CHANNEL CHIEF
Inspired by
technology,
believing in
empowerment
Hozefa Saylawala leads the sales and operations of Zebra
Technologies in the Middle East region. By Arun Shankar.
Hozefa Saylawala is
Director of Sales
Middle East at Zebra
Technologies.
Z
ebra Technologies transacts 100
per cent of its business in the
region through channels. As the
head of the sales organisation, the growth
and expansion of channel business is
Saylawala’s key responsibility alongside
business development with end customers.
For Saylawala, the most exciting
part of his role is the opportunity
to engage with CXOs across diverse
industry verticals, including retail,
healthcare, transportation, logistics
and manufacturing. He points out they
are all very different, but with common
challenges and opportunities. “The quality
of the people I work with at Zebra and of
our customers is an added privilege.”
With the visibility that solutions from
Zebra provides, enterprises can become as
smart and connected as the world we live
in. Real-time information can be extracted
from its solutions, giving organisations
the competitive edge they need to simplify
operations, drill down into their businesses
and customers, and empower mobile
workers to succeed in today’s data-
60
centric world. “While the fast pace of the
technology life cycle makes implementation
from the vision phase to deployment phase
incredibly exciting, it is also somewhat
challenging,” says Saylawala.
Strategic visions of the governments
in the region have led to fast adoption
of advanced technologies. This includes
many of the smart city initiatives.
Saylawala feels some of his most exciting
and memorable achievements, as part of
his professional association, have been
with these amazing projects in the region
that have advanced the Middle East
significantly. “As a result, we have been
able to innovate and create a range of
niche solutions that cater to the unique
demands and characteristics of the
clientele we serve in the region.”
Saylawala is a strong believer in people
empowerment and follows a supportive
style of management. He rationalises
that by bringing in talented people
and providing them with motivation
and a platform to grow and develop
professionally and personally, Zebra
Technologies can get the best contribution
from the team and all individuals within
it. “I am a firm believer in building strong
teams with processes that make them
self-sustaining and thereby making its
manager redundant.”
Saylawala’s inspiration to enter into a
career in technology is linked to Bill Gates
and his book: The Road Ahead. The vision
and future possibilities for technology
the book contains and outlines motivated
him to think seriously about a career in
technology. “I believe I made the right
decision,” he reflects. In his opinion, the
hot technology talking points of the year
cover the Internet of Things, which contains
artificial intelligence, augmented reality and
contextually aware assets. “We anticipate
this will all keep us focused this year.”
He de-stresses by cooking meals for his
family and friends, which is also a great
pleasure. And he likes to spend most of his
time-off after work with his family and his
children, while they are still young and in
their growing years.
The most
exciting part of
his role is the
opportunity to
engage with
CXOs.
Issue 09
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS