Interview with Kandarp Desai, Xactly

By Parul, Correspondent  |  Thursday, 27 June 2024, 11:56:38 AM IST

Interview with Kandarp Desai, Xactly

Can you walk us through the different functionalities currently handled by the Bengaluru office?

Xactly established its operations in Bengaluru over a decade ago, positioning the centre as a strategic hub for engineering. Recognizing its potential as a global innovation hub for Xactly, the Bengaluru centre quickly became instrumental not only for North America but for international endeavours as well. Over the past five years, Xactly India has undergone an impressive growth of over 200%, and this upward trajectory is expected to continue in the coming years. Initially focusing on engineering, the centre has broadened its scope to encompass various departments such as product management, customer support, professional services, and finance. The Xactly India team has been instrumental in spearheading the creation of patented innovations and cutting-edge products. Furthermore, they have cemented their reputation by delivering unwavering 24x7 world-class customer support from the Bangalore office.

What specific technology platforms do you focus on?

The Xactly platform has undergone several transformative stages, ultimately evolving into a robust, secure, and efficient revenue management platform. Comprising a multitude of individual pluggable components, the platform enables agile development and rapid adoption of cutting-edge technologies. Leveraging frameworks such as Spring Boot, React, Kubernetes, and Docker, the software-as-a-service ecosystem is complemented by a core data platform built on both RDBMS and modern data lake as well as ML/AI frameworks.

With the increased headcount, how will Xactly ensure effective team management and maintain a strong company culture?

Xactly's foundation is built on its core values of  Customer Focus, Accountability, Respect & Excellence (CARE). These values are upheld through a structured framework encompassing team-building activities, company-wide events, community service initiatives, and comprehensive training programs. Xactly employees are dedicated to embodying these values in their day-to-day responsibilities. Furthermore, we have provided our management team with the right tools and framework to enable their success in their roles through these values.

What kind of talent is Xactly looking to attract with this expansion?

At first, the centre primarily focused on engineering, but it has since expanded to include various departments such as product management, customer support, professional services, and finance. Xactly is seeking to recruit engineers and product owners who can develop highly innovative products to enhance the efficiency of the entire revenue management lifecycle. Additionally, Xactly is also expanding its customer-centric support team to drive higher customer satisfaction and improve customer engagement.

Does Xactly have any specific programs or initiatives planned to train and upskill the new hires?

We are living in a connected world. The only thing constant in this connected world is change. Xactly University is one of our core platforms for enhancing skills and imparting more avenues for growth and development. We have both self-paced and instructor-led programs. Since our India office works closely with our global offices, our team constantly gets updated with upcoming trends and enhancements.  We also give our employees options to upskill themselves. 

I don't need to go far away to showcase this. I can quote my own example. I joined Xactly in product development and I have been given opportunities to develop myself professionally, and now I have been given the responsibility of being the Managing Director to lead our vibrant and dynamic India office. 

We also have a mentorship program  for our employees to get proper guidance and support.

How will Xactly ensure a diverse and inclusive work environment within the expanded office?

Xactly already has a strong foundation for diversity and inclusion and it is integrated in our CARE values. We have a firm commitment to create a workplace where everyone feels that they belong. We continue to hire diverse candidates for various roles and they work together in cohesion. Many members of our core leadership come from diverse backgrounds and we are proud to have very talented members of our team from diverse backgrounds.

Our HR team goes through rigorous training to even prevent any unconscious bias. We have a firm commitment to build a sense of community in our workplace.

One important reason for the Indian office playing such an important role in our global success is how our company tries to create a sense of belonging for everyone, and they in turn give their best for their company.

Profile

Kandarp Desai is a seasoned leader with a distinguished track record in driving high-functioning Scrum teams. His extensive experience in leading and architecting multiple highly scalable products across advertising, geo-location, and SPM SaaS domains instills confidence in his abilities.

Kandarp Desai is a prominent technology leader at Xactly, where he serves as the Senior Vice President of Engineering and the GM, India. He is recognized for his extensive experience in leading high-performing scrum teams and architecting scalable products in various domains such as advertising, geo-location, and Sales Performance Management (SPM) SaaS.

At Xactly, Desai plays a critical role in overseeing engineering operations and driving innovation. He is instrumental in managing the company's technology strategy and ensuring the delivery of high-quality software solutions that meet the needs of global customers

Additionally, Kandarp Desai holds a GM position with Xactly Technologies India Private Limited, reflecting his significant contributions to the company's operations in India and his leadership in the technology sector

Prior to his tenure at Xactly, Kandarp held key positions at Quova, Feeva, Cisco, and the University of Southern California. He has a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

http://www.xactlycorp.com/company/leadership

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