Being in the UAE for more than 20 years, Sunil Saxena, held a comprehensive range of senior business positions and has built a reputation for his ability to provide strategic direction and innovative business solutions. His creative, innovative, and technical approach to business solutions gives him the edge over competitors. With a strong skill set and a strong track record of success, he had transformed businesses establishing significantly more stability in the market and giving them a long-term vision of Sustainability. Sunil has more than 25 years of experience in the security and service industry and finance He is the founder and Managing Partner of Radiant Global Group and has a keen understanding of the consumer and security landscape in Asia and the Middle East
He never gives up and always aims to take things to the next level. For him, the biggest strength for success is critical problem solving and being resilient. He, along with his company, puts the main emphasis on innovation and originality. Let’s hear it all in his own words.
What is your and your company’s background Sunil Saxena? Let us know in detail.
I am originally from India & presently in the UAE for over 20 years, and I am a big believer in creating an impact and taking things to the next level. I try to think a few steps ahead, which I learned during my early days being born & raised in the Army background.
I try to see if I am better today than I was yesterday. Will I be a better person tomorrow than I was today?
I am the Founder and Managing Partner of the Radiant Global Group with over 25 years of experience in the security & service industry. As a Subject matter expert, I support the clients in the Middle East Region by developing and launching pragmatic security programs focused on risk mitigation measures designed to protect. Assets, patrons, venues, and events all while retaining high effectiveness.
Prior to founding Radiant Group, l held senior executive positions with one of the world’s largest integrated security solution providers, wherein I held positions of CEO & Managing Director. During this time, I was instrumental in growing the profit margin for the business significantly & Business Transformation. I am known in the industry as the Security Man since I was instrumental in developing alongside the authority the Professional Event Security Set up and delivered high magnitude of events with the likes of Formula1, FIFA International Games, International Concerts, and ICC organized Cricket in the UAE.
Radiant Global (R3G): is instrumental in the region in establishing itself as the preferred partner by providing a wide variety of professional Consulting Services which Includes Events Security & Advisory Consultancy, Close Protection, Risk Consultancy, Placement & Recruitment, manpower mobilization.
One size doesn’t fit all R3G identifies with the provision of each client’s specific needs to create solutions and customized security programs, including the best vendor partner elements at the best practice point.
Sunil Saxena, What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
Profitability is not enough for companies to grow, and neither it guarantees the continuity of a business if People, services & Profit are not sustained. I believe in a simple principle which is our Core Strength.
- Invest in People
I believe that by looking after the employees with generous pay & benefits, staff would respond with loyalty which ultimately impacts profit.
- Invest in Client
Relationship, Service Delivery, Problem Solving
- Innovation
Be creative, Innovative & Keep trying
Critical problem solving & being practical is my major strength my definition of success is Progress, and we are progressing that’s one of our biggest strengths.
What are your goals Sunil Saxena?
I am a true Arian never say die is my attitude, I don’t give up.
Delivering the Future
Goal: To be the leading Consulting Business Service provider in the Middle East region, recognized for Service Excellence, Reliability, Innovation & Best Practice.
How did you/your company get to where you are today? What path did you follow Sunil Saxena?
Betting on the Future
The UAE accounts for almost one-third of the Consulting market in the region and was expected to grow further due to Expo2020. Hence in 2018 we decided to enter the market expecting a better growth rate to ensure that by 2020 /21, it would be at its best.
The prime driver of this growth is Professional Consultants who advise on clients’ risk exposure & Risk Mitigation & Business Transformation.
Another driver for growth was the demand for Experts in the Facility Management Business, which was changing to more of an Integrated Service Management concept.
Hence, we launched Radiant Global into 3 Major Business Line (R3G)
- Professional Consultation (Risk & Security Consulting, Event Security)
- FM Consulting & Business Transformation
- Placement & Recruitment Services to the Corporates & Semi Govt (Talent Acquisition White & blue collar)
The UAE market is very fragmented with many players around hence to compete, the only way to enter the market was to propose Innovative and customer-centric solutions.
We focused on innovation & originality, which would bring efficiency gains and economies of scale, reduce predatory pricing & Increase profitability.
The consulting market traditionally lacked Product differentiation & this was the key for us to offer solutions with innovation and a more direct approach to the clients.
It is a Mixture of Hard work & Determination which keeps us moving ahead.
Sunil Saxena, What’s the one word that describes you the best?
Dependable
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Innovation in Personnel
Well, Incident Management center (IMC) I had spent a long time in the Security Industry when we introduced our IMC program. I have talked with other professionals & Clients about the concept of IMC, and the feedback wasn’t that encouraging since, at that time, the IMC was a leap forward in the way that security companies were providing service. Our strategy was to offer an innovative solution to the market; hence the biggest challenge was to get the support of the client for the new service line we were going to introduce. The IMC program gave our customers a higher quality 24 hours, 365 days back up based on expertise and experience. This was a great way of innovating around something that most companies probably could have done but didn’t.
It was a success story since IMC is now transformed to the Command & Control Center in each market, and we proudly say our team of experts is working on launching these for many overseas companies in the region.
What excites you the most about Sunday?
I get to action my ideas that were brewing all weekend. Since it’s the 1st day of the week, it’s good to make decisions for the week. It’s a fresh start like a reset button, so we are excited for the whole week.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
Reliable: we promote safe and secure environments by employing the best people and resources.
Trustworthy: We believe in creating a loyal and transparent partnership with our clients.
Service and Quality Oriented: we are dedicated to fostering an environment that instills employee and client satisfaction.
Confidentiality: we honor our commitments by protecting the confidentiality of information of our clients.
Sunil Saxena, tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
I have learned in my career that you never get a second chance to create a first impression, and in the business of security, there is no second chance.
Successful events don’t happen by chance. It takes a lot of meticulous planning, foresight, and experience at all levels.
As they say, challenge creates opportunity.
I remember we had to deliver a High Magnitude of the event in one of the Emirates, and we required a Subject matter expert in the industry, which we did not have at that point in time here with the level of exposure is required.
The client was relying on us totally, and we were committed to delivering a successful event. We had little choice but to be more pragmatic and innovative. Hence, we brought Technology-based solutions & experts from overseas on special assignments to assist us. This became a very successful model for many hiring experts and us to deliver successful events and profitable business. We were one of the initial companies to start the trend of collaborating with international experts for the event industry to work locally.
This gave us a product dimension to introduce sophisticated Technology as in Artificial intelligence to be used in the event scenario.
What are the strategies of your company Sunil Saxena, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
We believe in creating a name to command greater value.
R3G will expand its operation, introduce more solutions to the market, and adopt the Best Practice to maximize profitability and differentiate as a regional service provider of a consistently high standard of consulting service.
Over the years, we have learned that people are the key to any business to success. Our focused approach towards training and development will surely improve our standing in the market.
People Strategy
We rely on People to build a more resilient strategy and provide the highest standard of client service and Bespoke solutions.
AT R3G People are part of Solution
We are staffed with a highly qualified workforce, specialized in their core field as SME, and offer bespoke solutions to the client with innovations and a pragmatic approach.
Brainstorming: this helps us in getting good and creative ideas. Even during the pandemic, we were able to connect and brainstorm every 2-3 weeks to counter the challenges and deliver as committed to the clients in the region. We take every subject and challenge it.
We had defied the myth that Consultation service must be expensive.
What are the key values which helped you to overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career? Sunil Saxena, Tell us something about your memorable incident in your leadership?
Think outside the box, never say die attitude, and Resilient nature works all the time.
A couple of years ago, I was working with a client on a business transformation project. In the course of the project, our main client contact left the organization, and the client replaced the contact with a new employee. The new contact wanted to move the transformation in a different direction, resulting in the potential for an enormous amount of re-work for my team & not sure of the results we had expected.
We held a brainstorming meeting with the client to share all the background research we’d done with the original contact. We were able to convince them to continue using the current strategy for the transformation. Ultimately, the client contact and organization were delighted with the business transformation and saw an impressive increase in their profits from our work.
This was challenging for us to gain the client’s confidence due to weak global economic growth. Clients were holding on to their money and not investing in new dimensions until they got convinced that our value proposition was going to make a profit for them.
Believe in yourself, perseverance, and not giving up kept me going.
Sunil Saxena, how do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
When I started the company, I was the only person who knew every client in each market. I was the main contact person, which made me very proud. I did long-standing events at the site, which would last for 18 hrs a day.
Later the business grew dramatically, and I needed to extend my team and hand over the Market & Operations to the respective experts. We opened our office in India for operations and Backoffice support, extended the team locally for client interfacing and delivering the services, and ran the operations.
The relationship with the client was personal, and even for the client, it was challenging to trust another person after doing business together for such a long period. And this is the reason why even today, I’m still very involved with the sales & operations process.
In the last 2 years when the pandemic had hit with uncertainty, we were by virtue of our clients in the region were able to cater to their needs and work remotely to ensure that there is continuity and clients get expert advice and even mobilized the staffing from the local market to stay in business.
We ventured out to remote consultancy projects during the last 2 years since there were not many outdoor activities due to the lockdown. We were working with the clients from the international market setting up business in the region, primarily UAE & KSA into Security. Mergers & Acquisition was another area we had developed to cater to since we had local companies who were in a sort of challenges to sustain the business.
Where is your leadership going Sunil Saxena? What benefits do your clients are getting from your company in this competitive world?
Being a leader requires you to put aside your interests for the Organization & Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a Follower. I believe in creating teams and work on them. I have built a formidable team that caters to the market and can establish more credibility in the market. This gives me more time to work towards strategies and innovation.
I have personally been involved in the design and management of various high-profile events across the globe, including iconic venues such as Burj Khalifa, Yas Marina circuit, and Cricket stadiums. This gives an edge to me to see that the team is fully committed and understands the value of delivering services with quality and up to client satisfaction.
We are in Expansion mode as a company with the likes of Expo2020 and many other projects in the future. The next step for us, the next challenge, will be embracing Artificial Intelligence and technology-based Solution further. We are working on a more tech-based solution offering with AI, Command Centre Robotics, and Retail solutions.
What services/solutions or products are offered by your company as far as the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
We cater to mostly the corporates, MNC & Semi-Government organizations. We are keen to expand our regional footprint, especially in Resource mobilization and Event Security expertise; we remain focused on engaging our clients and partners for long-term impact.
Innovation In Processes
Security Information system Despite how you may feel about SIS, it is another great example of an innovative idea. When it was introduced, what wasn’t innovative about using Technology to provide helpful reports such as exception status, incident status, and daily activities just by logging into the company portal. Although it had a great idea in using Technology to turn officers’ activities into information, this has taken it to another level with the new Security Information System. In addition to basic reporting functionality, SIS provides a web-accessible dashboard of compliance information relating to security staff processing, training, and quality assurance. If leveraged properly, our clients have access to a network of security experts/Consultants and resources that can provide them with customized security solutions.
Innovation In Technology
We are mainly working on Mobile Surveillance Services, Retail Solutions for the Malls, and Robotics for Parking lots.
Visit R3G website for more information. eMail: sunil@r3g.global