Global Digital Transformation solutions provider, UST, has been described as IT’s best kept secret. The business is one of the world’s largest technology firms with more than 30,000 employees spanning 35 offices in 30 countries but there is a chance you may not have heard of it. Its clients include some of the world’s largest companies including more than 140 in the Global 1000. Praveen Prabhakaran, Chief Delivery Officer at UST, told Intelligent CXO more about UST, how it started and how it is playing a leading role in tackling the digital skills gap.
Can you tell me more about UST and how it helps companies?
UST is a leading global Digital Transformation solutions provider. For more than 20 years, we have helped our clients build the future they envision by delivering full-scale Digital Transformations and developing disruptive solutions.
Powered by technology, inspired by people and led by purpose, we partner with our clients from design to operation. We use a nimble approach to help identify clients’ key challenges and create the digital solutions they need to solve them.
We are perhaps one of the world’s largest technology firms you may never have heard of; we have been described as IT’s best kept secret.
Which country did UST start in and how did it go global?
UST was founded simultaneously in India and the US in 1999, as a majority family-owned start-up. We expanded by opening operations across the world, for example in the UK in 2006 and Latin America in 2009, as well as through various acquisitions. In 2022, we have evolved into a truly global Digital Transformation leader with a workforce of more than 30,000 spanning 35 offices in 30 countries.
How has the business grown over the last few years?
After 20 years in business, UST reached an exciting milestone in 2018 with a US$250 million investment from Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, Temasek. With a US$1 billion+ valuation, this elevated UST to unicorn status and enabled us to reach greater heights. With additional capital, we’ve been able to enhance our capabilities and geographic reach through key strategic acquisitions such as ServiceNow in 2021 and Hitech Solutions earlier this year. In 2021, we committed to hiring 10,000 people globally, and 12,000 in Bengaluru specifically by 2023.
How did the pandemic affect UST?
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift towards digital – which was already well underway – by several years. With increased demand for Digital Transformation services and solutions, this was a busy period for UST as we supported both existing and new clients.
In terms of supporting our employees, we introduced a number of initiatives to remain connected with one another, such as a Virtual Coffee Series, Meditation and Relaxation sessions and Career Velocity – a technology solution to enable career mobility and skills development.
Which are some of the bigger companies you work with?
Our clients include some of the world’s largest companies including more than 140 in the Global 1000. With an average client tenure of over 10 years, we are focused on quality over quantity and building excellent client relationships.
In the UK, we’re proud to work with the leading national health and beauty retailer, Boots. They approached us with the challenge of consolidating 130 million customer records across more than 10 dated legacy systems into 60 million composite records. With our help, Boots now has access to a holistic view of each of their customers with all their vital information in one place, ultimately enabling them to deliver a more personalised customer experience through targeted marketing.
On the other side of the Atlantic, we partnered with Nourish + Bloom Market earlier this year to launch the first hybrid autonomous grocery store with robotic delivery. UST’s Voice and Gesture AI technology delivered a three times faster checkout experience for customers while our Cold Truth solution provided IoT-based, real-time food temperature measurement helping to improve operational efficiency.
Can you tell me more about how UST is playing a leading role in tackling the digital skills gap?
The rise of the digital economy has created an urgent tech skills gap, which currently results in three in four workers globally lacking the digital skills needed by businesses. At UST, we have very diverse tech skills requirements so we are focused on building a talent model which can keep pace with emerging needs.
For example, in the UK we have partnered West Midlands Combined Authority to enable us to recruit graduates from digital bootcamps who have been specifically trained in the skills we need, helping to boost tech education and recruitment in the region. We also launched a Leeds Digital Development Centre in 2018 at our Leeds office to increase our tech training and education capabilities in the North of England.
Tell me more about the UST Innovation Lab and Open Talent Strategy.
We have opened a network of UST Innovation Labs across Trivandrum in India, California and Melbourne. These serve as exciting hubs for employees, students and the wider tech ecosystem to come together to develop and showcase the latest innovative digital solutions to transform industries. Our multi-purpose spaces aim to benefit both our clients with cutting-edge technology and innovative solutions, as well as budding young talent with education sessions and hackathons.
UST’s Open Talent strategy is another exciting initiative which enables us to gain a significant talent advantage by leveraging the freelancer ecosystem. Previously, concerns over data security, privacy, intellectual property and confidentiality have made it difficult for enterprises to leverage open talent at scale – UST’s unique strategy all but eradicates these concerns. With over 55 million qualified freelancers worldwide, our Open Talent approach opens up new staffing possibilities. The strategy has three defining aspects: providing access to diverse talent globally, rapid talent availabilityand assurance of service quality.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love the sense of family that surrounds our workplace. At UST, we strongly believe that the role is not an entitlement. We are all equal and do different jobs. This is one of the ethos instilled by our late Chairman, Mr G. A. Menon. I’ve been fortunate to see the UST growth story and being associated in the journey in a meaningful manner over the past two decades. I am really proud of being part of the team that developed the UK footprint. For me the biggest point of satisfaction is when our focus on doing the right thing for our customers, our employees and the communities we operate is consistently recognised by our client stakeholders. It is a true testament to our focus on transforming lives.