Every great journey has moments when you pause, look back at the ground you’ve covered, and chart the course ahead. On November 1, QBurst marks its 22nd anniversary. This year, we’re celebrating that milestone under a special banner: QOdyssey 2026.
As our teams come together across geographies for this milestone and our global town hall on November 2, it’s an opportunity to celebrate not just what we’ve built, but the people, relationships, and shared purpose that brought us here.
What’s in this article:
- QBurst’s Chief People Officer on preserving organizational identity through the company’s accelerated global expansion
- Why managing autonomous teams requires a shift from hierarchical control to context, trust, and psychological safety
- Three actionable principles to eliminate proximity bias across distributed hubs
Finding a Home in Less Than a Year
On a personal note, I’m still relatively new to this crew, having joined QBurst less than a year ago. Yet, the warmth, openness, and collaborative spirit have made me feel like I’ve been part of this family for much longer.
Joining at such a pivotal moment—as QBurst evolves from a founder-led company and leverages its private equity backing from Multiples to accelerate its global growth—has reinforced a belief I’ve carried throughout my career: change creates opportunity, but growth must never come at the cost of who we are.
From Systems to Trust: How Leadership Evolves
Early in my career, I thought good people management was largely about systems: clear policies, fair processes, and consistent appraisals. Those remain essential, but I’ve come to see them as the foundation, not the finish line.
As organizations evolve from hierarchical delivery models to more autonomous teams, a manager’s role shifts from directing work to creating the conditions for people to do their best work.
Looking back at the leaders who shaped me, I see a common thread: trust, recognition, and the generosity to share credit when things went well, balanced with steady guidance when things didn’t. A few experiences where mistakes weren’t handled constructively taught me just as much about the kind of leader I wanted to become.
My philosophy today is simple: hire people who are better than you at what they do, give them context rather than control, and create an environment where it’s safe to say, “I don’t know” or “I think we’re wrong.”
At QBurst’s scale, behind every HR metric is a person making decisions that shape their life and career. We must never lose sight of that human reality.
Designing Connection Across a Distributed World
As we bring teams together across our India and international hubs, connection doesn’t happen by accident. It takes deliberate effort and a few fundamental principles:
- Make time together count. When people come into the office, create opportunities for collaboration, mentoring, brainstorming, and celebrations—not simply a change of desk for another video call.
- Invest in managers. For most employees, their immediate manager is the most tangible expression of the company’s culture.
- Eliminate proximity bias. Recognition and opportunity should never depend on physical proximity to leadership. Remote and hybrid employees deserve the same access to career-defining projects and growth opportunities.
As we celebrate 22 years of QBurst, I’m reminded that our next chapter won’t be defined by scale alone. It will be defined by how well we preserve trust, nurture talent, and stay connected as we grow.
That, to me, is what makes QOdyssey 2026 more than a milestone. It’s a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come—and the kind of organization we want to become.
In Part 2, I’ll explore how we can navigate the AI revolution, embrace continuous learning, and keep empathy and the human touch at the heart of it all.