Business thrives under the guidance of effective leadership. With growing businesses, society moves towards economic development. Most importantly, these visionaries lead the nation with their strategic thinking, thereby creating a blueprint for emerging entrepreneurs. In the edition, Most Influential CEOs of the Year 2024, Business Outreach Magazine collaborates with leaders from industries like healthcare, political strategy, media, matrimonial, pharmaceuticals, education, digital marketing and many others. It is for the analytical approach of these visionaries, India is scaling its economic strength across a diverse set of industries.
Sharad Hegde
Sharad Hegde founded Iris Global Media with the aim to deliver state-of-the-art marketing services to its growing diverse clientele. Sharad is scaling as a stellar entrepreneur at a time when the modern business landscape has embraced the progress of innovation and technological advancements. The media landscape is vast and Sharad is at the forefront championing sustainability and growth. The most interesting fact for Sharad is the growing integration of Artificial Intelligence. He envisions a future where leadership and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is leveraging the evolution of the media industry.
Being an ‘architect of change’, Sharad Hegde’s contribution to the media industry has been draped with compassion and a drive for excellence. He recollects the beginning of his career, when he joined an ad agency with the dedication to contribute his creative perspective to marketing. Interestingly, Sharad recognized gaps in the domain where consumer experience demanded a more strategic product delivery. By navigating the scalability in events and movie production, Sharad Hegde moved forward in creating Iris Global Media. This approach, although expressed by Sharad’s calculated risks, revolutionized the media industry. Iris Global Media, under the supervision of Sharad Hegde fosters collaboration with key stakeholders with the concluding outcome of churning unparalleled customer experience.
Akshit Goel
Akshit Goel founded VivahSahyog with the objective to create an inclusive platform, where people get to find their partners. Getting married, let alone finding a supportive person, who loves you and will take care of you, demands time and patience. VivahSahyog, under the leadership of Akshit Goel, comes with a range of affordable premium plans for individuals. Akshit’s business strategy behind scaling VivahSahyog aligns with the company’s launch of their VivahSahyog app, which is currently live on Google Play Store. This move would necessarily make the company’s match-making services more accessible to any upcoming bride or groom.
VivahSahyog is a part of Radha Krishna Technology Solutions where Akshit Goel leads with about six years of industry experience. Akshit worked at some of the top IT companies like Infosys, Shell Information Services, Inadev and Wipro. He studied at BITS Pilani and has a dual degree in MSc Physics with a Bachelors of Engineering degree. Akshit Goel further strengthened his knowledge with an online P.G. certification course in Artificial Intelligence from IIT Roorkee. VivahSahyog is a close-knitted team of 10 members, working from all across the country. The company uses an AI-driven match-making solution, which is remarkably strategized under the supervision of Akshit Goel.
Suash Sinha
Suash Sinha is the second generation entrepreneur leading Radius Drugs Pvt. Ltd. (RDPL) towards scalability. A brand that has been built with passion by his father Mr. Shailesh Sinha, Suash chooses to take Radius Drugs to further heights of growth. When it comes to leadership, Suash Sinha expresses great deal of focus in product ideation, sales strategy and maintaining optimum customer experience. With a Bachelors of Engineering degree along with a Masters in Business Administration, Suash Sinha goes above and beyond to excel in the pharmaceutical industry in Uttar Pradesh.
RDPL has been operational in PAN Uttar Pradesh. With Suash forward-thinking approach and his father’s decades of experience and guidance, the company is planning to expand their business in Maharashtra. Great parenting is aligned with a greater entrepreneurial mindset. And this is evident from the mentoring skills of Shailesh Sinha on Suash . Mr. Shailesh guided Suash to start his career at the company as a Medical Representative with a set target for 1 year. Compassion towards his job helped Suash to reach that target in just 8 months, post which he started managing the business scalability of all operations.
Dr. P. Prasant
Dr. P. Prasant founded Coding Pathshala in 2022 to seek profuse motivation for learning through a vast list of digital courses in India. It is for the love of teaching, especially in the marginalized communities, P. Prasant empowered more than 10,000 engineering and MBA students. We cannot rest until appreciating Prasant’s key commitments in mentoring more than 12 startups, as an Innovation Ambassador. What’s interesting to understand is that Prasant grows for a mindset that values legacy. His objective to become a teacher gradually developed from seeing his grandfather working as a principal. Dr. P. Prasant has been ahead of his time when he quickly noticed gaps in the educational landscape of the rural regions in Odisha.
Currently, Dr. P. Prasant is the Registrar and Associate Professor at the School of Information Technology at the Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) in Bhubaneswar. In regards to his profession, Dr. P. Prasant has conducted training sessions for over 100,000 students, where he shared deep insights on Cybersecurity and Ethical Behavior. He has contributed to over 7 research papers, holding about 12 patents and authored six books about diverse topics on business and technology.
Bhushan Kulkarni
Bhushan Kulkarni founded LabCareplus Diagnostics with the goal to educate people of preventive healthcare checkup and create a thriving community. Growing up, Bhushan Kulkarni went through extreme challenges after his father’s demise. Being the youngest brother to his three sisters, Bhushan dived into the realm of responsibilities. With the support of his elder sister, Bhushan empowered consistent learning. He was just 16 years old, when Bhushan Kulkarni lost his father and started a job at a pharmacy. Bhushan Kulkarni completed his Bachelors of Science degree in Chemistry and navigated his career starting as a Medical Representative in 2003. Gradually, working up the professional ladder, Bhushan Kulkarni became a Technical Support Officer in 2007. From 2007 to 2013, he worked as a Regional Head and then got promoted to Business Head, Sales Director and eventuallyChief of Operations till 2015.
It was during this time, Bhushan Kulkarni worked at a leading corporate chain of Pathology Laboratories. Here, the seamless operations of this niche domain highly motivated Bhushan to dip his toes into this industry. He honed skills like speciality testing, Technical information,Instruments handling, SOP Designing, Manpower Management, Business development and Issue resolving.
Keshav Suri
Keshav Suri founded Digital Keshav Academy with the goal to help students who are aiming to dive into digital marketing. In the digital era, it is crucial for businesses to establish their online presence. Keshav, being the vibrant individual he is, is helping startups fortify their business in the digital spectrum. Entrepreneurship can be challenging due to the fact that it demands strategic thinking. But Keshav Suri shares that the process of witnessing his students succeed in their career is rewarding to the fullest extent. Digital Keshav Academy guides its pupils with an effective learning ecosystem that is designed to provide top-notch education.
While studying the story of Keshav Suri, we could only sense courage and perseverance. Keshav left his house at the age of 18 towards a road to seek purpose. Being born and brought up in Haryana, Keshav found it overwhelming to start his business in Surat, Gujarat. He shares with us that scaling a business in a new city with a new language can be a taxing task. But with compassion and gratitude, he overcame any roadblocks that came in the way.
Sunil Yadav
In 2018, Sunil Yadav and Sandeep Toshniwal co-founded Aarna Coworking in Jaipur. Sunil shares that starting a business involves a great deal of patience, perseverance and analysis. Earlier, getting to set up a sustainable infrastructure was a matter of concern for emerging businesses, which had limited capital. We, the citizenry, can vouch for Bharat’s growing startup ecosystem. Our country has the third largest startup hubs in the world. This spectacular foundation inspired Sunil along with Sandeep to dive into the industry of coworking infrastructure.
While setting up Aarna Coworking, Sunil expresses that they focused on high speed internet, exceptional hospitality services, parking spaces, conference rooms, office cabins, high quality furniture and many other metrics. Due to the operational expertise of Aarna Coworking, under the leadership of Sunil and Sandeep, the company expanded rapidly. Sunil Yadav is vocal about the fact that word of mouth enhanced their business growth. Aarna Coworking started with 32 seats in their first center. Currently, they are working with 82 clients which includes professionals from Fortune 500 companies.
Suraj Shinde
Business Outreach Magazine collaborates with Suraj Shinde, a remarkable political strategist, who has years of industry experience has culminated in brilliant socio-political campaigns for leaders. Suraj’s leadership perspective dates back to his college days, when he helped a friend ace a victory for the position of General Secretary at college. Being a social activist, Suraj Shinde garnered invaluable lessons working on diverse tiers. He identified a thought-provoking mindset in both members of the District Councils and Administrative officials of Sarpanch at the Panchayat System. Suraj shares that the monumental display of power lies in the political gathering, where the leaders are the true beacon of decision-makers. This intrigued Suraj Shinde in building Top Analytica, in being one of the fastest growing political firms in India.
Suraj Shinde has worked with Jan Suraj and Prashant Kishore in Bihar in the Jan Suraj Yatra. Here, he learned the key steps to create a political firm. With a more diverse mindset, Suraj built Top Analytica in 2023. It is inspirational to express that leaders are sculpted from the field of resilience. Suraj Shinde, since his college days, has been an active representative of the NSS (National Service Scheme). His gradual evolution of being a social activist scaled with an impressive trajectory of serving the society.
Henry Boby Jose
Henry Boby Jose, a 20-year-old native of Kerala and extraordinary leader, shares his views on sales as a holistic process. Henry, an entrepreneur with multiple businesses, believes in the power of powerful sales. He started Morning Star Consultants to assist SMEs grow by providing effective advice in product development, staffing, and smooth operational support. Most importantly, he has always delved deeply into the what and why of running a successful firm. “I conducted extensive research on my target audience’s needs and product preferences. I owe it to patience, which has led me to learn more about the unique characteristics of any product,” the young entrepreneur remarked of his marketing and operational expertise. Henry is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Amity Business School in Mumbai. He says, “My HOI, Dr. Bhawana Sharma Padroo has always been a mentor and given constant support and guidance.”
He adds “When selling a product, listen more, understand the customer’s needs and requirements, and modify your pitch based on his needs and how it will benefit his company. To me, a sale should be a win-win situation for all parties involved. To do so, you must get the product right, the price right, and, most importantly, the value your product brings to the table right.”
India’s take on the startup ecosystem significantly boosts global morale, when it comes to success stories. Our ability to foster worldwide cooperation, diplomacy and economic development delivers pathways of inspiration. We, as a nation, aim to be sustainable in our goals, empathetic in our attitude and strong in our innovation. The monumental support from the Government of India when it comes to upgrading policies and programs for businesses and society is nothing short of exceptional. Bharat is growing and it looks beautiful.
