22 Years Old twins making their mark in consultancy Business

In an age when other teens are busy enjoying the newfound freedom of exploring the world, 22 years old twins Yuvraj Bhardwaj and Yashraj Bhardwaj were way ahead of their peers seeking the higher plane of scientific understanding. Their keen interest in scientific research, technology innovation and business consultancy had them reading research journals that emanated research ideas resulting in disruptive innovation.

Patenting their research at an early age of around 15, the twins, in 2017, used the funds from grants, fellowships, and prizes to start businesses focused on research and development, and Petonic Infotech, a consultancy services enterprise, emerged out of that. Yashraj Bhardwaj, co-founder, Petonic, and an advisor of NITI Aayog, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz talks about company's future plans.

You collaborate with NITI Aayog and the University of California, Berkeley to give all stakeholders access to a single platform. Please elaborate. Yes, I do collaborate with NITI Aayog and the University of California, Berkeley to give all stakeholders access to a single platform. There is an urgent need to develop policies in equal partnership with the government, corporate organisations, and universities given the government's focus on Atmanirbhar Bharat. For India to continue to prosper with Niti Aayog, we need to investigate additional public-private ventures.

What are your hiring plans?

Petonic Infotech is always searching for talented pool of resources. The actual plan cannot be estimated in numbers as it totally depends on the projects that we are doing. For example, in one of the two major upcoming projects, we need to hire at least 500 resources that will increase our total workforces strength by 60 per cent and the hiring process is on for the same. In short, we are looking for passionate individuals who want to become a part of Petonic InfoTech, and nurture our passionate venture with vision, skill and hard work.

Why do organizations need project management consultancy?

Project management consultants are assets to any organization as they enable the stakeholders of a project to identify and rectify inefficiencies in processes and workflows as they are the backbone of a project. Project management consulting has been prevalent to different degrees in different geographies and businesses. As economies grow, greater efficiencies are obtained by outsourcing tasks to specialists like project management consultants. Strategy building, diagnostic services, planning and structuring project plan and proper execution are the core activity of a project management consultancy.

What are your company's future plans?

The company's business and operating model puts it in competition with the Big Four consulting and accounting firms when it comes to projects. Looking at the current growth graph of Petonic Infotech, the future plan is to reach a level where Petonic is considered at par with the big consulting firms. We have also expanded to United States from this year, as we also aim to be 'first consulting firm with technology inclusions like artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc. in terms of delivery of consulting services'.

Brief us about the birth of Petonic and its distinguishable aspects.

Petonic Infotech is the brainchild of super focussed 22 years old twins Yuvraj and Yashraj Bhardwaj. Immersed in scientific research, technology innovation, and business consulting from a young age, the brothers have built a mid-sized consultancy services enterprise and several other businesses, including private equity, e-waste recycling, etc., which has a long way to go. In an age when other teens are busy enjoying the newfound freedom of exploring the world, twins Yuvraj and Yashraj Bhardwaj were way ahead of their peers seeking the higher plane of scientific understanding. Their keen interest in scientific research, technology innovation and business consultancy had them reading research journals that emanated research ideas resulting in disruptive innovation. The duo had to their credit pumpkin purifiers and bajra purifiers even when they were just in school. Their innovative technology was recognised on Indian shores by the State Ganga River Conservation Agency and acclaimed internationally by governments of Malaysia, Austria, Israel, SF Fellowships, among others. Not only this, rather Yashraj Bhardwaj (one of Co-Founder) has been on board of national innovation and startuup committee also has been youngest ever appointed Garwood Fellow at University of California Berkeley.

Patenting their research at an early age of around 15, the twins, in 2017, used the funds from grants, fellowships, and prizes to start businesses focused on research and development, and Petonic Infotech, a consultancy services enterprise, emerged out of that. One unique factor favouring the two brothers' success is their ability to gauge what is needed and expertise in finance and investments rather than focus on technology as the sole driver. Recognising the lack of execution value that consulting firms bring to the table has helped them be the enablers of ideas rather than only conceiving them. According to the duo, consulting is normally affordable for larger companies, so the brothers also decided to extend similar services to small enterprises. Petonic Infotech began by providing consulting services to enterprises of various sizes in sectors such as technology, finance, agriculture, manufacturing, F&B, healthcare, and government bodies. Some of its larger clients include Nvidia, Apollo Group, Indraprastha Gas (IGL), the Government of Uttarakhand, Government of Jharkhand, the Government of Haryana, and many more. Petonic Infotech now is a multinational headquartered in India but having presence across Hong Kong, Singapore and United States. Petonic has different business verticals that are not limited to advisory, technical manpower consulting, strategy, R and D, transformation services, Petonic Infotech is considered to be one of the fast growing management consulting firm across industry.

How the pandemic affected business and how a consulting firm is playing a vital role in resolving the crisis?

In 2020, the global management consulting industry declined by about 15 per cent and was expected to subsequently contract in 2021 from $241 billion to $204 billion, reports Beroe Inc. As opposite to what other companies faced, Petonic Infotech, has seen a tremendous growth in the past two to three years. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated its growth and opened doors to solving challenging problems for its clients. The projects have increased so as the workload. Petonic also established itself at Sillicon Valley this year to start working on frameworks for inclusion of services of artificial intelligence, machine learning in consulting services. Petonic along with one of the renowned PSU is currently working on setting up of centre of excellence to incubate startups and impart entrepreneurial education in multiple sectors including electronics/ IT/ ITeS under startup accelerator programs. The value proposition is to bring together the physical, digital and all of business under one physical space i.e. Industry, government, entrepreneurs and academia. Industry connects, mentorship, tools to scale and investor connects are the important aspects covered under the incubation.

What are the industries that you cater to?

Petonic InfoTech caters to all the industries or sectors that involves or requires consulting services. It can be audit, transaction, advisory, technical manpower, strategy, R&D, and transformation services. The industry may vary from IT to finance and corporate sector to government PSU. The market to explore in consulting has no limitations as such. We look to solve problems and refrain from squeezing customers to provide piles of money without delivering results. Our outcome-based business model will continue to be our success factor. Our current pipeline of projects indicates we can grow our revenue four times this year.