Interviews

Business is never one person’s magic: it’s teamwork – Sandeep Sekhar on completing 18 years of C Ahead!

C Ahead Technologies is an innovative brainchild of its founder, Sandeep Sekhar providing technology consulting, services, and outsourcing and is among the Top IT Consulting Companies. C Ahead is backed by an experienced and incredible core IT team that offers comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions. The company recently completed its 18 years of existence. We met with Mr. Sandeep Sekhar, Chairman & Global CEO, C Ahead Technologies and discussed the venture, industry, and future. Some edited excerpts of the interview.

 

How has this 18-year journey been for C Ahead? How do you see it overall? 

In a few words, it’s been fantastic, filled with energy, anxiousness, happiness, success, failures & deep learning. Overall, it’s been marvellous by God’s grace. I built excellent relationships along the way, made many new friends, and enjoyed working with various talents across the globe. I learned that no matter the odds, keep moving and don’t be shy, as things will eventually favour you.

 

Difficulties you faced while building the company, and how did you overcome them? 

Many difficulties came, but we managed to overcome them, but in some, we failed miserably too. We realized that making money is not the challenge alone but bringing the whole machinery together was important. Any failed part could delay or derail the business, which would take a few months to fix. Attracting and retaining talent was challenging and being abreast of the constantly changing landscape was very important. We ensured that we took care of our people to the best of possibility, and they took care of the business. “Business is never one person’s magic; it’s teamwork.”

 

How do you see entrepreneurship now vs. when you started?

Entrepreneurship is more or less very similar in a few areas then & now – you need real hard work with zeal, believe in self & push. Today I see a much younger lot of entrepreneurs with easy access to information and capital, so overall, it’s a newer landscape in the digital ecosystem.

 

There are several technology businesses and hence massive competition in the market. How is C Ahead uniquely positioned in the ecosystem? 

C Ahead is a perfect mid-size company that does IT projects faster without red tape – time is of the essence. We deliver quicker, better results than many of our peers without compromising on quality as many IT works have gone digital & need to be in out faster. We often transfer skills/talent to our clients for business continuity and risk mitigation post-completion.

 

What are the flagship business solutions/offerings where C Ahead stands out? 

C Ahead is known for Digital Transformation services and Product engineering. We help clients bring digital adoption fast to their business and scale at will model with microservices. Mainly we help with Cloud, Automation, Testing, SAAS Solutions in ERP & CRM, Data & Fintech solutions. Some of our flagship works are in Salesforce, Temenos, ASANA, SAP, AWS, JAVA, etc.

 

What are the key industries/sectors C Ahead caters to? 

Our specific generic solutions are industry-independent & we specialize in Banking, Telco, Insurance, Health, and Manufacturing.

 

The company has expanded aggressively to international markets. What percent of the revenue comes from these markets? 

Yes, we did expand aggressively in the last 24 months and will continue to do so as demand is high, and scaling is a must – our 90% revenue is international and growing.

 

Do you foresee more expansion on the cards? 

Yes, we see more expansion in APAC & EU regions soon.

 

Any further plans? 

We are exploring newer partnerships and are busy building a few products/platforms. In addition, exploring inorganic growth with the potential acquisition in our space & investments.

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