When GlobalLogic co-founder and president Sanjay Singh picked up best selling business author Jim Collins’ book ‘Built to Last’ from the Borders book store near Washington DC, it was clear he needed to change the direction of the company. Singh urged the other founders of the company—Manoj Agarwala, Rajul Garg and Tarun Upadhyay—to read Collins’ book as well. From this experience the four founders agreed that if they were going to grow a company the right way, the blueprint articulated in ‘Built to Last’ would be a lasting influence.

What followed was a rigorous effort to integrate the principles expressed in Collins’ book into the GlobalLogic mission. Singh explained: “We will partner with the world’s emerging and established technology leaders to help them deliver great products to market in less time and at less cost.” To keep the momentum going, Singh defined the company’s vision as “By the year 2010, we will dominate the worldwide market for global product development.”

Once the vision was set it was just a matter of execution. Having worked in the IT services marketplace previously, GlobalLogic’s founders had first-hand experience meeting the needs of the chief information officers (CIOs) at their clients. They had seen what an effective global delivery model could deliver in the way of customer satisfaction. They also learned quickly that when an attempt was made to replicate the model to meet the product research and development (R&D) needs of client chief technology officers (CTOs), there was a disconnect.

Singh and his team recognized the opportunity to create a business which met the specific needs of CTO’s, and the leaders of the engineering and product development departments. The GlobalLogic team’s insight into the dynamic nature of the product development business and the rapid changes that occur during the full product lifecycle, led to the creation of GlobalLogic in 2000.

Unlike IT services firms, which focused primarily on an outsourced-based, low cost proposition to the client, GlobalLogic’s conversation with clients revolved around the challenges facing the CTO, engineering and product development leadership. As Singh and his team talked about rapid time-to-market, optimal product quality, collaborative workflow, shared goals tied to risk/reward, and a virtual R&D partnership, it was possible to actually see the client’s eyes light up.