Venkat Bhasum
Founder & CEO
His commitment to steering small businesses through digital transformation, as evident in CYGEN's innovative platforms, establishes Venkat as a leader with a profound impact on the intersection of technology and commerce in the Australian market.
In an in-depth conversation with CEO Insights Magazine, Venkat shares with us his professional milestones, leadership guidelines and much more. Let’s hear it from him.
How would you define Cygen Consulting (CYGEN) as an organization and its current position in the market?
CYGEN was founded in 2019 with a dual presence in Sydney and Hyderabad. Over the past two years, our focus on digital innovation has found profound expression in the Australian market, specifically within the dynamic realm of retail. Through our dedicated development center in Hyderabad, we birthed CYGEN eCaaS (Commerce as a Service), a cutting-edge platform that encapsulates the essence of a 360-degree retail experience. This platform, designed to Australian standards, serves as a comprehensive solution for small businesses, seamlessly integrating contactless commerce, inventory management, customer engagement, billing, and real-time reporting with various features to cater Global market.
CYGEN is a conduit for empowering small enterprises, bridging the gap between retail stores and their consumers. Our commitment to excellence and innovation has positioned us as a trusted partner, offering a one-stop solution for SMEs with a user friendly interface.
You possess over twenty-four years
of experience. What are some of your professional milestones and your mantra for success?
Embarking on a career in IT back in 2000, my journey spans over 24 years, reflecting a trajectory from small-scale startups to driving larger business models and startups a like. The roots of my entrepreneurial spirit were sown in Bombay, where I initiated a startup focusing on domain hosting and web services, culminating in a successful sale to a BSE-listed company in 2003. Transitioning to Hyderabad, my career pivoted towards telecom, and my decade-long stint culminated with Reliance Jio. However, my intrinsic intrapreneurial mindset beckoned, leading to the establishment of WALK2SHOP in 2015, a retail IT company in India that garnered national recognition and onboarded 15,000 retailers in a rapid six-month span. The journey unfolded further in Sydney, where I spent the last seven years navigating the intricacies of the Australian market.
My success mantra has been resilience, adaptability, and a persistent pursuit of innovation. Learning from failures, embracing challenges, and staying attuned to market needs have been instrumental in steering my course.
Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the methodologies that you follow as a leader?
My leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in an intrapreneurial journey where collaboration and input from every team member are crucial. I firmly believe that the evolution of our product is intri-cately tied to how well we listen and learn from our team.
Reflecting on my leadership journey, I embrace failures as crucial learning experiences, especially in the dynamic retail product landscape where challenges like product-market fits demand resilience and improvisation.
How do you keep yourself up to date with ongoing industry trends to steer your organization towards the future?
Staying attuned to the pulse of the retail industry is a practice close to
Embarking on a career in IT back in 2000, my journey spans over 24 years, reflecting a trajectory from small-scale startups to driving larger business models and startups a like. The roots of my entrepreneurial spirit were sown in Bombay, where I initiated a startup focusing on domain hosting and web services, culminating in a successful sale to a BSE-listed company in 2003. Transitioning to Hyderabad, my career pivoted towards telecom, and my decade-long stint culminated with Reliance Jio. However, my intrinsic intrapreneurial mindset beckoned, leading to the establishment of WALK2SHOP in 2015, a retail IT company in India that garnered national recognition and onboarded 15,000 retailers in a rapid six-month span. The journey unfolded further in Sydney, where I spent the last seven years navigating the intricacies of the Australian market.
Our innovative SaaS based point of-sale solution empowers global business operation, providing real time predictive AI based insights on sales, profits, & seamless tax regulation compliance
My success mantra has been resilience, adaptability, and a persistent pursuit of innovation. Learning from failures, embracing challenges, and staying attuned to market needs have been instrumental in steering my course.
Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the methodologies that you follow as a leader?
My leadership philosophy is deeply rooted in an intrapreneurial journey where collaboration and input from every team member are crucial. I firmly believe that the evolution of our product is intri-cately tied to how well we listen and learn from our team.
Reflecting on my leadership journey, I embrace failures as crucial learning experiences, especially in the dynamic retail product landscape where challenges like product-market fits demand resilience and improvisation.
How do you keep yourself up to date with ongoing industry trends to steer your organization towards the future?
Staying attuned to the pulse of the retail industry is a practice close to
my heart, rooted in my experiences heading the SME vertical in India and navigating the vast telecom market. Engaging in extensive research through industry reports, conversations with influencers, and active participation in networking groups and events across Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, became my modus operandi.
I find immense value in attending retail industry events and conferences, and visiting small outlets, immersing myself in under-standing their challenges, needs, and aspirations. This hands-on approach ensures that the solutions we envision and implement at CYGEN resonate authentically with the evolving dynamics of the retail sector.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Our journey at CYGEN is poised towards a revolutionary future, steering the course of point of-sale technology into a new era. In an industry dominated by decades-old software, our focus on providing a cutting-edge, SaaS-based point-of sale solution is reshaping the landscape for small businesses globally. We've eliminated the need for expensive hardware, recognizing the financial constraints faced by small enterprises, especially in countries like India.
This venture is personal for me, as it stems from a deep understanding of the challenges faced by mom and-pop stores, and the potential impact of empowering them with accessible, predictive AI-enabled technology. As we prepare to launch in India and the US, these discussions represent more than market expansion since they signify the democratization of technology for small businesses, offering them a transformative tool that aligns with the current times.
Venkat Bhasum, CEO & Founder, CYGEN Consulting
With a rich career spanning over two decades, Venkat Bhasum has left an indelible mark on the Telecom, ISP, and Data Center Services industry. Venkat's educational journey encompasses a master's degree in business statistics from Victoria University and a master's in international business from Macquarie University. His diverse roles, including advising the CEO at Carneeds, and steering the SMB team at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Currently serving as the CEO and Founder of Cygen Consulting, Venkat's leadership is exemplified through innovative initiatives such as CYGEN CaaS.
•Favorite Hobbies:Reading Books
•Favorite Cuisine:Home cooked food
•Favorite Travel Destination:
Spain, Hometown in India
I find immense value in attending retail industry events and conferences, and visiting small outlets, immersing myself in under-standing their challenges, needs, and aspirations. This hands-on approach ensures that the solutions we envision and implement at CYGEN resonate authentically with the evolving dynamics of the retail sector.
What is the future destination you are heading towards?
Our journey at CYGEN is poised towards a revolutionary future, steering the course of point of-sale technology into a new era. In an industry dominated by decades-old software, our focus on providing a cutting-edge, SaaS-based point-of sale solution is reshaping the landscape for small businesses globally. We've eliminated the need for expensive hardware, recognizing the financial constraints faced by small enterprises, especially in countries like India.
This venture is personal for me, as it stems from a deep understanding of the challenges faced by mom and-pop stores, and the potential impact of empowering them with accessible, predictive AI-enabled technology. As we prepare to launch in India and the US, these discussions represent more than market expansion since they signify the democratization of technology for small businesses, offering them a transformative tool that aligns with the current times.
Venkat Bhasum, CEO & Founder, CYGEN Consulting
With a rich career spanning over two decades, Venkat Bhasum has left an indelible mark on the Telecom, ISP, and Data Center Services industry. Venkat's educational journey encompasses a master's degree in business statistics from Victoria University and a master's in international business from Macquarie University. His diverse roles, including advising the CEO at Carneeds, and steering the SMB team at Reliance Jio Infocomm. Currently serving as the CEO and Founder of Cygen Consulting, Venkat's leadership is exemplified through innovative initiatives such as CYGEN CaaS.
•Favorite Hobbies:Reading Books
•Favorite Cuisine:Home cooked food
•Favorite Travel Destination:
Spain, Hometown in India