Insights Success praises these Ambitious Women in Business through this exciting edition that celebrates high-energy professional women driven to succeed in their own way.
Falcon Invoice Discounting: Empowering Your Business Growth
Ambitious Women In Business.pdf
1. Driving a Creative Change to the World
CREATOR'S QUEST
WHY CREATIVITY IS
ESSENTIAL IN LEADERSHIP?
FUTURE QUEST
THE FUTURE OF
E-COMMERCE POST
PANDEMIC
VOL 01 ISSUE 07 2022
| |
www.insightssuccess.in The way of business solutions
2.
3.
4. Editor’s Note
he dictionary definition of ambition is "an ardent
Tdesire for rank, fame, or power." Ambition is a
fundamental quality trait in all people, whether
male or female. However, for women, ambition can take on
a different meaning and be seen as a quality that is viewed
differently as opposed to society's typical perception of
ambition in men.
The term ambitious women in business might make you
think about the hard-working executive or career-seeking
young professional. However, it has nothing to do with
occupation; ambition is a mindset.
Ambition can be an attribute that anyone desires in order to
achieve their desired level of success. However, women are
constantly redefining what it means to be genuinely
motivated and successful as opposed to men, who typically
define these terms based on their personal values, beliefs,
and circumstances, effectively allowing them to reach
professional and social goals more easily.
FOR THE
AMBITIOUS
WOMEN IN
BUSINESS
5. Striving to break through the barriers of self-imposed
limitations and thinking outside of the box, ambitious
women are wired to become 'great' in whatever current field
of work or endeavor they choose. Whether through
diversity and inclusion, nurturing a personal brand, creation
and implementation of strategic alliances and partnerships,
women play many roles and responsibilities that drive us
always to stay relevant and find ways to improve in every
aspect of life. While some of the women may have what
appears to be the perfect blend of perpetual motivation and
opportunity – truth be told, all women have ingrained
qualities that can help pave the way to our individual
definitions of success if we choose to nurture them.
Ambitious women in business are not new. We've had
influential, successful women entrepreneurs and
professionals throughout time, such as Elizabeth Arden,
Sara Blakely, and Martha Stewart, to name just a few.
Countless role models like them have overcome adversity
to achieve business success with great dedication and
perseverance.
Insights Success praises these Ambitious Women in Business
through this exciting edition that celebrates high-energy
professional women driven to succeed in their own way. We
are privileged to have featured a community of
professionals who support, share and mentor each other so
that together they can have it all—family, personal needs,
and making a difference in the community.
Let's dive into the meaning of ambition and success, the
common characteristics ambitious women share, and the
tried-and-true daily habits these individuals implement to
cultivate success.
Sayali Sangewar
Managing editor
sayali.sangewar@insightssuccess.in
6. Geeta L
Driving a Creative Change to the World
Articles
08
18 32
COVER STORY
CREATOR'S QUEST
WHY CREATIVITY IS
ESSENTIAL IN LEADERSHIP?
FUTURE QUEST
THE FUTURE OF
E-COMMERCE POST
PANDEMIC
9. Management Brief
Company Name
Geeta. L,
Co-founder and COO
ImpactGuru
Basudha Shrivastav
Narula,
Founder and
Managing Director
Nano Vox
ExpressEarth
Digital Services
Khushboo Jain,
Co-founder and COO
AscentHR’s vision is to deliver an exceptional user experience
to its clients by constantly innovating products and services that
are built on cutting-edge technology.
Express Earth is a bespoke and young technology-driven
company that customizes everyday solutions.
ImpactGuru strives to empower people and help them raise
funds for their causes.
NanoVox's vision is to launch several game-changing products
that can provide novel and innovative solutions to complex
business problems.
AscentHR
Gayatri Thakur,
Founder and Director
Thrillophilia
Thrillophilia’s journey is rooted in a passion for travel,
exploration, and adventure. It began back in 2011 when the
global market was still too young for online travel transactions.
Chitra Gurnani
Daga,
Co-founder and CEO
Ambitious
In Business
12. While there were many options and
opportunities, she went about
shortlisting those that clearly
complemented her knowledge, skills,
and competencies, drawing on her
prior professional experience and her
academic qualifications in cost
accounting.
Geeta's discovery of a niche area of
supporting organisations with their
payroll and compliance operations took
shape. This set the ball rolling in
following her dreams and passion.
Innovation and Belief
Geeta says that AscentHR's vision is to
deliver an exceptional user experience
to its clients by constantly innovating
products and services that are built on
cutting-edge technology. AscentHR
was founded in 2002 and
headquartered in Bengaluru. The
company started as a payroll
processing and compliance
management company. It entered the
payroll services market in 2003 when it
launched its proprietary PowerPay
platform.
Now, AscentHR has stepped into its
th
20 year, with a larger team and a
stronger presence in India and South-
East Asia, catering to clients across
various industry segments. Today,
AscentHR is a leading global HR,
Payroll, and Compliance solutions and
services company delivering one
million transactions per month for over
550 customers, with a substantial gross
processing value.
The company has operating capability
across 74 countries, giving it a
partnering prowess that is unique and
unmatched. It delivers value across
industries by engaging in business
support, automation, consulting
services, staffing, and corporate
compliance. The team at AscentHR
Who do you imagine when
you think of a leader? Is it
the gender of the person or
the person who influenced your life for
good? Does being man or woman
affect any of their qualities as leaders?
Having said that, it does not affect who
is leading the way. All that matters is
how they are leading the way.
"As we look ahead into the next
century, leaders will be those who
empower others." – Bill Gates.
"Leadership is the capacity to translate
vision into reality" – Warren Bennis
No definition states that any specific
individual should be a leader. All it
states are the qualities that make one
an influential and inspiring leader.
Having said that, leadership is the
quest to help many people grow and
learn. In this edition of Insights
Success, we focus on women leaders
who brought change with their
dynamic way of thinking and bold
decision-making quality. Geeta L, Co-
founder and COO of AscentHR is no
less than that perfect example of solid
leadership qualities. Geeta is a woman
who chased her dreams and
endeavoured to realise them. With her
exceptional qualities, she creates an
aura full of confidence.
Towards a Brave Goal
Geeta always preferred being an
entrepreneur to working in a 9 -5 job.
Her father's business initiatives
influenced her to dream of running her
own business and creating employment
opportunities in the community.
Building an enterprise requires capital,
and most importantly unwavering
courage and self-belief. Fortunately,
that was all Geeta had as an asset to
begin her entrepreneurial journey.
enthuses Adaptability, Accountability,
and Accuracy and lives by these traits.
Rising from the Pandemic
"The COVID-19 pandemic's disruption
tore the world apart, but crises often
bring out the best in humankind,"says
Geeta. The pandemic has redefined the
ways companies operate, and the ways
employees work.
HR departments are tasked with
developing and implementing an array
of dynamic organisational changes.
Managements look to HR to maintain a
sense of order in a world that is
increasingly anything but normal. HR
professionals have a tough job of
building a positive impact from the
pandemic's negative consequences. To
build such a positive impact, the HR
industry in the coming days will be
more inclined to take an employee-
centric approach in anything and
everything they do.
Upfront in Maintaining Employee
Safety
"We, at AscentHR, put our might
behind our customers. Not only did we
enable our customers to comply with a
web of statutory requirements, but our
teams also worked around the clock to
tailor our services to the specific needs
of our customers. For instance, several
businesses introduced staggered pay
cuts and other cost-control measures,"
says Geeta.
AscentHR's experts swiftly decoded
new government directives and
enabled customers to comply with
these directives without delays. Armed
with special passes, the employees
were physically present at the
workplace. The company delivered
uninterrupted services and fulfilled the
obligations to their customers through
their innovative payroll platform with
14. employees, customers, and other
stakeholders associated with
AscentHR. "Our cognitive platforms
and KM libraries are accumulating
authority and wide-ranging
competency focussing on 'Untapped
Customer Values.' All our offerings
stand to gain in the value they offer as
a result," Geeta said.
The elves in AscentHR's innovation lab
are working to infuse AI into solutions
and explore innovative uses of
emerging technologies. "We constantly
endeavor to address HR and payroll
challenges and enable transformation,"
says Geeta. AscentHR's researchers
have their heads deep in the alchemy
of the future of AI, key research in
deep learning algorithms, dialog and
conversation enablement, cognitive
platforms, knowledge libraries,
blockchain, data security, and
automation of compliance controls.
They collaborate with institutions and
domain experts to develop analytic
models for a new generation of
intelligent applications.
They are exploiting the strengths of
automation and robotic processes for
tangible advantages from the start of
the process – data collecting. This is
critical because inputs can come in at
disparate stages. The company
prepares for those eventualities so that
inaccuracies or unvetted numbers do
not enter the system. At the same time,
visibility of data to the authorised users
guarded by approver-layers is essential
to nearly all its clients. The company
has found ways to make reportage
accurate, accessible, and protected at
the same time. Its formats are user-
friendly as the company house 300+
journal voucher formats, and its
reporting systems flow seamlessly.
She further explains how their HCM
roadmap emphasises digitising the
inbuilt checks and balances to process
confidential customer data.
As part of the company's safe 'Return
to Work' (AHR-RtW) plan, the
company administered various
measures. To begin with, it established
an RtW Policy and mandated its
employees to get themselves
vaccinated against COVID-19 before
returning to work. The company
facilitated a free-of-cost vaccination
drive for its employees and their
immediate family members, intending
to prioritise employees' health and
make the workplace safer.
The company began the vaccination
drive a few months ago as part of its
employee wellness and business
continuity plan and its ongoing efforts
to support and enable employees to
return to work safely. The company
formed a special team to support its
employees during the drive, roping in
staff from the Admin and Facilities
team to carry out the vaccination drive.
The team successfully got hundreds of
its employees, and their family
members vaccinated. "Many of the
employees have shared positive
feedback on their experience as well,"
Geeta said. The company continues to
adhere to standard safety measures
mandated by the government agencies,
such as compulsory masks, physical
distancing, hygiene protocols, and self-
reporting of COVID-19 symptoms
before and after vaccination.
Redefining Digitalisation
As AscentHR charges ahead with
investment in technology-led
innovation, "we are committed not to
lose the human touch," says Geeta. The
company's various touchpoints and
interfaces 'speak' to the humans it
hopes to benefit – i.e. all the
emerging global HR models.
AscentHR's next-gen HCM solutions
leverage the capabilities of the cloud to
enable HR digital transformation and
support the 'future of work' - catering
to the evolving remote and mobile
work environments.
Their roadmap for multi-country
payroll focuses on enhancing the
flexibility to easily configure unique
requirements and scalability to meet
current and future needs. She says
"specific emphasis will be on global
consolidation, reliability of payroll
accuracy, timeliness, and consistent
results, improved compliance
functionalities to control and manage
the risk of payroll operations globally."
The company's 'future-proof operating
model' is to build on the existing
Payroll-HR technology integration,
including third-party solutions, to
deliver increased efficiency. The
deployment of smart bots eliminates
error-prone manual processing. The
final touchstone for the company will
be compliance monitoring and updates,
leading to fully autonomous payroll
processing – 'touchless payroll.'
A Precious Advice
"Young entrepreneurs need to remind
themselves every now and then – why
they're doing what they're doing. This
is not so much a piece of advice as it a
compelling truth that I've discovered
through my journey," expresses Geeta.
"Being mindful of experiences of the
past, documenting findings and
performances minutely will be a great
reference as they embark on the
journey," adds Geeta.
Geeta further adds, "Originality is a
class of its own. Going beyond
expectations means that one has to
15.
16. deliver on every point of the promise.
A job done well will always speak
volumes in many forms, and the
younger generation should keep that as
a reference."
Bold Future
AscentHR will continue to power
people practices with a clear plan to
enter new geographies. Its growth
ambition in terms of delivering value
to its customers will be fuelled by:
• Continuous leveraging of
technology (Deep learning
algorithms, dialog, and
conversation enablement)
• Investment and research into
cognitive platforms
• Strengthening of knowledge
repository
AscentHR's constant endeavour is to
expand its overall offering to provide
buyers with a wide range of integrated
HR and payroll solutions that cater to
core HR functions and address broader
HCM requirements.
The company will seek to enhance its
technology offering to include deeper
AI/ML and NLP infusion to address
additional use cases, drive deeper user
personalisation, and enable a predictive
analytic insight capability.
AscentHR's future releases are aimed
at addressing much broader HCM
requirements, including launching a
contingent labor management offering
(including support for back-office HR
and payroll for contingent/gig
workers), gamified e-learning,
sentiment analysis, and culture
assessment offering, travel and expense
management support with insightful
analytics capabilities.
AscentHR will also continue to meet
the needs of a broader range of diverse
17. prominently. The article titled, "The
Unstoppable Amidst A Pandemic,"
highlights the crucial and responsible
role that AscentHR played in ensuring
payroll and compliance services
delivery even during the peak COVID-
19 times.
Geeta's opinion on Adopting Gender
Egalitarianism from a Business
Leadership Outlook
Geeta opinioned that the need of the
hour is to rethink and shift our focus on
establishing a more effective, inclusive
culture that is supported by a flexible
and well-thought-out system. A system
that not only removes obstacles while
integrating women into the workforce
but also engages them and enables
them to realise their full potential. The
term 'system' here refers to the
workforce and workplace strategies,
policies, and standards that
organisations deploy to run their
buyers up and down market by
enabling and launching new cloud-
based offerings including, a DIY
offering targeted at SMB buyers (with
less than 100 employees), providing a
prebuilt/bundled solution to include
core HR technology, and managed HR,
and payroll services.
A Box Full of Rewards
AscentHR has been recognised by the
industry's top independent analysts
such as NelsonHall and Everest Group.
Recently, the company was recognised
as a Major Player in NelsonHall's
HCM Technology vendor assessment.
The company was also positioned in
the Everest Group's latest PEAK
Matrix® assessment in the Multi-
Country Payroll (MCP) Solution for
2021.
The company was also highlighted in
Forbes India, January 2021 edition
businesses. The system plays a key role
in fostering women's participation and
representation. If the system is flawed,
it significantly hampers women's career
trajectory and progression.
She explained like this: "The system
will be considered ill-conceived if the
hiring criteria favour only those with
uninterrupted careers or accepts only
those career gaps that are taken in
pursuit of academic endeavours. These
kinds of hiring policies make it difficult
for women to re-enter the workforce.
Again, the system is flawed if the
flexible work arrangements are
insufficient or does not exist
altogether." She says "No amount of
meritocracy will be useful if the system
is not well-designed with well-thought-
out policies. In fact, it would be a
waste of company's resources, time,
and money if inclusivity is absent."
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19.
20. Why is
Creativity
Essential in
Leadership?
Many aspects come together to make a successful
leader, including skills in different areas and a
great vision for the organization's future. One
trait that a leader needs is creativity. Creativity is an
essential component of leaders who are changing our world.
Thinking outside of the box and looking at problems or
situations in different ways allows creative leaders to come
up with creative solutions. Creativity helps with problem-
solving, which is something every business requires today.
Creativity also encourages innovation and growth in
business, which can help organizations survive changing
economies and cultural climates. More importantly, being
creative helps leaders of organizations motivate other team
members to do what it takes to move forward with new
initiatives and ideas.
In this article, we will look at the ways in which creative
leadership can not only encourage constructive problem-
solving but also help partners achieve growth.
The Most Important Leadership Quality
Creative leadership is an essential quality for business
management. A study conducted by a prominent technology
company found that creative leadership was ranked the
18 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
22. most important leadership quality for business success,
outweighing integrity and global thinking.
This creativity allows them to find solutions to problems,
think outside of the box, reach new heights, and develop
strategies that help their business to grow. Many business
leaders understand the advantages of creative leadership,
even if they don't genuinely consider themselves to be a
leader in this manner.
While some might choose leadership by example and others
opt for more formal management styles, one thing is clear:
leaders who are also creative benefit from a strong team
culture and a continued sense of transparency with their
employees.
Novel Ways to Problem Solving
Creative leadership helps companies by opening up new
opportunities for problem solving and growth that more
conventional methods would not allow for. New
perspectives on problems from a creative approach can lead
to new and perhaps previously unheard-of solutions.
Creative leadership at the company level arises from an
employee-driven effort where employees are given greater
freedom and resources to pursue new ideas.
The results of this initiative can be very positive. However,
it can also leave junior employees with little guidance in
navigating these newfound freedoms and the potential
challenges they create. When approached strategically,
creative leadership allows for more efficient attainment of
business objectives than traditional management models.
Achieving Goals and Growth
When you work with a growing business, there will always
be new goals that arise. These goals can be to increase
profit or expand product offerings. The creative leader has
the ability to come up with new paths and strategies that
other leaders within the company can't see. This gives them
more significant potential to succeed in their goal setting
because they have the ability to see new paths others can't
see.
These creative paths can be applied to a wide variety of
goals and are not limited solely to business goals. Creativity
can be applied to personal development, general life goals,
and many other areas of life.
Implementing a Positive Workplace Mentality
Fostering a positive workplace mentality is one of the most
important things a company can do towards its long-term
success. Yet, even companies that appear to be doing well at
fostering camaraderie often fail to consider the voices of the
workers themselves.
Workplace culture is notoriously hard to grow and maintain
in a business. As companies grow and processes change
over time, lower-level staff can often feel ostracized or
forgotten. Creative leadership presents a number of
opportunities to remedy this mindset by implementing non-
traditional techniques and ideas to include people and teams
in the company's success.
Find Unique Perspectives
Company's need to grow. This is critical for their continued
success and the health of the business. A key tool in
growing a company is to find new and creative ways to
improve the business. This can include new products and
services, new ways of consuming existing products, or even
just different ways to look at old problems.
Creative leaders must be able to embrace unlikely (and
sometimes unpopular) viewpoints; otherwise, any creative
endeavor will surely fail. In order to find novel approaches,
we must be able to attempt to look at accepted ideas from
other angles.
Self-Growth
Continued learning is one of the most effective steps to take
toward becoming a creative leader. While leadership
development efforts continue to grow in popularity,
organizations are still challenged when it comes to helping
employees reach their full potential as productive leaders.
This is where continued learning comes in. Through
creative leadership training programs and programs focused
on continuous education and development, leaders can turn
out at their best.
Throughout history, many art forms were revolutionized by
specific individuals who came to be known as innovators.
Creativity has always had a leadership role, even though it
goes deeper than just leading an organization but leading
itself.
20 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
23.
24. Basudha Shrivastav
NarulaThe Smart Technopreneur
omen are the epitome of emotional intelligence.
WThey are the creator, nourisher, nurturer, and
the pallbearer of mankind and Humane-Kind.
They are the true philosophers. Whatever they touch
becomes full of life and magic.
For example – technology. Before women's entry into it, it
was completely lifeless. And now, with their coming, even
artificial intelligence feels like a smart being. That is
women's smartness.
You constantly get this feeling when you speak with
Basudha Shrivastav Narula, one such smart
technopreneur.
She is the co-founder of ExpressEarth Digital Services and
Founder and Managing Director of Empfly Services Pvt
Ltd, a bespoke SaaS company that provides customized
business solutions. Before that, she has worked with Serco
for their IT Projects and team leads.
She is a software engineering Diploma holder from GNIIT,
2006. Post it, she received her B.A. honours in English.
Later she did her Executive Entrepreneurship program in
Entrepreneurial and Small Business operations, from the
prestigious Indian Institute of Management Bengaluru
(IIMB).
In a conversation with Insights Success, she spoke about
her achievements, her plans and her future strategies to be
successful in today's digitally automated world.
She also told us more about her unique venture, Empfly.
Below are the highlights of the interview.
Give us a brief overview of your professional journey at
EmpFly Services Pvt Ltd.
The journey so far is very interesting and challenging. But,
as the saying goes, "where there is a will, there is a way".
We are moving forward in the positive direction, checking
our product at each stage and taking customers' feedback to
make it even better.
Ambitious Women In Business
“
“
“
“
EmpFly is a
bespoke and young
technology-driven
company that
customizes
everyday solutions
25. Tell us more about EmpFly Services Pvt Ltd, its vision,
and the key aspects of its stronghold in the global
enterprise service and automation space.
EmpFly is a bespoke and young technology-driven
company that customizes everyday solutions.
Our business solutions are specialized by industry and
constructed for the cloud to enable a specialized problem-
solving solution, networked analytics, structured workflow
and an artificial intelligence-led user experience.
People are the single biggest influence on the success of any
business, yet over 75% of companies do not use a digital
solution to manage them. Our ambition is to become the
category-leading work experience platform for companies
in India and South Asia– getting people engaged and
working as efficiently as possible.
With hundreds of companies using our platform in India
already, we are excited to offer our solution across the
South Asia region in the coming months.
Our flagship products – Attendance Manager App and
Field-Force Monitor App – are solving the real problems in
a company, not only in automating attendance through AI
but also in increasing the productivity of employees.
For more info visit- https://www.empfly.com
From a business leadership perspective, what is your
opinion on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on
the SaaS industry?
SaaS (Software as a Service) flourished during Covid-19,
unlike other businesses. Lots of start-ups and companies
gained customers and increased their revenue by 10X.
SaaS is taking over the cloud computing market. Gartner
predicts that the service-based cloud application industry
will be worth $143.7 billion by 2022 — a level of growth
that will shape SaaS trends in 2021.
Technology always played/continues to play a major role
in post covid scenario? Could you please share how non-
technology domains managed to adapt?
Digital adoption has taken a quantum leap, at both the
organizational and industry levels. In a recent survey by
Mckinsey, in just a few months, the COVID-19 crisis has
brought about years of change in the way companies in all
sectors and regions do business. And this change is good
without a doubt.
To stay competitive in this new business and economic
environment requires new strategies and practices and the
Basudha
Shrivastav
Narula
23 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
26. sooner you adopt, the easier it becomes to remain profitable
in your business. We have seen how new departments are
created in the business hierarchy to address the market,
asset and fund allocation.
What efforts did you take during the pandemic to
sustain operations and ensure the safety of your team at
the same time?
The COVID-19 pandemic is propelling demand for
touchless interfaces, accelerating the shift towards sensory
interfaces and AI-ML technology. Every customer and
employee touchpoints are likely to be revolutionized in a
hands-free, screenless world of ambient intelligent
interfaces.
Looking at the gap in the market and remaining innovative
in our products, we designed successful touchless
environments for corporates in Access and Attendance
Management system with advanced roster system for get-
tagging, which requires taking a human-centric approach,
ensuring reliability, security, privacy and choice.
Our team worked from home in the entire COVID time, and
we too used our own in-house technology to remain
focused and productive in this entire phase.
Why is the team uniquely capable of executing the
company's business plan?
We have assembled a management team that can execute
our business idea and create value in the company. This
includes building out a minimum viable product, acquiring
and retaining customers and creating a business that is
sustainable long enough for the investor to get their money
out.
We have a team experienced in building a business,
experienced in the industry (or with the product) and strong
character to withhold the pain, gain, passion and
perseverance.
As an established industry leader, what would be your
advice to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts
aspiring to venture into the SaaS industry?
Innovation is the main driver of productivity growth. With
the changing environment and people's mindset, it is even
more important that we as business leaders should
encourage creative thinkers and fresh ideas to come out of
every phase of life.
The second is disruptive strategy. Through disruptive
innovation, even a smaller company or a start-up with fewer
resources is able to successfully challenge well-established
organizations.
How do you envision further strengthening EmpFly
Services stronghold in 2022 and beyond?
We will focus on penetrating the Tier-B cities and be
available to them in the same space. We will also open our
branch offices in five cities in 2022-23. We will keep on
focusing on our innovative products and will add more
features to make it more favourable for our clients to opt for
our solutions.
What is your opinion on adopting gender egalitarianism
from a business leadership outlook?
It is very important that we address gender bias now and
24 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
27. not only say it but instead implement it either willingly or
forcefully. We have women who have crossed their borders
and evolved like an albatross and hence it is important that
we give that due respect to them.
'Women', a very hot topic for every company, country, and
individual. We women have been the subject of discussion
for ages and there is no harm in the discussion, but all these
questions we pose to raise, do actually being addressed
even by women themselves? We talk a lot but do a little.
We never understand our priority and what we should focus
on when family and work collide together- a very famous
say. Work-Life Balance is the biggest challenge for women
in business/Tech, no doubt 32% of women said that they
don't know whether Work-Life balance actually even
exists?
Whosoever is eligible to apply for a job, or business must
be given an opportunity regardless of gender, age and gap
(break) year, especially in the case of women who
sometimes leave their job because of marriage, settlement,
abortion, pregnancy or child-rearing. If she is eligible to
perform any task or role, then she should be given that
chance.
We are proud to say that we have implemented this policy
in our office and that's why we are a 70% women-run
company. Adopting egalitarian gender norms could benefit
women's educational and occupational opportunities and
will also oppose the notion that men and women have
innately different roles (i.e., women would essentially be
more suited for homemaking, whereas men's natural role is
that of the breadwinner).
25 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
28.
29.
30. Nano Vox
Leveraging Nanotechnology for Innovative Solutions
n the last few years, scientists have been exploring the
Ipossibility of using artificial intelligence in
Nanotechnology research. The convergence between
artificial intelligence, machine learning, and
Nanotechnology can pave the way as interdisciplinary
sciences for advancements across many fields. For instance,
nanotechnology can create small yet highly efficient
computer hardware devices. These advanced components
can provide more computational power, which can sustain
complex ML algorithms.
On the other hand, machine-learning methods can also
greatly benefit nanotechnology as nanomaterial properties
are much harder to predict than other materials because of
quantum effects at such small scales.
"In the future, I can imagine ML and AI supporting
nanotechnology by creating nano-robots that can go inside
your body and perform operations, deliver medicines to a
specific organ, improve the accuracy of medical imaging, or
power space shuttles. We cannot fully imagine the marvels
of this combination of technologies at this point. It is
definitely a futuristic world we see in the superhero movies
of the likes of Marvel and DC," says Gayatri Thakur,
Founder, and Director of Ceyone Consultants LLP.
The Initial Steps
It was in 2017 that Gayatri started the venture, Ceyone
Consultants LLP. Ceyone has become a key player today in
consulting and technology development, helping businesses
thrive in today's fast-evolving, research-driven world. The
company has built a strong portfolio of clients across
healthcare, education, sanitary ware, orthopaedics,
information technology, NGOs, and more.
In 2020, Gayatri collaborated with her spouse, Mr. Rahul
Thakur, an ardent researcher and scientist to launch
Ceyone's technology vertical under the brand name NANO-
VOX. Through this vertical they launched innovative Nano
technology based products that can solve deep consumer
problems. While she brings in the strategic and business
expertise for the venture through her consulting and
marketing experience, Rahul comes from a strong
background in technology (gold medalist in nanotechnology
and pursuing PhD in Chemistry). Together, they lead
NanoVox's journey of success along with a strong team of
scientists and scholars.
Sheer Knowledge
With NanoVox, their vision is to launch several game-
changing products that can provide novel and innovative
solutions to complex business problems. Nanotechnology -
'the manipulation of matter at the nanoscale (1-100 nm) for
diverse industrial applications' can help increase the
efficiency of energy consumption, reduce manufacturing
costs, cleans the environment, and improve productivity.
Through extensive research and a team of capable
scientists, Ceyone has launched revolutionary products in
the anti-microbial coatings, disinfectants and sanitization,
animal hygiene, skincare, thermal conductivity, and medical
products. Given the promise of nanotechnology in the
future, Ceyone marked its forte in this exciting and novel
domain. Some of its products have been innovations in the
category. For instance, in 2020, it launched an advanced
anti-microbial nano-coating disinfectant called VOX-4 with
a powerful formula that helps inactivate 99.1% virus,
bactera and fungi from any kind of surface and its single
application continuously remain in action without
reapplication for upto three months. Another nano-coating
that was launched in the same year was to minimize the
spread of harmful diseases in poultry farms and hatcheries.
Since bird flu is a recurrent challenge affecting poultry
farmers, the team wanted to explore the wonders of
nanotechnology to improve their condition. Being a bird
and animal lover, Gayatri's personal endeavour was to curb
the spread of bird flu as it results in the loss of many birds'
lives every year.
In the same year the company also launched anti-odour
nano-coating spray – VOX-10 that eliminates toilet odour
Ambitious Women In Business
28 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
31. The to
Key Succeed
in this Domain
is to keep Innovating
Continuay
“
“
“
“
Gayatri Thakur
Founder, and
Director of Ceyone
Consultants LLP
29 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
32. and works for upto seven days and VOX-22, that eliminates
pet's urine and stool odour for upto thirty days without
reapplication. The product became a success as the country
was in serious need of disinfectants and sanitization
products. The team also launched another interesting
product called. The coating forms an invisible non-toxic
layer that inactivates bacteria and germs.
Blessing in Disguise
When COVID-19 struck lives, it brought along a serious
public health concern. Nanotechnology presented itself as a
powerful tool in the prevention and risk minimization of
COVID transmission. As the pandemic exposed the
vulnerabilities of the existing healthcare system, there was
an unexplored potential in nanotechnology to advance
healthcare products. The fact that this was untapped
provided the team with a unique opportunity.
In 2020, Nano Vox started its research, and one of the first
products it launched was anti-microbial nano-coatings. This
coating minimized the risk of viruses, bacteria, and fungi
and stayed intact for three months. The team partenered for
this product with one of the leading pharmaceutical
companies. It even sold its coating for disinfection in
hospitals, especially in COVID wards.
Bringing in Good Energy with Sustainability
The pandemic presented a challenging time for everyone in
the business. Despite the setbacks, companies started
adapting to the challenges and striking back. It was no
longer about recovering lost revenues but about creating
newer streams of revenue flow. Hence, Nano Vox set out to
launch products that solved the challenges posed by the
pandemic.
While the team saw great value in its nano-coating products
in the pandemic times, there was no demand in the market
as customers were not aware of this technology. Therefore,
it created its own demand by making the customers,
especially hospitals, schools aware of this technology
through a strong sales team. These products required
limited advertising and hence helped it in cost-cutting.
As far as employee health and safety were concerned, the
team wanted to leave no stone unturned. It allowed the team
members to work remotely until they were comfortable to
resume working from the office. Regular safety protocols
like temperature checks, ensuring masks, PPE kits, and
effective social distancing norms helped Nano Vox keep its
workforce safe. All the office surfaces that are more prone
to germs like doorknobs, handrails, tables, etc were coated
with VOX-4 which helped heighten the safety in the office
premises.
Advice to do the Best
"More and more startups are now venturing into the domain
of nanotechnology. However, these startups face several
challenges in their initial phases. Entrepreneurs in this
domain must realize that the right approach is to solve
business problems by finding the right technology for it,
rather than the other way around," says Gayatri.
"Most of the nanotechnology innovations happen in
academic labs and institutes, but most of these pioneering
technologies developed in labs by research students,
scientists, and scholars often fail to reach the market. So as
an entrepreneur, keep a tab on the innovations stemming
from these labs. You can collaborate with such labs and
help them commercialize the technology for business," adds
Gayatri.
"Also, try and build a team that brings the right blend of
scientific expertise and business knowledge. Overall, the
focus on nanotechnology is fairly low in the country as
compared to other technologies. Hence it is also the
responsibility of entrepreneurs and business leaders in this
domain to create awareness. One must be patient and
consistent with their efforts, even though the pace of growth
is slow. Even from a talent point of view, businesses face
challenges as only a few good colleges offer specialization
in this domain," expresses Gayatri.
Innovative Future
Apart from its antimicrobial coatings, which have helped it
foray into animal health, disinfectants, and sanitization, the
company also innovated in thermal conductivity.
"Our nano-coating minimizes the loss of heat during a
conduction process to almost half the time. In 2022, our
focus will be on the use of nanotechnology in drug delivery.
To this end, we have collaborated with Mint Life Sciences
Pvt. Ltd. a healthcare company. Nanotechnology offers
potential solutions to many life-threatening diseases like
cancer, heart, and nerve diseases.
Our team is focused on research in this field, and we are
sure of a breakthrough soon," concludes Gayatri.
30 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in
35. The Future of
Undoubtedly, the world has changed a lot since e-
commerce has introduced. It has radically
transformed the way businesses work and the way
customers shop. However, the fast-spreading pandemic
virus changed consumers' behavior completely and forced
companies to speed up digital transformation.
One of the reasons behind the significant growth of e-
commerce was the radically changing consumer behavior
during and after the pandemic. Disrupting companies didn't
waste a moment to transform their businesses and, along
with consumers, swiftly jumped onto the digital
transformation bandwagon.
Analysts and futurologists have long tried to predict the
future of e-commerce, but it's been challenging to make
accurate predictions with so many variables in play. The
rapid growth of online retail is an explosively exciting sign
that e-commerce will be a big part of the future. But what
lies beyond COVID-19? This article will try to answer the
same question and shed some light on the future of e-
commerce post-pandemic.
A Hybrid Approach
With the high penetration of smartphones and the Internet
and new online shoppers coming online at the rate of three
million new shoppers every month, e-commerce is expected
to create thousands of new targeting opportunities. For this,
e-retailers will need to focus on a lot more than just the
transactional side of the business – which involves merely
accepting payments and delivering goods.
With a shift in marketing strategies with an increased focus
on customer retention and loyalty, companies will also be
forced to ensure packaging & delivery speed are as good as
possible. Product demonstrations, easy returns, and
shipping policies will have to be designed in such a way
that customers will find it convenient to shop from these
websites.
This is itself will be a major challenge as there will be
groups who will have online access that they never had
earlier. Both brands and sellers need to find ways and
means to attract and educate these newer groups into
buying products from them.
More Convenient Implementation
Erstwhile, e-commerce websites were developed with
sophisticated interfaces and impressive designs that were
mainly focused on the needs of the niche market. In this
ever-changing market scenario, e-commerce websites are
expected to have more inclusive designs, making it easy for
people to get information regardless of their understanding
of technology.
Today's consumers interact with e-commerce websites in a
variety of ways. The future looks like we will see a shift
towards more convenient implementations applying user-
centric design, simple interface, and accessibility.
POST PANDEMIC
POST PANDEMIC
POST PANDEMIC
E-COMMERCE
E-COMMERCE
E-COMMERCE
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36. The Mobile Way
Mobile traffic is on the rise, and this has increased the need
for e-commerce companies to create mobile commerce
portals. Developing a smart mobile platform for businesses
will reduce the dependency of their customers on
computers. Any e-commerce company having a responsive
website design and experience in mobile commerce
development will be able to improve sales, conversion rate,
and brand loyalty.
Due to this trend, we can expect more businesses to target
the purchase of goods through mobile phones. This will
only be possible if the businesses are flexible enough to
design their website format into mobile-friendly channels
that allow customers to shop products across multiple
online stores.
Change in the Looks of e-Stores
With the way retail and attraction-based design has been
shaping up, it won't be surprising if, in a few years, each e-
store becomes a unique environment built around their
customer's needs. These storefronts will also have a
consistent structure with a vital element of attention
towards every customer who enters it beyond customer
service.
This promise is backed by creative strategies that have
already become popular by some of the top brands around
the world. There already has been an established trend on
how e-commerce stores are looking more and more alike in
terms of consistent colors, fonts, and presentation than ever
before.
More TechSavvy Portals
The digital commerce market has already gone through the
first wave of innovations and looking forward to the second
one, which will be more refined, secure, and comfortable.
Business owners are setting up e-commerce stores with an
aim to meet their customers' demands in a knowledgeable
fashion.
Large companies dominate the retail sector in almost every
country. Over the years, we have seen it evolved versions of
traditional methods, persistence technology, and AI
emerging in the retail sector. Such methods have led to a
revolutionary change in both customer experience and as
well as retailer revenues. However, adopting technology to
earn billions is still a work in progress for retailers.
Businesses should be flexible enough to adapt to this
change so that they can thrive and grow more.
With online shopping evolving as one of the leading forms
of business transactions, 38 percent of consumers prefer to
visit e-stores that can offer a great experience. Affinity with
the brand and relationships built with users form a crucial
headway in this regard. The future is e-commerce, and here
it is where businesses will be rooted on a much deeper level
due to the manner in which e-commerce firms are engaging
their customers directly.
34 | January 2022 | www.insightssuccess.in