India has always been regarded as a nation with immense potential, especially when it comes to the depth of the market it provides. The story of Indian cities rivalling the Silicon Valley in terms of services and contribution to the tech-centered world is a testament to this journey in the 21st century.
Within this story, an individual who undertook the task of bringing businesses in India to the global stage is Pradeep Agarwal.
"In an industry where longevity is not even a goal, I think it is all about relevance and impact" – This is how he describes the crux of his philosophy that he has gained with over two decades of experience in the Indian tech industry. In that time frame, he has worked with companies such as Google, Nokia, Salesforce, IBM and helped them to expand their presence beyond the traditional mode of business.
As the Founding Director of Salesforce in India, he handled Sales & Business Department for the company between 2006-2008 and focused on CRM – Customer Relationship Management. CRM is the technological process by which any enterprise monitors its interactions with their customers. It involves utilizing data analysis to study large amounts of information and use the research to plan out the strategies for business.
Pradeep Agarwal simplifies the process, “CRM systems compile data from a range of different communication channels, including a company's website, telephone, email, live chat, marketing materials and more recently, social media”. While working at Salesforce, he established their business in India and connected them with state-of-the-art CRM, through which he expanded the net new revenue from zero to $1.7m in just 2 years.
In 2010, he was recruited by Google for their Google for Work project to create Enterprise Solutions business in India. During his tenure as the Country Head, he led his team in the creation of enterprise collaboration for platforms such as Google Search, Collaboration, Maps and Cloud Platform.
Within 3 years, the Google for Work India business flourished into a business that generated over $7m per annum and Pradeep Agarwal played pivotal role in acquiring prominent customers for Google such as Reliance, Holcim, Jindal among others.
Next, he served as the Head of Business Development of HERE, the location services business owned by Nokia. Around 2007, Nokia had acquired Navteq which was the largest Auto Navigation business in the world at the time and it was later renamed as HERE.
Since HERE was competing against Google Maps, Nokia faced many issues at the time and so they brought him in to serve as their problem-solver in the Indian sphere. He undertook in-depth assessment of the business in India, strategized the required changes, and empowered the company to grow their business in the Indian market. The company is currently owned by BMW, Audi, Intel and dominates the navigation market globally.
Later, Pradeep Agarwal joined an Indian start-up PeoplesHR as COO & VP, which was involved in the SME market. As COO, he handled client interaction, sales momentum, product delivery and marketing. There, he oversaw the integration of latest technology and logistics operations and soon, the enterprise grew from scratch to generating revenue of over 500,000 USD in 18 months.
Aiding global firms to grow in India as well as empowering Indian business to make a mark on the global stage, Pradeep Agarwal has played a monumental role in transforming the Indian business space by connecting the enterprises and their operations with state-of-the-art technology like CRM. In the book about growth of Indian businesses, he has rightfully earned an important chapter through his innovation, vision, and efforts.