Sandip Labh
Chief Learning Officers
With over 25 years of experience, Sandip excels at leading cross functional teams in multinational environments and has worked in leadership positions in several Fortune 500 companies.
In an indepth conversation with CEO Insights magazine, Sandip tells us more about his professional journey and how he drives organizational growth through Rapidezy. Here is an excerpt from the interview.
Tell us about your professional journey and what inspired you to set up Rapidezy Training Systems.
I started my Learning and Development career with The Taj Group of Hotels in Mumbai. I moved overseas in 2000 and worked for several Fortune 500 companies like Marriott Hotels, Philips, Shell, and Novartis, leading their Learning & Development and Operational Excellence functions at Asia-Pacific & global levels.
I realized that L&D has become largely technology-enabled and digitally delivered in global companies. However, Indian companies, especially small & midsized companies, were missing out on the effectiveness, speed, and efficiencies of digitally driven L&D system & content. The penetration of Learning Management Systems (LMS) is low, primarily due to the lack of affordable readymade digital learning content for workplace skills customized for Indian companies that can be delivered efficiently over LMS.We need an integrated learning platform that combines the LMS software with a learning content library of workplace skills and all the supporting services. This is beyond
the capability of most small & midsized companies. This gave me the idea to create India’s first integrated learning platform, which can become a world class training department, working 24x7, delivering unlimited training to all employees of small and midsized companies in India at a fraction of the cost of a traditional training setup.
Please elaborate on the services offered to the clients and the sort of technology built within them.
Multiple technologies and content must integrate seamlessly to form a world-class technology enabled L&D setup. They include Learning Management Systems, a comprehensive library of e-learning courses, tools to create & deliver digital learning content, and all the supporting services. Rapidezy provides a complete end-to-end service through our integrated learning platform. Our platform provides companies with a best-in-class and automated L&D system and India’s biggest e-learning library with over 2,000 readymade courses.
Companies using our platform can effectively plan & deliver training to all their employees. The advantage of using our massive library of readymade courses is that no matter what the generic & functional training needs are, companies & employees are very likely to find a course to close the training gap. Our courses can be customized to a company’s needs and are available in English and English-Hindi bilingual. Employees can learn anytime, anywhere, using a desktop or mobile device. Now companies can have a worldclass training system and unlimited access to over 2,000 courses, reducing their training cost.
We offer 2 products and brands. Rapidezy is our industry-agnostic generic offering for mid-sized companies. Our other product is Hospitality Star, the world’s first specialized training service for the hospitality industry. Apart from the LMS and the generic course library,
Think of Rapidezy as India’s biggest online training department, working 24x7 for your company, providing unlimited training to your employees at a fraction of the budget of a traditional training setup
Please elaborate on the services offered to the clients and the sort of technology built within them.
Multiple technologies and content must integrate seamlessly to form a world-class technology enabled L&D setup. They include Learning Management Systems, a comprehensive library of e-learning courses, tools to create & deliver digital learning content, and all the supporting services. Rapidezy provides a complete end-to-end service through our integrated learning platform. Our platform provides companies with a best-in-class and automated L&D system and India’s biggest e-learning library with over 2,000 readymade courses.
Companies using our platform can effectively plan & deliver training to all their employees. The advantage of using our massive library of readymade courses is that no matter what the generic & functional training needs are, companies & employees are very likely to find a course to close the training gap. Our courses can be customized to a company’s needs and are available in English and English-Hindi bilingual. Employees can learn anytime, anywhere, using a desktop or mobile device. Now companies can have a worldclass training system and unlimited access to over 2,000 courses, reducing their training cost.
We offer 2 products and brands. Rapidezy is our industry-agnostic generic offering for mid-sized companies. Our other product is Hospitality Star, the world’s first specialized training service for the hospitality industry. Apart from the LMS and the generic course library,
Hospitality Star also offers a technical library focused on hospitality technical & operations skills topics.
You possess about three decades of experience. How is your path to success, and what is your success mantra?
Success cannot be achieved alone because you are just as good as your team. Teams with great intent, skills, processes & systems achieve great results. That has been not only my mantra but our collective philosophy at Rapidezy as well.
How do you drive organizational growth and what does the future roadmap look like for you and Rapidezy?
It is only possible to drive organizational growth by driving organizational capability. Many companies have an unstructured & adhoc approach to training. Just sending some employees for training courses or organizing training classes does not work.organizations need a complete L&D method, system, and content without breaking their HR budgets. These organizations are now enthusiastically adopting Rapidezy and becoming world-class learning organizations despite their limited inhouse HR resources and budgets.
We are scaling up rapidly to support our ever growing client base. We will keep expanding our content library. We have seen how innovative AI technologies can be. We are embedding AI into our platform & content.
In the light of your strong experience within the industry, what advice would you give to the budding industry leaders and future entrepreneurs in the sector?
There are many EdTech startups in India, some of whom have become Unicorns. However, almost all focus on the K-12 or exam preparation segment. There needs to be more innovation in the organizational training segment. We want to demonstrate the potential of this sector so that more entrepreneurs find it an attractive space.
Sandip Labh, Chief Learning Officer, Rapidezy Training Systems
Sandip Labh is a curious and experimental individual and has taken up roles that have allowed him to learn and explore something new every day. He has worked in diverse industries such as hospitality, oil and gas, pharma, and more. He has led Training & Development and Operational Excellence functions at APAC and global levels in multiple Fortune 500 companies.
You possess about three decades of experience. How is your path to success, and what is your success mantra?
Success cannot be achieved alone because you are just as good as your team. Teams with great intent, skills, processes & systems achieve great results. That has been not only my mantra but our collective philosophy at Rapidezy as well.
How do you drive organizational growth and what does the future roadmap look like for you and Rapidezy?
It is only possible to drive organizational growth by driving organizational capability. Many companies have an unstructured & adhoc approach to training. Just sending some employees for training courses or organizing training classes does not work.organizations need a complete L&D method, system, and content without breaking their HR budgets. These organizations are now enthusiastically adopting Rapidezy and becoming world-class learning organizations despite their limited inhouse HR resources and budgets.
We are scaling up rapidly to support our ever growing client base. We will keep expanding our content library. We have seen how innovative AI technologies can be. We are embedding AI into our platform & content.
In the light of your strong experience within the industry, what advice would you give to the budding industry leaders and future entrepreneurs in the sector?
There are many EdTech startups in India, some of whom have become Unicorns. However, almost all focus on the K-12 or exam preparation segment. There needs to be more innovation in the organizational training segment. We want to demonstrate the potential of this sector so that more entrepreneurs find it an attractive space.
Sandip Labh, Chief Learning Officer, Rapidezy Training Systems
Sandip Labh is a curious and experimental individual and has taken up roles that have allowed him to learn and explore something new every day. He has worked in diverse industries such as hospitality, oil and gas, pharma, and more. He has led Training & Development and Operational Excellence functions at APAC and global levels in multiple Fortune 500 companies.