60 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • NOVEMBER 2017 60 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • SEPTEMBER 2017 60 LONGISLANDPRESS.CO M • SEPTEMBER 201-----------TUTU111
BUSINESS
Born in New Delhi, Anil Kapoor studied accounting
and worked at a regional accounting
firm and at several companies in India before
emigrating to the United States in 1994, where he
and three friends started Svam International. The
Great Neck-based firm is a global IT and business
services provider. As president and CEO,
Anil overseas worldwide operations including
sales, marketing, development, finance and
professional services. Contributing editor Warren
Strugatch caught up with Kapoor to discuss his
management philosophy, the difficulty of finding
employees locally, and what exactly the name
Svam means.
Long Island Press: You started out as an accountant
in India. How did you transition into
CEO of a Long Island tech services firm?
Anil Kapoor: I worked for a few different companies
in India and the States. The times were
great and opportunities were great so I took an
opportunistic approach. I was hanging out in
India with a bunch of friends who I grew up
with. I said, why don’t we take a plunge and start
a tech company?
LIP: How’d you come up with the name Svam?
What does it mean?
AK: It’s made from the first letter of each of our
names, the four of us who founded the company.
LIP: How did you gain credibility for your tech
company without having a tech background
yourself?
AK: I went to tech events and met people. Comdex
(a once popular computer expo that folded
in 2003) was a very good place to meet people.
LIP: So, who did you meet?
AK: I met some guys from Litton Industries,
which became an anchor client.
LIP: Your co-founders are gone, but you’ve
stayed on as leader. What does leadership mean
to you?
AK: As a leader you are responsible for creating
conditions of success. I surround myself with
smart people, who at the same time time have
to be self-motivated. I give them responsibilities
and let them run with it.
LIP: How accessible do you make yourself?
AK: We have an informal environment. Everybody
is authorized to walk into my office and
say, “This is what’s going on.” Plus I meet with
my direct reports several times a day, whether
in person or through technology. We’re in India,
we’re in Mexico, so it’s 24/7. We text, we phone.
I tell people, “Don’t hold back regardless of the
time of day.”
LIP: Every business faces a crisis eventually.
What would you describe as your biggest crisis
and how did you handle it?
AK: By the year 2000 we had built up a work
force of around 300 people. Then Y2K came to
an end and we had the tragedy of 9-11. We were
as low as 68 people in 2001.Things fell apart as a
house of cards. Of course people were worried
about losing their jobs. That transformed my
thinking.
LIP: How so?
AK: I realized we had come as far as we had
because of our team, the core group of about
10 people in the company. I realized I had a
different level of responsibility to them. If they
are happy, the company performance is different.
Even though we had people idle for lack of
work, I don’t recall firing anybody for that. I did
fire some people because of unethical behavior
or other issues.
LIP: How did this change your management
philosophy?
AK: We switched from client-first to employee
first. If employees feel welcome and
challenged they will strive to excel, therefore
providing compelling client service.
LIP: Now, how many employees do you have?
AK: Globally we have between 625 and 650.
LIP: When you hire, where do you look? And
what traits do you look for?
AK: We look all over for employees. Locally, I
cannot find that many qualified resources on
Long Island. It’s not the available guy you want,
it’s the qualified guy. And it’s more difficult to
get people to come from other countries now.
One reason is immigration reforms. Another is
that people can probably make more money in
their own countries in terms of spending power.
In terms of personal traits, I like to hire people
who are good at sports, who are athletes. The
sport doesn’t matter. I look for people like that
who are self-motivated and self-disciplined.
C Suite
Anil Kapoor: At Svam, athletes always welcome
Anil Kapoor, CEO of Svam International, built his company from the ground up.
(Press photo by Bob Giglione)