Nurturing Indian engineering talent for the global market, Rajesh Subramaniam, CEO of embedUR Systems, shares everything about their telematics solutions for embedded products with EFY’s Nitisha Dubey.
Q. What services does embedUR Systems provide to accelerate the market readiness of embedded devices?
A. The primary focus of embedUR Systems is to develop software for embedded devices. These devices require specialised software, and our goal is to help customers bring their products to market more quickly by leveraging our expertise. Over the past 20 years, our company has evolved to provide software for a wide range of embedded devices. Today, we are a company that specialises in developing bespoke embedded software for all kinds of devices that have a CPU. This includes creating software for embedded devices and providing connectivity and management software to connect and manage these devices. We offer customised telematics solutions to help customers efficiently deploy, manage, and connect their embedded products. We also have experience building AI solutions for connected devices in the cloud and integrating AI onto the Edge for small, embedded devices. This is a significant addition to the value of many companies in today’s technological world. We also provide pre-trained Edge AI models ready for plug-and-play with tiny hardware and embedded devices to help accelerate the market readiness of embedded devices.
Q. Who are your primary clients, and how do you serve them?
A. Our clients include major networking companies, medical device manufacturers, agricultural equipment makers, global chip vendors, and top service providers. They own the products, and we create the software to meet their needs. Essentially, we are an embedded software services company offering R&D services for product development. Our customers are among the leading networking companies, service providers, medical equipment makers, and agricultural equipment makers worldwide.
Q. Can you elaborate on the types of software solutions you provide?
A. We developed software for a medical badge that allows doctors to communicate wirelessly with the badge, with each other, and with a telemetric station. This project required both embedded software and connectivity software. In another instance, we built connectivity software for tractors, enabling them to communicate and operate autonomously without human intervention. We provide these types of software solutions to our customers.
Q. How do the differences in affordability and consumption between global and Indian markets impact your business strategy?
A. There is definitely a difference between global markets and the Indian market. Affordability is higher in global markets, and customers have a greater ability to spend on products they want to build. In India, it is more challenging due to cost pressures and different consumption economics. The affordability index is also different, leading to a focus on lower-cost products. Consequently, customers are willing to adjust, making the business model less effective for us. However, we believe this will change as affordability increases and our business will thrive in India.
Q. Where are your primary customer bases and development centres located?
A. Most of our customers are in North America, primarily in the United States, while some in Europe. Our development centres in India and Silicon Valley provide software solutions for customers worldwide. We have grown by 20-25% annually over the last 20 years. Starting with just myself, we have expanded to nearly 370 employees and continue to grow.
Q. What are the primary focus areas for your five-billion-rupee investment in Chennai?
A. We have committed to a five-billion-rupee investment in Chennai over five years, focusing on four primary areas. First, we are building teams and enhancing our capability to train engineers to develop Edge computing device software. Second, we are investing in Edge intelligence, which involves artificial intelligence and machine learning for smaller devices. Third, we focus on cybersecurity, creating software to secure these devices. Lastly, we are investing in infrastructure and purchasing equipment and servers to strengthen our capacity to provide software in these three areas.
Q. What key skills do you prioritise when hiring and training engineers in India?
A. India excels at producing engineers, and the quality of graduates from institutions is generally very high. However, they often lack soft skills, such as effective communication and expressing themselves clearly. We strongly emphasise developing these soft skills because, while technical skills can be taught, clear and efficient communication is key to ensuring our customers receive the most outstanding value. Since 2008, we have refined our training process to a science, focusing on technical areas relevant to our work. However, the number one attribute we seek in all engineers is the ability to communicate and express themselves clearly, which is the fundamental building block for advancing to the next level.
Q. What initiatives are you currently undertaking to build and train your workforce?
A. We have a structured approach, developed over 20 years, involving our HR and operations teams. We partner with select universities in India to bring in interns early while they are still graduating. We train them in areas relevant to our business and assess their interest in joining us as employees. After six to seven months of training, we hire those keen to join our team. This partnership cycle with universities helps us continuously bring in fresh talent. Additionally, we engage in lateral talent acquisition, targeting experienced professionals through broader partnerships to diversify our talent pool.
Q. Which universities and institutions do you partner with for hiring?
A. We are a preferred partner for several institutions in Tamil Nadu and hire from universities nationwide. However, since our office is in Chennai, many graduates from Tamil Nadu universities prefer to work here. We have hired individuals from other parts of India, with some relocating to Chennai. We have worked with four or five select partner colleges in Tamil Nadu for the last ten to fifteen years.
Q. What are your projected growth rates for the next five years?
A. Of course, COVID-19 impacted 2019 to 2020, leading to an 18% decline in growth. In 2021, we remained flat, but we resumed growth in 2022 with a 22% increase. In 2023, we surpassed our 2022 performance, growing by 19%. I believe at least 20 to 25% growth will be achieved in 2024. Looking ahead, we project an average annual growth rate of 18 to 24% over the next five years.
