Ajit Prabhu is excited for what the future holds. Forget the doomsdayers and naysayers, when you’re part of a company that is at the absolute forefront of cutting-edge innovation, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about what can be done to improve the world.
“I have a phenomenal enthusiasm for the future, not only for our company but also in general, for humanity,” Prabhu tells The CEO Magazine. “If you look at the next 20–30 years, engineers will be able to make life for humans better than at any time in the history of mankind. Being a pure play engineering company, we’re at the heart of solving that.”
As technological innovators, Quest Global is invested in ensuring that the next generation not only survives but thrives.
“Our business is not just like any other business,” he says. “We are the innovators, so we are the people that make these things happen. I do think there is an engineering renaissance that’s going to take place across every vertical. We’re going to see some amazing products and solutions.”
“Quest Global’s vision is to become the most trusted partner for the world’s hardest engineering problems.”
However, Prabhu admits that when he first co-founded the business in Singapore in 1997, it was a very humble beginning. “I had no imagination of building a company like what it is today,” he says.
“I was working at General Electric’s corporate R&D center in New York, and as an engineer I was very passionate about solving complex problems. There, I stumbled upon this opportunity of creating a company that gave me the flexibility to pick and choose the problems I wanted to solve, instead of working in one department within that business.”
Finding Solutions
Often within large corporations, once employees are skilled at solving one specific type of issue, they are condemned to working on similar problems going forward. Unfortunately, for Prabhu, this meant his curiosity simply wasn’t being fed.
“I liked solving different kinds of problems, so starting my own company gave me that choice,” he says. “But then one thing led to another; clients ended up giving us more problems to solve, so we ended up growing quite rapidly.”
From two founders working in a 19-square-meter office, to an operation that today spans over 20,000 employees working on providing innovative solutions for clients within eight industry verticals, Quest Global has evolved into a different beast entirely. And yet, that same goal remains.
“Quest Global’s vision is to become the most trusted partner for the world’s hardest engineering problems,” Prabhu says. “That’s our objective.”
“I have a phenomenal enthusiasm for the future, not only for our company but also in general, for humanity.”
Prioritizing innovation is also exemplified through Quest Global’s dealings with suppliers.
“We use the same logic that we apply to building our business and dealing with our clients for strategic, generational partnerships,” he says.
“It’s the same approach for both the people that work for us as well as our suppliers. That DNA of having a strategic view and encouraging deeper engagement cuts across the entire business.”
A reliance on trusting relationships with major technology partners, such as Siemens Digital Industries Software, has seen Quest Global excel, through utilizing their extensive knowledge and unparalleled experience within the industry.
“These technology firms provide software that are critical to the hardware, so having a good relationship is essential,” Prabhu says. “They’re strategic partners as well, in that they are providing us with an IP and necessary software to solve issues for our clients.”
An Impactful Approach
As a leader, Prabhu believes that humility is a vital trait. “You don’t ever know all of the answers,” he says.
Simultaneously, he believes a duality of thinking big while acting small is an asset, as is thinking on a global scale while acting locally. Over the next 12 months Quest Global has a number of priorities to achieve expansion.
“Number one is building a leadership development engine that enables our existing leaders to grow at a much more rapid rate to accommodate growth,” he reveals.
Advertisement
It’s a double-edged sword, in that, when bringing in new talent, Prabhu says it can be challenging to ensure that the culture that’s been established remains a top priority.
“You have to build a diverse leadership team that has global reach,” he explains.
“But at the same time, empowered, impactful leaders need to be interested in every location that you want to play in. You must be purposeful on one end, make a difference in the world, help others become successful at the same time as focusing on the company’s profit.
“Leaders need to have that balance and ambidexterity that sees them be humble as well as hungry, which requires quite a bit of self-awareness.”
When it comes to what truly sets Quest Global apart from its competitors, Prabhu says one major aspect is the company’s dedication to fostering a phenomenal culture, in conjunction with their ultimate end-goal, which is to create a better future for all.
“We have very long-term objectives,” he adds.
“Leaders need to have that balance and ambidexterity that sees them be humble as well as hungry.”
“We want to build a company which goes on for generations – it’s a very purposeful journey that we have embarked on, and I’m always continuing to fuel that aspiration among my leadership team and our investors. It’s about building a sustainable, scalable company long-term.”
Lastly, he points to Quest Global’s impressive focus as a pure play engineering company of this size operating in multiple verticals as something that makes the company particularly unique within the industry.
“That means our differentiators are only going to build with the sale as long as we maintain our entrepreneurial culture and capabilities,” he says. “And from there, the breadth will keep on increasing.”
