•You will hear part of an interview between Jessie Paul, the global marketing head in Quintant, and an interviewer. •For each qu

M: What is your primary role in the new company?
F: I will be responsible for building awareness for the  business  services  provisioning  (BSP) concept, popularising the same concept internationally; and managing all aspects of the Quintant brand.  In keeping with the global delivery model adopted by the business, I will work with local marketing teams based out of the US and Europe.
M: Since when were you interested in BPO [business process outsourcing] and BSP?
F: I feel that IT is nothing but BPO.  As an outsourcing, it’s not a new subject to me, I was a brand expert in Infosys, and I can say that we used to outsource public relations service from an agency, which means we had outsourced one particular service. I realised the real potential of BPO only in February 2003, when I attended Nasscom’a BPO Summit, held in Mumbai.
M: You believe that BSP is the next big wave in IT. So what are the challenges Quintant has to face in the global market?
F: I feel that convincing people [clients] and building intellectual capital and putting in place the  marketing infrastructure are the key challenges. Quintant will be the lighthouse in the BSP space, and it will be exciting to build it grounds-up. It is the first BSP company in India.
M: What is your action plan or agenda for the next six months?
F: I need to set things in the right place. They include optimising people processes, building teams and creating awareness. We are already in the process.
M: What are the areas [verticals] Quintant is focusing on?
F: We are focusing on the banking and finance markets in Canada,  the US,  the UK and Germany. Asia Pacific is not our thrust area, at least in the initial stage.
M: Quintant was launched in March 2003. Do you have any clients right now?
F: No,  we don’t have any.  We aren’t even expecting any in the first one year. But we are working on two outsourcing protects — for a big bank in Europe and for a financial company in the US.
M: As part of your job, will you be in touch with Phaneesh Murthy, who is Quintant’s strategic consult and an ex-colleague in Infosys?
F: Yes, I need to coordinate with local marketing teams based out of the US and Europe.
M: What prompted you to quit Infosys or inspired you to take up a job in a start-up company?
F:  Working with Infosys,  India’s best global services brand, was a tremendous experience. Since I had financial stability,  I looked at empowerment and sought to work with an intellectual pool. I have also a desire to be part of the creation of a new industry. I found all these values in Quintsnt, and, moreover, I like the job profile that was offered to me. The team here has a lot of people who are absolutely top-notch in their chosen fields — whether it be analytics,     consulting, operations or straight-through-processing, and it is always a privilege to work with experts.
M: How did you present this matter to the Infosys management?
F: I met [-chief mentor N R] Narayanamurthy and [CEO, president and managing director] Nandan [-Nilekani] while leaving Infosys. In fact, they did not ask  me anything, but encouraged me    for career growth. Narayanamurthy asked me why I want to quit. I respect him a lot. I told him that I am getting a good position and will lead the BSP concept and, moreover, I will create jobs in India. He is absolutely encouraging, and mentioned that the concept will work out and Quintsnt will definitely be a successful company. He is a good person and always encourages someone to create jobs in India.