The 10 Best Performing Technology Leaders of 2021

Volume-12 | Issue-01 | 2021
www.insightssuccess.com
Interconnecting World
Leadership in the
Digital Era
Utilizing Potential
Judge Tech-leaders
by Their Abilities
1T
H
E
BEST PERFORMING
TECHNOLOGY
LEADERS OF 2021
Director
Susumu
Santoku Corporation
Matsuda
Enhancing the Safety
Measures with Virtual Reality

Editor’s Desk
Utilizing
Technology to
Make a Dent
in the Universe
echnology has the power to create innovative
Tsolutions to the existing problems in the world. It is
a great tool to make a revolutionary impact
globally. As the world becomes more and more technologydependent,
it becomes a significant responsibility of the
leaders to lead the way to utilize technology to create a
positive impact in the world. Technology is meant to
enhance the lifestyle of people and is an excellent asset to
human beings and used effectively; it can remarkably
change human lives for the better. Technology leaders are
shaping the modern world with their technical acumen
holding the potential to create a revolution by developing
technologies that people will use every day in their lives.
Technology leaders' technical quotient helps them be more
technically correct, rational, logical, and analytical to
innovate technologies for transforming businesses by
delivering modern technological solutions. Their bold and
courageous approach assists them in entrusting their
conscience and intuition. When Steve Jobs followed his
heart and intuition to make the most critical decisions, he
created history setting the firm foundation for Apple.
Tech leaders are passionate about the creation and
development of innovative technologies. They often work
tirelessly with their resourceful team members and develop
ground-breaking technologies that will transform the way
businesses function. They are universal in their approach
and see the bigger picture to deliver something valuable to
the world. Technology leaders like to make a dent in the
universe with their technical capabilities combined with
their technical competence and soft skills to take the
businesses they lead to great heights.

The use of technology shapes businesses in any
industry. The most innovative technology in the
businesses is possible if they have the most capable
technology leader at their helm. With the inclusion of
technology like Artificial Intelligence and Machine
Learning, the capabilities of technology to streamline
the business world has been increased at an
exponential rate. These leaders have made it
accessible to become familiar with such technologies
at our hands. These technologies have helped make
people's lives easier and have also taken the business
world to newer heights.
In this edition of "The 10 Best Performing
Technology Leaders of 2021", Insights Success
celebrates impactful technology leaders who have
and are creating remarkable differences in the
industry and the world with their outstanding
contributions.
While flipping through the pages, have a glance at
the articles written by our in-house editorial team,
and gain the latest buzz about the tech world from a
CxO standpoint.
Sharad Chitalkar
sharad@insightssuccess.com
Delve in!

COVER STORY
08
SUSUMU
MATSUDA
Enhancing the Safety Measures
with Virtual Reality
ARTICLES
20
Interconnecting
World
Leadership in the
Digital Era
26
Utilizing Potential
Judge Tech-leaders by
Their Abilities

CxO
32
Leader’s
Viewpoint
Crises are Opportunities
to Lead
C
O
16
Alexander Taits
A Tech-Savvy Leader
Shaping the Modern World
N
T
22
Federico Protto
Bringing Transformative Shifts
to Make Business Smarter
E
N
28
JD Engelbrecht
Offering You Well-Suited Strategies
T
S

Editor-in-Chief
Hitesh Dhamani
Managing Editor
Anish Miller
Executive Editor
Sharad Chitalkar
Assistant Editors
Jenny Fernandes
Visualizer
David King
Art & Design Director
Priyanka Rajage
Associate Designer
Kartik Balapurkar
Co-designer
Shubham Dali
Senior Sales Manager
Kshitij S
Business Development Manager
Peter Collins
Marketing Manager
John Matthew
Sales Executives
David, Martin, Irfan
Technical Head
Jacob Smile
Business Development Executives
Steve, Joe, Krutant
Technical Specialist
Aditya
Digital Marketing Manager
Marry D'Souza
SME-SMO Executive
Amol Wadekar
Research Analyst
Frank Adams
Circulation Manager
Database Management Technology Consultant
Robert Brown Stella Andrew David Stokes
sales@insightssuccess.com
December, 2021
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Featured Person
Company Name
Brief
Alexander Taits
CEO & Founder
FusionFlight
fusionflight.com
FusionFlight builds machines powered by microturbine
technology.
Avi Kahani
CEO
FFRobotics
ffrobotics.com
FFRobotics presents a unique and patented Robotic Fruit
Harvester – the FFRobot.
Dave Ulrich
Co-founder
The RBL Group
rbl.net
The RBL Group is a consulting and development firm.
Federico Protto
CEO
Retelit
retelit.it
Retelit is a leader in constructing tailor-made digital
transformation projects, executed on entirely Group-managed
platforms.
JanDirk (JD) Engelbrecht
Managing Director
Everlytic
everlytic.co.za
Everlytic is a marketing messaging and automation platform.
Jay Atkinson
CEO
AIS Network
aisn.net
AIS Network is a Virginia SWaM-certified leader in
information security and risk management.
Lennart Koopmans
CEO
Magnius
magnius.com
Magnius is hosting a white label Intelligent Payment Platform
for Banks, PSPs and Acquirers.
Mercedes Bent
Partner
Lightspeed Venture
Partners
lsvp.com
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital
firm.
Robert Pfeffer
Owner/President
PACE Air Freight
paceairfreight.com
PACE Air Freight has specialized in freight forwarding and
transporting temperature-sensitive cargo.
Susumu Matsuda
Director
Santoku Corporation
san-toku.co.jp
Santoku is developing and proposing virtual reality simulation
software for the purpose of prevention and safety measures
against natural disasters, accident disasters, etc.

Susumu Matsuda
Director
Santoku Corporation

Cover Story
SUSUMU
MATSUDA
Enhancing the Safety Measures
with Virtual Reality
“
RiMM contributes to
society by creating
methods and safety
ideas that enhance safety.
“

When the word Virtual Reality (VR) comes to
mind, there are several mind-blowing things
that one starts to wonder about. However, a
slim thought of safety and prevention led Susumu
Matsuda to utilize VR to develop a technology that is
beneficial for safety measures in disasters. He serves as the
Director of Santoku Corporation and leads the IT
division with his immense knowledge and technological
expertise.
We at Insights Success came across Susumu Matsuda in our
endeavor to find "The 10 Best Performing Technology
Leaders of 2021." We talked with him to better understand
how his innovation has helped people better their
knowledge about various disasters.
Let us dive right in!
The Initiation of VR at Santoku
Susumu expresses that in 2001, Santoku Corporation started
a development service using VR to develop a training
simulator to improve skills. The functions required for each
simulator differed and needed time to develop at an
increased cost. The main obstacle Susumu faced was the
cost-effective implementation and building training
scenarios during operation for introducing VR. He came up
with a mechanism to reduce the design period and cost to
less than half compared to the conventional method, which
enhanced the training effect and gave a more realistic
experience to focus on training. The training helped develop
a tactile sensation felt by the user, implying robot
technology, which enhanced the reality in the virtual space
and the training effect of the simulation.
A Safe Approach
Santoku Corporation's mission is to develop methods to
enhance safety and spread the safety ideas born from them
to society and contribute to society. In 2012, the company
changed the way of thinking about its working and
switched the promotion policy from using VR technology
to providing safety methods. The company considered
educating people's safety step by step according to the
process for human experience.
The company ran a skill simulation program that lets the
body learn the skills, makes people aware of safety, and
conducts studies to protect themselves from disasters. To
raise safety awareness, it implemented a decision-making
program that encourages people to become aware of it. By
observing the disaster situation to make a judgment based
on the change in the situation and act based on the
judgment, it implemented a resilience improvement
program that promotes disaster response.
The purpose of this education was to acquire the mental
strength to respond to disasters and the ability to recover
after a disaster through disaster response education and
respond appropriately to disasters and increase the survival
rate of people. To realize these, Santoku Corporation
devised the basic concept of RiMM and developed safety
methods while directly facing safety.
Overcoming Challenges while Creating a Wide Impact
Through the development of safety methods, Susumu knew
that the awareness of safety education participants was low,
and the educational effect didn't increase as expected. He
understood that instructors who carried out safety education
have strong desires for students and wished to increase
sensitivity through the negative experience of disasters. He
repeated the trial and error in discovering safety methods.
To increase sensitivities through activities, Susumu learned
that the sensations felt by the body induce negative
emotions and affect sensitivities. He developed a unit that
reproduces the sense of touch using the technology
cultivated in robot research and development. He also
created a VR experience system that links tactile sensation,
pain sensation, and skin sensation combined with visual and
auditory sensations, which created an evolved VR disaster
experience system. In 2016, Santoku Corporation launched
RiMM, the first-ever product in VR for safety education.
Currently, it has more than five hundred units in operation
for thirty-three occupations.
Santoku Corporation has conducted safety requirements
surveys at various customers' sites through activities to
discover safety methods. It made a prototype by repeating
trial and error based on the idea. To provide its customers
with improved products and see how they work, it made
improvements according to the customer's request and re-

“ We will walk
with the earth
to respond to
disasters.
“
delivered the product. It repeated this cycle many times
until the effect was confirmed.
The company discovered this development method over 20
years and named it Cyclone. To speed up the development
of cyclones, it actively incorporates existing technologies
into the system. It challenges unknown recent technologies
and realizes new functions. In this way, Cyclone's creative
philosophy supports the values and work culture of Santoku
Corporation.
Keeping Up with Technology
Susumu says, "To speed up development, it is necessary to
take an attitude of quickly adopting latest technology
without fear of failure." He adds that it is impossible to
incorporate newer technologies into a product and use it by
only understanding the logic.
A trial-and-error process is required to understand the usage
characteristics, and only after fully understanding the
characteristics of the latest technology can it be applied.
Santoku Corporation has repeated this process for 20 years
of involvement with research institutes. Recent
technologies can only be used effectively through a
challenge and trial and error process, and the cyclone
philosophy works well in such cases, expresses Susumu.
Leading Changes for Better Tomorrow
Susumu states that the IT industry is changing at a faster
pace. In the internet industry, anyone can get new technical
information immediately. One can pick up the technology
and use it easily. However, just using the latest technology

Cover Story
“
Our technology creates
new worlds.
“
isn't useful. If one doesn't add expertise to the latest
technology, one will not lose the competition and move
forward.
Only when the latest technology and new purposes are
fused will new products be born. It is established as a
solution by focusing on fields that IT has not serviced so far
and fusing recent technologies and purposes with fresh
eyes. Academic fusion will undoubtedly drive IT to change.
Good Will for Humankind
Susumu questions: Isn't everyone interested in realizing a
function that allows everyone to touch human emotions
directly? Its function is a means of directly influencing
emotions and touching the heart. If the mind changes and
emotions change through the experience of the five senses,
and emotions are transmitted without using words, it will
bring about fabulous changes in society. That means the
biological mechanism of human beings and IT technology
are fused and realized. Santoku Corporation has developed
products that directly touch people's hearts through negative
emotions, and we will continue to improve and evolve
them.
"The significance of our existence is to contribute to society
by creating methods and safety ideas that enhance the
safety of human society. We will continue to walk with the
earth to respond to disasters," asserts Susumu. Santoku
Corporation's mission is to provide comprehensive safety
methods to protect people living in the global environment.
Safety is a common theme for all humankind and
transcends language and cultural and customary barriers.
Therefore, safety technology is used all over the world
regardless of race.
the value of its products by combining and utilizing the
expertise of multiple fields from different perspectives. It is
necessary to comprehensively understand and elucidate
various academic fields related to people pursuing services
for people. The company tries to integrate engineering and
medical care to reproduce the approaches of human beings,
and it will change IT.
Plans for the Future
Santoku Corporation will continue to provide safe and
efficient information in the future through the development
of safety systems. It will elucidate the methods that affect
human biological emotions. Through personalized
communication, it will recognize an efficient and direct
emotional mechanism. It keeps people's peace of mind and
appropriately controls negative sensations that directly
affect the mind according to the biological mechanism of
people.
Santoku Corporation is developing safety technology that
appropriately conveys emotions and prevents mental
disability. To achieve this, it will discover the mechanism of
touching emotions through the sensory organs and the brain
from a medical point of view.
Susumu states that this project needs to comprehensively
integrate various knowledge such as medicine, biology,
ethics, cognition, psychology, nerves, sensibilities, robotics,
communication and requires collaborators with specialized
knowledge. Its applications are in a wide range of fields as a
mechanism to care for people's emotions and maintain
human safety, as better communication according to human
characteristics and abilities, as efficient education.
Today's human society is concentrated in one field, and
research and development pursuing specialization are
active. Santoku Corporation proved that it could increase

Alexander Taits
Founder and CEO
FusionFlight
Alexander
Taits
A Tech-Savvy Leader
Shaping the Modern World
16 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Best Performing Technology Leaders of 2021
What separates tech leaders from the herd is their
deep understanding of what technology can
achieve. After understanding the possibilities,
they work their finger to the bone to achieve the desired
results.
One such tech leader we at Insights Success came across is
Alexander Taits, the Founder and CEO of FusionFlight.
Alex founded FusionFlight with an aim to push the frontiers
of drone technology to a whole new level. His journey
began in the summer of 2016 when he received the seed
investment for FusionFlight to begin work on the JetQuad
technology out of his garage in Dallas, TX. He encountered
challenges at every step of the way.
“When developing a jet-engine powered drone, Murphy’s
law is on in full effect - everything that can possibly go
wrong absolutely does go wrong,” expresses Alex. He had
to master embedded software programming and electrical
engineering in his free time to overcome several of these
hurdles. Most importantly, he had to master emotional
control to deal with failure; as he puts “if you are a start-up
founder finding your zen definitely comes in very handy!”
We got into conversation with Alex to know more about his
entrepreneurial journey and how FusionFlight is unlocking
the full potential of Microturbine Tech.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Tell us something more about FusionFlight and its
mission and vision.
The goal of FusionFlight is to unleash the full potential of
microturbine technology. Microturbines are relatively new,
small, football sized jet-engines, can deliver a significant
amount of power in very small packages. FusionFlight aims
to use these engines to bring about a revolution in how we
travel through air and how we can generate electrical
energy off-the-grid in compact easy-to-carry systems.
Enlighten us on how you have made an impact in the
Aviation & Aerospace niche through your expertise in
the market.
In the modern age, everybody who works with drones or
flying vertical take-off and landing aircraft, are convinced
that the only way to safely do so is with batteries and
propellers. My impact to Aviation & Aerospace is to show
that there is another way, by the use of liquid fuel and
jet-engines. The resulting machines are cheaper, more
reliable, and way faster than their electrical alternatives.
Describe in detail the values and the work culture that
drives your organization.
The FusionFlight work culture is largely based on three key
elements: Simplicity, Honesty and Client Satisfaction. I
believe that it is incredibly easy to make complex machines
and conversely it is very hard to make something simple – I
strive to create the simplest machines at FusionFlight,
because that means affordability and reliability. When it is
time to do business, I do not beat around the bush as most
would do, I value integrity and honesty to negotiate terms
quickly and efficiently with business partners. Lastly,
FusionFlight is a client-centric company, our clients are our
blood-line, so we make sure that our products are easy to
use and are versatile.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in
almost every sector. How are you leveraging
technological advancements to make your solutions
resourceful?
The microturbine is a miniaturized jet-engine that has been
largely used in the hobby industry over the past two
decades. However, it is a quickly evolving, nascent
technology that has tremendous potential. FusionFlight is
poised to take full advantage of this type of engine. We are
“
We understand that
Microturbine technology
is not just limited to
aircraft. This technology
can allow us to build
ultra-compact power
generation systems.
“
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 17

ready to integrate all advancements in this field to ensure
that FusionFlight machines will always remain competitive
and cutting-edge.
If given a chance, what change would you like to bring
in the Advanced Control Systems?
Most modern drone designs and off-the-shelf software is
based on ordinary PID Control Theory. However, given the
advancements of flight computers and microprocessors, it
would be great to see more sophisticated algorithms
integrated into these systems. Drones and other autonomous
aircraft could potentially leverage Optimized Control
Theory and Neutral Networks to become more agile, more
aware, and more adaptable.
What, according to you, could be the next big change in
Transportation industry? How is FusionFlight
preparing to be a part of that change?
The next big change is human transportation is flight
through the air with the use of vertical take-off and landing
aircraft, flying cars, for short. The FusionFlight JetQuad
drone could be readily scaled up to accommodate the
transportation of humans in a high-speed, compact, and
weather-resilient platform. It could be also used in the
evacuation of injured humans from areas normally
inaccessible by helicopter medevac. Lastly, for those clients
that are focused on the use of propeller-based electrical
aircraft, we offer the microturbine generator which allows
these aircraft to take advantage of liquid fuel without
affecting the overall design methodology of the aircraft.
Where do you envision yourself to be in the long run
and what are your future goals for FusionFlight?
In the long run I envision myself working full-time for
FusionFlight with many more engineers at a facility in
Dallas. In this facility, we will be producing microturbine
generators as well as JetQuad drones of various sizes, some
small ones for emergency supply delivery and larger ones
for transporting people through the air. In parallel, we will
be producing our own engines and electronics to achieve
complete vertical integration. Ultimately, I would like to
obtain an IPO for FusionFlight, go public, and spin it out to
become a modern Aerospace leader – at this point my time
will be spent in the R&D labs working on next generation
applications, notably supersonic vertical take-off and
landing aircraft.
What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs
who aspire to venture into the Aerodynamics sector?
My biggest advice for budding entrepreneurs would be to
treat the venture as a learning experience. Never go into
your business for the money or for the fame, your focus
must be the technology – it must be fun for you, and you
must be passionate about it. There will be many, many
failures along the way, and by accepting these failures as
lessons, rather than failures, you can avoid depression, and
keep the momentum rolling forward. Every time I go out to
do a test, even if I fail, I repeat one important phrase in my
head: “whether you succeed or fail does not mean a thing
because trying IS success, realize that 99% of people don’t
even try.”
18 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

LEADERSHIP IN THE
DIGITAL ERA
igital transformation or digitalization has become
Dthe most essential and intrinsic part of the business
world. It has been growing rapidly since the
emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost every
business is moving in the direction of digitalization, while
some are trying to figure out what they need to develop and
grow their businesses in the digital era. Digital
transformation is not about digitalizing businesses but about
a cultural change of developing a digital-first business
model. Doing a cultural change is not so easy and requires
skillful leadership to drive this change with the right
strategies, planning, and implementation in the digital era.
Business leaders in the digital era should leverage the
power of recent technologies to set the upward direction of
the organizations they lead. Beginning with the end in mind
can give business leaders insights related to utilizing digital
technologies and digital methods to provide quick, efficient,
and affordable solutions to clients. Seeing the bigger
picture, envisioning the future, and being prepared for the
future is a quality of great leaders. The approach of many
clients/customers is also towards receiving digitalized
solutions. Every business leader is recognizing the benefits
of providing upgraded, evolved, and digital solutions and is
therefore very keen on leveraging the benefits of
technologies that play a valuable role in providing most of
the solutions to the clients or customers in a digital way.
To stay ahead in the era of digitalization, business leaders
need to be competitive for sustaining the market value of
their businesses by adopting the cultural change of digital
transformation. Digital technologies are changing
organizations in many ways. The Digital era is shaping
organizations with new work cultures and processes. This
gives a huge opportunity for leaders to reshape the work
culture that is more in harmony with the digital era.
20 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

Interconnecting World
In the digital era, business leaders should ensure good
relationships with all stakeholders of the organization they
are leading. They should enable collaborative processes in
the changing work culture. They should be good at
resolving online ethical issues. They should also identify
research opportunities to be more prepared to face the
digital world in a cleverer way for the sustainable growth of
their businesses. The only thing constant in the world is
change. In the world of constant change, business leaders,
especially in the digital era, need to be more pragmatic,
alert, innovative and evolving continuously instead of being
complacent and settled.
The digital transformation era requires digital leaders to
revamp business models. The Command-and-conquer type
of leadership is no longer impactful in the digital era. The
Digital era requires leaders with an agile, collaborative,
fluid, and tech-savvy approach. Creating a learning culture
that facilitates the skills and abilities of the employees to
function more effectively in the digital era can help the
digital leaders lead effectively. They should continuously
make sure that they are developing the abilities of their
employees to play the evolved role in the evolving digital
era.
There is no substitute for digital leaders other than being
innovative and risk-takers. Digital leaders should nurture
innovativeness in themselves and their teammates and
employees. The safety of the comfort zone is dangerous,
and nothing grows there. Therefore, in the digital era,
business leaders should take calculative risks and maximize
the available opportunities to make an impact in the
industry with innovative and technology-driven solutions.
Digital world leaders can inspire and rewire the culture of
organizations by establishing new thought processes,
collaborative approaches, and connecting methods to thrive
in the digital era sustainably.
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 21

Federico Protto
CEO
Retelit
22 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

The 10 Best Performing Technology Leaders of 2021
Bringing Transformative Shifts to Make Business Smarter
hen innovative technologies are implemented,
Wthey drive behavioral changes as consumers
represent potential new markets. To improve
efficiency and effectiveness in the current business logic, it
becomes necessary to adapt to the newer changes while
accelerating the innovative process. Executing this
innovative approach with his exceptional managerial skills
is Federico Protto.
As the CEO of Retelit, Federico makes tough decisions to
drive the business to provide clients with a wide array of
digital solutions. Retelit is the Italian leader in constructing
tailor-made digital transformation projects executed on
entirely Group-managed platforms.
The Exhilarating Journey
With over two decades of managerial skills and experience
in the TLC sector, Federico was appointed as the CEO of
Retelit in 2015. He has successfully steered the company's
growth trajectory based on his leadership principles: trust
and credibility.
Born in Milan in 1967, Federico is a Bocconi MBA
graduate, holding a Masters in Information Technology. He
states that in 2014, Retelit was in a troubling situation from
a market and financial point of view. The shareholders
perhaps liked the managerial track record and entrusted
Federico with bringing the business back to the levels an
important company such as Retelit must have.
We design ICT and digital
solutions for Italian
and international operators
and enterprises.
Since Federico joined Retelit, he has always set precise and
realistic goals and used his managerial skills to capitalize
on trends in what many regards as a complex and constantly
changing market and respond to fast-moving developments
in the fields of technology and infrastructure. Retelit has
thus gradually changed its identity, and major goals have
been achieved: AAE-1 international subsea cable project
has been completed, expanding the clients base (not only
operators but also enterprises and governments). Retelit
accomplished important M&A projects, and all of this has
been reflected in the positive numbers in its recent financial
statements.
Sculpting the Professional Experience
Federico studied Electronic Engineering with enormous
satisfaction and pleasure. He soon realized that being "just"
an engineer was not enough for him. He preferred talking to
people and interacting in social contexts rather than just
technological ones. He started in Telecom Italia, where he
managed teams of people in call centers; it was a very
important "formative" period because it allowed him to deal
with industrial and trade union predicaments and taught
himself how to deal with complicated dynamics
successfully.
Even though Federico was happy with Telecom, it was too
national for him; thus, he started looking for international
exposure. Shortly, he engaged with MCI Worldcom before
starting a 13-year long experience in Deutsche Telecom,
where he managed several countries. This wonderful
experience allowed him to grow from a managerial point of
view, with an orientation to control and management.
However, above all, he understood the importance of
defining a strategy, mentions Federico. He continues that
thinking about medium and long-term planning is very
dangerous because the business is changing more and more
rapidly, but talking about strategy, investments, and return
on investments is fundamental; otherwise, you are playing
it by ear. In Federico’s opinion, the dystonia of business
today is precisely this: long-term planning is impracticable,
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 23

but a company without a strategy is dead. Defining a 5-year
strategy in a context that changes every six months is the
main challenge of a business leader today; you must have a
clear vision and goals in an unpredictable environment. The
experience in Deutsche Telecom helped him a lot in
developing these skills.
Under Federico's leadership, Retelit has become more
robust: carrying out ambitious expansion plans and revised
its infrastructure network; its key performance indices
improved and, in 2016, one year ahead of schedule, it
managed to achieve a historical milestone when, for the first
time in the Group's history, it earned an operating profit
(EBIT) amounting to Euro 2.2 million. Federico asserts that
the Group has grown considerably, and its share of the
market has expanded accordingly. The positive annual
financial statements issued by the company over the last
five years reflect this upward trend.
Innovative Approach
In the pursuit of being best-in-class, Retelit is an
increasingly interconnected and digital global community
that requires that the company grants and delivers ever
better performing telecommunications platforms to a
significant share of the market while tackling the
challenges. Federico asserts that the development of
Industry 4.0, the digitalization process that has spread
across all major businesses and infrastructure, the progress
in artificial intelligence, and the advent of 5G and the Cloud
are a true and proper global market revolution. Promoting
and successfully delivering the digital revolution requires
the execution of complex projects that rely on sophisticated
technology. Over the last five years, Retelit has endeavored
to satisfy the market connectivity demand by drawing up a
plan for growth and the foundation of its valuable assets.
To satisfy the ever-growing demand from enterprises,
Retelit has recently closed two important M&A projects. It
has invested mainly in skills and competencies. Currently,
the company can cover all the digitalization and ICT value
chain from infrastructure to data, from network to
applications. The company's target market shares – even
more after the Covid period – needs tailor-made digital
projects.
Retelit is continuously improving its internally managed
platform: in partnership with Huawei, it developed a
Multicloud platform that can manage Hybrid Cloud
solutions on an end-to-end basis, including the Cloud
services at its Data Centers, the traditional outsourcing of
infrastructure, the Public Cloud provided by suppliers such
as AWS and Microsoft Azure, thus bringing on stream a
broad range of IT services models and maximum flexibility.
It is based on Openstack software, allowing Retelit
customers to benefit from an open environment, extremely
flexible, scalable, and free from vendor lock-ins.
Above and Beyond
Speaking about the future, Federico says, "At present,
Retelit is a "little big player": the product portfolio is as
wide as the ones of only a few big competitors. We are a
boutique for large customers who prefer to reduce the
number of their suppliers, becoming a real partner with
which to undertake the path of their growth. We accompany
our customers all along the way: from the first encounter,
when they define their needs, to when they become
customers, and all the way long to further implementations
and renovations. And we do that as much for the
infrastructure services, as for the Digital Solutions."
While in the next decades, Retelit will see a kind of
trivialization of the connectivity services. It will be
increasingly capable of providing digital solutions running
on its infrastructure (for those customers choosing the
complete package). In the meantime, it is positioning in the
wholesale market will strengthen itself thanks to the neverending
growth of bandwidth demand worldwide.
24 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

Judge TECH-LEADERS
by their ABILITIES
26 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

Utilizing Potential
technological services, and that's where technological
inputs can prove a life-changer here.
ave you ever seen a football match, two teams
Hcompeting to win the game for their team? So,
what do we learn from it? By studying the match
conditions, you can overcome any challenges against any
team with the right strategy. The same goes in our personal
and professional lives; you can face all the challenges that
you come across with the right approach. When it comes to
business leadership, you need strategies for complicated
challenges; although it can take time, it is very crucial in the
journey of business leaders.
In today's digital age, we can already see technology
changing the way of our life, as we are already on the path
of transformation. So, business leaders have to work to the
best of their ability to serve the fields of technology and
innovation. It is because the IT field is the fastest route for
success in today's world of the digital revolution. So, what
are the factors that the aspiring tech enthusiast needs to
believe in before entering the IT field? Let us explore
below.
Best of Tech
It is incredible to think that we live in the age of machines
as they disrupt every industry. These machines' processes,
functioning, and working is the main reason to lead in a
field that throws continuous challenges and opportunities at
you. Because there is always a lot to learn as the sector
holds tremendous potential, it provides a competitive edge
to the leaders becoming the leaders of the following
significant change. The Tech field is where you don't just
work for yourself but also for others, so going ahead, you
will realize that it was worth the try. This industry offers
opportunities for everyone, and technology leaders can
make the most of it; though, you have to go the distance. It
can empower many companies with unmatched
Tech Leader Ingredients
The competition is fierce, but the tech industry also needs
new potential leaders with visionary ideas. So, it can be in a
field where you can make a mark if you have a good
understanding of the tech world. Communication is also a
key differentiator; it is not just the knowledge but the
complete package of the team's success. Tech leaders
encourage people to join in their journey, consider
concerns, and ensure new talents that they are also a crucial
part of the team and the company.
Today, technological leaders are bringing ideas to life
across multiple industries, right from conception to reality.
They develop ideas, strategies, plans and process them
successfully. They also collaborate with industry experts
with passion, energy and focus on delivering high-quality
processes. They share their experiences and achievements
to create a community of like-minded entrepreneurs who
want to become technological enthusiasts.
Make Your Judgement
Technology is a great place to be a part of; the platform is
competitive and full of opportunities. We are already seeing
its proof with the global shift of companies towards
technological solutions and services. With more cuttingedge
technologies, even the technology leaders are excited
to bring innovation into the industry.
When it comes to developing a future, technological leaders
make the dream their reality with their experience,
everywhere in the industry. In recent times, we have seen
the most innovative and experienced technological leaders,
creating, building, and continuously upgrading the standard
of life. Now there is no stopping them, and in the coming
time, we will see the best of technology leaders that will
present their best of the technological world to us.
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 27

The 10 Best Performing Technology Leaders of 2021
Offering You Well-Suited Strategies
With digitalization immersed in the business
world, it has become easier to communicate
with clients through various marketing
platforms. Having an engaging method to connect with
potential can elevate a business to newer heights. To
provide these methods with extensive expertise and
experience, JD Engelbrecht, a commercial technologist,
implements his grasp of business fundamentals to those
overall organizational functions.
As the Managing Director at Everlytic, JD utilizes his
core competencies that include product development,
advanced data analytics, and data science, as well as
marketing technology ecosystems, and strategic distribution
via business development and alliances.
Everlytic is your central hub for high-volume
communication via email, SMS, voice broadcasting, and
push notifications. In our venture to find “The 10 Best
Performing Tech Leaders in Africa,” we came across JD
Engelbrecht. We interviewed him to experience his digital
journey across the media, eCommerce, advertising, data
science, and agriculture industries.
Below are the highlights of the interview.
Briefly describe your journey as a business leader until
your current position at Everlytic.
I have had an interesting career journey. It’s included:
• Being a corporate journalist,
• Dynamically digitizing the IP of agricultural
economists and agronomists,
• Doing integrated and sustainability reporting,
• Running digital platforms and applications,
• Leading big data and data science programs,
Dabbling in some bleeding edge technology…
…and then I joined Everlytic, where great tech and people
come together to do something incredible.
I’m generally someone who is pointed at a new challenge,
and then I figure it out before moving on to the next thing.
Being too good at your job is a silent killer of careers, but I
have been fortunate to have had people who cared about my
development, who were selfless enough to let me go when
it was time.
It is also tough to move on from places where you’ve
invested so much of your time and energy. Knowing when
to move on is important. Sometimes you need a bit of luck,
and when it comes around, you need to be ready to take the
opportunity.
Tell us something more about Everlytic.
Everlytic is an all-in-one software-as-a-service (SaaS)
platform for data-charged, automated, multi-channel
messaging. It empowers marketers and communicators to
create and send email, SMS, web push, and automated
voice messages at scale using our bulk distribution
platform, transactional messaging services, and automation
journey manager.
Enterprise businesses choose Everlytic for the globally
competitive technology we offer, as well as unmatched,
engaged customer service and strategic consultation.
Undeniably, technology is playing a significant role in
almost every sector. How are you leveraging
technological advancements to make your solutions
resourceful?
Competition in our space is high, with thousands of
competitors around the globe. Staying in touch and ahead
means we must consistently evolve the way we work and
solve challenges.
We invest heavily in research and development to, among
other things:
• Build the capacity for cost-effective infrastructure
28 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

JD Engelbrecht
Managing Director
Everly c
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December 2021 | 29

scaling.
• Remain price competitive while sending billions of
messages.
• Enhance profit margins.
• Use data analytics tools and techniques to create
actionable insights, like our new interest-based
segmentation feature, which we’ll launch in the next
month or so.
If given a chance, what change would you like to bring
to the digital communication industry?
There is a significant need and opportunity for email service
providers (ESPs) to create solutions that will support
everyone in the industry. For instance, as a platform, our
customers have access to a lot of personal data that is
processed through our network. A person on one of our
clients’ lists will likely be on other clients’ lists. This means
that the Everlytic platform could, in theory, and with the
required approval from regulators and clients, get a much
more detailed view of each individual’s needs and interests,
and behavior, based on the variety of data they’ve shared
with multiple companies.
This kind of insight could help improve the industry overall
– creating a win-win-win scenario for us, our customers,
and their contacts. For example, the time data subjects
receive their emails could be customized to what works best
for them across the board. And their communication
preferences could be centrally managed, so they apply to all
marketing messages they receive.
‘‘
Everlytic will create an
accessible and multifunctional
integration
layer that will assist
clients, partners, and
other vendors to
seamlessly integrate
Everlytic into their
greater landscape.
‘‘
30 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

As it stands, however, ESPs like us are positioned as data
operators with limited rights for additional processing of
our clients’ personal information - we take this very
seriously. I’d like to petition regulators to allow identified
cases where there are win-win opportunities for us to
process this information too for improvement of the
industry.
What, according to you, could be the next big change in
the digital communication industry? How is Everlytic
preparing to be a part of that change?
We already see large-scale vertical integration in the
industry by multinational players. They’re buying up
customer data platforms, website monitoring tools,
customer relationship management solutions, and analytics
businesses.
The purpose and underlying trend link two historical
shortcomings of many businesses:
1.The so-what of data analytics, i.e., the activation of
insights by means of content distribution via digital
messaging services; and
2.Over-contacting customers due to a lack of context.
Where do you envision yourself in the long run, and
what are your future goals for Everlytic?
Everlytic is a great place to work: the business is solid, the
platform is globally competitive, the people are exceptional,
and our parent group, Vox (a leading ISP), is incredible. I’m
having fun. My team and I have grown Everlytic by
roughly 60% since I joined 2.5 years ago. I want to triple
the business within the next five years, and my plan is to
stay at least this long.
We are rejigging the business to support scaled
internationalization, infinitely scaling the infrastructure, and
we are creating a world-class sales organization to
complement an excellent service competency.
In the long run, I want to invest more time into bleedingedge
technologies with global shifting potential that
programs ethics into the fabric of the technology of the
future. This interest generally relates to creating a new
digital identity and data management framework that I
believe will stand up to the cryptographic challenges that
quantum computing will present in the future.
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 31

CRISES Are
OPPORTUNITIES
to LEAD
- By Dave Ulrich, Rensis Likert Professor,
Ross School of Business, University of Michigan Partner, The RBL Group
32 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

Leader’s Viewpoint
About the Author
Dave Ulrich is the Rensis Likert Professor at the Ross School of Business, University of
Michigan and a partner at the RBL Group (h p://www.rbl.net) a consul ng firm focused
on helping organiza ons and leaders deliver value. He has published over 200 ar cles
and book chapters and over 30 books. He edited Human Resource Management 1990-
1999, served on editorial board of 4 Journal and on the Board of Directors for Herman
Miller (16 years), has spoken to large audiences in 90 countries; performed workshops
for over half of the Fortune 200; coached successful business leaders, and is a
Dis nguished Fellow in the Na onal Academy of Human Resources. He is known for
con nually learning, turning complex ideas into simple solu ons, and crea ng real value
to those he works with in three fields.
What have I (you) learned about leadership during
the crises (global pandemic, racial and civic
unrest, digital 4.0, political toxicity, and
economic downturn)? How are these crises opportunities to
lead.
Crises put leaders under time and transparency pressure to
respond quickly with new solutions. Individual leaders
matter to set direction, allocate resources, instill confidence,
and model appropriate behaviors. Collective leadership
matters even more as organizations require leadership
heroes at all levels who serve customers, care for
employees, and make things happen. And, personal
leadership matters most of all as each individual adapts to
new working conditions (e.g., working remotely, using
technology), manages emotional demands, and connects
with family and friends.
What are foundations of leadership to build on?
In 2009, Norm Smallwood, Kate Sweetman, and I
published The Leadership Code and identified five domains
of leadership competencies that leaders master: strategist,
executor, talent manager, human capital developer, and
personal proficiency.
In fall 2017, we validated the five leadership domains and
identified new critical skills in each domain for effective
leaders.
What's new in leadership to address current crises?
Now just over three years later, the concentrated challenges
from the continual crises reveal new leadership insights that
lead to being better leaders, building shared leadership, and
creating a personal leadership brand. Let me propose
Leadership Code 3.0 to capture 10 leader requirements for
discovering and maximizing opportunities in crises.
Strategist: Shape the Future (Where are we going?)
Ÿ Create information asymmetry by separating signal
from noise.
Technology has enabled digital distribution of information
that inundates leaders through ubiquitous emails, zoom
calls, Instagram posts, twitter comments, and other
information channels. Leaders need to discern signals from
overwhelming information. Signals are asymmetric
information insights that have immediate and long-term
consequence and that inform decisions. Leaders who
separate signal from noise focus on information that matters
most and are both analysts with data and anthropologists
with observations.
Ÿ Harness uncertainty.
As new crises emerge, leaders face unprecedented
uncertainty, not knowing with clarity what the context will
be or how to definitively respond. Leaders fail either by
promising false hope or by giving up hope. Harnessing
uncertainty comes when leaders have realistic optimism
about opportunities in today's challenges and use
uncertainty to reimagine or reinvent a positive future. These
leaders tame apprehensions by facing fears, envisioning a
better future, regulating expectations, and experimenting
nimbly.
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December 2021 | 33

Executor: Make Change Happen (How do we get
there?)
Ÿ Create the "right" culture (outside-in, the value of
values).
Culture has become a popular leadership agenda, almost
becoming a catch-all panacea for organizational success.
Most approaches to culture describe the underlying values
of an organization that shape organization processes and
leader behaviors. In these crises, culture can no longer just
be descriptions of what is done, but also focus on
prescribing the "right" culture. The "right" culture connects
internal values (and behaviors) with the value they create
for external stakeholders (customers, investors, and
communities). Work boundaries are increasingly less about
a physical "place" and much more about the values that
create value for customers. As such, the right culture is the
identity of the firm in the mind of customers, investors, and
communities made real to all employees. Leaders focusing
on the right culture combine purpose, values, brand, and
culture into an integrated organizational agenda that helps
organizations succeed in the marketplace and employees
prosper in the workplace.
Ÿ Provide guidance to impact decision making.
Digital information has enabled data analytics to move from
scorecards/dashboards to insights to intervention to impact.
Information impact comes when data informs which actions
deliver the most value to key stakeholders (employees,
business, customers, and investors). The RBL Group and
CorpU have partnered to create an organizational guidance
system (OGS) that helps leaders discern where to invest
limited resources to deliver desired results to all
stakeholders. This OGS offers leaders data-based
intelligence on how to upgrade talent, organization,
leadership, and human resources. Leaders in crises need
guidance (as offered by the OGS [see www.rbl.ai]) to focus
investments to have the most impact.
Talent Manager: Engage Today's Talent (Who goes with
us?)
Ÿ Personalize employee experiences.
Working from home with the pandemic crisis has affected
people very differently. Frequently, younger employees who
are usually digital natives might be expected to savor the
virtual work world. However, they often have young
children, live in smaller residences, or are single and
seeking community, thus making the virtual work world
challenging or unfavorable. These digital natives may
prefer the traditional office so that they can focus on work
and build career-enhancing relationships. In a somewhat
similar vein, the social unrest and racial injustice challenges
have caused many to ponder on their personal biases as they
seek to create a more inclusive and just society. From each
of these crises, leaders need to be even more attuned to
personal employee experiences. Leaders as meaning makers
demonstrate sensitivity and responsiveness to unique
employee experiences and desires so that employees find
meaning from their work.
Ÿ Hear others to express empathy (avoid "isms").
To create a better employee experience, leaders need to go
beyond listening to hearing employees. Listening means
that employees share information; hearing means that
leaders receive that information with empathy. Empathic
leaders eschew the many "isms" that filter thinking and
action (e.g., racism, sexism, classism, elitism, ageism, and
so forth), and help others feel appreciated for their unique
talents and gifts. The crises have also created an emotional
malaise that leaders need to appreciate. Being an empathic
leader requires recognizing personal biases and malaise and
modeling how to overcome them. When employees feel
"heard," they are more able to feel connected and then more
able to contribute to a positive workplace that leads to
marketplace success.
34 | December 2021 www.insightssuccess.com

Human Capital Developer: Build the Next Generation
(Who stays when we go?)
Ÿ Empower others to build their brand.
Good leaders have personal stories to tell, and they share
them well. But great leaders help others create and share
their stories. Even in the midst of a crisis, leaders need to
empower the next generation of leadership by sharing
information, building competence, delegating authority, and
distributing rewards. The ultimate test of a leader is how the
organization responds after the leader leaves. Empowering
leaders savor their leadership posterity.
Ÿ Create psychological safety.
Almost everyone has personally experienced both a safe
and unsafe work setting. In these crises, leaders need to be
even more focused on creating a safe environment for
employees to share their personal and professional fears and
anxieties. When employees can honestly share their
concerns about emerging work requirements, social
injustice, and career opportunities, employees feel heard
and more connected to a community. Leaders create safe
spaces by modeling values they expect of others.
Personal Proficiency: Invest in Yourself (How are you
taking care of yourself?)
Ÿ Navigate paradox.
In our research, we have found that navigating paradox
builds on the leadership skills of authenticity, emotional
intelligence, and resilience (learning, grit). Leaders who
navigate paradox respect others' opinions, disagree without
being disagreeable, and encourage divergence while being
able to seek convergence. In the crises, these leaders learn
from what has been done before but also anticipate and
create what can be done going forward. Leaders as paradox
navigators appreciate the dialectic process as much as the
result.
Ÿ Be transparent and renew.
Ultimately, leaders model behaviors they hope others will
follow. On recognizing the power of participative
management, an executive leader proclaimed, "I am going
to demand that my leaders practice participative
management." Wrong! You can't demand participation.
Ultimately, leaders have to model what they want others to
be, know, and do. Leadership hypocrisy leads to cynicism
and loss of respect. In crises, leaders need to model
transparency as they recognize their predispositions that
they must renew to succeed.
Summary: Code 3.0 Assessment
I am sure that I have overlooked many insights coming out
of these perpetual crises. But as a starting list, these ten
insights build on our Leadership Code research and may
apply to an individual wanting to be a better leader, to all
leaders creating a leadership capability throughout an
organization, and to an organization creating personal
leadership brand beyond the work setting. Indeed, crises
are opportunities to lead.
www.insightssuccess.com
December 2021 | 35