Insights
A non-tech founder’s guide to hiring tech leaders
Hiring a CTO as a non-tech founder is akin to playing chess blindfolded - you think you're making the right move, but you won’t know the outcome until it’s too late. You can ask a tech-savvy friend to assess skills, but only you can gauge the CTO’s maturity. Functional maturity is about decision-making. Don’t just analyze what choices they make - interrogate how they make them. Look for patterns of learning, adaptation, and strategic trade-offs. Can they balance technical excellence with business impact? Are they shaping technology’s role in the company, or just managing it? Hiring right isn’t just about avoiding failure - it’s about setting the foundation for scale and success. This guide provides a framework for evaluating technology leaders - beyond technical expertise and surface-level leadership traits.
How to attract talent that has typically been out of your reach
In today’s hyper-competitive talent market, most companies believe they can attract elite candidates simply by offering the right salary or pitching their vision. Here’s the truth: they can’t. The talent you’re chasing isn’t even considering you - not because you’re small or less funded, but because your approach is outdated and unremarkable. Companies must rethink their approach and strive to have non-transactional conversations with senior top talent. They must look at traditional search process and invest to make significant improvements. This paper challenges conventional wisdom about talent acquisition and makes the case for a radical shift in strategy to truly punch above your weight class.
The true role of a Chief AI Officer in an IT service company
As IT service organizations begin exploring the need for a Chief AI Officer role, the conventional thinking is to focus on accelerating AI implementation and adoption for its clients – a path that often demands expensive experiments and often sub-optimal results rather than real transformation. We fundamentally disagree with this approach. For an IT services company, the Chief AI Officer should serve as a gatekeeper – one who helps clients understand when they should not pursue AI initiatives. This contrarian stance isn't about limiting innovation; it's about ensuring sustainable, successful AI adoption through proper foundational work and, most importantly, tangible business value realization. If the client organization is ready for AI, the CAIO can help craft the AI strategy for the client. If not, the CAIO’s remit becomes to help the company be ready for an AI transformation. Both win-win situations!
Why mid-market companies must act now on India engineering talent?
In an era where access to premier engineering talent can make or break growth trajectories, mid-market U.S. companies find themselves at a critical crossroads. While giants like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have long leveraged India's engineering excellence through robust Global Capability Centers (GCCs), mid-market companies remain hesitant – despite recognizing the imperative to act. The paradox lies in the timing: waiting for perfect readiness means missing the opportunity, yet moving too aggressively risks organizational strain. The solution isn't to avoid action, but to act differently – with a tailored approach that acknowledges both the urgency and their unique constraints. Mid-cap companies must have bold aspirations (e.g. what will be our full potential if we improve our capabilities?), but they need to execute with precision and pragmatism.
One-minute Reads
Spurt in Large BioPharma GCCs in India but opportunities remain
India’s biopharma GCC landscape is experiencing substantial growth, with the majority of the world’s top 30 innovators establishing operations in the country. Hyderabad has emerged as a premier hub, attracting significant investment and talent. Distinct from many other sectors, biopharma GCCs typically focus on core, high-value R&D activities. This presents an opportune moment for smaller pharmaceutical companies and biotechs to leverage India’s deepening pool of highly skilled R&D professionals and establish agile, innovation-driven mini-GCCs.
Paradox of the Indian Gaming Industry
India’s gaming industry is poised for rapid expansion, with market size expected to reach $8.6 billion by 2028, driven by a growing gamer population and favorable FDI policies. Yet, despite producing approximately 40% of global game content, Indian studios account for less than 1% of global gaming revenues. Since 2021, VC and PE investment activity has softened, even as the sector continues to grow, while persistent talent shortages and limited formal training programs hinder the development of globally competitive games. To unlock the industry’s full potential, gaming companies must prioritize strategic investment in local talent development, strengthening capabilities and reducing reliance on high-cost foreign expertise.
Digital Lending and RBI guidelines
India’s digital lending market is projected to surpass $500 billion by 2025, propelled by rapid technology adoption and growing credit demand. The Reserve Bank of India is actively shaping the sector’s evolution, introducing regulations that balance innovation with financial stability, and prioritizing transparency, data security, and borrower protection. Recent guidelines reinforce stricter standards for data security, risk-sharing, and credit information disclosure, aimed at containing rising NPAs. However, these measures have also increased compliance costs, driving higher infrastructure investments and pushing up lending rates. In this environment, lenders face the strategic imperative of navigating a complex, evolving regulatory framework while sustaining credit growth.
Growth in Women in Pharma Boardrooms – but more needs to be done
Since the enactment of the Companies Act, 2013, the number of women directors on pharma company boards has tripled. While overall representation remains limited, many organizations have exceeded the mandated minimum, with a majority of women board members being independent of promoter groups. This reflects a positive shift toward greater diversity and independent oversight in board composition.
Case Studies
In early 2023, a leading NBFC launched its India operations with a vision to build a next-gen lending institution. XQtiv was brought on board to identify a CFO who could be a true co-pilot to the CEO - blending global fundraising expertise with strategic leadership for scale. Within 10 weeks and just four strong candidates, the role was successfully closed. This marked XQtiv's first finance leadership hire, unlocking deeper engagement across the CFO community.
A leading healthcare provider partnered with XQtiv to find a CEO who could lead its next phase of growth. The brief called for a visionary with deep insurance experience and an entrepreneurial mindset, ready to shape the company's path to IPO. XQtiv not only delivered the right leader but also amplified the client's presence across the senior talent ecosystem - introducing over 100 industry leaders to its bold mission.
A healthcare analytics firm partnered with XQtiv to find a VP of Engineering who could drive innovation across product, ML, and DevOps. The mandate demanded a rare blend of deep technical expertise, healthcare domain knowledge, and leadership capability. Within the first shortlist, XQtiv delivered the ideal candidate - enabling the client to accelerate its next phase of product and platform growth.
The client, one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in the U.S., partnered with XQtiv to identify a CISO for its India operations. The brief required a cybersecurity leader who could shape policy, advise senior stakeholders, and manage emerging threats within a healthcare context. XQtiv delivered through deep industry mapping - starting with award-winning CISOs - resulting in a high-impact hire that aligned with their broader Health 2.0 transformation goals.