Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022 - Vol. 3

WWW.THEENTERPRISEWORLD.COM | AMERICAS EDITION | APRIL 2022 CEO | KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAL LAB Top 5 Dr. Tigran Haas SUCCESSFUL ENTREPRENEURS A Leader Inspiring and Bringing the Best in People To Watch In 2022







From Editor’s Desk An entrepreneur is the one that visualizes the future and success, realizes his vision and takes step to working towards it. Knocking off the hardships, keeping a straight head an entrepreneur is the one that inspires his employees and his peers to achieve the great milestones in their journey. This issue of The Enterprise World of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs to Watch features the stories of such select entrepreneurs who with their dedication, their zeal and excellence have surpassed all the hurdles that came their way and have emerged as the great story-tellers of their successful ventures. Inspiring others and themselves at every step, here are all the successful entrepreneurs that have been featured. For the cover story read about- Dr. Tigran holds advanced and multiple degrees in Architecture, Urban Planning + Urban Design, Environmental Science and Regional Planning. He has written over 100 scholarly articles and 10 books and has educated future corporate project managers on a master’s level for over a decade. Positioned at the intersection of architecture, urban planning, urban design and urban studies, KTH’s Centre for the Future of Places CFP was an agora, a meeting place for leading thinkers, practitioners and researchers in urbanism who are pursuing solutions to the city’s key urban development challenges, with a particular focus on public space systems. Leadership Talks with The Enterprise World include the stories of- Christopher Carter of Approyo. Approyo provides deployments, migrations upgrades for any SAP core instance. The company acts as a reliable partner delivering SAP projects on time and on budget. The process behind Approyo’s services begins with a tailored roadmap fit to each clients’ business needs. After an SAP project is complete, Approyo offers their managed cloud services, such as hosting, monitoring, and 24/7 SAP Basis support. Approyo’s global team of SAP experts works around the clock to ensure that all of their clients’systems are running efficiently and securely. “I started Oliver Sanderson in 2011. I left a great job, sold my car to consolidate my savings, and set up an office in the dining room. What started as one woman on a laptop has grown into an international business at the cutting edge of executive search, working with big clients, winning awards, and making a difference internationally!”, says Natasha Makhijani of Oliver Sanderson. Ulrich Walder on his successful stint says, “The company was founded as a start-up and found around a dozen of investors right at the beginning to put the ideas into practice. Both technologies exist today as prototypes and, in the case of the mobile applications, have also already proven themselves well in practice. Just over a hundred apps in a wide area of application (insurance, project management, architecture, communication, art and culture, events, tourism and nature) have been created and experienced hundreds of thousands of downloads.” Paul Guenther of Knowledge Hub Media. Knowledge Hub Media is a b2b advertising company with demand generation and content syndication serving as our core competencies. We’ve had a lot of major accomplishments over the years, including making the Inc. 5000 list three years in a row (Inc Magazine), and, being honoured as an Entrepreneur Magazine Entrepreneur 360 company… The 360 best privately owned companies inAmerica – also three years in a row. Shalmali Shalmali W.

The Enterprise World, 1985, Henderson Rd, Columbus, Ohio, 43220 Follow Us On: For Editorial Concerns: [email protected] For Sales & Branding Enquiries: [email protected] For Subscription: [email protected] Publisher The Enterprise World Creative Content Editor Shalmali W. | Adeeb Marketing Coordinator(USA) Peter J. PR & Marketing Coordinator James H. Business Development Executive Lisa Creative Design Head: Sushant K. Social Media Manager Narendra S. Digital Circulation Manager Amanda V. This list is NOT a ranking. The companies on listed in magazine serve different aspects of the market, making ranking them in any order except revenue impossible and unfair. We try to bring a perfect platform for business organization to showcase their valued products/ services. Copyrights © The Enterprise World | 2019. All Rights Reserved. The images and content included in this magazine should not be copied, transferred or reproduced in any form or by any means, electronics, mechanical, photocopying, recording, otherwise, without proper permission from The Enterprise World. The Enterprise World solely owns all the reprint rights.

Leaders in Spotlight Dr. Tigran holds advanced and “I started Oliver Sanderson in 2011. I left a multiple degrees in Architecture, great job, sold my car to consolidate my Urban Planning + Urban Design, savings, and set up an office in the dining Environmental Science and Regional room. What started as one woman on a laptop Planning. He has written over 100 scholarly has grown into an international business at the articles and 10 books and has educated future cutting edge of executive search, working corporate project managers on a master’s with big clients, winning awards, and making level for over a decade. Positioned at the a difference internationally!”, says Natasha intersection of architecture, urban planning, Makhijani of Oliver Sanderson. urban design and urban studies, KTH’s Centre for the Future of Places CFP was an Ulrich Walder on his successful stint says, agora, a meeting place for leading thinkers, “The company was founded as a start-up and practitioners and researchers in urbanism found around a dozen of investors right at the who are pursuing solutions to the city’s key beginning to put the ideas into practice. Both urban development challenges, with a technologies exist today as prototypes and, in particular focus on public space systems. the case of the mobile applications, have also already proven themselves well in practice. Leadership Talks with The Enterprise World Just over a hundred apps in a wide area of include the stories of- application (insurance, project management, architecture, communication, art and culture, Christopher Carter of Approyo. Approyo events, tourism and nature) have been created provides deployments, migrations upgrades and experienced hundreds of thousands of for any SAP core instance. The company acts downloads.” as a reliable partner delivering SAP projects on time and on budget. The process behind Paul Guenther of Knowledge Hub Media. Approyo’s services begins with a tailored Knowledge Hub Media is a b2b advertising roadmap fit to each clients’ business needs. company with demand generation and content After an SAP project is complete, Approyo syndication serving as our core competencies. offers their managed cloud services, such as We’ve had a lot of major accomplishments hosting, monitoring, and 24/7 SAP Basis over the years, including making the Inc. support. Approyo’s global team of SAP 5000 list three years in a row (Inc Magazine), experts works around the clock to ensure that and, being honoured as an Entrepreneur all of their clients’ systems are running Magazine Entrepreneur 360 company… The efficiently and securely. 360 best privately owned companies in America – also three years in a row.

12. Dr. Tigran Haas

24. CONTENTS Christopher Carter 30. Natasha Makhijani 36. Ulrich Walder 42. Paul Guenther





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Dr. TigranCOVERSTORY Haas A Leader Inspiring and Bringing the Best in People CEO, KTH ROYAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY HAL LAB www.theenterpriseworld.com | 13

COVER STORY 14 | APRIL 2022

Urban planning and designing is a concept that helps cities grow in various ways. With proper planning and designing of the cities, it gives more space for the population to grow and also manage all the resources so that all the people of the city are happy. These are some of the most basic things that are included in urban planning and designing. With technologies evolving every day, there still remains a lot that needs to be explored and implemented in urban designing space. Featuring for the Cover Story of The Enterprise World's this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022 is Dr. Tigran Haas, a teacher, a professor and a leader that is bringing out the best in people. About Dr. Tigran- Dr. Tigran holds advanced and multiple degrees in Architecture, Urban www.theenterpriseworld.com | 15

Planning + Urban Design, Environmental Rizzoli, Edward Elgar and Atheneum Faculty and Executive Board Member Science and Regional Planning. He has Scholars Press. He has also been a and a Guest Research Scholar at the written over 100 scholarly articles and 10 Former Director of International Massachusetts Institute of Technology books and has educated future corporate Centre for the Future of Places (CFP) MIT in Cambridge, in the Norman B. project managers on a master's level for at KTH, Stockholm and the former Leventhal Center for Advanced over a decade. He has also developed Director of the Civitas Athenaeum Urbanism (LCAU). three masters' programs and taught over Laboratory (CAL). 35 courses at graduate & post-graduate Dr. Tigran's Journey at the Research level. Dr. Tigran holds Three Post-Doc From 2016-2021, Dr. Tigran headed Center- Fellowships from the University of the centre, an international network Berkeley California, University of hub and clearing house on research Positioned at the intersection of Michigan Ann Arbor and Massachusetts within public spaces. He is currently an architecture, urban planning, urban Institute of Technology in Boston Associate Professor of Urban Planning design and urban studies, KTH's Cambridge. + Urban Design at the KTH Royal Centre for the Future of Places CFP Institute of Technology in Stockholm, was an agora, a meeting place for His forthcoming books will be published School of Architecture and the Built leading thinkers, practitioners and by Routledge, Rowman & Littlefield, Environment, Digital Futures KTH researchers in urbanism who are pursuing solutions to the city's key 16 | APRIL 2022

COVER STORY urban development challenges, with a transformations looked upon through urbanization and quality of life for a particular focus on public space the cross-cutting lens of public space. rapidly growing, aging population. systems. Faced with new social, Also, CFP's mother Institution and Hub economic, political, cultural and is the “MIT of the NORTH”, KTH – KTH's research and education covers environmental challenges, the question Royal Institute of Technology in both science and all branches of of the value of public space in planning Stockholm Sweden. technology as well as architecture, and maintaining cities is critical to the industrial economics, social planning, future of urbanism. Since its inception in 1827, KTH has history and philosophy. The innovative developed into one of Europe's leading climate promotes versatile solutions “As a permanent mission, the CFP technical universities and an important and the university's education creates a places a spotlight on public space and arena for knowledge development. As new generation of engineers, architects the public realm, and more specifically, Sweden's largest university for and teachers. the shifting of attention from object to technical research and education, KTH places, as an essential aspect of brings together students, researchers Finally, their world-class ties, urbanism and urbanization. Within that and faculty from all over the world. affiliations and research cooperation mission we have explored the Together with business and society, were also one of the reasons for this interrelationships between urban form, KTH is working on sustainable success and will further be human behavior, urban society, and solutions to some of humanity's strengthened with the international ties social life, sustainable urbanism and greatest challenges: climate change, the and upcoming work with UCL Bartlett housing in the wake of emergent global energy supply of the future, in London and LCAU at MIT in Boston. www.theenterpriseworld.com | 17

18 | APRIL 2022

COVER STORY “We continue to develop the helped Dr. Tigran understand some of networks and brake barriers of what is cooperation with UN Habitat and our these things much better and the possible and impossible.” other university partners such as TU period of 5 years running a research Wien, LSE London, University of centre and 5 years of a Lab before Where the inner great relationship with Chicago, University of Miami and ETH that plus being director of three the team and employees is crucial and Zürich.” educational programs has also helped is sine qua non for the sustainable immensely. longevity of the enterprise. Winning Strengthening the ties between their trust, gaining honest feedback, research and practice by supporting Getting things done from the project achieving friendships and developing researchers to cooperate and to and research team you have in place mutual respect is crucial. practically implement their research is just one part of the job of a leader results is a central aspect of what the and the team has to be assembled in Finally, as advice to others, ability to university is focusing to do in the the best possible way where the learn from the past and from mistakes coming years. After the work in the issues of competence, equality and is crucial; strong communication skills center where they have assembled the professionalism are crucial but also and building sustainable relationships best urbanism network in the world the finesse to know where each on all levels; listening, understanding and best clearing house on public person can contribute the most. and doing; optimism and risk taking to spaces and urban places research, Dr. a specific degree; reading people and Tigran is looking forward to forming “At the outset of my leadership role, I adapting them to necessary task in the and leading perhaps a second research started to expand and build new organization; anticipating problems lab in his career, A City Research Lab called HAL. “Cities are an amazing place with limitless opportunities, problems, challenges and source of ideas.” The Centre and Dr. Tigran are recipients of 15+ awards for leadership and management from CEO Europe Magazine, ACQ Global Awards, CV Magazine Award, CIO Views Award, CIO Times, CXO Fortune, Insight Success, Silicone Review, Finance Monthly CEO Awards, World's Leaders Magazine Awards and others. “In my work in Academia over the last 25 years, I span and cover one of the largest urbanism networks in the world.” Key Achievements of Dr. Tigran's Journey- Leadership is definitely a complex journey of self-transformation, a journey travelled 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 www.theenterpriseworld.com | 19

and thinking outside the box; “We will continue to look into this on and KTH's partner university, are eliminating threats and psychopathic micro, meso and macro level (house, places where students study, socialize personalities. neighbourhood, district, city and and live in close proximity to each region).” other. They are also the nexus for “Regardless of the hurdles, don't lose social and cultural hubs where students faith in your idea and your vision, fight The main issue is that cities are getting are brought together from all corners of to the bitter end if you see a great more complex and the challenges are the world and where social and human innovative, just, explorative and good rising on a daily basis with multiple capital is produced. idea.” converging crises that seek answers for new theories, tools and approaches. Due to the rapid spread of the The Road Ahead- The Research Lab – HAL halcyon coronavirus and the unprecedented Civitas Laboratory will try to answer impact it's had on the society, they had After the success of a five-year sequel these calls as it goes into the next to adapt to teaching, researching and of the centre, the future looks period, being a successor to the Centre networking online and most interesting as the institute will be for the Future of Places CFP. importantly, to do everything they can focusing more on either continuing the to protect the lives of their students and path they have set till now, or turning Tackling New Challenges of the faculty. Maximizing online learning the ship into another, slightly less Pandemic- and teaching, developing robust but (un)charted destination. One thing is flexible systems, gathering information sure, that in the next two years the With extreme pressure on physical and and applying the best practices have focus will be on the critical issue of mental health, leaders need to tap into been some of the hallmarks of this humanizing cities within rising smart their own emotional intelligence to difficult period, as well as great and new experimental urbanisms, but make sure their teams come out of the collegial and comradeship throughout. also issues of livability, comfort, pandemic stronger. University and health, aesthetics of cities and open college campuses such as at KTH and The higher education sector has public spaces. MIT, Dr. Tigran's 2nd place of work withstood pandemics and turbulent 20 | APRIL 2022

COVER STORY economic times in the past and it will Places that has been established to knowledge from all disciplines related withstand them again, preparing to be promote sustainable urban to the field of public space, such as adaptable, resilient and sustainable in development by shifting the urban urban planning, urban design, the long run. In a network society, city discourse from objects to places in environmental psychology, urban of bits and the new digital age, order to promote healthy and livable sociology, architecture, urban universities are better placed, more cities, within the disciplines of Urban economics, human geography and than ever, to provide students with an Planning and Urban Design. The Lab others. easily accessible online version of their and the centre that preceded it, courses. envisioned a networked community of The focus on public space served as a leaders actively working across cross-disciplinary innovation “We have to learn and adapt, and we sectors, frontiers, and disciplines to framework to merge the knowledge also need to prepare for the tougher build a more just, sustainable, and from the different disciplinary silos; challenges ahead of us, as prosperous world. thus, creating links between the experts unfortunately, there will be many more within them, to create a holistic of these to come.” The task of the Centre was to take a understanding of the city that serves as holistic approach in defining, the basis for practical and effective Innovation is the Key- classifying and establishing the public action, which will require extensive space as an independent academic international cooperation.” “Innovation is the core value, fundus research field. This means that the and keystone of the new Lab as well as center systematically linked together it was of the Centre for the Future of www.theenterpriseworld.com | 21





CEO, Approyo 24 | APRIL 2022

CHRISTOPHER CARTER Assisting Companies in Using the Big Data Technology is rapidly changing and impacting business in new ways. If companies aren't adopting new technology, they are losing ground and not innovating. The SAP landscape continues to evolve and SAP customers need to keep up with these changes. Featuring in The Enterprise World's this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022 is Christopher Carter, CEO, helping change businesses and impact in new ways. In this interview, let us unfold his journey. Brief us about your journey at the company, what inspired you to start the company? With a love for technology, I began my journey when I attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. In college I began working with SAP and realized how much I enjoyed working with innovative solutions. I eventually went on to own my own business which I later sold. I was in retirement for a very short period when I heard about SAP's announcement of SAP HANA. I saw great potential for this solution and decided to jump back into the SAP space, thus creating Approyo. www.theenterpriseworld.com | 25

What are the initial challenges you faced and Being a successful leader, please share your what are the reasons behind company's long- views on current business scenario across globe standing success? after Covid19 pandemic. At the start, one of the main challenges Approyo Covid-19 has dramatically changed the business faced was finding the right clients. It was difficult to world and plenty of companies are still recovering find clients who had complete understanding of the from it. Now more than ever companies are cloud, so it was seen more as a “risk” than a step realizing the value that an advanced cloud platform toward innovation. A lot of companies were can bring to their business. Throughout 2020 and satisfied with their old legacy systems, so we really 2021, Approyo continued to support our clients had to work toward educating our clients and through providing migrations, deployments, and proposing every benefit of moving to the cloud. managed services to help them navigate the new Eventually, people became more and more working world. Supply chain demand has risen interested in its capabilities, and solidifying our while container ships are behind schedule. Having a services and expanding our proof of success successful cloud solution such as SAP S/4HANA in through new customers is what pushed us to be a place allows companies to track their shipments and leader in the SAP industry. update their stock accordingly to streamline the process. Positioning ourselves as trusted partners What are the products or services the company who can help our clients navigate these times and focuses on? How are your services different from challenges has contributed to our own success. those in the market? Why it is said that the workforce plays a vital Approyo provides deployments, migrations role in every business's growth? Please tell us upgrades for any SAP core instance. The company about your team. acts as a reliable partner delivering SAP projects on time and on budget. The process behind Approyo's Approyo's team is globally and remotely located. services begins with a tailored roadmap fit to each We have employees throughout the U.S. as well as clients' business needs. After an SAP project is India, Brazil, and Europe. Our technical team has complete, Approyo offers their managed cloud hundreds of combined years of experience in services, such as hosting, monitoring, and 24/7 SAP providing successful migrations and projects across Basis support. Approyo's global team of SAP multiple industries. Many of our employees hold experts works around the clock to ensure that all of different certifications, and we offer education and their clients' systems are running efficiently and learning opportunities for them to gain new skills to securely. extend our services even further. How do you decide to take the company a step Can you please brief us about your professional further? experience? We decided we wanted to move into working with Christopher Carter is the CEO and Founder of other global cloud providers, expanding our partner Approyo. With over 25 years of experience in the network, and overall broadening our solutions SAP industry, Chris has been globally recognized as portfolio. To differentiate Approyo from the a leader in the technology industry space. Being competition, we thought it was valuable to our recognized by Hadoop World, SAP Users Group, clients to create our own AI monitoring tool to Cloud Expo, SAP TechEd, etc. he has made a name allow clients to have continuous business with no for himself as a self-made entrepreneur and downtime. Recently we released a new advanced educator. He is also known as a technology and analytics and business Intelligence monitoring tool security expert, as you will see him on TV and radio that allows us to track all our clients' applications, shows speaking about subjects concerning top servers, databases, etc. under one platform. technology news stories in the U.S. He is also a 26 | APRIL 2022

member of the Forbes Technology Council, where Cost of Ownership, gaining operational efficiencies you will see he posts insightful articles, continuing from geographic consolidation, providing to educate on the importance of data security. At centralized governance, and high availability and Approyo, he manages the executive team and flexibility of SAP on Azure. With continued creates an all-encompassing vision for the mission support, they can now leverage advanced support, of the company to be successful year-over-year. development, testing, and security with automated backup and data recovery. Because the brand is What are the key achievements of your business such a large enterprise in the travel and hospitality journey? industry, this implementation not only benefits the industry as a whole but benefits millions of Seeing Approyo receive the recognition it has customers around the globe looking for a great within the SAP ecosystem, being able to hire from experience in their travels. among the most talented in the space, and the relationships I've built along the way are my most A global designer and manufacturer of small meaningful achievements to date firearms and light weapons needed a partner to seamlessly migrate their cloud environment to SAP. 'Innovation is the key to business growth', Please With their new U.S. entity, they needed an share your views. architecture scalable to fit their expansion, while complying with U.S. regulations. Post-project, they I've seen too many companies perish for want of needed a partner who would provide expert SAP innovation. In most cases it's not a lack of ideas or Basis support, to ensure quality operations in the effort but an absence of an accommodating future. The results of the SAP HANA migration mechanism to innovation that proves fatal. Our own resulted in better visibility into their data, simple pivotal growth moments have resulted from reporting, real-time analytics, and overall enhanced adaptations to unforeseen circumstances—less performance of their SAP landscape. The company because we had the best ideas for the moment than experienced improved governance, monitoring, and that we had the right structure and openness to ideas efficiency of their financial operations, as well as that could push us forward in those moments. optimized supply chain management to better understand their inventory. They also benefitted Any client experience you would like to from improved compliance and security of their highlight? data. We have had many clients over the years, from providing only SAP Basis support to implementing full cloud migrations onto SAP HANA. We have experience in a broad range of industries, including hospitality, manufacturing, supply chain, technology, etc. Here are two examples of projects that prove our SAP expertise: A global hotel brand needed to upgrade, migrate, and offload daily management of their existing SAP infrastructure. The company needed a partner to help them undergo a cloud migration and consolidation of their SAP systems. Approyo's Center of Excellence crafted a complete Azure cloud migration roadmap, including rightsizing and consolidation of infrastructure, lowering their Total www.theenterpriseworld.com | 27





Natasha Makhijani An Ambitious Leader Dedicated to Retaining Talents Being the ambitious leader, thing to do, but I took the risk. I knew We overcame these challenges by Natasha comes from a very it was the right thing to do, and I have hiring great colleagues, focusing on strong entrepreneurial never looked back. brand building, and working around background. After serving in the clock on our first assignments to multiple roles in various companies, I started Oliver Sanderson in 2011. I make the best possible impression on Natasha decided to take on her left a great job, sold my car to our early clients. Several of those dream job of starting her own consolidate my savings, and set up an early clients have stayed with us ever company- being the Executive office in the dining room. What since, and every successful Search Firm. started as one woman on a laptop has assignment led to numerous referrals grown into an international business and new business leads. Things Featuring in The Enterprise World's at the cutting edge of executive snowballed quickly, but it was all this issue of Top 5 Successful search, working with big clients, about making a strong start. Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022, let winning awards, and making a us unfold Natasha's journey with this difference internationally! Being specific with your market interview. proposition is probably the most What are the initial challenges you important part of the initial journey as Brief us about your journey at the faced and what are the reasons an entrepreneur. company, what inspired you to behind company's long-standing start the company? success? What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are I left a comfortable job as a recruiter The first two years are especially your services different from those in to go it alone and set up my own difficult when starting a new business the market? company. It was a leap of faith, but it – you need to get your systems and was always a dream of mine to build processes in place, build a good team, Oliver Sanderson is an executive something important and lead a refine your market proposition, and search firm with a difference, team. I come from a very begin to establish a reputation. Each combining experience and expertise entrepreneurial community, and I of these steps is extremely with innovation and fresh thinking. knew that I could make a wider challenging, and financial pressures Specializing in permanent and interim impact as a business leader. People can overwhelm some entrepreneurs at assignments across a range of questioned whether it was the right this stage. industries, we solve recruitment 30 | APRIL 2022

headaches and D&I challenges for our Founder & CEO, clients, going the extra mile to ensure Oliver Sanderson success. HR and Business Change have become particular specialisms of our research team in recent years. Our pioneering digital solutions set us apart from the competition. With our innovative suite of digital apps, including Snapp – the world's first voice-technology enabled mobile jobs platform with exclusive Amazon Alexa integration – we are leading the way in discovering the next generation of business leaders. Being a successful leader, please share your views on current business scenario across globe after Covid19 pandemic. The global pandemic has had a major impact on our daily business operations, but we have managed to survive and thrive since the first lockdown. Our firm has had to adapt to meet new challenges, becoming more flexible in our delivery models and transitioning to digital platforms through our in-house recruitment software Snapp and the OS Executive app. Thanks to our flexibility, we have managed to grow and expand our team. In my view, the recruitment industry has already undergone a process of transformation triggered by the pandemic. We are now seeing a candidate-led market – talented candidates are in demand, and they are now setting their own terms, especially with regard to flexible working arrangements. There is no longer any obligation to commute, or spend the whole working week in the office, and companies are building diverse, multi-talented teams www.theenterpriseworld.com | 31

operating across different countries them. At Oliver Sanderson, no two stay connected and supported and different time zones. There is now weeks are ever the same – we are together, constantly learning, and a bigger global talent pool to choose always working on new roles with constantly striving to improve as from, but the competition for talent is new organisations, and making new individuals and as a team. also increased. So it's a candidate-led connections and relationships with market, and the recruitment candidates. It is this aspect of our Can you please brief us about your businesses is booming across many work that ensures that we are professional experience? different sectors. constantly learning, keeping the working week fresh and challenging. After graduating with a Bachelor's Why it is said that the workforce degree from City, University of plays a vital role in every business's We set monthly and annual targets to London and a Master's from DePaul growth? Please tell us about your hit for our team across a number of University in Chicago, I began my team. areas, from sales to social media recruitment career on the Graduate engagement. But we also support each Scheme at Hays. Fast-tracked into Our team has driven our growth from other, understanding that growth isn't management roles, I achieved four day one, and I work hard every day to always linear, and we sometimes promotions in four years and took a keep my team motivated and engaged learn more from failure than from team from billing £10,000 to £80,000 with our vision and our journey. success. Dialogue is crucial – daily a month. conversations, feedback and As a leader, it is vital that I am always brainstorming sessions. These help us From Hays I moved to Michael Page, challenging, supporting, and inspiring where I worked on a hybrid desk 32 | APRIL 2022

across permanent and interim senior What are the key achievements of businesses like British Airways, leadership roles. There I was given your business journey? Aviva, and Engie, and winning responsibility for growing Michael awards. I won a CEO Today Global Page's Public Sector division from its I am lucky enough to have celebrated Award 2021, and our firm was offices in London. I was soon the a number of achievements throughout shortlisted for the Global Recruiter company's number one biller in HR my business journey. A major Awards 2021 and the APSCo Awards across the UK. But I always wanted to highlight has been watching Oliver for Excellence 2021. Snapp was pursue another path – the Sanderson become established in the named Best Tech Innovation at the entrepreneurial route. Having set up UK and beginning to grow overseas – Global Recruiter Awards 2021, won executive desks at both Hays and having set up the company from my an APSCo Award for Innovation Michael Page, I switched my focus to dining-room table, it is so rewarding 2021, and was featured in the Mayor establishing a business of my own. to see how far we've come! Other of London's TechInvest programme. That's when Oliver Sanderson was successes include winning exciting born, in 2011. new client relationships with major 'Innovation is the key to business growth', Please share your views. Innovation is the key to business growth, and it is vital to foster innovation through suitable business processes. At Oliver Sanderson we are constantly learning, and we have systems and ways of working in place to foster creativity and innovative thinking. One of our specialisms is in digital recruitment - we are pioneers of digital innovations in executive search and recruitment. I co-founded Snapp, the world's first voice-technology enabled mobile jobs platform with exclusive Amazon Alexa integration. If you ask your Amazon Alexa device to “Find me a job”, the search will be powered by Snapp. The platform recently featured on the Mayor of London's TechInvest programme, an initiative delivered in alliance with the UK Business Angels Association to showcase London's most ground- breaking tech start-up businesses. www.theenterpriseworld.com | 33





CEO, AIONAV 36 | APRIL 2022

Ulrich Walder Accelerating Growth with Technology Successful entrepreneurship comes to those who play What are the key achievements of your business their cards the right way. With the world rapidly journey? shifting towards digitization, so much that assets too are digital, technology solutions are found on every street. I could mention many extraordinary projects all over the But to understand the needs of the clients and tailor the world in which I and my teams were able to achieve solutions that way is one trait of a leader. technological masterpieces. They have always involved encounters with extraordinary personalities from all walks Featuring in The Enterprise World's this issue of Top 5 of life, from the arts and sciences to military and civilian Successful Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022 is Ulrich leaders. Many have become lifelong friendships and have Walder (CEO) of AIONAV Systems. outlasted the short-lived recognition of technical achievements. In this interview let us find out more about his prominent leadership and the company. The deeper insight into foreign cultures, especially my work in China shortly after the Cultural Revolution, Why it is said that the workforce plays a vital role in broadened my horizons, but above all made me aware of every business's growth? Please tell us about your team. the value of our Western democracies. My current commitment to a democratic, fair and independent use of Without a strong and dedicated team, innovations in IT are new technologies has grown out of this. no longer possible today. The idea for a new technology is born quickly, but the implementation into a market-ready Any client experience you would like to highlight? product today requires a huge effort. Even if one is able to manage this effort technologically, many IT projects fail in Many of our customers have revolutionized their business Switzerland and Europe. models or created great works with our technologies. My best experience, however, was a training session for so- The reason is primarily that there is a lack of awareness of called lost young people, whom I was able to teach how to the necessities of the digital revolution. This in turn results create apps in a social institution. in a lack of subsidies and financing. It is therefore advisable to have partners or your own employees from the areas of Seeing their self-confidence grow because they were able to financing and marketing on board right at the start of create something that others had to study for years for was forward-looking IT projects. heart-warming, as was working with refugee children who www.theenterpriseworld.com | 37

created apps for their parents to help them navigate their and with the possibility to publish content independently. Both new culture in Europe. technologies and their practical implementations have received Brief us about your journey at the company, what several international awards and some have been patented. inspired you to start the company? What are the initial challenges you faced and what are the After a successful career as an IT entrepreneur, Division reasons behind company's long-standing success? Commander of the Swiss Armed Forces and Professor of The company was founded as a start-up and found around a Building Informatics at the Technical University of Graz dozen of investors right at the beginning to put the ideas into (Austria), I founded AIONAV Systems AG as a pure practice. Both technologies exist today as prototypes and, in the technology development company. Its purpose is to put the case of the mobile applications, have also already proven results of university-driven research into practice. Two themselves well in practice. Just over a hundred apps in a wide technologies are in the foreground. On the one hand a fully area of application (insurance, project management, autonomous indoor positioning system for First Responders architecture, communication, art and culture, events, tourism based on inertial MEMS and on the other hand a new and nature) have been created and experienced hundreds of technology for mobile applications without programming thousands of downloads. 38 | APRIL 2022

The success is based on the fact that we never see These apps can be published in the known app stores, or technology as an end in itself, but want to generate a broad used as a cover app, e.g. for internal company purposes. added value with it. For example, very sophisticated apps The cover apps have their own QR code reader with which can be created by non-professionals and this they can do ten any AIONAV databases can be loaded or updated. The apps times faster and by factors cheaper than programming run offline with interfaces to the web if required. conventional native apps How do you decide to take the company a step further? What are the products or services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the The company has reached a point after 10 years where we market? have to decide whether we want to continue running it as a for-profit company or whether we want to make the The autonomous indoor positioning system consists of a developed technologies available to the public. small sensor mounted on the foot that, starting from a known point, directly sends the relative coordinates of the The loss of digital sovereignty of entire states and the fact moving person to a local or central visualization device, e.g. that ever larger parts of our society are disconnected from to a smartphone app with the corresponding maps. the digital revolution have moved us to take the second path. At the moment, we are negotiating with various The app creation is done with the AIONAV App-Studio. possible sponsors (foundations, government research The design, the desired functions and the multimedia agencies) who want to overtake and grow up the 30 person- content, as well as maps and plans are stored in a freely years of development already invested. structured database. No programming knowledge is necessary. One or more databases are then connected to the AIONAV app player (for iOS or Android), resulting in a single app (1 DB) or a cover app (1+ DBs). www.theenterpriseworld.com | 39

THE FUTURE OF The Evolution of Threats to Enterprise Networks ENTERPRISE Company networks have SECURITY faced an evolving threat landscape in recent years, Focus on to Protect Themselves alongside a rapidly- and their Customers expanding list of threats. The number of high-profile It's no secret that not only are data breaches has grown the threats to your company significantly over the past more numerous than ever few years. In 2016, the before, but they are also becoming largest breach of data in more sophisticated. You may have history took place when invested in expensive enterprise hackers stole the records of security solutions in the past only almost 150 million Verizon to see them rendered useless in a customers. Earlier that matter of weeks. The industry is at same year, Equifax a crossroads. What do you need to suffered a massive data be doing today to protect your breach affecting over 140 customers and your business? million people. This blog post will explore what Many other companies enterprises should focus on when it have suffered cyberattacks comes to security. It will also give and security breaches as you valuable tips on how to stay well. ahead of hackers by using advanced protection technology that can Even in the face of these detect known and unknown breaches, there has only vulnerabilities. We'll discuss risks, been a nominal increase in prevention methods, and show you cybersecurity awareness. how to protect your customers with Worse, many companies the best practices for today's don't have effective market. systems or processes in place, such as a small and medium business password manager. A core issue is how rapidly the cybersecurity landscape changes, and how difficult it is for businesses to keep pace. Every new trend, from the rise of the cloud to the decline of physical devices, prompts various 40 | APRIL 2022

security upgrades for organizations. detect threats like malware and 3. Machine Learning in The reality is that any enterprise illegal software. They can also Pentesting should both be aware of the myriad detect all the software on a threats that exist and also device to determine if they have Artificial intelligence and machine understand the mindset that is been infected or if they have learning have some incredibly necessary to address them. been attacked. compelling applications in the cybersecurity sector, and With that in mind, here are three 2. Data is the New Oil penetration testing is arguably at major trends that have influenced the top of that list. Pentesting the way we think about Success now hinges on data; typically requires an immense cybersecurity and the things that availability, governance, amount of manual labor. Through businesses should consider when it orchestration, and analysis, for machine learning, security comes to safeguarding their both the public and private professionals can augment their customers and their businesses. sectors. This is especially true own expertise with tools that for the Fortune 1000. automatically probe for 1. IoT Goes Mainstream weaknesses, becoming The Internet of Things Moreover, many organizations progressively better at doing so now rely on their ability to through trial and error. essentially a catch-all term for any generate and manage data — it Internet-connected device or is the key to understanding Unfortunately, pentesting isn't the appliance that wouldn't ordinarily customer behavior, predicting only application of this connect to a network — has seen what to sell, and determining technology—it can just as easily be explosive growth in recent years. how to market against weaponized in the hands of IoT devices have become more competitors. cybercriminals. commonplace than ever as we increasingly embed connectivity in It is impossible for any human Technologies that Will Shape the everything from traffic lights to being to effectively organize and Future of Cybersecurity in 2022 fridges and microwaves. This also evaluate the vast quantity of means that devices in the business data generated by even a small Over the next few years, there will and consumer sectors are becoming or mid-sized business. Instead, be several new technologies that increasingly sophisticated at the role of human actors in this will impact cybersecurity in ways collecting and sharing data. new ecosystem is to ensure the neither seen nor predicted. From data is available and accessible artificial intelligence to blockchain On the one hand, this means that, for analytics tools. With that to IoT, the entire face of the armed with effective analytics, accomplished, they can unlock security landscape is changing. And organizations can learn more about insights about everything from it will continue to change well into both themselves and their clientele product intelligence to flaws in the future, evolving in ways we than ever before. On the other their security posture. neither expected nor predicted. hand, this means that even a small business may have to contend with Orchestration alone isn't an overwhelming threat surface, enough, either. Criminals are one in which anything could be an well aware of the value access point for a hacker. And yes, contained in corporate data. As that includes the kitchen sink. such, in addition to availability, modern businesses must ensure For example, AI-powered all data is encrypted both at rest intelligent security systems can and in motion. www.theenterpriseworld.com | 41

Paul Guenther Offering Innovative Media Solutions The most important goal of B2B marketing is to make other businesses aware of your business. This helps you build your brand value and reach out to your potential customers. To acquire the right leads and then convert them needs innovative marketing strategies. These strategies can help you reach out to the right people and be seen. Featuring in The Enterprise World's this issue of Top 5 Successful Entrepreneurs To Watch In 2022 is Paul Guenther, Founder, and CEO of Knowledge Hub Media, offering promising and innovative media solutions to his clients. In this interview, let us know more about Paul and Knowledge Hub Media. Can you please brief us about your professional experience? As for my personal story, it starts out at Penn State University in the Fall of 2002. At the time, I was pretty unsure about what I wanted to do. After some time, I determined that I wanted to go to law school, and decided to major in Crime, Law & Justice. I got my B.S. in the spring of 2006, which was immediately followed by a (short) stint in Law School. I was doing a part-time night program, and at the time, I was honestly just not ready for it. I was working full time during the day, going out with my friends at night, and not at all focused on what I should have been focused on. Whether or not it was a blessing in disguise, I'll never 42 | APRIL 2022

Founder & CEO, Knowledge Hub Media www.theenterpriseworld.com | 43

know… But I ended up going back to school in 2008 to get What are the key achievements of your business my MBA with a concentration in Marketing Management journey? (Wilmington University). Knowledge Hub Media is a b2b advertising company with During that timeframe, somewhere in 2009, I started demand generation and content syndication serving as our working on what would become “IT Knowledge Hub” – core competencies. We've had a lot of major which is now of course known as Knowledge Hub Media. accomplishments over the years, including making the Inc. Once I had my MBA completed in 2010, it was o ffto the 5000 list three years in a row (Inc Magazine), and, being races with the company. I worked pretty tirelessly honored as an Entrepreneur Magazine Entrepreneur 360 throughout most nights to get the thing up and o ffof the company. ground. Everything from sales to marketing, to accounting The 360 best privately owned companies in America – also and website development. I was truly a one-man shop back three years in a row. On top of this, we were named one of in those days… the most innovative advertising technology companies of 2020-2021 at the InterCon awards conference and have But (very) fortunately for me, over the next couple of years, appeared in many big-name magazine publications over the I was able to bring my first few employees on – Anthony years. and James running Sales, and Chris, who filled my first Client Services role. I had also gone back to school by that We have also been featured on several radio programs and point to get my Doctorate in Business Administration – podcasts and have even been the subject of chapters within finally finishing my dissertation and graduating in January a couple of different book publications (non-fiction books, 2020. of course). 44 | APRIL 2022

Brief us about your journey at the company, what our clients. Most of our clients are in the software and inspired you to start the company? technology industry – and when they're not, they are usually advertising/media agencies working on behalf of the Knowledge Hub Media is a b2b advertising company with former. Most of our clients are promoting technology demand generation and content syndication serving as our platforms and software solutions that they are looking to core competencies. We've had a lot of major find net new customers for. accomplishments over the years, including making the Inc. 5000 list three years in a row (Inc Magazine), and, being How do you decide to take the company a step further? honored as an Entrepreneur Magazine Entrepreneur 360 company… The 360 best privately owned companies in We do have something pretty new and innovative that America – also three years in a row. should be coming out by mid-Summer… But for now, it's still a secret! Until then, we'll continue to offer the same On top of this, we were named one of the most innovative high end, highly targeted content syndication and demand advertising technology companies of 2020-2021 at the generation services that we've always offered. InterCon awards conference and have appeared in many big-name magazine publications over the years. We have Any client experience you would like to highlight? also been featured on several radio programs and podcasts and have even been the subject of chapters within a couple Let's face it… The customer is always the most important of different book publications (non-fiction books, of thing. That's just the reality of it, and also why I will say course). that offering a great customer experience is really our #1 goal. It always has been. Without customers you don't have As for how the company got started… what was originally business, and by proxy, you don't have a business. IT Knowledge Hub – now of course known as Knowledge Enhancing the custo,mer experience is always at the top of Hub Media – was established in 2009. Ever since its our list, and at the end of the day, we always want to make inception, the company been a prominent player in the B2B sure that everyone is completely satisfied. advertising space. It usually comes down to a few things: responsiveness, Our core competency, however, is lead generation – or quality of the product, and customizability. When a “demand generation” and “content syndication,” as it's customer has a question, we're there to answer it better known across the industry. We leverage content immediately – even in cases when we don't yet have a syndication via assets like white papers, webinars, case complete answer. Over the 12+ years that we've been doing studies, and the like, to generate highly targeted leads for this, we've evolved our practices and QA/QC measures to our clients. ensure only the finest in data quality – in terms of both data integrity and lead scoring mechanisms. Most of our clients are in the software and technology industry – and when they're not, they are usually Then there are the customizations… Where some of our advertising/media agencies working on behalf of the clients are happy to stick with more traditional means and former. Most of our clients are promoting technology lead delivery methods, some like us to use custom API platforms and software solutions that they are looking to integrations, lead import systems, and form post find net new customers for. technologies. We are always happy to customize a product – with regard to both targeting and delivery technology – to What are the products or services the company focuses go above and beyond the customer's expectations. on? How are your services different from those in the market? Ever since our inception, we have been a prominent player in the B2B advertising space. Our core competency, however, is lead generation – or “demand generation,” as it's better known across the industry. We leverage content syndication via assets like white papers, webinars, case studies, and the like, to generate highly targeted leads for www.theenterpriseworld.com | 45