Corporate Vision Issue 8

8 CORPORATE VISION / Issue 8 2018 , BlackPepper Technologies is a full-fledged silicon and systemplayer for the global semiconductor market. Working predominantly in the consumer, industrial, automotive, defence and Internet of Things sectors, the company has made its name as a world leader in hardware development for the next generation of tech. Corporate VisionMagazine named Harikrishnan Puravankara as theMost Influential CEO of the Year in Semiconductors, as part of our ongoing 2018 Corporate Excellence Awards programme. We spoke with the firm’s Executive Vice President of Strategy andMarketing, Basavaraj Nagaraju, to find out more about the outstanding work they are doing in this innovative, forward-thinking sector. Defining the Future of Technology and Automation The semiconductor industry has, for the last decade, been defined by intense, explosive growth. As the technology, automation, and manufacturing landscapes continue to be fuelled by a digital arms-race – as companies compete to discover the ‘next big thing’ in consumer and corporate tech– the semiconductor industry is experiencing an unprecedent- ed surge in demand. Naturally, established firms and start-ups around the world are only too eager to capitalise on this interest. In Asia, BlackPepper Technol- ogies has cornered the market, becoming an industry goliath in the region. Their success can largely be attributed to the CEO, Harikrishnan Puravankara, who has guided the company since the very beginning. According to Basavaraj, the secret to their success lies in BlackPepper’s aim to “ create an enduring impact on society by building an innovative hard- ware-specific organisation. ” To achieve this, the company put a laser-focus on those they affec- tionately dub ‘the Pepperites’. Basavaraj explains further, “For BlackPepper, every Pepperite comes first, and for every Pep- perite, the customer comes first. We believe in the philosophy of collective entrepreneurship and encourage every single Pepperite to think freely, innovate tirelessly, question fearlessly and be deeply involved in every facet of the BlackPepper success story.” When asked about the future of the semiconductor sector and how BlackPepper plans to keep ahead of the competition, Basavaraj seemed unconcerned, emphasising that the compa- ny’s strength is in a niche area that few are moving into. “The worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to total $451 billion in 2018, an increase of 7.5 percent from $419 billion in 2017. The Internet of Things industry alone has the potential to generate about $4 trillion to $11 trillion in economic value by 2025. The IoT market will be driven by new age companies who can address specific problems for specific markets, however, they might not be fully aware of how to solve the complete problem, especially the technology aspect. The technol- 1807CV11 ogy problem will be a focus area for BlackPepper to solve. The company is building the different technology verticals that enables the company to be an end to end spec to product company, and has developed solutions for various companies globally in the Automotive, Medical and Industri- al Automation segments.” Basavaraj then moved to em- phasise BlackPepper’s unique position in the global market and how they have fortified, and future-proofed their position; “BlackPepper an arm Approved Design Partner (ADP) and a trusted design partner for global top 10 semiconductor companies. The company continues to ag- gressively expand its global foot- print, leveraging two core assets