September 25, 2024
Sandeep Kalra, CEO, Persistent
How To Reboot Into One Of The Fastest Growing Tech Powerhouse Brands, Sandeep Kalra – CEO Persistent
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Hyper-scaling in a highly competitive sector is not for the faint of heart. You need a team that is hitting on all cylinders—while adding new engines to increase horsepower and capabilities along the way. In the tech-world, you need to competitively unseat and outpace the other business-as-usual systems integrators—and help your clients build out next-generation systems that will allow them to transform their businesses too.
After 17 straight quarters of growth, Persistent Systems, is one of the fastest growing global services and solutions company, with 23,000 employees who have tripled revenue to over $1.2B, while its market cap exploded from $700M to over $9.5B.
Persistent CEO, Sandeep Kalra, joins us on this episode of The Reboot Chronicles, to unpack how he went beyond merely turning around the company after it hit a speed bump. After developing a new approach to growth, he and his new team rebooted the company through aggressive organic growth, smart acquisitions, and a deep roster of who’s who partnerships.
As our listeners know, Reboots must transform an organizations People, Platform, and Passion to be a long-term success—and Sandeep has done just that. Listen in to learn about his journey, as he continues to reboot Persistent into a multi-billion-dollar industry leader, through a positive leadership style, and a hands-on approach to growth—and blind spots that CEOs need to uncover about their businesses and AI.
How Legacy Has Helped Persistent Grow
With global services and solution companies always in a bidding war for the next big deal and fighting to get in the pockets of tech giants like Microsoft and Apple, you need to find a way to stand out. The way Persistent stands out is through its start as a deep-tech production company, whereas its competitors have acquired their way into deep-tech production. Sandeep notes this has helped immensely in getting deals, as he puts it “Who do you want to work with? A traditional outsourcer who’s also trying to learn how to develop applications that feel like products, or a company that has built products for the product companies?”
Doubling Your Size After Already Doubling It
We mentioned above how in five years’ time Sandeep and his team have doubled the size of Persistent, now the question is how to double in size again in the upcoming five years. Sandeep answered with a competitive plan moving forward, which builds on the plan implemented five years ago. One part is maintaining and adding to the verticals that they are already known for, making sure their base is getting stronger and staying competitive. Another part is increasing their capabilities by always being on top of next-gen technology like AI platforms and tools “so that we can be sharper than our fastest competition.” as Sandeep puts it. The third angle that Sandeep mentions is building their team and investing in talent that will push them to greater heights. “Upgrading the talent that you have and wherever you have white space, bringing in leaders from outside.” is one way Sandeep grew the company from 2019 to now, and is one way he is going to continue to grow going forward.
Lessons From One Leader To Another
Although Sandeep has given a lot of credit to the team he works with for the growth and success of Persistent Systems, he has a lot of qualities that leaders can learn from. He has a very open and understanding approach to leadership that has surely been a cog in the wheel of growth. As he puts it “I don’t know everything. I learn from others daily.” although he does “have the veto right at times.” he doesn’t make all the decisions himself. There are lots of other lessons here like how to remove biases from the technology, modernize legacy systems, and how investing in the future is the best way to grow. So to all the future leaders out there, hire people you think will help you grow, listen to the solutions they provide, and then work together to make a decision that is best for everyone. And never stop rebooting yourself.
