Every square meal deserves a Qboid solution
With the buzz surrounding blockchain and IoT, it should come as little surprise that they are considered to be significant game-changers in our lives going forward. As such, we should be even less surprised to see this technology playing a more ubiquitous role in our lives — a fact Utkarsh Kapoor’s Qboid IoTech further seeks to affirm.The CEO and Co-founder at Qboid, a technology company deploying blockchain and IoT for provenance, purity and quality of food, Utkarsh has long been interested in process and Six Sigma, as his previous employers at Genpact, Aviva Life Insurance, Hyper Quality, Cognizant and American Express will attest. Speaking about how this interest blossomed, Utkarsh added, “Right out of college after my BCom, I wanted to understand what was happening out there. Soon, I became very interested in Six Sigma, and did my first Premier project in 2001.”
A noble pursuit begins to take shape
This intense interest in process, as well as the five Co-Founders’ innate need to “give back to society’’ paved the way for the founding of Qboid. It owes its roots in large part to the INSEAD Leadership Programme for Senior Executives (ILPSE), a one year, part-time, multi-modular, General Management and Leadership programme with immersions across global campuses of INSEAD. Fondly reminiscing about this crucial juncture, Utkarsh said, “I think, Qboid only happened because of ILPSE, this venture, this leap of faith that I took was because of the programme. We shortlisted this idea, and each one of us said ‘yes’ at once!”
Speaking about why he chose INSEAD and ILPSE, Utkarsh calls to mind the content of the programme and the recommendations of colleagues at American Express, and says, “At this stage of your career, you can’t take a break from work to do a full-time MBA. However, this programme lets you study with an amazing cohort, and it keeps you away from work for a time period that is acceptable to just about everyone.” Speaking glowingly about the self-discovery aspect of the programme, he adds, “The programme lets you introspect — I wouldn’t have done that previously. After you’re self-aware, you can then look at what’s happening in your environment.”
A farm-tastic venture!
Qboid, now just a one-year old enterprise, has made a tremendous start on its promise to help redefine “how India views its food”. This can be seen in the company’s effort to address that ever so bothersome issue that plagues almost every Indian household, and which is succinctly conveyed through the question “Is my milk watery?” To this end, the company has put a process in place which checks for milk-adulteration, from the point of production — the farms, and monitors its journey till it reaches the end consumer, collecting data along the way. This data is then sent to the company’s cloud, where it is processed using Big Data Analytics, Machine Learning and AI, and is then sent to the end consumer. Qboid’simpact is plain to see — with Barosi Farms, one of their many clients, the company was able to positively influence customer acquisition, lower customer acquisition costs, and increase customer retention by over 250%. This, however, is just the start, and Qboid are keen on having a larger impact in the near future.
Is ILPSE for you?
Overseeing a success story borne out of the ILPSE programme, Utkarsh is keen to pass on advice to candidates who are considering the executive programme, he says, “If you are looking at growth, looking to invest time within yourself, if you’re stuck in a position, and looking to broaden your horizons, then I think this programme is for you.” Now, it’s this firmly instilled drive to introspect and transform that enabled Utkarsh and Qboid to have a clear impact and influence, one that could soon be seen at a dining table near you.
Applications for the upcoming cohort of INSEAD Leadership Programme for Senior Executives (ILPSE) are open now. Click below to learn more:
