AnyMind Group’s main focus lies on the market side and e-commerce enablement, shared Kosuke Sogo, Co-founder and CEO, AnyMind Group. He also spoke of his plans for the different verticals of the group, including India’s POKKT.

Excerpts from the conversation:

You have had a phenomenal journey. In just five to six years, you have made a strong presence in top markets across Asia, including the Middle East and India. I want to know how these two markets are faring.

There’s a very strong business momentum in the Middle East and Indian markets. We have more than a hundred employees in India with our offices present in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru, indicating a steady growth in the country. In the Middle East, we initially started doing the business from Dubai, however, recently, we have expanded our business to Saudi Arabia. We already set up our local entity over there to grow our business further in the region.

AnyMind Group is stretched into different verticals, be it e-commerce management and development, influencer marketing or cloud manufacturing. What are your strongest verticals or divisions? Also, going ahead, what other divisions or verticals do you want to tap into or explore?

Yes, we have several verticals. However, our main focus lies on the market side and e-commerce enablement. We are the only company that can provide both e-commerce enablement as well as marketing capability to big brands across the Asia Pacific. By leveraging our global presence, we are trying to enhance cross-border collaborations because we work with a bunch of international brands. We can enable those international brands to grow their business in several markets across the Asia Pacific, not just in India.

Your group provides a plenitude of solutions for publishers, advertisers, influencers, PR networks for brands, and so on. What are some of the top brands and clients that you have partnered with in this journey?

We have worked with a bunch of big international brands like Unilever, Unicharm, Johnson & Johnson, Suntree, and even some top Japanese brands. What we have learned is that in each market, there are some local brands, such as Thailand’s CP Group, that are very strong. But we have been working with more than a thousand brands all over the world, and I have to congratulate our sales team on doing great and acquiring so many brands.

Generative AI is the word of the hour, with everyone attempting to incorporate it into their businesses. How is the AnyMind Group trying to leverage AI?

We have a team called the AI Lab that focuses on using AI-based technologies on our platforms. I believe that having a unique form of data is vital for leveraging AI technology. A lot of data can be generated and stored on our platforms. Our e-commerce management platform AnyX, which has been integrated with most of the e-commerce marketplaces all over the world, can analyse the data and help you implement AI solutions for better optimization.

In individual sectors, you are bound to have a lot of competitors, but if I’m not wrong, nowadays many players are trying to manage verticals like you do. At this point, what is your unique selling proposition?

Two major factors give us an edge over other companies in Asia. Firstly, unlike other tech companies in Asia, we follow a BPaaS hybrid model, which is not completely a software model. Following a software plus BPO kind of functionality, we support execution capabilities along with the regular tech bit. The BPaaS model works particularly well for big enterprise customers in Asia. Because many of our clients are not very proficient in using the software, we also provide them with solutions around execution, optimization, and operation. The hybrid services that we provide are quite different from what is done in the US and Europe. Additionally, we command a strong global presence, running business operations in 15 countries across Asia. We have strong teams in place for business development, execution and support, and these teams can meet any kind of requirement for clients in different markets. Our different teams collaborate across markets, further providing cross-border capabilities.

AnyMind acquired POKKT in 2020 and onboarded Rohit Sharma and his team into the larger AnyMind Group. Would you tell me about the results of this move and also how has your association with Rohit and the team been?

Though we acquired POKKT, it feels like a merger to me, and we have been seeing great results. When I acquired POKKT, I appointed Rohit as the COO of the AnyMind Group, giving him responsibilities of POKKT as well as AnyMind. We have the same vision, and we are aligning our efforts together for the growth of the entire AnyMind Group. The larger goal is to collaborate to make an impact on the market and add more value to our clients by combining our own sets of solutions.

Digital is on the rise, however, experts claim that marketers are not completely tapping in on mobile advertising. How is POKKT helping in this regard?

There’s ample space for the growth of mobile advertising in India, but we must also acknowledge the competition. What is important is to be in a constant state of innovation because this market changes shapes very fast. POKKT comes loaded with strong mobile marketing capabilities, and we have been using it on several of our clients. We are bringing together the technological might of AnyMind with that of POKKT to solve the needs of the clients and enhance our tech development capabilities. We can quickly adapt our products to the changes in the market, and that is how we can keep growing the business in the mobile advertising sector as well.

You have already become an Asian giant; do you plan to go beyond Asia as well?

I strongly believe that going ahead, Asia is going to be at the centre of the world. This also signifies that we need to enhance our cross-border framework. Our eye is set on Asia at this point, but I think that as time progresses, more Western brands will heed more to the Asian markets. Having a strong presence in many Asian markets, we can now focus on the cross-border business. With multiple products in our basket, we are a one-stop shop for solutions. We can help brands optimise their entire value chain, including the supply chain. This is the kind of approach that will suit many big enterprises, and we will continue to do so.