In the year 2016, The ‘Nature’ magazine announced that a computer designed by google’s DeepMind defeated a human master in a Chinese game, ‘Go’. Now, this impressive achievement of technology has once again raised the expectations of a predicted future; which would be led by technology. First, we had the computers, then ‘www’, then the IoT, and AI, and more technologies are invading our lives in every way possible. As a result, there exists a persisting debate, whether machines will rule the human world?
However, we cannot rule out the contradicting fact that it was humans who created these technologies and hence, as humans upgrade technologies, they will also upgrade themselves to say abreast of the changes. Hence, it is safe to say that both humans and machines will be ruling the world at par.
Yet, in midst of this, there are certain people who manage to lead, irrespective of the advancements in technologies and competitions. This is because of their willingness to learn. While every aspect of machines is programmed, humans learn as they go. They learn from experience. This calls to mind the words of Albert Einstein, “the only source of knowledge is experience.” Featured in this edition is the story of Sapna Rani Patel, COO, and Co-Founder of Gray Routes Technology, a leader and influencer of the millennial age. She took the lessons of experience to grow wise.
Shaped by Experience
Ms. Patel is at the forefront of a new age. Starting from working in some of the best companies to an NGO, Ms. Patel has smiled her way out of every challenge and has evolved a leader with in-depth knowledge and experience.
“My experiences have been varied. I have worked for one of the best companies in the world and also with an NGO where I got the opportunity to work very closely with the underprivileged section of the society. Right from working for a startup to co-founding one, I have come across numerous challenges and hardships in scaling the company to a global level,” she recalls.
Today, Ms. Patel stands at one such a podium that is untouched and this is the result of her effort. The journey began with working with Google, Teach for India and an education startup based out of IIT Bombay. Her undying zest has helped Ms. Patel to focus on a single purpose and to strenuously get involved in her business.
“Today, I am the COO and Co-Founder of Gray Routes Technology. I handle Marketing/Business Development, people, investor and customer relations at Gray Routes,” she shares.
Taking What Life Gives You
Time and again, it has been recorded that success only comes after hardships, failures and endless challenges. Ms. Patel too had her share of hardships. “I would like to believe that entrepreneurs are blessed with two very unique qualities. One is the ability to take a humongous amount of risks even in the direst situation and the other one is perseverance which keeps them going when things become tough. As a women entrepreneur the challenges become more profound because their contributions are very often dismissed,” she recalls about her initial days.
However, that did not stop Ms. Patel from achieving the desired result. Starting from securing funding for the company at the right time to acquiring global customers as clients, Ms. Patel had to work hard even while she had to face the uncertainty of her actions at every point.
What helped her to achieve superlative success was her driven problem-solving skills. As entrepreneurs, the details of the problems they face and maybe even skill sets differ, but at the core, the spirit is the same. So is the case with Ms. Patel.
“As entrepreneurs, you have to be consistently working towards building a brand for your company by building the trust of stakeholders, employees, clients and all the parties that are a part of your journey. The biggest challenge is to be able to maintain balance and professionalism in the face of numerous expectations with maturity,” shares Ms. Patel.
She believes that challenges have helped her grow and become the person she is today. “I love taking on challenges, especially the ones that are difficult to achieve. This helps me set bigger goals for myself and the company,” she adds.
Pioneering AI-driven Marketing
Ms. Patel ‘s contribution in Gray Routes has helped it earn titles including, Best AI & Cognitive Technology Provider of the Year 2018 in CSI’s IT Innovation & Excellence Awards, Only B2B Software Tech firm invited to work with NTRO, intelligence agency of Govt. of India in the year 2018 and Top 5 companies chosen for Next Big Idea by Govt. of Canada and DST for the year 2018.
So, what makes Gray Routes unique or why has it evolved as a leader in the market? Founded in 2013, Gray Routes is a profitable, angel-funded and institutional financing backed from Private banks, Private Equity as well as Product engineering sectors. It is also advised by North-America based UC Berkeley, SFU Professors, Canadian Retail Consultants, and MNC CXOs. It is a market leader in GPS-based location intelligence, Distribution planning apps and data solutions that automate critical sales, supply chain logistics & distribution processes intelligently, bringing Sales, Delivery & Retail iQ at the fingertips of its clients such as Proctor & Gamble, GSK, Shalimar, Bluebird, Safari and several thousand retailers, pharma, courier and transport associations among others.
“Gray Routes has evolved into a profitable and highly scalable company over the past few years. We have worked very closely with our clients and build products that are sensitive to customer needs and evolve with their requirements and new-age technology. We hope to be the pioneers in Artificial Intelligence technology globally helping clients take quick and accurate decisions about their marketing and distribution strategies,” asserts Ms. Patel.
Turning The Tide
Well-positioned to become a global leader and a true champion of AI-automation in Sales & Distribution, Gray Routes is scaled to shake the business world. To date, it had the opportunity to work with the most elite clients helping them streamline their marketing and distribution tasks. The success that Gray Route enjoys today is the result of Ms. Patel and her team’s unfathomable persistence. Hence, it is evident that the company’s continued endeavor will bring a revolution.
“With the use of AI and very sophisticated technology, our products disrupt the way the industry functions by leveraging the power of data and demography to enable decision making. All the major enterprises will make use of AI industry by industry in the future to improve their productivity and we are confident that Gray Routes will play a vital role in leading the revolution from the forefront,” she concludes.
