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Logistics is undergoing rapid digital transformation. Which What I understood from this phase is that change works only when
technology or business model do you believe will most redefine people feel comfortable with it. Once the systems were adjusted
VRL in the next five years, and how are you preparing the to make their day-to-day work simpler, the same people who were
organization for it? resisting started picking it up without hesitation. It made me realize
that managing people and managing growth go together.
I believe the next major shift for VRL will come from automation
and digital optimization. In logistics, the way a company
executes its operations directly determines cost, speed and Looking ahead ten years, what are the three headline
service quality, so the organizations that run tighter systems will accomplishments you want to be able to point to for VRL and for
naturally lead the industry.
your own career, and what early milestones will tell you that you
For us, the direction is clear: Reduce manual intervention wherever are on the right track?
technology can deliver faster and more consistent results. We Ten years from now, I would be happy if three things happen.
are already moving in this direction through OTP-based pneumatic
locks, conveyor belts, pallet trains inside hubs, automated First, VRL Logistics continues to grow as an organized market
material movement, using small EVs inside godowns and digitising leader. In an industry that is mostly unorganized, our market
procedures that were historically manual. These upgrades make share is still very small compared to the total opportunity,
day-to-day operations sharper and more predictable. so there is huge scope to expand across India and hopefully
internationally.
Second, Vijayanand Travels keeps scaling the way it has after
What has been your toughest leadership moment so far, the demerger. In the last three years we have tripled the fleet,
operationally or strategically, and what did you learn from it that and going ahead the goal is to become the biggest and most
changed how you manage people, risk or growth? trusted intercity, interstate bus service across India, not just the
One of the tougher periods for me was during festivals, when South.
a lot of our labour force went home and we didn’t have enough Third, on a personal level, I would like us to become a
people on the ground. In our business the work can’t stop, so conglomerate and build new businesses alongside what we
we had to somehow manage the load with whatever manpower already run.
available.
At the same time, we were also rolling out new systems, and
some people weren’t very comfortable with the change initially.
I don’t blame them as it’s a traditional setup and people prefer I believe the next major shift for VRL
what they are used to.
will come from automation and digital
optimization.
38 | Uth Series 2025 • U30 Business Leaders
