CIO LOOK put forth Revolutionary CEOs 2019 some of the avid leaders, who heartedly dedicated their tireless efforts in revolutionizing the customary business processes.
4. You Might Call them
ere’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The
Htroublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The
ones who see things differently. They're not fond of
rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can
quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the
only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change
things. They push the human race forward. And while some may
see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people
who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are
the ones who do.” —Rob Siltanen
Yes! This quotes do increases an adrenaline rush in one’s
body while creating an urge to make a dent in the universe.
This revolutionary words by Rob, has portrayed to be a
driving force for many current and upcoming impeccable
personalities who are artists in their own ways.
Artists who believe in an idea and see things differently
with an intent of giving back to the society; as knowledge is
the biggest treasure humans have ever held-on. Be it an
engineer, painter, poet, or a writer, if an individual has a
keen vision and grit to pull ideas into real-time
implementation then he or she is and must to be
considered as an ‘artist’.
This artist not only make things better but, beautifully
leverage the benefits of the baton of ‘changing the world’,
which was then passed to them and which they will pass on
forward. Their contribution has paved a pathway for many
revolutionist to be individuals.
EDITOR’S NOTE
“
5. In this edition,“Revolutionary CEOs 2019”, CIO LOOK tries to put forth some of the avid leaders
who heartedly dedicated their tireless efforts in revolutionizing the customary business processes.
It admires such leader and is sure that many aspirers look up to them as an artists.
Here is the Cover featuring, Robbie Antonio, the Founder and CEO of Resident Holdings who
understands the current market landscape and identifies possible trends. The global reach of
technological-driven start-ups has opened up many new frontiers for organizations across the
globe. For any leader having a clear vision to thrive in this disruption is vital for businesses. Leaders
must be comfortable and should be open to various new ideas and innovations and they should
communicate them to their employees and peers. At the core, no company or leader is immune
from the force of technological shift. He has achieved success in the fields of property, fintech, edu-
tech, e-commerce, home accessories, beauty, fashion, jewellery, food, electronics, and gaming. His
experience in brand marketing reached new heights when he launched his umbrella company:
Resident Holdings.
Let’s unveil such alike, inspiring interviews and stories of many such significant business leaders in
this special edition and spread a word about their contribution in making this world a better place.
Also, flip through the CXO standpoints presented by some of the leading industry experts to taste
the glimpse of industrial revolutions.
A happy read just ahead....
Bhushan Ghate
6. Robbie
Antonio
Robbie
AntonioGlobal Leader of Technology-driven Start-ups
Cover Story
08
Innovating Space
Innovative Companies
in the Space Industry
22
Editor’s Choice
Disruptive Technology
and Changing Trends
Influencing Business
54
The Art of Leading
Attributes of a
Good Leader
44
Articles
7. Tigran Haas
Redefining Urbanism
for the Future
Marina Tognetti
Rejuvenating the
Entrepreneurial Spirit
40
Kiran Bhagotra
Changing Hearts and
Minds in Cybersecurity
Augusto Mitidieri
18
Globally Recognized Leader
in Pharmaceutical Industry
36
Tech Outlook
Coricraft: Transforms Customer
Delight and Delivery with
Trackmatic Solution
46
Stellar's Vision
Thoughts on AI
“What shall we do
with all this speed?”
Joshua Hebert
Flight, Finance, and
Forward Thinking
CEO of the Year
50
3024
IN THIS ISSUE
11. Robbie Antonio
Global Leader of Technology-driven Start-ups
The direction and fate of the
company rest on your
decisions and inputs.
12. he global reach of technological-driven start-ups has opened up many new frontiers for
Torganizations across the globe. For any leader having a clear vision to thrive in this disruption is
vital for businesses. Leaders must be comfortable and should be open to various new ideas and
innovations and they should communicate them to their employees and peers. At the core, no company or
leader is immune from the force of technological shift. With the understanding of the current market
landscape and identifying possible trends, Robbie Antonio the Founder and CEO of Resident Holdings
He has achieved success in the fields of property, fintech, edutech, e-commerce, home accessories, beauty,
fashion, jewelry, food, electronics, and gaming. His experience in brand marketing reached new heights
when he launched his umbrella company: Resident Holdings.
13. Below is his story,
Robbie reads and meets a lot of fellow CEOs to understand the
current market landscape and identify possible trends,
opportunities, red flags that may come up. “You can never be
over-prepared when you’re in business. The direction and fate of the
company rest on your decisions and inputs”, says Robbie.
Being a real estate developer in
the field of consumer branding, he
has worked with various
celebrities and influencers for
worldwide projects representing
over 100 companies involving
fashion, fintech and edutech.
Under the Resident Holdings
Group is fast-growing and
e-commerce companies. Antonio
has achieved success in the fields
of real estate and e-commerce, he
is also venturing into e-services
with upcoming companies such as
RENEGADE, RENAISSANCE,
REBEL, RADICAL, REGAL,
RADIANT AND RELOVE.
Robbie is embarking on a more
challenging role with Resident
Holdings. He is rolling out and
beefing up the company’s non-
property related business units, as
the company is increasing
manpower exponentially to top-
quality managers and employees
so that it can help those
companies hit the ground running.
He is also putting up companies
involved in e-commerce, services,
fashion, fintech and edutech.
Robbie always keeps challenging
himself to innovate continuously
and his company is doing a
staggered rollout of the
companies to be able to introduce
Resident Holding’s concepts and
business models at different
stages. The common thread that
14.
15. Be creative & be flexible.“ “
connects the business units is the celebrity partnership DNA.
All of these companies are completely celebrity curated. He
believes that by partnering with celebrities, reputable
personalities and companies, it instantly elevates the image,
perception, and value of any product.
Resident Holdings Group is a Southeast-Asia based global
holding company of technologically-driven startups with a
strategy of global expansion and interests in the fields of social
media marketing, franchising, tech-based legal, medical, and
accounting services. Its flagship company is unicorn startup
Revolution Precrafted, a supplier of traditional and
prefabricated homes and structures with a footprint in
31countries in Asia, Middle East, Europe, North and South
America, and the Caribbean Islands. Resident Holdings traces
the roots of to the formation of its flagship company, Revolution
Precrafted in December 2015. At the time, there was very little
awareness and preference for prefabricated homes. A lot of
people have misconceptions about what prefab homes are. So
the company came up with an idea to partner with some of the
designers and architects in the world to curate transportable,
modular homes. Since its launch, Revolution Precrafted has
become the only unicorn company in the Philippines, valued at
over $1bn. Robbie considers his experience in Revolution as an
important highlight of his leadership path. He was able to form
and lead a team committed to succeeding in a space that was
previously not as celebrated and talked about.
Robbie has received several awards from different
organizations as one of the youngest and most prolific
collectors of international modern and post-war contemporary
art. He has always believed in continuously improving to drive
his team and company forward. He believes that it is the role of
the CEO to always check the
market landscape and think out of
the box to come up with new
projects, products, and solutions
that people will patronize... things
that will improve their lives. In the
first place, he came up with the
idea of Resident Holdings to
introduce new businesses outside
of the real estate sector, which he
has been involved in for so long.
Indeed, the CEO needs to create a
spark that will drive the revolution
within the company.
Robbie is recognized as “20 of the
World’s Most Innovative Art
Collectors,” in 2014, and also “12
Young Art Collectors to Watch in
2016.” He wants to surprise the
market with new offerings and
don’t like to rest on laurels. He
also tries to incorporate a new
element to every business unit to
be different. CEO always faces the
toughest task. His team
introduces new concepts and new
ideas all the time to create new
revenue streams and sometimes,
these ideas face questions and
challenges from the board or the
management committee. His
game plan always breaks from
16. convention and break new concepts.
In a very competitive landscape, the
first one who introduces new takes a
sizable chunk of the market. He
always wants to be the one to change
the game by introducing something
new.
Robbie’s vision is to be prepared to
come up with different paths to
achieve your goal and work hard to
achieve it. “You have to convince
everyone of the value of these concepts
before they receive the green light”, says
the leader. The problem is made even
more complicated by regulatory
limitations and standards. Once
approved, you now have to think
about operations, marketing,
logistics. A CEO needs to lead all
aspects of the business to make it
succeed. The company has over 25
business units under Resident
Holdings but it intends to come up
with new business ideas. The
company’s goal in the next 5 to 10
years is to be present in more
industries and to be a truly
global player.
Creativity, Flexibility and Determination.“ “
17.
18.
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20. Augusto MitidieriAugusto Mitidieri
Globally Recognized Leader in Pharmaceutical Industry
T
he pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops,
produces, and markets medicines for use as
medications to treat patients to cure them, heal
them, vaccinate them, or alleviate a symptom. The
contribution of the pharmaceutical industry is
extremely essential to the people in the world so as to
improve the life expectancy and overall health of the
people.
CIOLook recognizes the leaders contributing in the
Pharmaceutical industry. One such proficient leader
contributing to the pharmaceutical industry is Augusto
Mitidieri. He is the Corporate CEO of Sintetica. He has
been awarded Best Manager of the Year for high
achievements and professionalism in the company
management. He is awarded by The Socrates
Committee of Oxford; this award recognizes
exceptional human-centric leadership and the global
success of Sintetica. This award was presented at the
Socrates Award Ceremony of the Achievements Forum
2019, Institute of Directors, London.
Below is his story:
Augusto Mitidieri, is Italian and Swiss citizen, graduated
in Management Engineering from Politecnico di Milano,
he has also obtained a CAS (Certicate of Advanced
Studies) in Economics and Health Policy at the
University of Lausanne. His work in the pharmaceutical
industry began as Project Manager for the Engineering
Division of Bioren SA, (Bigmar Group) in Couvet (NE);
he went on to become Production & Logistics Manager
of Bigmar Pharmaceuticals SA in Barbengo (TI).
In 2000 Augusto joined Sintetica SA, Mendrisio (TI), as
Production & Engineering Manager. In Sintetica, he also
worked as Quality Assurance Manager, before
becoming General Manager of the Company in 2004.
Since 2011, Augusto has held the position of Corporate
CEO of the Sintetica Group. Under his guidance,
Sintetica SA, the oldest pharmaceutical company in
Ticino, has undergone a period of extraordinary growth
and entered international markets with its high-quality
products in the sector of local anaesthesia and pain
therapy.
Able to implement a real strategic vision which places
the individual at the very centre of corporate decisions,
Augusto Mitidieri, together with the whole of Sintetica
SA, has earned important international awards and
recognition. Participating in the international research
project called Ideals of the Politecnico di Milano for
creative leadership, innovation and design as
leadership, Augusto Mitidieri is one of the
pharmaceutical industry’s leading CEOs.
Sintetica SA, a Swiss pharmaceutical company founded
in 1921, hospital market leader for analgesics and local
anesthetics, with offices located in Germany, Italy,
England and two national production and development
sites in Mendrisio and Couvet, with 300 employees.
Human-centered Organization
The “human-centered” organization model, based on a
deep cultural change, already underway in Sintetica,
requires an innovative managerial philosophy, which
places responsibility and merit on center, changing
organizational models and behaviors at all levels.
The company environment, dynamic and highly
innovative in terms of ideas, projects, products and
operational/management solutions, is not in line with
idea of managing people according to definition and
activities’ control. On the contrary, the company
environment gets along much better with an approach
based on increasing people’s sense of responsibility
with regard to clear objectives, by exercising greater
delegation and autonomy in the management of their
duties.
| August2019 |
18
21. We are fully
committed to innovate
therapies and drugs in
local anesthesia and
pain management.
Augusto Mitidieri
Corporate CEO
Sintetica
CEO of the Year
19
| August2019 |
22. Augusto is of the opinion that Managers, therefore,
shall move from a role of command and control to a
more coaching one, in order to manage people, enhance
talents, through delegation and accountability for
results, and to reward their merit. He is of the opinion
that managers should act as a driving force to transmit
the organization’s values. Augusto emphasizes human
centric leadership. He believes in having strong
corporate values and ethical behavior. He considers it is
important that leader should be passionate to perform
his role diligently. He strongly believes in involvement
of all individuals in the organizations. He considers
confidence and autonomy as important qualities of
leader. He prioritizes respect in the organization in
terms of corporate and individual priorities. He values
authenticity. He believes in constructive feedback for
the improvement of the employees. Augusto is
calculative and believes in culture based on results. He
values skills and knowledge in employees and he
focuses on enhancing them. The last essential element
he considers in the organization is smiling. He says, “A
characteristic of our DNA is the research for quality without
compromises, which is measured, first of all, by enjoying
togetherness. A true smile is contagious and is the identity
of Sintetica and its concept of “great place to work”.”
Peripheral Decisional Autonomy
Augusto believes that Managers shall move their
mindset from the control of activities and how these
activities are carried out, to an approach based on the
control of results and accountability for results, so as to
create peripheral decision-making autonomy, based on
the conscious risk assumption. He emphasizes that
managers should use active listening techniques.
Augusto also considers it is essential to select proper
talent and then develop it.
Responsibility and Merit
Augusto values responsibility and merit. He considers
that the merit must be recognized at all levels with
feedbacks (on work) and rewarding (recognition of
merit). The merit of each manager is the “enriched” sum
of the success of every single member of his team. The
received delegation must be used by every person of
the organization with responsibility and autonomy and
must be oriented towards achieving the objective.
Augusto considers that conscious use of the feedback
tool is fundamental in order to improve oneself in a
clear and honest way. He says that if one makes a
mistake, apologizing to the people concerned and
assuming one’s own responsibilities, is the fairest and
most appreciated way.
The Digital Transformation
Augusto believes that “human-centered” organization
will lead to digital transformation. He thinks that only if
the human resource play a central role, then digital
revolution be useful to us and will take us into the
future with the following pivotal paradigm:
Ÿ Transforming data into information
Ÿ Organizing information
Ÿ Using information in order to improve, innovate and
compete at a global level.
The IMR Model of Strategy-operations Management
The company’s dynamic, innovative and growth-
oriented corporate environment, combined with the
corporate strategy based on the global diffusion of
innovation, requires deep focus in order to build a
| August2019 |
20
23. We are
continuously
improving the way
we work, taking the
best we can of the
capabilities we already
have and building
those we are
in need of.
management model able to be “dynamic and
innovative” and to help the company in the difficult task
of balancing its strategy with operations. If, on the one
hand, the human-centered organization ensures the
effectiveness/efficiency of the processes, thanks to its
strong managerial cultural connotation oriented
towards responsibility and merit, on the other hand, the
new management model has to ensure continuous
consistency between operations and strategy.
Inter-functional Management Routines (IMR) have
been created, which consists of groups of people whose
level of responsibility is not necessarily homogeneous,
coming from heterogeneous functions, able to
harmonize operations with the strategy in the hinge
sectors for the development and growth of Sintetica.
Basically, IMR pool which, thanks to the exchange of
critical information, decides and acts “easily” by
continuously combining strategy and operations, and
maintaining a live coordination throughout the entire
organization. They reach a horizontal dimension
thanks to interfunctionality and the exchange of
decisive information; but also a vertical dimension,
thanks to the multilevel composition and the
mechanism of the peripheral decisional autonomy
present in the organization.
By rebuilding strategy and operations means acting,
changing one or the other, correcting routes,
abandoning paths, all in the shortest time possible and
with the highest involvement of responsibility in the
organization results in maximum agility. Augusto
considers that Flowing of critical information is the
essential condition for the proper functioning of IMR.
Augusto shares the identified Routines, cornerstones of
the new management model:
Ÿ IMR Innovation Pipeline
Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor drugs
development and critical records and their impact in
terms of expense/investment.
Ÿ IMR Infrastructure for Growth
Purpose: to target, coordinate and monitor industrial
developments and major investments and their impact
in terms of expense/investment.
Ÿ IMR “Human-Centered” Organization
Purpose: to address sustainability and human
resources development policies, to define high-level
targets and to monitor progress in macro-projects
IMR Digital Transformation.
Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor the
identification of new business processes, up to the
digital company with the related expense and
investment plans.
Ÿ IMR World Markets
Purpose: to direct, coordinate and monitor
international divisions and broad strategic marketing
projects.
Ÿ IMR from Control to Integrated Management
Purpose: to address and guide the integral process of
forecasting, budgeting, controlling and action
IMR Switzerland Global Innovation Lab
Purpose: to address and monitor the efforts to develop
and search for new national opportunities in a global
key perspective.
21
| August2019 |
24. hat do we call an area that is not limited to a
Wsingle planet and has no physical boundaries?
We call it the era of the emerging space
resource industry. As humans, we became a spacefaring
species 60 years ago when Russia launched Sputnik, the
world’s first artificial satellite. We are the only species to
achieve this milestone in the 4.5 billion year history of the
earth. Later, the space industry began to develop after
World War II, as rockets and satellites later found civilian
purpose.
Today, companies around the world are in transportation,
energy sector, construction, hospitality, real estate, etc.
and they are looking for their next growth opportunity.
Space is quickly becoming a place where the industries
that power our global economy have started conducting
business. Future developments in the space industries
include space tourism, satellite manufacturing, and the
launch industry. In recent years, however, private
spaceflight is becoming reality in the space industry.
Of course, these private companies also compete against
each other and it could be argued that a new space race
has begun. But while with an element of competition, the
success of the past decades shows that is possible to
collaborate in space. For example, NASA a major
government agency has relied on privately operated
launch services like SpaxeX for its satellite launches. The
original space race began from the ideas and skills of
visionary theoretical engineers like Robert. H. Goddard,
Wernher von Braun, and Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky, etc.
Today, space endeavors are propelled by a new generation
of entrepreneurs including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and
Robert Branson. There are some more major players and
innovative companies with the vision of space exploration
and are as follows:
SpaceX- SpaceX was founded in 2002 and has reached
worldwide popularity with their historic milestones in
space exploration. It is already the world’s most high-
profile commercial spacecraft company. The aim of SpaceX
is to revolutionize the space technology, with the goal of
enabling people to live on other planets. Its success has
been worth appreciating. Falcon 9 launch vehicle and
Dragon Spacecraft are some of its milestones. Dragon
Spacecraft has helped with regular resupply missions for
NASA space stations.
Blue Origin- It was founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the
technological retail entrepreneur and CEO of Amazon,
aims to launch people in space. It is fully reusable, vertical
takeoff vertical landing (VVTL) space vehicle. Though its
goal is different from that of SpaceX, it targets the Space
tourism industry. It is focusing on commercially available,
suborbital human spaceflight and has developed a vertical
launch vehicle (new shepherd) for it. New shepherd is
Innovative
Companies
in the Space Industry
| August2019 |
22
25. named after the Mercury astronaut Alan Shepherd, the
first American Astronaut to go in Space. It is designed to
take astronauts and research payloads past the Karman
line, the internationally recognized boundary of space.
Boeing- Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company
and leading manufacturer in space and security systems.
Throughout the last 50 years, Boeing has been integral in
every major endeavor to escape earth’s gravity. The
satellite industry has made the headlines since the launch
of its first Mercury capsule to the current ISS
(International Space Station).
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) is the most powerful
rocket ever built. Boeing is the prime contractor for the
SLS design development, test, and production of the
launch vehicle. SLS is the world’s only super heavy rocket
capable of transporting astronauts to deep space. NASA is
setting its eyes on the exploration of Mars with the help of
Boeing technology. Boeing has successfully launched all of
NASA’s Mars probes and rovers aboard Delta 11 launch
vehicles. Recently Boeing engineer designed a spacesuit to
protect astronauts from dust, radiation and other hazards
when exploring the surface of moon and mars.
Sierra Nevada Corporation- Selected by NASA, SNC’s
Dream Chaser spacecraft is a multi-mission space utility
vehicle. It used for transporting crew and cargo to LEO
(Low Earth Orbit) destinations such as ISS (International
Space Station). The system is designed to deliver up to
5,500 kg of pressurized and unpressurized cargo to the
space station under the CRS (Commercial Resupply
Service)-2 contract. It will carry supplies like food, water, &
science experiments and returns to earth with a gentle
runway landing. The spacecraft is selected by NASA to
provide a minimum of 6 cargo missions to and from the
space station by 2021. Sierra Nevada Corporation is
making solid progress and likely to stay a key player in the
private space company.
Northrop Grumman Corporation- NGC is a leader in
science and exploration in space for more than 60 years.
Thiokol Chemical Company, now part of NGC developed
the world’s first reusable space shuttle program in the late
1970s.
Contribution to NASA: July 20, 1969, was a historic day
when the world watched, astronaut Neil Armstrong took
mankind’s first steps on the moon. The success of NASA’s
Apollo 11 mission is still remembered and celebrated.
Several heritage companies of NGC are recognized for the
vital role they played in the achievement of the Apollo 11
mission. NGC designed, assembled, integrated and tested
the Lunar Module (LM) of the Apollo program.
NASA’s Northrop Grumman built Chandra X-ray
Observatory and it continues to produce data that enables
astronomers to make extraordinary discoveries. Launched
in 1999, Chandra has found evidence for a significant new
class of supernova. It has also uncovered evidence of a
powerful outburst from the giant black hole at the Milky
Way’s center.
NASA has a long tradition of utilizing Northrop
Grumman’s spacecraft, including the Spirit and
Opportunity rovers that landed on Mars in 2004. The
rovers will help guide the Mars as it investigates the
viability of microbial life on the planet now or in the past.
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope will play an
important role in studying planetary systems. NGC is the
prime contractor for building the dreams of Webb
technology. The telescope will be sensitive to infrared light
which will enable it to understand an era of the universe
just a few million years after the Big Bang.
Made in Space- MIS is the space-based manufacturing
company, dedicated to making of reliable Additive
manufacturing equipment and fiber optics (MIS Fiber) for
Space. Additive manufacturing is also known as 3D
Printing and is transforming the industry. It can
manufacture larger and more complex objects faster, with
finer precision and with multiple aerospace grade
materials. MIS Fiber Optics, on the other hand, is
produced without crystals that affect signal loss. Later,
these crystals provide superior data transmission
capabilities, high-speed internet as well as enhancing
technologies in space.
Virgin Galactic- Virgin Galactic is a spaceflight company
founded in 2004 by British entrepreneur Sir Richard
Branson. It is developing commercial space crafts and aims
to provide suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. VG
uses a larger, four-engine jet plane that carries passengers
into space. It is similar in design to a private plane. These
private space firms seem to have different interests in the
space race, but actually, these companies share the same
goals.
Looking at the future, there will be a need for laws,
regulation, and controlling authority to govern space
exploration. It will be necessary to have firm and well-
understood protocols in the event space crashing, while
there are serious issues around the safety of astronauts as
well. At the moment, the UN’s Outer Space Affairs is
responsible for promoting international cooperation in the
peaceful uses of outer space. Perhaps, the entry of the
private sector into space exploration will contribute to the
growth of the economy as valuable targets for investment.
However, it will be interesting to see how healthy
competition opens up in the development of the Space Era
for Citizens.
Innovating Space
23
| August2019 |
27. n an interview with CIO LOOK, Joshua Hebert discusses his impeccable journey,
Iachievements, and many milestones en-route to his success today. His unique ideologies and
vision helped him take his company, Magellan Jets, and soar to new heights.
Joshua entered in aviation business in 2000, when he co-founded Jets International with his
business partner, Nate, and thus paved the way to customer success and revenue in operations
within the company. His expertise in business start-ups and transformations, combined with his
extensive track record in growing businesses through creative new solutions, have culminated in
a team that have increased sales at Magellan Jets by 35% a year for more than a decade.
CIO LOOK admires such leaders and appreciates their contribution in the transformative
evolution of this respective sector: Aviation. We are pleased to feature Joshua Hebert in our
special edition issue: “Revolutionary CEOs, 2019”.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a leader.
I went from the investment banking world to the advertising world, then created an aviation
business in 2000, when I co-founded Jets International. I learned a tremendous amount through
hands on experience with clients, and gained hands-on business skills working the day-to-day
operations in the business.
I co-founded Magellan Jets with my business partner, Anthony Tivnan, in 2008. My expertise in
business startups, transformations, search engine optimization, and marketing has enabled me to
grow the company into the brand it is today.
As the Founder and CEO of Magellan Jets, I consider myself a visionary in the industry, and am
extremely fortunate to work with an incredibly bright and talented team every day.
How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice your target audience to gain benefits
from your organization’s offerings?
Here at Magellan Jets, we strive to develop long-lasting relationships with our customers (or
clients?) What sounds better? In doing so, we develop loyalty and trust with both current clients
Joshua
HebertFlight, Finance, and Forward Thinking
25
| August2019 |
Magellan Jets
28. and prospects. We strive to position ourselves as
experienced advisors and resources for all of our clients.
Our highly experienced team made up of pilots,
consultants and other top leaders in the industry provide
value and credibility to our business. We stand out
amongst our competitors because of the personal
relationships we have developed with our clients over the
last twenty years. Our goal is to provide top-notch service
both when things are working, as well as when they are
not. Our objective is to thoroughly educate our
customers, through our website and other forms of
communication. By doing so, once our clients reach us
here at Magellan Jets headquarters, they have a solid
understanding of the services we provide.
We entice our target audience to gain benefits from our
organization’s offerings with in-bound marketing and
content strategy, educating people as much as possible
about our products. When searching for private jet
providers, people usually find our content and come
indirectly to us. Our customers already know what we do
before we talk to them. Our ultimate goal is to provide a
top notch experience, product, and experience to all of
our clients, operators, etc. Safety, reliability, and clear
communication are what we strive for on a daily basis.
What are the crucial traits which every CEO must
possess?
Take risks, communicate with people both within your
organization AND outside your organization, always have
a vision, even if it changes often, be as much of a visionary
as possible, and think two to five years down the road. I
believe as a leader, and I think my friends and colleagues
would agree, it is important to always learn from your
mistakes. Believe in good, solid relationships; help others
out, mentor. Keep quiet and listen sometimes, say “yes
and….I have a couple other questions.”
CEOs need to understand their numbers (income,
expenses, and gross profit but most importantly, net
profit) – what they’ve done in the past and what they’re
trying to achieve in the future. A lot of entrepreneurs
don’t know their numbers. It is also extremely important
for CEO’s and business leaders to understand the
competitive landscape and be able to tweak their
products according to this analysis.
Don’t be afraid to fail or it becomes more difficult to
succeed. Your new job as CEO is “Decision-Maker”: You
aren’t going to succeed all the time, and you have to be
comfortable with that. Falling down but getting back up is
the only way we grow.
CEO’s/Visionaries should not be involved in day-to-day
operations as much as they should be making the big
decisions within the organization. This allows them to
Here at Magellan Jets, we love
learning, constantly improving, and
growing meaningful relationships with
clients & colleagues.
“
| August2019 |
26
29. spend time leading and growing the vision of the company.
Two of the best pieces of advice I have ever received are:
“Reputation takes years to build and only seconds to ruin”, and
“If it swims like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it is
probably a duck!”
The key to Magellan Jets’ success has been hiring great
people but also understanding how different people with
varied backgrounds and personalities add tremendous
value to a company.
One of our core values is: Develop, cultivate, and share a
Prosperity Mindset. This is only successful when we
communicate well with each other, and treat each other like
we would want to be treated.
We value memorable experiences that build trust and
loyalty. We truly strive to make this a reality for our
employees. We are lucky to have a very cool office located
in Quincy Center with a view of Boston, hold fun events and
parties, volunteer as often as we can, and encourage open
dialogue and communication within the company. Also, if
you haven’t been educated on the importance of
Generation Z, which makes up a large number of our
company, you are doing yourself and your company a great
disservice. Their generation is going to revoluntionize the
workplace as we know it today.
Humility is key—CEOs need to easily read people’s
emotions, be kind and warm, easy to approach, trustworthy
and uplifting on a daily basis. I love to learn from mistakes
and will work to turn a bad situation around.
What are your intakes on roles of a Revolutionary CEO
with regards to make a difference in the customary
system?
I am comfortable running a non-hierarchical organization,
and am always looking to make improvements both
incrementally, or drastically. I’m willing to stop projects that
have huge momentum if it is brought to my attention that
there is a technological solution that can do it more
efficiently. Technology has opened the doors in aviation to
more possibilities.
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are
faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is
your advice to overcome them?
A lot of people have problems within an organization, and
the CEO needs to be the solution. It’s very easy to point out
issues, but it’s much harder to solve them. Keep it simple,
but also explain the “why” behind the task, giving someone a
clean explanation of what is expected out of them will result
in a drastically improved product. Think of every decision.
First, think of how you would do something if you didn’t
have a budget, then work through it with a budget.
My advice to emerging leaders would be: “Have control
over your destiny. You need to be comfortable continuing to
educating yourself in order to improve. If you are somewhat
flexible and are willing to take risks, be honest about that
you do and don’t know, you will surely succeed. Turning
your beliefs and passions in life into a business is the most
gratifying thing a person can do.
How do you cope up with never-ending technological
disruption to boost your personal growth?
Magellan may not be ready for the Jetsons’ “Rosie”, but it’s
getting closer. Because the Magellan Jets model is purely
private, we must continue to understand how AI could
affect the customers’ privacy. We have to spend a lot of
time making sure our customers are protected. We are
constantly aware of the dangers AI can pose, and are
adamant about protecting our client’s personal data. We
don’t ever intend to replace the human element of customer
service, whereas a lot of our competitors are using apps and
other technogical platforms as the only method of
communicating with clients,
Due to the early stages where AI and machine-learning
currently reside, there are some risks involving the amount
of data, data sources, and vulnerability of these systems.
The thought of a “security second” mindset makes us pause,
and remain vigiliant and cautious when unrolling these new
technological platforms, ensuring they are secure and safe
for our clients.
We are constantly seeking out top notch technology, and
technological partners who acknowledge AI is the indeed
the future. At the same time, we are cognizant not to
expose our clients’ information to partners who don’t value
security the same way we do. The value AI currently brings
to both our company and our clients is minimal in
comparison to the risk that is constantly growing in this
world.
As technology develops and becomes more secure, we will
continue to explore uses for it. Ensuring each and every one
of our clients remain confident their personal data is safe
and secure with us here at Magellan Jets is one of
paramount to our organization, and our company values
and practices. Magellan Jets is truly an all-inclusive travel
solution that keeps private travel purely private.
In the future, I see us steering the vision of the urban air
mobility evolution with e-VTOL, merging with traditional
aviation. I’m able to integrate these two concepts. Because
of our experience with clients, we are able to identify a
technological solution to underserved clients. I feel there is
more to be done, personalizing the experience, technology,
and communication we provide on a daily basis.
27
| August2019 |
33. I
n an interview with CIO LOOK, Kiran Bhagotra—Founder,
President and CEO of ProtectBox Ltd, emphasizes her unique
approach towards cybersecurity, her impeccable vision and
passion forchange that has made her start-up standout amongst
the rest.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a leader.
“Changing hearts and minds” describes my leadership journey well.
As one of a handful of ethnic minority (Indian) girls in my school
(every year) I never entertained the notion of being picked as Head
Girl. Little things like my mother’s samosas (& my father’s jungle
juice) being the best seller at the Summer Gala & my holding
assemblies sharing the stories behind my family’s & others ethnic
religious days, made that happen and laid the foundations for my
leadership style. Later careers in PR, international metals mining,
raising private equity/venture capital funds, governments
/international relations plus stints as a scuba diver and selling
lingerie in Selfridges, show how this “core” grew from strength to
strength. In many of them, I either achieved something not done
before or was often the first woman or ethnic minority or both to
have held the roles I held. Thanks to the innate confidence from
school that I could do it.
In the medical school step, I converted my failure into a First-class
degree & the prestigious Jelf medal in my subsequent Maths &
Management degree. I can name many more “failures” in my life
that others now talk about as successes. I’d even go as far as saying
that ProtectBox is the latest of that series in the boxset.
Kiran
Bhagotra
Changing Hearts and Minds in Cybersecurity
Others believe in YOU
because you believe in
YOU, or as my father
said “if you don't ask,
you don't get.”
‘‘
ProtectBox Ltd
31
| August2019 |
34. What do I mean by that? Despite being criticized, in the
past, for having a busy CV, I couldn’t have got ProtectBox
as far as I have done today, 25+ Awards’ finalist & media,
by myself if it wasn't for that busy CV.
I am no one special, I was lucky enough to find my way
early on, lost it & re-found it many times. So, there is no
right or wrong path, there’s just a path that’s right for you
& it doesn’t matter how or when you find it. Hence, I often
answer these sorts of questions by saying, “Life is hard. I've
got through it by looking forward, accepting my fears,
surrounding myself with people who help me do that. Growing
by giving back, sharing, listening, and smiling or making
someone else smile everyday as it'll make you smile back!”
How do you describe your company’s purpose and entice
your target audience to gain benefits from your
organization's offerings?
Right now, when we – small & medium businesses (SMBs)
– buy cyber security we either spend thousands of pounds
and waste weeks paying a consultant. Or, if we decide to
do it ourselves, we have the headache of swathes of jargon
& solutions.
How much easier would it be to go online & in one hour, fill
out a simple questionnaire with customer services on
hand, get 6 comparisons of technology, training &
processes that can be personalized using filters & sliders
before buying with a single click? Well now you can with
cybersecurity comparison website & marketplace
ProtectBox.
As well as making cybersecurity buying quickly, we are
also making it simple and affordable too! Simple, with
features such as info icons on each question to explain the
jargon and letting you delegate questions to your team,
inside or outside the company, all of which can be
managed through your account. Or letting you pull
answers from partners such as Sage & Xero. Affordable;
with lots of ways to pay, including spreading the cost over
a year, or with grants/subsidies from governments.
But what we care about the most is “changing hearts and
minds” about selling cybersecurity to SMBs. I regularly
hear horror stories from our customers about how they've
been messed about by consultants & there’s not much
they can do. We champion SMBs within the cybersecurity
market, getting the market to be more user-friendly for us.
What are the crucial traits which every CEO must
possess?
My answer of Courage, Communication & Clan is well-
documented.
Courage to accept your fears/weaknesses and seek the
right helps to overcome them. I explored the world alone
for a year & took up scuba diving across Asia Pacific &
South America during a difficult time in my life & was
helped by the kindness of strangers. My journey setting up
ProtectBox has been strewn with problems but I refuse to
let them stop me.
Communicating clearly, concisely & consistently which I’m
still mastering the art of. For anyone that knows me I could
compete for Britain on talking! Being lucky enough to
meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu whilst I worked for the
| August2019 |
32
35. South African miner Lonmin, showed me the huge power
of not just words but actions, like smiles or empathy or
forgiveness, in empowering others.
Clan, and by that, I don't necessarily mean your family, I
mean surrounding yourself with the right 'people' & I
would include in that customers, investors and
stakeholders. Experiences like representing the UK
government, promoting the UK's cyber-security strategy,
on visits to South Korea, or hosting Japanese PM Abe in
the UK, or supporting the Indian government with the
raising of their first Indian Infrastructure Fund, all
reinforced the impact of collaboration in making the
impossible possible!
A Revolutionary CEO is one that lives and breathes the
adage “the customer is always right”. We're already seeing
customers wanting new technologies to go beyond being
Simple, Quick & Affordable—ProtectBox's value
proposition to choice—rich customers wanting to buy
from those who know them, care about them and will go
that extra mile.
Investors argue about the value of this latter experience-
centric approach versus their preferred profit-centric
models. But we at cybersecurity comparison marketplace
ProtectBox are keen advocates of the experience-centric
approach, so much so that we only work with partners,
government or corporate, and suppliers that embody the
values of our customers. Just like our small & medium
business customers, we don't see bootstrapped, lean,
outsourced, diversely skilled teams as “un-investible”. We
see them as the blueprint of the tech unicorns of the
future.
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges are
faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And what is
your advice to overcome them?
Having the capacity to deal with all sorts of problems, for
example I switch between CEO, CTO, and whatever else,
regularly. This happens for a whole host of reasons
including at one end some tech people not delivering on
promises just because you're an SMB (& so not important
to them) and at the other end the challenges of being a
female or ethnic (or just underrepresented, for a whole
host of other varied reasons) in your industry. This is
compounded by Cash, which even though “is King”, isn't
always in abundance for emerging (or underrepresented)
leaders. Control is another challenge emerging leader's
face, with competing opinions & agendas to manage
amongst stakeholders. Strategies, I find useful in tackling
these are focusing on your confidence & emotional
intelligence to navigate these challenges, as I said before
it's finding the right path for you. As well as finding the
right collaborative support to help you do that.
How do you cope with never-ending technological
disruption to boost your personal growth?
My many careers show I embrace and thrive on change so,
I don't see technological disruptions as a challenge but an
advantage. Add to that my curious mind and it doesn't take
long for me to have found a way to introduce the
technological disruption into my daily routine. In the same
way technological disruptions are always a part of
ProtectBox's future development and scaling. For
example, ProtectBox is already looking at how it will do
business in the Quantum era, which I see as the future of
not just cybersecurity but society too. I recently predicted
in an article in Wired that we will start to see material
impacts commercially in the coming year and are already
seeing those. So, I believe Quantum Computing's impact
needs to be taken seriously now and I am lending my voice
to promote that message
(eg https://www.wired.co.uk/article/blockchain-quantum-
security & https://panelpicker.sxsw.com/vote/104534.)
Just as the internet, grew in dog years, compared to
human years so too will Quantum's growth.
What will be your future endeavors and/or where do you
see yourself in the near future?
We will be launching ProtectBox as an internationally
successful product that helps businesses throughout the
world, in the next month. In the same way that banks sell
insurance as an add-on, we can be sold/joint-marketed as
an all-in-one cyber add-on by accountants, telecoms,
banks, lawyers, consultants or any data-related service
provider to SMBs, even governments, whose marketplace
capabilities can be extended by plugging us in. Plus
ProtectBox's all-in-one bundles can be subsidized by
government grant schemes. We've signed 4 (corporate,
distributor & government) partners, with another 10
across the world in the pipeline. But always open to more!
As a leading cyber-security company, what is your
contribution in enhancing cyber security systems in small
and medium sized businesses?
ProtectBox is all about empowering SMBs. As an online
cybersecutity comparison website it allows busy SMEs to
make the right choice quickly, simply and affordably. But
we're as much about “changing hearts and minds” as about
making the process easier. We champion SMBs within the
cybersecurity market, getting the market to be more user-
friendly for us. We also challenge norms of who can work
in cybersecurity to make it more inclusive.
33
| August2019 |
36.
37.
38. Coricraft: Transforms Customer
Delight and Delivery with
Trackmatic Solution
oricraft, South Africa’s premium quality home
Cfurniture and furnishing design and
manufacturing company, contracted with
Trackmatic to help tackle the challenges it was facing
around fleet visibility and customer satisfaction. The
company wanted to reignite the magic of the last mile,
transforming how customers perceived their
performance and delivery efficiency. Today, Coricraft
has reduced its delivery window to less than two hours,
reduced customer complaints to a record low,
increased delivery drops per route, and has
transformed the customer experience, all while cutting
costs.
Last mile logistics is becoming increasingly difficult to
perfect and is evolving at a rapid rate due to the growth
of e-commerce. There is a growing need to get goods to
customers faster and more cost effectively. Customers
are willing to pay a premium for faster delivery
fulfillment and companies like Amazon are raising the
bar and raising customer delivery expectations.
According to McKinsey, last mile logistics have been
identified as the cornerstone to driving growth and
profitability, and companies like Coricraft are under
increasing pressure to create logistic strategies that
align business and customer expectations.
Last mile logistics are troublesome, especially in South
Africa. There are challenges around infrastructure,
addressing accuracy and security that impact on
delivery timing, fuel costs and efficiency. This is further
compounded by the complexity of delivering irregular
size furniture items that requires skilled unpacking and
assembly upon delivery. For Coricraft, these issues
were affecting its customer relationships and brand
reputation.
“In our industry, the journey doesn’t start and end in the
store,” says Craig Schneeberger, Chief Operating
Officer of Coricraft. “The real magic is in the last mile
when we deliver to your home. Purchasing furniture is a
very emotive thing and, with us, you pay money and
leave empty handed. We needed to refine our delivery
element which is one of the most difficult things for a
business to do successfully and profitably.”
Prior to its implementation of the Trackmatic Driver-
Led Visibility® solution, Coricraft was experienced
roughly 45 Hello Peter complaints a month. The
complaints were all centered around one specific issue
– customer service on delivery. The delivery window
sat at a lengthy three hours and customers were left
uncertain as to when their furniture would arrive, what
service they would receive on delivery, and timing
around the re-delivery of any incorrect or damaged
items. In addition, it was impossible to proactively
respond to failures in the field in real time.
“When we started working with Coricraft the first challenge
was to address the visibility of their fleet,” says David
Slotow, CEO, Trackmatic. “They needed a tool that would
allow them to communicate more clearly with their
customer service team by developing richer engagement
with their operations team and their drivers.”
For Coricraft, it was essential that delivery fulfillment
be transformed in such a way as to revolutionize
customer experiences. In addition, the company also
faced challenges around address capturing. Customers
often provided incorrect location details or left out
critical delivery information. Coricraft needed
technology that helped their drivers get to the right
place at the right time. The solution had to ensure that
when they delivered, the destination was location-
perfect to meet faster, tighter delivery windows.
“We could not tell customers accurately when their
deliveries would take place, especially as we didn’t have an
accurate measurement to easily determine the time it
would take between customer deliveries,” says William
Webb, Operations Executive, Coricraft. “We needed to
find a way to manage the drivers to ensure that they
adhered to the scheduled routes, stock on the
| August2019 |
36
40. truck was secure and the customer experience was
pleasurable.”
Any failures on route resulted in delays further down
the line. If a customer wasn’t home or if the driver took
longer than planned to find an address, the waiting
times then had a knock-on effect until the last customer
had waited for far longer than anticipated and the
driver kicks into overtime. This often resulted in failed
deliveries or high overtime expenditure for teams
returning late.
“Those challenges of wasted kilometers and frustrated
clients were endemic, further impacted by unknown
addresses, failed deliveries and drivers wasting time and
fuel driving up and down a road looking for the right place,”
says Slotow. “For a company as aspirational and
professional as Coricraft, these delays and challenges were
impacting on the way customers perceived their service and
professionalism.”
Coricraft wanted a white-glove delivery process that
was as slick as its in-store experience. It needed the
same efficiencies at the point of fulfillment as it had at
point of sale. To start, Trackmatic integrated the
Coricraft point of sale system into their Address
Validation Tool (AVT). This allowed for a dedicated Data
Integrity Team at Trackmatic to process the addresses
and resolve them into GPS coordinates in real time. Any
conflicts of address would be filtered through Google
Maps and manually checked by a dedicated Data
Integrity Agent who could shift the pin to a more
accurate or relevant location, when required.
“A great example of where this level of manual control excels
is in gated estates,” explains Slotow. “The delivery entrance
could be different from the visitor’s entrance and the
vehicle has to then navigate back routes to get to the home.
That level of discretion doesn’t come from GPS, it comes
from human engagement, intellect and experience. We built
an entire Address Validation Tool (AVT) for Coricraft and
delivered a highly targeted and elegant solution without
any delay in the delivery timeline.”
The AVT solution is cloud-based and fully integrated,
taking the address from point of sale to the front door.
It provides an incredibly high level of accuracy and has
transformed delivery operations. It has also changed
the way the drivers engage with technology.
“Getting drivers to take their mobile device into the vehicle
and navigate with trust and confidence was a major
achievement,” says Slotow. “When the shift happened, it
was magic. They felt empowered as they could now resolve
issues independently without impacting on operations
when there were delays on the customer side. The
integrated voice solution allows them to contact customers
and let them know they are outside or their estimated time
of arrival. Trackmatic’s solution also stores all recordings in
the cloud to use in the driver debrief process and in case of
any issues. This process of continuous learning and
improvement has had a significant and positive impact on
results.”
Trackmatic believes in empowering the drivers,
providing them with the tools they need to deal with
frustrated customers in real time. Using this level of
engagement with the customer has meant that drivers
can relay issues around damaged items or poorly filled
orders and give the customer insight into when these
issues will be resolved. This availability of information
has seen a significant reduction in customer complaints
| August2019 |
38
41. as most understand that there can be delays, but want
these delays communicated clearly and on time.
Creating a platform for real-time engagement and
communication has enhanced Coricraft’s relationship
with its customers as customers trust that they will be
kept informed of the progress of their delivery.
“Coricraft hasn’t done anything differently to achieve this
goal, they haven’t changed their manufacturing process or
their product range,” adds Slotow. “All it took was them
knowing that a customer was unhappy and having a
strategy in place to deal with them. This could be as simple
as sending out a manager to look at the product or ensuring
that any missing items were delivered straight away. This
level of customer engagement has made an instant, massive
difference.”
Coricraft can better plan and fine-tune deliveries,
optimize operations and redefine customer
engagement. Each challenge around visibility,
communication, control and timing has been addressed
using Trackmatic’s innovative and disruptive
technology solutions.
“The results speak for themselves,” adds Slotow.
“Customers have left positive feedback around the
professionalism of the delivery service and Coricraft has
grown their deliveries without having to expand on their
fleet or their teams. They have created capacity to scale
without increasing costs or infrastructure and, as benefits
go, that’s one that hits the bottom line.”
The company has seen delivery accuracies increase by
27%, the leave on time by 33%, (while shifting the start
time by an hour earlier) return on time by 36% and
overtime bills reduced by 15%. In addition, the time to
delivery has been reduced from three hours to 32
minutes and there has been an 80% increase in
customer service. Even more stats point to significant
increases in route efficiency (86%), turnaround
adherence time (94%) and a rise from 34 to 43 trucks a
day leaving the depots nationally each day.
“We are proud of the work that has been achieved at
Coricraft,” says Slotow. “Success does not happen by
chance, it takes the right client that is willing to collaborate,
experiment and trust us with their business.”
Trackmatic is currently working with Coricraft to
expand its solution which includes the Trackmatic
Insight analytic dashboards that will give Coricraft the
means to measure key performance metrics and
provide even more meaningful data for richer last mile
and customer delight deliverables.
Schneeberger concludes: “Trackmatic has given us
visibility into driver behavior so we can ensure we are as
efficient as we can be in terms of delivering our furniture.
Because we have this level of visibility, we can give our
customers visibility, and this allows us to proactively engage
with them and exceed their expectations.”
About Coricraft
For more than 20 years,
Coricraft has been the easy
choice for exceptional value on
top-quality furniture. From just
one store in Cape Town, we
have grown to a chain of almost
50 stores in South Africa,
Namibia and Botswana.
We have factories in Cape Town
and Johannesburg, where we
manufacture all our couches
ourselves. Beyond this large
manufacturing presence lies a
sophisticated retail
infrastructure, with Coricraft
stores across all South Africa’s
major towns and cities. For
customers, this means there is
always a Coricraft nearby.
39
| August2019 |
42. Marina
Tognetti
Rejuvenating the Entrepreneurial Spirit
It was when working as consultant on a project on
internet strategy that I first saw the potential of
internet to disrupt entire industries and change forever
the way we buy, sell or interact. I had to be part of that!
That was the driver to start an innovative company as
mYngle, as I knew I could make a real difference, putting
in practice all I had learned from my corporate career to
make it a success.
How do you describe your company’s purpose and
entice your target audience to gain benefits from your
organization’s offerings?
mYngle offers customized language training programs
through video conferencing in 45 different languages
anytime, anywhere. Our lessons are one-on-one, with
highly qualified native coaches and related to the job-
position of the learner. Our virtual classrooms enable
learners to take classes 24/7.
We are the solution for busy professionals who need
language training to be successful in their international
business, and for Companies that want great learning
results and a transparent and controllable learning
process to make their investment a success.
What are the crucial traits which every CEO must
possess?
Have a strong Vision, to set the direction and anticipate
and navigate challenges. That also means being able to
“Think out of the box’’.
uilding an entrepreneurial venture in distinctive
Bfields is also a novel art, in itself, to be portrayed.
Only those with unique ideologies and desire to
bring out a change are able to pursue such art. One
such artist cum leader, Marina Tognetti, Founder &
CEO of mYngle is effectively transforming the
customary language education system proving herself
as the perfect example of an entrepreneur. Her venture,
a global language learning school, provides fully
integrated virtual classroom that facilitates students
with an interactive, efficient and convenient way of
learning or improving a language.
CIO LOOK admires such profound leaders and their
contribution in evolving the business sectors.
Below are the highlights of an interview conducted between
Marina and CIO LOOK:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a
leader.
I am a tech entrepreneur, founder of myngle.com, but
the passion for entrepreneurship came later on in my
career. When I graduated from University, it was an era
when entrepreneurship was not very common for
academics. I started therefore by building a successful
career by large multinationals, Procter & Gamble,
Philips, Sara Lee, The Boston Consulting Group and
eBay; living and working in different Countries, and got
an MBA from INSEAD along the way.
| August2019 |
40
43. To lead is to make a difference.
”
”
Marina Tognetti
Founder
mYngle
mYngle
41
| August2019 |
44. changes—technology, volatility of the market, talent
evolution. This affects the role of a modern CEO,
which must be able not only to adapt but also to ride
the positive trends. The challenges are similar in
many aspects to those of an innovative
entrepreneur.
A CEO must not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks
in order to anticipate trends and steer the company
also in turbulent waters. A leader must be able to
adapt. Being agile is paramount. In mindset and
approach, as well as strategic direction. Last, but not
least, must be able to build an organization that is
also agile. That requires developing people that
think and not only do “jobs”, employees that are
entrepreneurs, fostering a culture of
experimentation.
How do you cope up with never-ending
technological disruption to boost your personal
growth?
Technology should be seen as an opportunity, as it
opens directions that only a few decades ago
seemed unattainable. It allows new businesses that
can disrupt entire industries. I am a business person,
so do not need to be an expert in its implementation,
but I must understand its implication for a business:
how it impacts a company, the customers, and the value
chain.
Data Analysis and Machine Learning are making
great improvements. Algorithms are getting better,
products are becoming more accessible, knowledge
about best practices are being shared and
collaborated at a very fast pace. Data analysis and
machine learning helps triage new products better
understand clients and try to anticipate possible
issues, it also helps forecasting, funnel analysis, staff
coaching, and the list goes on and on.
Being a leading expert in offering language
education, what is your contribution in evolving
business educational sector?
Offline education was, and in large part still is,
operating in the old traditional way, offering
learners what was available, not what they needed;
but “One size does not fit all.” By understanding the
customer and diversifying our offer in terms of
Be able to adapt and change, to keep the business
successful, especially nowadays as the speed of
technological advancement increases and there is a
greater degree of uncertainty in the world.
Not be afraid of taking (calculated) risks, as great and
sometimes unforeseen opportunities come from
taking risks. Embracing risk also helps overcome the
fear of failing.
Have courage and decisiveness, to model the vision with
actions, making the tough calls and taking decisions
that can have high consequences.
Attaining strong communication skills, to align and guide
the organization as well as to inspire and motivate
others in order to translate the vision into action.
Be able to constantly learn to live at their growth edge.
In order to learn, they must also have no ego and
recognize what they do not know.
What are your intakes on roles of a Revolutionary
CEO with regards to make a difference in the
customary system?
I strongly believe that the key to success is not
comparing with competition, but aligning with what
customers want. Constant focus on customers and
their needs is one of our pillars and key strengths.
Our goal is to be effective, on the best way possible
for the learner. We want to value the learner’s time
and place him / her as much as possible in touch with a
professional teacher that is why our lessons are
primarily done one on one. We strive to be unique by
making sure we maximize results and learning to the
fullest extent.
This also reflected in our internal KPIs and how we
assess our job, using adapted versions of NPS (Net
Promoter Score), which defines that only excellence
counts. Our average lessons’ scores are 4.8/5.0. Thus
results speak for themselves!
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges
are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And
what is your advice to overcome them?
We are living in an era of fast and drastic
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45. teacher—content—methodology—frequen
cy, we can match each specific need.
For us it is important to bring quality and
customer centric approaches to the front
of what we do. We want business
professionals to see online language
education as worthy of their time and
investment. We want to make sure learning
online is effective, fun, tailored to the
learner’s needs and applicable to each
person’s goals and objectives. By doing
that, we increase the awareness that live
language lessons don’t need to be done in a
’brick and mortar’ classroom environment,
but can be done very well in an online
setting.
What will be your future endeavors
and/or where do you see yourself in the
near future?
It is in my nature to want to constantly
improve, and it is in the nature of an
entrepreneur to always seek new
opportunities or areas of development. The
future in leading mYngle will surely hold
new challenges, as we keep on innovating
and being ahead of the market.
For me personally, it will also be time for
the idealistic voice inside to speak, the
voice that believes in giving something
back for a better world. I walked this path
and learned a lot. That brought me in a
privileged position, where I can act and
implement new ideas that can make a
difference. I can now use my skills to make
the world just a little bit better.
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47. L
eadership is about using the
power of a position to
empower a group of people in
order to attain a common goal. A
leader’s task is to implement the
plans that usually look good on
paper, through a delegated team, in
a specific time with an ongoing
motion. She/he may use the
traditional method or may think out
of the box. It depends on the leader
as how to do it; the ultimate motive
is to get the job done. Although,
each and every individual has a
different approach on leadership,
some might say it is about setting
examples, some might say it is about
sharing the authority; what matters
is, taking the right decision when it
is most needed.
Leadership varies from one
organization to another. An
organization is a dynamic body and
creates new probabilities every now
and then. And with new
probabilities, come new challenges.
Although, it is impossible to
overcome every challenge, the
business environment has adopted
certain leadership styles for the
efficiency of business:
The Participative Leader
Participative Leadership is the
process of sharing authority with
the work force in order to get
optimum efficiency. The team, after
getting access to certain powers,
works responsibly to accomplish the
goals set by its leader. The shared
leadership also helps in case of any
requirement of change, as the
employees adapt quickly in such
environment. Incidentally, this style
of leadership fits best in a scenario
when there is a limitation of time.
The Transformational Leader
A transformational leader inspires
the team through effective
communication and an intellectual
environment. However, these
business. As the level of hierarchy
elevates, the requirement of
communication grows. Especially,
when it comes to leadership, there is
no scope for lack of communication.
A Leader who fails to develop this
skill is looked up as incompetent,
because it is his job to send the
message loud and clear. Although, it
is also important to listen as it is an
integral part of communication.
Ÿ Integrity
C.S. Lewis said, “Integrity is doing the
right thing, even when no one is
watching.” Be it giving credit to one
of the team members or be it
admitting a mistake, a leader wears
integrity as a badge of honor. They
do what is right, no matter what.
Ÿ Empowerment
As mentioned earlier, Leadership is
about using the power of one’s
position to empower a group of
people in order to attain a common
goal. A good leader shares his
authority with the team in order to
get the job done. By doing this, he
shows confidence in the team and
obliged by the gesture, the team
works with full enthusiasm to
accomplish the goal.
Ÿ Decision making
There is risk in decision to making.
Great leaders take great decisions
when the stake is high and it is the
success of those decisions that make
them great. To add up, a good leader
takes right decision at the right time.
In conclusion, a good leader can be
defined by the dynamics of his style
in leadership, the values that he
brings to the organization, the
methods he uses to make the best of
the resources, and the kind of
decision he makes in the given
situations. At the end it is about the
attitude of an individual to bring the
change for good.
individuals require more detail
oriented managers to successfully
implement their strategies.
Transformational Leadership is
considered among the most
effective employees of the
organization. One of the examples
of this type of leadership is when a
leader is assigned on a higher level
for effective environment.
The Transactional leader
The transactional leadership, as the
name suggests, enables the leader
to incentivize the team
corresponding to their performance.
The team gets rewarded when it
attains the goals and the Leader has
the power to review the results and
act accordingly when the team fails
to do the same. The goals and the
strategy to attain them are decided
by the leader and the team itself.
The Situational leader
Situational leadership is a theory
that the best leader will adapt to the
required leadership style according
to need of the hour. A Situational
leader may adopt democratic style
while discussion business with
senior executive, but may switch to
transactional at the time of team
review. However every individual
has a natural style of leadership and
it may be difficult to switch roles at a
certain point of time.
Qualities of a good leader
There is an old proverb that says,
“Give a Man a Fish, and You Feed Him
for a Day. Teach a Man to Fish, and You
Feed Him for a Lifetime.” So is the case
with leadership. One of the basic
qualities of a Leader is to pass on the
leadership skills.
Following are some of the qualities
of a good leader:
Ÿ Communication Skills
Communication is the basic
requirement for efficiency in a
The Art of Leading
45
| August2019 |
49. Are we pursuing the right objective in operational efficiency?
Thoughts on AI
“What shall we do with all this speed?”
t a DevOps conference in Helsinki, a very
Alearned university Professor gave a great
retrospective about how DevOps has
transformed the IT-space into a high velocity,
continuously improving environment for development,
deployment and operations of digital products and
services. He presented a whole bunch of empirical data,
industry insights and backed it up with solid academic
knowledge. It was by far the best keynote at the
conference. But what made it stand out above all, was
his closing remarks and question to the auditorium,
with which he casted a searching question on the
concept of automated, AI based systems and how we
perceive them. It is perhaps the single question that
challenges us the most on this subject. “What shall we
do with all this speed?”
Exactly! Should we be pursuing speed and if so for what
reason? To have “speed” in your operations is to have an
extra competitive advantage which is a means not an
end. And means need utility, otherwise they are
pointless. When we take the perspective from the late
1990´s it is truly amazing that products and services
are now so well supported by IT-processes. Daily – even
hourly –deployments, continuous integration etc. are
now the norm and in retrospect this is an awesome
achievement. Who doesn´t remember yearly releases,
endless QA cycles, never ending rescoping of massive
project plans, two thirds of investment locked into
processes with low to zero market value? We are all
glad to have left all that behind and yet we still
fanatically push – myself included – for more process
efficiency, faster time to market, more automation etc.
Now we are expecting AI to enhance automation even
further than we ever dreamed of 20 years ago. All this
velocity is awesome!
Which brings me back to my Professor in Helsinki, I
believe he was implicitly asking the audience to self-
reflect on the question of do we know when enough is
enough? I don´t believe we are even conscious of this
question, let alone able to answer it. We just don´t we
even think about it?
Fortunately there are people who do think about the
question. Professor Kevin Warwick stated in his book
“In the Mind of the Machine” (published in 1998)
“within the next 10 to 50 years artificial intelligence
systems will have been developed, that will not only be
more intelligent than humans but also exhibit a
significant number of advantages; they will be faster,
more reliable, quicker to learn and more robust.” Within
10 years of that prediction stock market High
Frequency Trading (HFT) was so fast that humans were
no longer capable of monitoring the processes. We now
know the consequences of uncontrolled speed in HFT
in financial markets. Our pursuit of speed seems not to
have considered social and ecological aspects. All that
speed benefitted a few and all but destroyed much for
the many.
The Professor in Helsinki too, was questioning the
motives for our continuous drive for velocity and by
doing so he was subtely planting the thought in the
minds of those who should be reflecting upon the
question. Is speed the ultimate objective of DevOps and
the like? If we can´t answer the question “what shall we
do with all this speed?” – And I did not hear any answers
from the auditorium – then velocity can´t really be the
main goal. I believe “all this speed" is but a secondary
benefit of what Lean Manufacturing states as “waste
reduction”. If we instead switch our main focus of
automation to the term “efficiency”, then the Professor
Stellar’s Vision
47
| August2019 |
50. could have phrased the question as “what shall we do
with all this efficiency?” then I am sure that answers
would have been abundant.
Efficiency has many factors, of which speed is just one
and, in my opinion, secondary to waste reduction
factors. When humans define objectives for the good of
the many, then social and ecological factors – usually –
inform those decisions, thus making them future
oriented and sustainable. Reduction of waste, in a
manufacturing context pays dividends in terms of
reduction of time as a social factor and reduction of
material as an ecological factor. The resulting strategies
are in general preventative i.e. error avoidance and
protection against anomalies. Combining the ecological
and social factors into the decision-making process
requires our unique form of emotional intelligence
which is a significant driver of our behavior. Can this be
said of AI neural networks running automated systems
at speeds beyond our comprehension? Maybe someday,
but I am a doubter and critic until fully convinced of the
opposite.
Lean Manufacturing focuses on waste reduction. Benefits
such as just in time supply chains, automation of
repetitive tasks etc., all fall into the social ecological
framework suggested above whereby is velocity a
secondary benefit, not the central objective. We
currently hype machine learning and assume it to be
“intelligence”. But what if these systems also learn to be
stupid and irresponsible, such as the HFT systems that
triggered massive sell offs that tanked stock markets. Is
that intelligent in a social and ecological context? If
humans were to behave this way on such a scale, we
would all cry out stupidity and ignorance as suitable
words to describe such behavior. We must adopt a
critical approach as to where, when and how to utilize
AI. I maintain it should not be just pure speed that we
pursue, but waste reduction which applies a qualitative
meaning to the extra velocity we might generate.
If you identify an automation-case for waste reduction,
i.e. error prevention, protection against outside
influences, then proceed proceed cautiously with AI. If
velocity is the only apparent benefit, then before you
implement, honestly ask yourself the question – and
answer it – what are you going to do with all this speed?
About the Author
In his last position, Mark Rees was
Managing Director of E-POST
Development GmbH in Berlin, a
subsidiary of Deutsche Post. There, he led
an international team comprised of
several hundred employees in agile
DevOps development teams, and was
responsible for employee direction, as
well as the entire budget in the areas of
IT security, DevOps, quality assurance,
operations and user experience. In his
work as COO at Secucloud, Rees applies
his expertise in agile leadership and his
many years of experience in
interdisciplinary IT organizations in the
Media and IT security industries.
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53. Redefining Urbanism for the Future
Tigran Haas
I
n an interview with CIO LOOK, Dr. Tigran
Haas—Director/CEO of the International Centre
for the Future of Places (CFP), emphasizes on his
vision and achievements en route to success. He holds
an expertise in current research and teaching focus on
contemporary trends and paradigms in urban planning
& design, new urbanism, sustainable urbanism, social
housing and urban transformations, and city
development and design.
CIO LOOK admire such leaders and feels pride in
featuring Dr. Haas in its special edition edition,
“Revolutionary CEOs, 2019”.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a
leader.
Leadership is definitely a complex journey of self-
transformation, a journey traveled by an individual who
has been handed over the responsibility of guiding
people towards achieving a certain business objective.
Teaching Project and Strategic Management and
Project Leadership for over 8 years has help me
understand some of these things much better and the
period of 5 years running a research Lab plus being
director of three educational programs has also helped
immensely. Getting things done from the team is just
one part of the job of a leader and the team has to be
assembled in the best possible way where the issues of
competence, equality and professionalism are crucial
but also the finesse to know where each person can
contribute the most. At the outset of my leadership
role, I started to expand and build new networks.
Connection on all physical and virtual platforms was a
must and continues to grow; where the inner great
relationship with the team and employees is crucial and
is sine qua non for the sustainable longevity of the
enterprise. Winning their trust, gaining honest
feedback, achieving friendships and developing mutual
respect is crucial.
How do you describe your company’s purpose and
entice your target audience to gain benefits from your
organization’s offerings?
Lessons for Management and Leadership
51
| August2019 |
54. As an international research Centre, focusing on the
relation between urban form and human behavior with
a focus on public spaces, the audience is very much
academic but also practitioners, policy makers and the
civil society or general public. The Centre works on a
few levels where the research findings are geared for a
pathfinding way into policy and also passing through
practice. The most important things are the highest
quality outputs in research, publications, media events
and societal relevance as well as links to higher,
graduate and post graduate education. The pillars that
the host institution of KTH has, those of sustainability,
equality and internationalization are deeply embedded
into the fabric of the everyday ad strategic activities of
the Centre. With a strong physical and virtual staff with
highest competences in the area, we believe that
through the four themes of sustainable urbanism,
housing and urban spaces, urban form and human
behavior and urban transformations projects and
research findings of high quality can and are emerging,
to which our annual report 2016/2017 and the 2018
are testimonies and the 5 awards the Centre has
already received from its three year work.
What are the crucial traits which every CEO must
possess?
Ability to learn from the past and from mistakes; strong
communication skills and building sustainable
relationships on all levels; listening, understanding and
doing; optimism and risk taking to a specific degree;
reading people and adapting them to necessary task in
the organization; anticipating problems and thinking
outside the box; eliminating threats and psychopathic
personalities.
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges
are faced by CEOs whilst emerging as a leader? And
what is your advice to overcome them?
One of the hurdles is surely the environment one is at,
the micro, meso and macro. Micro being the immediate
one with all the challenges of competences, staff, tasks,
immediate decisions, administration and leadership as
well as conflicts; the meso being the plane of projects
and partnerships and cases on the ground and the cities
where the work is being done but also the products, the
media, networks etc. and finally the macro with all the
challenges and competition and major issues on the
regional national and global level that influence the
work and strategy of the place where one works.
Roadblocks will be many from personal choices,
communication, decisions and project and program
work that brings many knowables but also many
unknowables. The key thing is a tight organization with
good leadership and delegation of responsibilities
where the chemistry functions and all are onboard
towards a common goal and where mutual benefit must
prevail, nit individual gain and vanity.
What will be your future endeavors and/or where do
you see yourself in the near future?
After the five-year sequel of the Centre, we will see
what the future has installed for us, that is where the
next focus will lie in the coming five years, either
continuing in then path we have set or turning the ship
into another, slightly less (un)charted destination. One
thing is sure, that in the next two years the focus will be
on the critical issue of rising smart and new
experimental cities and issue of autonomous mobility
but still having the first 3-year theme of cities for all and
who owns the city in the backdrop. The main issue is
that cities are getting more complex and the challenges
are rising on a daily basis with multiple converging
crises that seek answers for new theories, tools and
approaches. The Centre will try to answer these calls as
it goes into the next period.
“Leadership is about PPP-III
that is professionals,
perseverance and passion,
where you have to have the
courage to follow your
instincts, ideas and
imagination to the fullest.”
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55.
56. Disruptive Technology
and Changing Trends
Inuencing Business
IOT has begun to change the world around us. It allows the
businesses to access their information virtually, creating a
flexible and global way of accessing data, any place, and any
time. It reduces the cost by maintaining IT system, rather
than purchasing expensive systems and equipment. It also
allows employees to be more flexible in work practices. Let us
see some fields where IOT must be adapted.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are largely paper-
based industry. The pen and paper approach is still
followed largely around the world. Patient’s record
sharing is still done in the traditional way which is time-
consuming. Whereas, real-time monitoring via connected
devices can save lives in an event of a medical emergency.
IOT devices collect and transfer health data and are stores
in the cloud. These data can be shared with a physician or a
health firm, in order to allow them to look at it, regardless
of their place, time or device. Therefore, in an event of an
emergency, patients can contact a doctor who is many
kilometers away with a simple smartphone.
Fleet operators spend a large amount of time, money and
resource in maintaining the safety standards and resource
in maintaining the safety standards and operate at the
desired performance levels. Through various sensors, fleet
companies have access to a vast amount of data. This
information can help the company to make real-time quick
decisions for instant improvements. In fact, these insights
can help in effectively managing the overall supply chain.
Undoubtedly, IOT has set to become the backbone of the
fleet management industry.
F
ew decades ago, reaching the moon was beyond
imagination. But not today, because technology has
completely changed the world and made it possible.
th
Technological inventions were revolutionized in the 18
th
and 19 century with the steam engine, the telegraph,
fiber optics, typewriter, sewing machine, etc. Later, it
changed the way we communicate on a real-time basis
with telephone, radio, and internet.
Innovations in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and
information technology are already helping to solve
challenges that occur in these sectors. Through the
breakthrough innovations in health services, technology
has been able to improve the lives of poor people in
developing countries.
Manufacturing field is increasingly being automated and
technology driven. Advanced technology and systems
such as automation, nanotechnology, cloud computing, the
Internet of Things, and others are changing the face of
manufacturing to improve business technologies. So, the
adaption of technologies in work will revolutionize the
way it was in the past in the field of manufacturing as well.
Let us see how trends in technology are changing
businesses.
Internet of Things
Healthcare
Fleet Management
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57. In today’s major cities at rush hour, getting to
and from work is a nightmare. Imagine a world
where not only the cars are smart, but also the
street and traffic lights. Public transportation
systems like trains and buses are connected to
individual’s smartphones. This will help to know
the exact time to leave the houses accordingly.
In smart cities, passengers are already enjoying
Wi-Fi and USB charging stations on public
transportation. Overall, IOT already started
affecting the aspects of our life.
Public Transport Management
Renewable Energy
Will you like earning money on reducing
the use of electricity? Thanks to IOT
energy-saving tools, you can significantly
decrease the numbers in your bills. IOT
energy solutions are sensor-based
technology. It analyses weather and
environment condition, helps automate the
management of wind farms, optimizes
maintenance and thus reduces the cost
dramatically. People (both households and
companies) get a better understanding of
their usage habits and adjusts them
accordingly. These system collects data on
electricity consumption in real-time and
helps generate important insights for
environmentalists, researchers, and
conservation strategists. Thus, installing
IOT smart energy device can join the
environmental initiative, cut down on
energy consumption and lessen the
greenhouse effect.
Agriculture
The global population is set to touch 9.6
billion by 2050. So, to feed this much
population, the farming industry must
embrace IOT. Smart farming based on IOT
technology will reduce waste and enhance
productivity. Ranging from the quantity of
fertilizer utilized to the number of journeys
the farm vehicles have made. In IOT based
smart farming a system is built for
monitoring the crop field with the help of
sensors and automating the irrigation
systems. It is highly efficient when
compared with the conventional approach.
Thus, with the population growing rapidly,
the demand can be successfully met, if the
farmers implement agricultural IOT
solutions in a prosperous manner.
Blockchain technology is changing the way we do our day to day
businesses. Companies are starting to work with Blockchain technology
because it gives you privacy along with it is transparent. Let’s see how
blockchain can help to deal with business.
Blockchain Technology
Smart Contracts
Contract is where consent of the parties is involved to agree and interact
with each other. Blockchain technology helps to guarantee the validity of a
transaction through a secure validation mechanism. Industries and
institutions are heavily reliant on contracts, such as insurance, financial
institutions, real estate, construction, entertainment and, law. A smart
contract helps formalize the relationships between people, institutions
and the assets they own. They eliminate the need for trusted third parties
and are self-verifying, self-executing and Tamper resistant.
Blockchain will be an important part of our financial and technological
digital future. It is one of the incredibly creative inventions that
technology has ever seen. So how we use it is up to us, it could indeed
transform the global scenario.
Technology and changing trends in businesses is not something which is
going to happen in the future, it is happening right now. It has already
started affecting a lot of businesses. So businesses have tremendous
opportunity to benefit from such technological advancement. There is no
doubt that technological innovations are largely followed all over the
world and it will revolutionize the businesses.
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| August2019 |
Editor’s Choice