On August 9th, 2024, the GLS University hosted an exclusive panel discussion featuring industry leaders, including Ashish Kasama, the CTO and founder of Lucent Innovation. Attendees gained valuable insights from their startup journeys, with a focus on learning, networking, and sharing expertise.

Introduction

Ashish Kasama, CTO of Lucent Innovation calls himself an “accidental entrepreneur”. He is a Software Engineer with experience in Companies like Accenture and Wipro. Family circumstances brought him to Ahmedabad where he co-founded Lucent Innovation with his brother Nitesh Kasama. Despite having no Entrepreneural experience, they learned the skills and built a premium brand that attracted challenging projects from US clients. Their hard work paid off, they grew Lucent Innovation into a successful company with over 100 employees and a reputed client base.

Starting and Growing a Tech Startup

In his talk, Ashish Kasama said that running a startup requires guts and perseverance. He emphasized that solving customer problems is the key to any tech startup’s success. Lucent Innovation’s strategy is to keep in touch with clients regularly to ensure their needs are met. The key takeaway is that a tech startup should use technology to solve real world problems.

Evolution of Tech Startups

Mr. Kasama talked about the rapid evolution of technology, from Windows XP and keypad phones to touchscreens and AI technologies like ChatGPT. He said the future will be shaped by cybersecurity, AI and data science. He shared a recent client request for AI computations as an example of how new technology is changing industries and solving real time problems.

Skills to Start an IT Firm

Ashish Kasama talked about the skills required for tech startup founders, effective communication within the team and with external stakeholders is key to success. He also emphasized the importance of understanding and solving client problems through active listening and feedback which can guide new product development.

Ashish kasma giving speech to GLS audience — Ashish Kasma giving speech to GLS audience

Overcoming Technical Challenges

He shared his experience of overcoming technical challenges, which started with custom features and upgrading a client’s platform. When the initial solution didn’t work, they quickly adapted by learning and implementing AWS services to handle increased server load. Another challenge was processing 1 GB files with PHP which led them to apply their knowledge of Java multi-threading and convert the process into microservices, which reduced processing time and improved efficiency.

Advice to the Next Gen

Ashish Kasama, CTO of Lucent Innovation said collaboration over competition. He said working with people who have the expertise for specific tasks. Failure is the beginning of success. He encouraged others to accept failure as a step towards their goal, true success often follows initial failures.

Will AI Take Your Job?

Mr. Kasama also clarified that AI including ChatGPT is designed to assist not replace human jobs. He said AI can solve specific problems, especially in medicine and encouraged to see AI as a tool that supports daily tasks not a threat to employment.

Conclusion

Ashish Kasama’s contributions to the panel discussion were insightful and inspiring. His unique perspective, rooted in personal startup experience, offered valuable lessons on resilience, innovation, and collaboration. His practical advice and ability to connect with the audience left a lasting impact, making the discussion a memorable experience for all who attended.

How to Start Your Own It Firm: Ashish Kasma Addresses Youth