Jaymin Bhuptani, Founder and CEO of Uplers, a leading tech talent matchmaking firm

Interview with Jaymin Bhuptani, Founder and CEO of Uplers, a leading tech talent matchmaking firm

Jaymin Bhuptani is a serial entrepreneur and is driven to create opportunities by building scalable businesses.

He believes that the purpose of a business is to uplift everyone associated with the business – its people, customers, partners, society, nation & world at large.

At Uplers, he leads the overall brand vision and direction. Uplers is on a mission to create amazing global, remote & flexible job opportunities for Indian talent to help them uplift their career. 

Jaymin focuses rigorously on enhancing the overall platform market fit, value maps for both clients & talents as well as overall platform growth & experience. He’s a proud father of two naughty kids. He loves reading, traveling & biking in his personal time.

Tell us a little about yourself

Jaymin Bhuptani: My professional journey took off in 2004 after completing my master’s degree in computer applications.

I landed my first job as a Java trainee and quickly gained valuable experience as a developer. However, my thirst for knowledge led me to pursue an MBA in IT from SPJain, where I further honed my skills and expanded my horizons.

Following my MBA, I had the incredible opportunity to work as a Business Analyst at Nakheel Group in Dubai. During this exciting role, we were in the process of implementing an Oracle ERP system for one of their restaurant businesses.

Little did I know that a year into the job, an investor would come knocking, ready to invest in an idea I had been brewing since my MBA days.

And so, in 2008, I embarked on my first entrepreneurial adventure, venturing into the world of building an e-commerce marketplace for jewelers in Dubai.

Now, here’s a fun twist to the story. Although my family background was deeply rooted in business, I was the first in my extended family to opt for a job instead of immediately jumping into entrepreneurship.

Nevertheless, after gaining some valuable experience in the corporate world, it felt natural for me to spread my wings and start my own business.

While enjoying my time in Dubai, I decided to establish a digital agency aimed at helping companies achieve outstanding results with their digital marketing investments.

To make this endeavor a reality, we set up a stellar team in India. In 2010, I took the leap and relocated to India, fueled by a vision to expand our services beyond the Middle East and tap into new markets.

Fast forward to today, and we have achieved remarkable growth with our digital service business. Our team has grown to include around 1000 talented individuals by 2021.

But here’s where the story takes another exciting turn. Recognizing the increasing demand for top-notch Indian talent in global companies, we identified a golden opportunity.

Thus, we launched a talent platform designed to connect global companies with the finest Indian talent, fulfilling their recruitment needs.

So there you have it—a glimpse into my journey, from a Java trainee to CEO, navigating through entrepreneurial endeavors and constantly seeking new opportunities.

It’s been quite a ride, and I’m thrilled to be leading Uplers into the future with a team of exceptional professionals.

Please tell us a little about your entrepreneurial journey. Kindly brief us about Uplers, its specialization, and the services that it offers

Jaymin Bhuptani: Certainly! My entrepreneurial journey has been a thrilling and rewarding experience. It all began in 2008 when I embarked on my first entrepreneurial venture, building an e-commerce marketplace exclusively for jewelers in Dubai.

This marked a pivotal moment in my career, as I transitioned from being an employee to becoming a business owner.

Starting my own business allowed me to unleash my creativity, take risks, and pursue my passion for innovation.

I faced numerous challenges along the way, but each obstacle presented an opportunity for growth and learning.

Building and growing a business from the ground up requires perseverance, dedication, and a strong belief in the vision you’re striving to achieve.

While navigating the entrepreneurial landscape, I also established a digital agency aimed at helping companies optimize their digital marketing efforts.

This venture proved to be immensely successful, and we assembled a talented team in India to support our operations.

By expanding our services beyond the Middle East, we were able to cater to a broader market and establish ourselves as a trusted partner in the digital realm.

Over the years, I’ve witnessed the ups and downs that come with entrepreneurship. From celebrating milestones and successes to facing setbacks and learning from failures, every experience has shaped me as an entrepreneur and leader.

Through it all, I’ve remained committed to fostering a culture of innovation, teamwork, and excellence within my ventures.

The entrepreneurial journey is a dynamic and ever-evolving one. As a CEO, I continue to embrace new opportunities and explore ways to stay at the forefront of industry trends.

I’m excited about the future and the potential to make a lasting impact in the digital landscape while empowering businesses and individuals to achieve their goals.

In summary, my entrepreneurial journey has been an exhilarating adventure, filled with challenges that have only fueled my determination to succeed. It’s a journey that celebrates resilience and innovation, where every obstacle becomes an opportunity for growth.

I look forward to the next chapter, brimming with endless possibilities and the chance to make a lasting impact in the digital realm.

Uplers is a leading tech and digital talent matchmaking platform that attracts India’s top talent, vets them for technical, communication & behaviour skills, and matches them with amazing global companies offering full-time, long-term, remote job opportunities.

Organizations across the world are recognizing the value of building agile and scalable teams that are often fully distributed or remote-friendly.

And it is heartening to see that India has emerged as a leader in terms of the source of tech and digital talent. However, competition for the right talent still remains competitive.

At Uplers, we ensure a right fitment between clients and talent where talent can simply register, build a strong profile, and clear various assessments on the platform, thus becoming fully vetted & ready for any long-term remote opportunity with global companies.

What inspired you to start a tech talent matchmaking? How would you define the reality of the current skill or the talent ecosystem?

Jaymin Bhuptani: The rise of remote work is here to stay, posing a challenge to traditional office policies and the orthodox way of working.

Organizations and talent are embracing remote working as it offers in-built flexibility, reaching out to top talent irrespective of geographical barriers for hiring and getting hired.

On one hand, global companies are seeking full-time, long-term talent from all over the world to join their distributed teams, talent on the other side also prefer flexibility and the exposure of working directly with client teams, and the freedom to work from anywhere.

The opportunities for the talent ecosystem, especially tech and digital talent, have opened up many fold post the pandemic.

India has emerged as a leader in terms of the source of tech and digital talent and these professionals are more in demand today than ever before.

I’d also like to mention that India has emerged as a destination of choice for global hiring managers, especially for tech and digital skills.

Organizations are turning to India, considering the value that Indian talent brings both commercially, vis-a-vis local talent in certain countries at the same level of expertise, as well as in other areas such as adding to the diversity of the team.

The ability to source the right talent at scale, have deep vetting that includes technical, communication, behavioral and remote-readiness, and a strong matchmaking based on Machine Learning Signals and human matchmaking ensures that companies benefit from interviewing only a few top vetted talent insteads of scores of them.

Talent benefits from a quick and seamless hiring process with complete flexibility of the kind of jobs, time zones, and salaries they’d like to work for.

This is where Uplers plays a critical role of making hiring and getting hired reliable, simple, and fast for both the parties.

What were some of the challenges you faced in the early days?

Jaymin Bhuptani: Embarking on my entrepreneurial journey was like stepping into a captivating maze, filled with thrilling challenges and unexpected twists.

Among the various hurdles I encountered along the way, one that stood out prominently was the intricate dance of cross-cultural interactions.

It was a fascinating yet formidable aspect that demanded my attention and adaptability to thrive in the global business landscape.

I approached the challenge with an open mind and sought guidance from cross-cultural experts. Clear communication became crucial.

I emphasized concise and transparent messages, encouraging questions for clarity. I also fostered an inclusive work environment that celebrated diversity and encouraged collaboration among team members from various cultural backgrounds.

These efforts yielded remarkable results. Our teams thrived in an environment that embraced diversity, sparking creativity and innovative solutions.

By appreciating and understanding cross-cultural differences, we transformed challenges into stepping stones for success.

Today, I take pride in the growth achieved through navigating cross-cultural interactions. It has become an integral part of our company’s identity, shaping our global workforce and driving our success.

By embracing diversity and fostering collaboration, we continue to excel in the ever-evolving entrepreneurial landscape.

How do you balance the needs of your clients with the needs of the candidates you represent, and what steps do you take to ensure that everyone is satisfied with the outcome? Do you think that the increasing focus on digital transformation has disrupted the job and talent market?

Jaymin Bhuptani: We support our clients and talent post matchmaking as well as during their engagement as our commitment is not only to find top talent, but also to stay connected to ensure the client’s end goal is met when they on-board a top Indian tech and digital talent through Uplers.

We spend enough time to understand and analyze clients’ requirements and make sure to position them in the best way possible to our talent pool.

Similarly, on the talent side, we ensure the right matchmake happens between talent and the global remote opportunity.

Owing to our thorough vetting processes, our talent-client fitment analysis is strong and this also makes us achieve a 100% interview to success rate.

To make sure the objectives of both the parties are fulfilled, we assign dedicated account managers (AMs) to clients and Talent Success Coaches (TSCs) to each client and deployed talent, respectively.

This also helps us in getting frequent feedback from both sides to keep the entire process reliable, fast, and simple! 

Broadly speaking, digital technologies are helping organizations bring scale, simplicity, speed, process efficiencies, and reliability.

Our mission at Uplers is to make hiring, and getting hired, simple, fast, and reliable. And our machine learning driven tech platform plays a key role in this.

The hiring space like all others have benefited from this technology progress. AI-powered recruiting tools can now sift through thousands of resumes to find the most qualified candidates, saving recruiters time and effort.

Of course having the right sourcing, vetting, machine learning signals for talent-client matchmaking, and post-deployment success indicators is key.

So whilst there would be certain impacts of new technologies on certain job types, broadly speaking this shift has benefited all. Even though the nature of jobs that humans do today, and will do in future, is certainly changing.

What advice would you give to someone who is looking to break into the tech industry, either as a candidate or a recruiter?

Jaymin Bhuptani: To our amazing tech and digital talent from India, I’d say that opportunities are immense. Global companies are looking for amazing talents like you, and the post pandemic remote-model opens up doors that were previously closed.

Invest in having a strong profile, certifications, and clear assessments that further aid your candidature. To ensure a long term success in a remote work opportunity, developing soft skills plays a crucial role.

We at Uplers understand that communication and soft skills are as important as technical skills, so our multidimensional assessment tests are designed to ensure right vetting and matchmaking in terms of technical skills, soft skills, cross-culture fitment, and remote readiness.

Leverage all the support at your command for building a strong resume and developing interview skills, these are aspects where our teams also support Indian talent.

To recruiters and budding recruiters I’d say that the hiring space is transforming quickly so do stay abreast with the fast developing changes.

The archaic model of sourcing talent isn’t attractive anymore, and tech-enabled deep vetting platforms are enabling clients and talents to form strong matches. Leverage these to your advantage.

How is Uplers helping the cause of bridging the existing skills or the talent gap?

Jaymin Bhuptani: Post the pandemic, the hiring space has seen acceleration in hiring in certain skills like digital, and at the same time business uncertainties have moderated such acceleration.

However, competition for the right talent remains high. The future of work for Indian talent is promising.

Organizations around the world are leveraging the remote-worker model to leverage the best talent irrespective of geographical location.

India is at an advantage as it is predicted to be the only tech talent surplus country in the next few years, and that enables Indian tech talent to grab remote global job opportunities to fulfill global needs whilst sitting right here in India.

The availability of skilled talent, combined with the adoption of remote work breaks down geographical barriers and creates opportunities for Indian talent.

At Uplers, we do this diligently keeping the needs of both the parties in focus. Strong sourcing, vetting and matchmaking between talent and clients’ hiring requirements is critical when placing Indian tech talent in global remote jobs.

What was the inspiration behind turning an entrepreneur? What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from them? What kind of expansion and progress have you seen both internationally and in India?

Jaymin Bhuptani: The inspiration behind my journey as an entrepreneur stemmed from a deep-rooted desire to solve a critical industry challenge and add value where it was needed most.

One of the pain points I identified was the hiring process, which I realized could be a cumbersome and inefficient experience.

It became apparent that our inability to find and onboard the right talent at the right time hindered our growth and missed opportunities.

This challenge was further magnified when global companies sought to hire talent from India, considering the cultural and work environment differences, as well as the unique talent ecosystem.

Driven by the need to address this pain point, I embarked on a mission to revolutionize the hiring landscape.

We focused our efforts on streamlining the hiring process, bridging the gap between global companies and Indian talent.

By understanding the intricacies of cross-cultural interactions, I aimed to create a platform that facilitated seamless hiring experiences, fostering successful collaborations between companies and talented individuals.

Failures have been an inevitable part of this journey. We have experienced setbacks and moments of slowness when we lost sight of our core problem-solving mission.

Sometimes, the allure of new and exciting opportunities led us astray, causing us to deviate from our primary focus.

These instances served as valuable lessons, reminding us of the importance of staying true to our core purpose and maintaining a laser-like focus on solving the challenges we initially set out to address.

Through these failures, I learned the significance of maintaining clarity and alignment with our core mission.

I recognized the importance of measured growth, avoiding the temptation to expand too rapidly or pursue opportunities that were not in line with our primary objectives.

By remaining steadfast in our commitment to solving the hiring challenge, we were able to refocus our efforts and realign our direction, ultimately driving meaningful impact and growth.

In essence, the inspiration behind becoming an entrepreneur was rooted in the desire to tackle industry challenges head-on and make a positive difference.

Traditional hiring and work models are obsolete. Freedom, flexibility and diversity are now in-built within progressive organizational structures.

India, and Uplers on behalf of India, leads the charge when it comes to tech and digital talent transforming global companies, right here from India in a remote-first set-up.

We started with 5 skills, now we have successfully expanded to 35 tech and digital skills. This is helping us at scale to attract over 40,000 talents each month, adding over 1000 fully vetted talent, and overall now having more than 200,000 skilled Indian talent at different levels of vetting within Uplers Talent Network.

Our international client base has grown too. Our clients include top digital agencies and hot product start-ups as well as established large multinational organizations across North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Middle East and other regions.

What are your success tips for young and aspiring entrepreneurs?

Jaymin Bhuptani: Aspiring entrepreneurs, here are some success tips to guide you on your journey:

1. Stay Focused: Find your sweet spot by identifying what you’re good at and where there’s a demand in the market. Once you’ve found your playground, stick to it like a determined squirrel chasing acorns.
2. Embrace Continuous Learning: Keep your entrepreneurial antennas up at all times. Stay curious like a playful kid, searching out new knowledge, trends, and skills that can give your venture a refreshing boost of success.
3. Build a Squad: Surround yourself with a crew of fellow dreamers and doers. Connect with mentors, join supportive communities, and collaborate with other aspiring entrepreneurs. Together, you’ll create a force stronger than a superhero squad.
4. Bounce Back with Style: Entrepreneurship is like riding a roller coaster – there will be thrilling highs and stomach-dropping lows. Embrace your inner elastic band and bounce back from setbacks with style and resilience. Remember, failure is just a temporary detour on the road to success.
5. Customer Love is Key: Treat your customers like the VIPs they are. Listen to their needs, pamper them with outstanding service, and sprinkle some extra sparkle on top. Happy customers will become your biggest fans, spreading the word faster than a viral cat video.

Remember, young entrepreneurs, success is a journey filled with exciting twists and turns. Now go out there and make your entrepreneurial dreams shine brighter than a disco ball!

Read more Success stories of Indian entrepreneurs, Women Entrepreneurs & startups stories at SugerMint. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn