Delivering Innovative and Sustainable Business Growth Through Enterprise Automation and AI

RPA2AI Research is a global technology industry analyst firm, well-known for its work in the Artificial Intelligence and Automation space. The company specializes in due diligence on AI technologies for venture capital firms, private equity companies, and corporate M&A departments. RPA2AI also serves as an on-demand Chief AI Officer for large organizations and advises on their enterprise AI strategy, AI ethics, implementation roadmap, technology selection, and change management.

The company also started working with national and regional governments and industry bodies to create AI policies that sustain business growth, spur technology innovation, identify future skills and create new jobs. The company’s headquarters is in Bangalore, the AI hub of India. The majority of RPA2AI customers are outside India and it serves them through its network in Bangalore, Boston, Washington DC, and New Delhi.

A Credible Leadership

Kashyap Kompella is the Founder and Chief Analyst for RPA2AI Research. By design, the company’s go-to-market is through its US-based partners. Kashyap focuses on thought leadership, services and product portfolio, successful execution of RPA2AI’s client engagements and investments for the future.

In recognition of their work in the AI space, Thinkers360 platform ranks Kashyap among the Top 10 Global Thought Leaders on AI, Business Strategy, Cloud Computing, Digital Transformation, and Emerging Technologies.

In Kashyap’s 20 years of professional experience, he worked in product development, technology services, M&A and management consulting for blue-chip clients in the finance, corporate and non-profit sectors across the globe.

RPA2AI is Kashyap’s second venture. The first one was a machine learning startup in the computer vision space, with his colleague Prabhash Thakur, and this was before the current deep learning revolution even started. “Even now, we are hands-on technologists and that makes our advice to clients much more credible,” Kashyap said.

Making AI Accessible to Everyone

According to Kashyap, many smart leaders who are non-technical are intimidated by AI because it is a complex field and is not easily accessible. But these are leaders who drive their organizations’ AI initiatives and need to have a solid understanding of AI and its applications. The book “Practical Artificial Intelligence – An Enterprise Playbook”, co-authored by Kashyap which is an Amazon Bestseller, fills this gap in the market.

He is also passionate about making AI more inclusive and spends a lot of his time in pro bono advisory, teaching masterclasses, and conducting workshops in India, US and Europe. Currently, access to AI knowledge is limited to English-speakers and RPA2AI is working on translations into different languages to encourage more people in developing countries to get involved and make the field of AI more inclusive. It is a vast undertaking and the company would love if readers of this magazine would like to get involved in its efforts to democratize AI.

Preparing the workforces for the jobs of tomorrow is high on every company’s agenda and RPA2AI works with industry associations in reskilling initiatives. For instance, the company has developed highly relevant and practical courses on Machine Learning, Blockchain, Cloud Computing, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence, and Ethical AI.

Integrative Expertise Paves Ways to Success

RPA2AI’s clients look to the company to solve really hard and complex problems, and this requires multi-disciplinary expertise that cuts across silos and the team is uniquely positioned here.

For instance, Kashyap has been fortunate to have an Ivy-League education from top-notch institutions – Engineering from BITS Pilani, MBA from Indian School of Business, Business Laws & IPR Laws from National Law School, Public Policy from Takshashila, and he also holds the CFA charter from the CFA Institute, USA.

Moreover, many others in the company have similar rich backgrounds – two of them have PhDs also.

Driving Innovation as Per Customer Needs

Kashyap while talking about his company’s innovative approaches, says, RPA2AI closely listens to what the customers are saying. The company also experiments a lot and tests its hypotheses using data. For instance, using data, market gaps, and customer needs, RPA2AI is introducing new AI-enabled offerings for cloud optimization later this year.

Accelerating Business Through Technology

According to Kashyap, technology is getting better rapidly while organizations’ ability to harness it is not increasing at the same pace. A leader’s job now requires a greater understanding of technology and its impact on business, people and society. Leaders also need to get much better at using data to make optimal decisions.

Strategic Approach to Address Primal Challenges

Each phase of the journey brings its own challenges. “We were lucky because we started out with an established network of relationships, branding, and goodwill in our industry. We compete with and win against some of the best-known and largest names in the consulting space. Carving out our niche based on our unique differentiators was not easy and it required a lot of careful thinking and tinkering,” Kashyap said.

The Industry Roadmap Ahead

It is still very early days for the AI industry. Kashyap believes that “We are just at the beginning of the next wave of automation and digitization that is enabled by AI. The transition to AI will not happen tomorrow or this year but will play out over the next 5 to 10 years.” As industry analysts, RPA2AI is lucky to have a ringside view of the future as it unfolds.

Prioritizing People Over Chasing Success  

Kashyap believes having a learning mindset, treating people with respect, and being self-aware are good leadership attributes.

He says, “I am wary of giving leadership advice because each leader has to find her own True North. But if I may give one suggestion, I’ll say prioritize being a good human being over chasing success at any cost. If you do that, success will eventually be yours.”

All of RPA2AI’s success has come because of people’s trust in it. But building this reputation for trustworthiness has taken years, if not decades. For example, the company often walks away from business opportunities that it can’t deliver on and sometimes even refers potential clients to competitors when they are better suited. Kashyap agrees that this sounds crazy but it’s true and it has served the company well.