On an exciting June afternoon at the Epsilon Bangalore office, 220 colleagues gathered for one of the first major in-person events since the pandemic. This, along with over 640 employees from India, APAC & MEA who joined us virtually to celebrate the most anticipated event of the year - the MD Excellence Awards 2022 (MDEA ’22).
This prestigious award recognizes colleagues and teams across India, APAC & MEA, who have displayed excellence and lived the Epsilon values of Passion, Accountability and Inclusion, in their day-to-day work and have gone above and beyond to deliver impactful results. Each year, the business unit heads assess the nominations to compile the shortlist. Following this, Ashish Sinha, MD-India, APAC and EMEA, and Seema Padman, SVP HR-India and APAC, screen the finalists to select the winners.
This year, Krishnaji Desai, Senior Director-Product Engineering, and Keerthi Kakhandaki, Senior Manager-Auto Practice won the ‘Inspiring Leader’ and ‘Emerging Leader’ awards, respectively. Two teams were recognized in the ‘Team Excellence’ category – Team Skynet & PCL (Product Engineering) and Team Kellogg’s (Loyalty). Team EPIC was recognized for their efforts to strengthen our culture through the ‘Making a Difference’ award.
Krishnaji Desai and Keerthi Kakhandaki receiving their awards.
Encompassing how our culture enables our employees to grow and prosper, Krishnaji shared, “Epsilon provides excellent opportunities to work on the best of technology, data, cloud and real-world problems, to build world-class products with innovation. And this comes with freedom with accountability, a high degree of empowerment, and collaboration across geographies making us a truly global organization.”
Echoing his thoughts, Keerthi stated, “I really like the open culture of Epsilon. Be it a new or an experienced person, every idea and voice is heard. The executive leadership teams, both in the US and India, are highly encouraging. They value your inputs; they consider your opinion and support you when you make the right decisions. They encourage you to do better. It is an excellent opportunity for one to learn and to grow.”
Team Kelloggs’ (left) and Team Skynet & PCL receiving their awards.
MDEA ’22 was a great opportunity for our colleagues to meet each other, come to the office and experience the Epsilon culture in-person for the very first time. It was heartwarming to see so many faces, old and new, come together to celebrate the accomplishments of our colleagues.
Team EPIC doing their winning dance.
What made the event more special was our guest speaker, Anuradha TK, the first woman director at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), the national space agency of India, who shared her inspiring personal and professional journey with us. In 1969, she was a primary school student when she watched the TV in her house with wide eyes as Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. That filled in her the curiosity to learn about space, and eventually pursue a three decade-long career in it. She spoke about her passion and determination, the support she received from her family and colleagues, and the impact of women in STEM disciplines.
For the women in the room, she had a piece of advice, “Pursue your passion. Do not be afraid. You are doing the right thing by pursuing your career.”
Anuradha TK, in conversation with Ashish Sinha
The event ended with a performance by Oxygen on the Rocks, an Indian rock band, leaving the audience grooving to many classic English, Hindi and Kannada numbers.
MDEA ’22 was a showcase of our values, our culture of innovation, the power of our people and what makes us ONE Epsilon. It was also a reminder that despite the challenges in the last two years, our spirit of collaboration and camaraderie is still intact and remarkably so. And that nothing can replace the bond of human connection.
Check out some of the highlights from the award ceremony in our recap video here.
Epsilon India is now Great Place to Work certified! If you are on the lookout for exciting career opportunities, check out our open positions. We’d love to have you.