Business Talk Magazine

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.”

~Warren Bennis

A true leader works round the clock to convert his/her dreams into reality without thinking about failures or challenges. Pramoud Rao is one such inspiring leader who has carved a niche in the entrepreneurial space with perseverance and determination. 

Let’s explore the professional accomplishments of the maestro.

About the Entrepreneur

Pramoud Rao is a first-generation entrepreneur having over 32 years of business experience. Pramoud Rao is the Promoter & Managing Director of Zicom Group. Under his aegis in 1994, Zicom pioneered Electronic Security & in 2013, Spearheaded the concept of SaaS: Security as a Service leveraging the power of AI & IoT. In his earlier days as an entrepreneur, he introduced Fax Machine and coffee-tea makers in the late eighties.

Moreover, he is the Past President of the Fire and Security Association of India (FSAI) and currently on the advisory board.  The entrepreneur was also associated with Schneider as their Security Ambassador and on the board of several other companies. 

Being an inspiration for millions, Pramoud Rao is a motivational speaker and conducted several sessions on Personal Branding & Changing Technologies in Electronic Security. He is a hard-core optimist and takes fitness as one of his top priorities. 

Zicom: The brainchild of Pramod Rao

Zicom provides unparalleled  Electronic Security Services to our country.  It offers a unique range of products and services to keep businesses and homes safe and secure at all times. Having specialized in Designing, Manufacturing, Distribution, Sales & Service, they offer exceptional products and services. These products, solutions, and services are powered by AI and IoT and are backed with a service network spanning over 1100 cities & 24*7 Command & Control Station.

Now they aim to protect every individual through a range of Safe T Series products  – Contactless Temperature Measurement & Alarm System with Access control & Face Recognition capabilities to assist in COVID – 19 control.

Trust Matters the Most

Maintaining an unbreakable faith with clients is of utmost importance in today’s business scenario. Pramoud Rao states, “In our business, the word trust matters the most. Whenever we deal with our customers, we ensure that trust levels are always maintained. In the last 27 years, many of our customers continue to be a part of our business growth story. In our business DNA, customer service is mission-critical; our entire organization is sensitized to ensure we deliver quality customer service 24*7 / 365 days.

What sets you apart from your competitors

In this age of thriving competition, you ought to be unique and different from your rivals. Customers will notice you when you bring innovation in your technologies and services. 

For Zicom, the thought-provoking leadership and not to lead with a herd mentality make them different from the rest. Zicom has always been the pioneer in launching new technologies, be it introducing the concept of Command & Control Station or launching products and services in the domain of AI & IoT. Zicom will always remain at the forefront of the technology curve. 

Synchronizing with the Current Trends

If you are not keeping abreast with the marketing trends, you’re doing great harm to your business. Keeping an eye on your competitors and the changes in the market is imperative to progress. 

On the same notion, at Zicom, they attend international security shows while keeping a close watch on the latest technology used across the globe.  Various committee meetings are held to discuss their internal technology and what they are doing to improvise it. Pramoud Rao says, “Since we do not claim to invent any technology, we adopt these technologies to satisfy Indian consumer needs.” They also design their services keeping in mind Indian consumer preferences & choices, price points & lifestyle.

Encouraging Creativity

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” 

` Mary Lou Cook

The Managing director says, “Creative and disruptive thinking is the new mantra. My leadership team is equally involved in building the culture of creative thinking in the organization, as Invention is the natural outcome of creative thinking.” 

For the sake of innovation, they at Zicom conduct internal competition between employees to bring new ideas to the table and then reward the creative minds.

The leadership team also meets weekly for small brainstorming sessions on how creatively they can do activities for a positive impact on business. 

Challenges in the Route

“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, you need to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is one of your biggest advantages.”

~Michelle Obama

Zicom has also seen a multitude of hurdles before achieving success. Nothing was easy for it. 

Their business in the Middle East stumbled due to falling oil prices, which also took a toll on their Indian business. From abundance, they were then facing scarcity. “And it took us a long effort of 7 years to steer the company to safety. The biggest challenge has been to fight scarcity and avoid possibilities of existential crisis.”

Success Mantra

Pramoud Rao states,

“I used my common sense which is not so common. Having no formal education both in management and technology, I used the power of my common sense to lead the company in the best possible manner, and so far we have done reasonably well. Currently we are charting our aggressive growth plan both on our products and services powered by AIoT.” 

In the Future

The main goal is to re-establish Zicom in its new strategic positioning as an AIoT Services Company.  They strongly believe the future will belong to AIoT both on products and services. Hence, they will launch a slew of products powered by AI and IoT and backed by 24x 7 Command & Control Station services. With the Indian Government emphasizing Make in India, the manufacturing of Security Products in India is another goal, which Zicom wishes to establish. Pramoud Rao says,  “Once our products start rolling out of the manufacturing plant, “Productization of Services” will be our new mantra to give our valued customers a new wow experience of security and safety services.”

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