Response From Mr. Varghese Daniel, Co-Founder and CEO, Wrench Solutions

1. Wrench Solutions has grown into a global company serving major engineering and construction projects. What have been the most important milestones in the company's growth journey?

Ans. Wrench is not your average IT company. We're not a product or solutions or services company, even though we design and build all three, instead we define ourselves by the problems we solve and the people we solve them for. We're a customer-centric and customer-led company that gauges 'success' by how well we serve our chosen markets. So I'd say our milestones were breaking into global markets - which we did by working with companies in India and the ME who went on to recommend us to their parent companies around the world - expanding into the verticals and sub-verticals within each sector - as of today there's very few construction or engineering verticals we don't serve - and developing our cloud-based integrated platform to extend our value proposition across all EPC phases and stakeholders.

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2. As a founder and CEO, how do you balance long-term innovation with the immediate needs of customers and project stakeholders?

Ans. From my perspective there's no difference between the two. The needs of our customers and project stakeholders is what drives our innovation - we build backward from real-world problems and not forward from ideas - it's our customer's requirements, present and future, that define how and where we innovate, and why. Let me put it this way: we're fundamentally problem-solvers, not technology creators. So whether it's adapting AI to reduce human error or automating reporting to streamline human collaboration, to me innovation simply means harnessing the latest tools and technologies to solve my customer's immediate needs while leveraging my experience and knowledge to anticipate his future ones -  and solve them via the solutions I provide. 

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3. With technologies like AI, predictive analytics, and digital twins gaining momentum, what role do you see them playing in the future of Wrench Solutions and project management as a whole?

Ans. Oh, the role is going to be huge. Despite projects getting bigger and more complex we'll see project management getting easier -  the focus will move from reaction to 'pro-action', from cure to prevention, from rework to pre-work. Firefighting and recovery will become the exception not daily occurrences. Data will be used intelligently - instead of studying system-generated reports to build POAs we'll study system-generated POAs to choose the best one - and implement it via system-driven workflows. AI, predictive analytics, digital twinning - these will give us tighter control over project execution and fewer instances of deviations cascading into full-blown disasters. There'll be almost no penalties, budget overruns,  or last-minute quality issues. In short, we'll see the kind of project management Wrench has been shooting for all along.

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4. Digital transformation is a major theme across construction and EPC industries. What are the most common mistakes organizations make when adopting new technologies?

Ans. Too little, too late - that's the biggest mistake! The prevailing mindset is  'let's automate the process we have now' - which is woefully shortsighted. Maybe in the past it was enough but today you need a whole new process - and it should be driven by automation and integrated ie every task, document, activity, stakeholder, vendor, team should be linked within the same digital environment. It's not about automating a task, it's about improving the outcome of that task, in the real world. You shouldn't use a digital system to make better reports, you should use it to enforce better monitoring and quality control. That's what transformation means in this context - a new process that is integrated, automated, and - importantly - managed by a digital system (or superset of systems) that's intelligent, incorruptible, and supportive. 

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5. Looking ahead, what is your vision for Wrench Solutions over the next five years, and what advice would you give to young professionals who want to build impactful technology companies?

Ans. Our goal is #ZeroToleranceForDelay. Meaning, about 85 per cent of projects today get delayed and I want to bring that number down to zero - if not the next five, then in the next ten years. I would say our vision is to offer practical guidance to our customers on how to achieve Zero tolerance for delay, through our products and services and solutions and supported by our hands-on knowledge of their industries. For young professionals, my best advice is to get plugged in - sync up with the latest products and systems, especially AI, and stay abreast of what your future employers and/or customers might want and need. Don't only follow what's being taught, get 'proactive' - learn how to use technology to drive project success and learn about industry best practices which define and document that success.