate this dating world by
making it a comfortable and fun experience. Women’s
interests in ensuring safety and privacy are paramount for
the company. With over 12 million matches and counting,
WOO application is committed to changing the dating game
and helping women feel more empowered to make
meaningful connections with people they fancy. It is not
surprising that this is the dating app women love.

The strengths
that set Ritesh
apart are his
creativity,
leadership,
and risk-
taking ability.
He is also a
big advocate
of identifying
top talent and
supporting
their strategy
and vision
35 | March | 2022

Gaming: - Mojo Gaming is India’s first indigenous high-
quality social gaming portfolio and a distribution and
publishing platform. Mojo Gaming is a multi-genre gaming
platform that brings together casual and hardcore gamers
under one roof. It has five modules - Competitive Skill
Gaming, Daily Fantasy Sport, eSports Streaming, an E-
commerce engine called the Game shop to purchase top-ups
of top-selling games and eSports daily matches and large
tournaments across popular Battle Royale 3X3 game
formats.
Content: Mr. Phone is a video content platform on
Technology. The platform is a unique amalgamation of
technology-driven curation of smartphones, gadgets and
devices and a content resource for the latest information
from the world of phones. From original thought-driven
articles to incisive reviews on YouTube, Mr. Phone ensures
that all your technology-related queries are answered.
Anaadi Army is redefining the Esports space in India.
U2opia holds a full-fledged team of young gamers who
compete at international levels. U2opia has its channel.
Gaming enthusiasts get the latest updates on e-sports of
their favourite games! There are also frequent tournaments
with real rewards for all its subscribers. Esports is a robust
growth market with which the youth and young adults feel
strongly connected.
Telco-Tech: U2opia’s B2B leg, A Digital Lifestyle
platform, has operations in 70 countries, with 120 telecom
operators. Its products like Chatezee, SportsMoby,
FanMoby, Bid and Win, Gaming Players' league, Reycreo,
and Spin N Win reach billions across the globe.
Fantasy Sports: Fanmojo is the fastest growing fantasy
sports platform with over five million users in India.
Fanmojo covers Cricket, Football, and Kabbadi and is
available in multiple countries. It has also been featured in
Forbes India.
Ad-Tech: SupremeDM is a global digital marketing
platform. U2opia’s combined expertise in creativity,
technology, and data delivers be-spoke integrated solutions
that accelerate businesses. From content-rich brand
experiences to valuable digital products and services that
connect with the hearts of its consumers.
An Exemplary Leadership
With over 20 years of experience in driving marketing for
the leading brand globally, Ritesh takes pride in being an
agile leader, combining traditional and new-age marketing
and business concepts to help achieve brands grow and
achieve industry recognition.
The strengths that set Ritesh apart are his creativity,
leadership, and risk-taking ability. He is also a big advocate
of identifying top talent and supporting their strategy and
vision. His prior experience includes new business
development, marketing, sales, and advertising.
One of his most memorable experiences was his six years
working as a category head for USL/Diageo. He launched
Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the first season of IPL,
which helped achieve a club value of USD 250 million in
two years.
Ritesh is an INSEAD alum and holds a mechanical
engineering degree from Pune University. In his free time,
he likes to play soccer and cricket. Besides this, he also
coaches and mentors young minds on leadership and
marketing concepts.

A Spark to do things Differently
One thing that has always made Ritesh’s mind tick is
consumer behavior. The whole buying behavior would
always get him intriguing.
How brands position themselves based on consumer
insights and create successful brand stories. How do you
build a powerful global brand that resonates universally but
also accommodates local nuances? How do you ensure that
it is dynamic and flexible enough to change at market
speed? Such concepts always intrigued Ritesh and made
him venture into the brand and marketing world
Ever since Ritesh stepped into his professional life, it has
always been his dream to build a successful career that
inspires others and helps him establish his unique
professional identity in today’s competitive world. Ritesh
has built an intellectually stimulating career and offers an
opportunity to capitalise on his professional experience and
functional skills, thus building a path of experience that
paves the way for Ritesh to learn new and interesting
things.
His focus has always been on building his career step-by-
step, ensuring a strong foundation and honing his functional
skills to equip himself to adapt to this new era of marketing
and business.
Ritesh has had a chance to interact and learn from others in
a global milieu and gain a better understanding from hands-
on experience of managing people with divergent views and
learning in a multicultural business environment. Ritesh’s
role models are Narayana Murthy and Steve Jobs.
Surmounting the Initial Challenges
Ritesh took a U-turn from advertising and landed in
Bengaluru to work with USL Diageo, where he led flagship
liquor brands- Royal Challenge and McDowell’s No.1. The
change was challenging, but it was worth the price that he
had to pay to climb the corporate growth ladder in
hindsight.
When he started his career, he came across advice like:
“Never change your industry, stick to it always,” and Ritesh
ditched the advice.
“Never work in a small state or remote area,” He also
ditched this advice.
Ritesh handled both liquor brands as a category head, but
his vision was to grow in a core marketing role and become
a CMO. For that, he required sales experience as both
functions work in harmony.
To sharpen his sales skills, he went against all odds and
even lived in a small city in Punjab. The risks did not stop
there.
Again, Ritesh changed industry gears and moved to the
telecom space with Aircel, where he led branding and
communications. His experiences in sales steered his
growth across diverse industries.
After Aircel, Ritesh transitioned to the internet space with
U2opia Mobile, a Singapore-India based mobile tech firm
with over a billion users. Ritesh realised the world was
headed to digital transformation, and U2opia is going to be
one of the drivers, so he took the leap fearlessly.What made
such distinct roles possible? Ritesh’s risk-taking appetite.
He always mapped his career vision with the changes
industries are going through. Ritesh used to read between
the lines, and he continued his journey in the internet space,
which needs no introduction today.
Excellent Piece of Advice
People must learn to take risks. Ritesh’s formula is simple:
He weighs the pros and cons and takes calculated risks.
37 | March | 2022

Ritesh says, “If you see any successful personality in the
history of business and life, you will find one trait common:
Their risk-taking abilities.”
“Sometimes it pays off while other times it will not work as
expected. But this will lay the foundation of your success
brick by brick, one step at a time,” he adds“Do not take
blind risks, but if you think there is not much to lose, go for
it because that is how you will grow. Go for it if a career
move aligns with your vision,” adds Ritesh.
Defining a Successful Career
The biggest challenge in today’s dynamic market is
changing the leadership paradigm. Leaders are facing
accelerating rates of volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity.
To be a successful leader in the current environment
requires a constant state of innovation.
Ritesh feels that he was, and he is, still able to constantly
innovate and adapt and not shied away from taking a
calculated risk in this ever-changing world. Ritesh believes
that he is an agile leader who has a great combination of
traditional and new-age marketing and business concepts
Ritesh’s most memorable experience was working as
category head for six years at USL/Diageo. He spearheaded
the launch of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in IPL first
season, which helped achieve a club value of USD 250
million in two years.
Surmounting the Adversities of the Pandemic
For U2opia, the COVID-19 lockdown saw a huge surge in
its consumer-centric platforms. The dating app WOO and
gaming app Mojo gaming. Both these platforms
experienced a growth rate of 20% to 30% organically.
However, U2opia, as an organisation, maintained its growth
even after the lockdown came to an end. It enabled
customised features in the apps like Woo calling, Woo Hide
and Woo Globe. Woo calling allows women to call from the
app without revealing their phone number. In this lockdown
period, this feature usage has gone up by 30%. However,
the team of WOO app ensured that they keep engaging their
customers with customised solutions and kept
innovating—being relevant with the times.
Keeping in mind the industry scenario, U2opia also
integrated games into its shopping and offer platform-cash
buddy to entice, engage, and retain users. The company has
changed its entire strategy on its technology content
platform. YouTube videos became more innovative and
relevant as per the current trends.
Today, U2opia hopes to keep its business growing by being
relevant, innovative, and opportunistic in these testing
times.
A Reliable Future…
U2opia Mobile is delivering flexible and innovative tech
solutions for consumers and enterprises. Going forward, the
company is focused on gaming and AdTech space and
expand across the globe. U2opia Mobile aims to reach more
customers and subscribers, drive revenues or open
additional revenue streams with its products and
applications.
Exhibiting Excellence
U2opia mobile has completed 12 years of growth in digital
innovation and has been awarded with,
• Great Place to Work by Google in 2018
• Fast Company 50 Most Innovative companies award.
• Enterprise Architecture Awards
• Top 1000 growth companies Asia by Financial Times
• Frost and Sullivan best practices award.

Men of Real Steel Proving Their Mettle
Nation Building depends upon the structural strength
of the industry. Industry building depends upon the
inner strength of the enterprise. Enterprise core
development is based on the indomitable spirits of
entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is made up of the steely
nerves of generations of captains leading the league of
entrepreneurs.
Together captains redefine leadership benchmarks.
Leadership is that breed of innovators who not only
challenges the status quo but, by swimming against the tide,
turn the stream in their favour.
These are legends made up of the real steel who keeps
proving their metal, again and again, repeatedly. Meet Mr
Vinay Gupta, Director and Mr Anubhav Gupta, Chief
Strategy Officer (CSO), the legends of APLApollo Tubes
Ltd., India’s numero uno structural steel tube company.
With seventy-five registered trademarks, sixteen patents,
eleven plants, eight hundred distributors, over twenty-two
hundred employees, two-point-six metric tonnes capacity
and half of the industry’s market share, they are a legacy of
trust and a promise of strength.
In an exclusive interview with Insights Success for its
edition of ‘Powerful Men in Business 2022’, the dashing
duo Vinay and Anubhav share their insights into their
journey, legacy, and future vision about the Indian steel
industry in general and APL Apollo in particular.
The interview is reproduced below for the strengthening of
your business.
Please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us
about your exciting journey of becoming a powerful
business leader.
Vinay - I am the director of APL Apollo Tubes Ltd. I have
more than twenty years of industry experience in the
manufacturing and trading pipes, tubes, sheets and other
steel products. I have been assigned the responsibility of
driving the company’s pre-galvanised and international
market businesses.
Anubhav - I started as an investment banker in 2008; my
career journey includes fourteen long years in various
reputed organisations. Being an investment banker, I
learned a lot about the industry, business models, and
setting industry benchmarks. I Joined APL Apollo in the
year 2019 as Chief Strategy Officer, wherein I leveraged my
expertise to create in APL Apollo a unique operational
model for its sustainable growth by anticipating and
exceeding the stakeholders’ expectations.
What inspired you to step into the business arena? Who
were your role models growing up?
Vinay- I have inherited excellent entrepreneurship skills
from my father, late Shri Sudesh Gupta and elder brother
Mr Sanjay Gupta. Receiving a legacy is often seen as an
honour. However, for me to bring my family legacy forward
and grow, it required a conscious effort and responsibility to
follow the work ethics, ideals, work patterns and
dedication.
Anubhav- Being a management graduate, I have always
been fascinated by business and industry. My role model is
Mr Sanjay Gupta. I would repeat Vinay’s line here that
Vinay and
Anubhav Gupta
Gupta

receiving a legacy is often seen as an honour. But as an
Indian entrepreneur, Mr Sanjay turned around this business
from scratch and always inspired me to join this company. I
am fortunate to get aligned with him, where I learned many
things from him.
Brief us about APLApollo and its overall operations.
What kind of products and/or services does it offer?
Vinay- APL Apollo is India’s largest innovative steel pipes
manufacturer. With a solid Pan-India presence, it serves as a
‘one-stop-shop’ for steel products catering to urban
infrastructure, automobile, construction, housing, energy,
irrigation, solar plants, and greenhouses.
Over the thirty-five years, APL has built a robust 3-tier
distribution and supply chain network. APL has an extended
distribution network of warehouses and branch offices in
twenty-nine cities across the country, catering to the
domestic market as well as twenty countries worldwide.
We created new market for
structural steel tubes
through innovations
Mr Vinay Gupta
Director
Mr Anubhav Gupta
Chief Strategy Officer (CSO)
It enjoys a direct marketing presence across India with over
eight hundred dealers and distributors along with eleven
manufacturing facilities across India. APL has a total
production capacity of 2.6 million tonnes per annum.
APL is known for bringing new technology to India and
creating a new market. We created new market for
structural steel tubes through innovations- with the
potential to replace conventional steel construction products
like angles and channels and several other building
materials like wood, RCC, aluminium, and PEB.
Anubhav- Being the market leader, we enjoy the lion’s
share of 50% of the market in the structural steel tube
industry. We are expanding our own capacity through
greenfield expansion of 1.4 million tonnes per annum to
reach an annual capacity of 4 million tonnes.
“
“
41 | March | 2022

Please brief us about how you helped enhance the
outreach and development of APLApollo?
Vinay- We always focus on innovation and create new
markets and demand. Instead of following the prevailing
trend, APL transformed the whole scenario by producing
square and rectangular hollow sections with a better load-
bearing capacity for massive structures and replacing the
conventional steel products.
We have launched a series of brand awareness and
marketing campaigns to familiarise consumers with our
exclusive products. We always strive to become better and
open to new ideas. Our adaption of the latest technology,
innovative product offerings and capacity to unlock new
markets helped us be a high-performance organisation.
Anubhav- We operate in a dynamic market segment, where
many external factors influence the business. To meet the
stakeholder’s expectations, we always remained resilient in
all adverse situations. We have proven our performance
historically in all adverse situations and will be continuing
our hard work and dedication to keep ourselves as a market
leader going ahead.
What kind of challenges have you faced in your
professional journey so far? What kind of challenges do
you still face today?
Vinay- We have faced challenges like tough competition
from the unorganised sector and adapting digital
transformation and the brand-building process. However,
we always work on our core values to strengthen our
market position. We stick to our strengths –
• Cost control measures,
• Innovative products to create a new market,
• Improving sales mix with value-added products and
• Product awareness by branding and distribution
expansion
We understand that AI, IoT, and cloud adoption will unleash
the next digital revolution in the manufacturing industry.
APL is already in the process to adopt significant
technology changes.
Anubhav- I would not say I have ever faced challenges.
Instead, I have always learned from my mistakes during my
professional journey. I always remained open to learning
excellence in my career journey. One thing I always believe

is ‘next one should be the benchmark’ which I learned from
Mr Sanjay Gupta, CMD-APL Apollo. Again, learning what
I am getting today is to be resilient and unstoppable.
How would you define a successful career? What would
you say is your biggest accomplishment?
Vinay- I have a strong focus on execution and operation. I
follow a solution-driven approach and am always open to
new ideas and suggestions. Even if all the systems are in
place, it is essential to be in touch with the operation and
production team. I like to talk to every department about
their targets, requirements, issues and modifications.
To achieve all set targets, developing new markets and
bringing new technology to the Indian market give a feeling
of accomplishment. Further, we will work on our set goals.
Anubhav- A successful career is a combination of learning
and accomplishment; my biggest accomplishment is seeing
my company grow 10x within two years.
Please mention APLApollo’s most notable
achievements, accolades, accreditations, and awards.
Vinay- Adopting Direct Forming Technology (DFT) is one
of the most notable achievements of the organisation. DFT
technology has advantages in the form of 3-5% raw
material saving, allows the processing of small batch
orders, less time-consuming.
APL Apollo is ISO 9001:2015 certified and has achieved
the recognised export house status. APL products are BIS
marked and certified by reputed international agencies like
SGS (France) and CE (Europe). We have been awarded the
best performer in Export by the Federation of Indian Export
Organisation (FIEO) and EEPC India.
Anubhav- We are proud to say we are the pioneer of our
field. As a single consumer, APL Apollo consumes two per
cent of the total steel production of the nation.
COVID-19 has redefined many of the business
operations and working fundamentals. How did you
adapt to these circumstances? What new trends and
technologies did you incorporate for ensuring optimal
business proceedings?
Vinay- We had faced many challenges when the COVID-19
pandemic struck. Uncertainty and safety of employees were
the main issues. To ensure employee safety, we took care of
all the protocols at our plants. We instilled face recognition
with temperature measurement devices in our facilities.
We have started using virtual meetings more often. SAP
modules have been upgraded for more digitalised data and
reports. We have implemented supervisory control for all
the operations through digital connections for better
monitoring.
Anubhav- There were five main challenges we faced when
the COVID-19 pandemic struck: Business uncertainty, the
safety of employees, supply chain disruption, disruption of
demand and structural damage to the industry.
To tackle uncertainty, we switched to the cash-and-carry
model from the normal trade practice. To ensure employee
safety, we took care of all the protocols at our plants. We
made bulk steel purchases before prices went up due to the
disruption of supply chains.
We aggressively focused on rural markets and became
insistent on our pricing policy. So, rural sales expansion and
an aggressive pricing policy helped us increase our market
share.
As many of our hotel and airport projects were impacted,
we focused on other segments such as hospitals and rural
housing. On the technology front, we moved to virtual
meetings, a more automated system to monitor and control
the production process.
How do you envision the future of APLApollo?
Vinay- APL may explore various segments in the future,
though its focus will remain on the structural steel segment.
The company is developing exciting products like colour
coated tubes and higher diameter and low weight columns.
India is increasingly adopting high-rise buildings. APL is
ready to capitalise on the opportunity with higher diameter
lightweight strong tubes.
Other designer tubes/colour tubes and readymade solutions
will be used for home décor in offices, eateries, restaurants,
retail shops even residences. These new market creations
will surely increase the demand for structural steel tubes,
and APL Apollo will keep increasing its market share.
Anubhav- We envision APL Apollo to remain the market
leader in the structural steel tube segment. We are
continuously working to create innovative products by
realising the market need.
43 | March | 2022

Powerful Men in Business-2022 | Ciolook India

Powerful Men in Business-2022 | Ciolook India

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