Leaders

People are often unaware of how improving skills can reduce conflicts, improve productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction. With a mix of training & coaching, L&D can help individuals and organizations develop much-required skills. Realizing the increasing need & driven by her passion to train people, Archana Warty founded Amplyft. She ideated the company with the vision of amplifying the growth of aspiring professionals & fulfilling the needs of reputed corporations, by developing talent using a holistic approachto learning. The company helps professionals realize their true potential, create inspiring leaders, and be a part of their success story.

Archana comes with over 20+ years of corporate experience working in India and Europe. A Chartered Accountant by education, she has worked in varied industries such as Manufacturing and Media Companies. In her last stint, she was heading the Learning & Development Function of S R Batliboi (member firm of EY) Assurance India practice.

In an exclusive conversation with Women Entrepreneur India, Archana shares more about her journey and service strategies.

Take us through your early educational journey and the prior industry experience that you bring to the table.

Hailing from a very humble background, I lived o scholarships and started working at the age of 16 to support my family. After completing B. Com, I pursued my Chartered Accountancy. The professional journey began as an intern with S.R Batliboi (member firm of EY) in the year 2000. My career slowly grew up to managerial roles and leadership roles over a span of close to 18 years. I was into auditing for about 10 years and 8 years were spent setting up their learning and development function. I am fortunate to have been instrumental in managing the training of large teams of close to 4000 people. With a goal to reach more people & organizations and make a big difference, I decided to ideate an exclusive training company in the areas of auditing/accounting and soft skills. Leveraging my freelancing experience & learnings from EY, in collaboration with a couple of people like-minded people, I founded Amplyft

"Archana amplyft aims to be the catalyst for amplifying the growth of aspiring professionals & fulfilling the needs of reputed corporations, by developing talent,& using a more holistic approach to learning."

What was the triggering factor for you to get into entrepreneurship in the niche of training? What’ the underlying idea behind the company?

I believe that without ambition, one starts nothing & without work, one finishes nothing. I realized that my passion lies around changing the world, transforming lives, and influencing people. We make difference to corporates through customized training. The whole idea revolves around the tagline “Learn, Develop and Elevate”. We want to take them to the next level in life by increasing both technical as well as soft skills. We help people realize the things they want, the skills they require, and ways to develop them.I will support them in their learing journey, setting them on their path to me more satisfying working life. We handhold business owners, entrepreneurs, & executives clarify their opportunities, and strengths to generate significant results.

Tell us about the various roles and responsibilities that you shoulder as the founder of Amplyft. What are the primary focus areas in your current role?

Just as in the case of any startup, the founders will be the all-rounders, which is true in my case as well. However, I play a bigger role in terms of strategy and business development. Apart from this, the crucial part of my role is to onboard the right people to deliver training and make an impact; aligned with the company’s vision. Moreover, I do conduct training for a lot of companies because that is where my passion lies.

What are some of the most pressing challenges that you encounter as a business leader? How do you successfully mitigate these challenges?

The vital challenge I notice is innovation in technology and keeping pace with the changes in the learning platforms. We have to constantly understand what's new in the market and onboard innovative people who bring out-of-thebox ideas. This is a progressive challenge to have a competitive advantage and we accept it. In fact, we are constantly striving to come up with new digital solutions to help our clients and make everything easy for them. Another challenge is to have rightly skilled people to work and grow with the company.

What has been the driving force behind your success as  professional?

I always say that the ethos of my life is empowering another life. I love helping people and companies to impart the best impression. I acknowledge that the core driving force has always been my passion for training! Even when I was in the client-facing roles, I used to still get inclined toward training. I believe that that's where I am at my best because I love interacting with people. In the journey of sharing experiences, I acquire values from everyone around me, mostly from the candidates as well. As a person who never likes to be stagnated in growth, I always look for opportunities to learn while adding value to myself and others. Although I have been associated with EY for long years, I have ensured to do something different every two to three years in terms of roles, multicultural exposure, etc.

Archana Warty, Founder, Amplyft

Archana has 20+ years of corporate experience, out of which, 8+ years is facilitating audit methodology learning training programs