Minicom Interview with Ajay Chowdhury

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This week we speak to Ajay Chowdhury, CEO of EnQii Holdings. EnQii Holdings has been making a splash since it joined the digital signage landscape in March of this year. It has made an impact in the last nine months and big things are expected of it in 2008. Headquartered in London, it has other offices in New York, Toronto, Dubai, Hong Kong and Melbourne.

Ajay’s resume is too long and glittering to get into detail. It’s clear that EnQii has been injected with the passion and enthusiasm that Ajay brings with him wherever he goes.

Minicom Blog: Hi Ajay, thanks for joining us.
Ajay Chowdhury: My pleasure.

MB: Could you please tell us a bit about EnQii holdings.
AC: We had a look at the digital signage market and could see it was moving along nicely. One thing it didn’t have though was a global market leader. We wanted to create that global leader. Those familiar with Geoffrey Moore’s Crossing the Chasm will be familiar with the way technology is adopted. We viewed digital signage as being in the stage somewhere between the early adopters and the growing mainstream. Most technologies don’t succeed because the mainstream fail to pick it up but we digital signage was being in the process of crossing the Chasm. It is going mainstream as technology costs come down and big brands treat it more and more seriously.

MB: What about the name Enqii? Where did that come from? And how exactly do you say it?
AC: It is pronounced En-Key. When we were looking for a name we had to find something which would work for a global company around the world and from a pragmatic point of view, we also needed something where the urls would be available. The name works on a number of levels as Enki was an ancient god of creativity and Qi is an Asian life force.

MB: How did you go about becoming a global leader?
AC: We purchased three companies. Digital View Media, Redeemit and Screen Edge. Digital View is a provider of services to the global screen media and captive audience networks industry. Redeemit is a marketing agency that uses mobile phones and SMS to connect to consumers which will be invaluable as digital signage becomes more and more interactive. Screen Edge is company which provides quality content. Digital Signage needs specialist content and this is what Screen Edge does. All in all, we are committed to developing the digital signage industry and providing effective low cost solutions to our clients.

MB: How have you found things have progressed since March?
AC: We have expanded quite quickly. We already have over 100 clients. The market is growing really fast. We are doing well in the USA, Asian revenues are exploding and we are now establishing ourselves in the Middle East. Our development team is based in Toronto while our three profit centers are in New York, London and Hong Kong.

MB: How do you manage your time given you have offices all over the world?
AC: I do spend a lot of time in and out of aeroplanes but Asia is taking up a lot of my time now, in particular, China.

MB: What do you see in the future for digital signage?
AC: That it will take off. Agencies are now starting to take it more seriously. The brands are doing so as well. Software will have more functionality while the content will be stronger as it becomes more and more interactive. Additionally, it will be more targeted towards the audience it is aimed at. The industry will consolidate you can already see the start of it.

MB: Nice speaking with you Ajay.
AC: Likewise.