Goa-born techie wants his company to become global player in AI and e-commerce
By our reporter
TORONTO: A techie who has been honoured by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce with this year’s Technology Achievement Award, Vijay Thomas is a driven man.
He talks in short quick sentences and walks briskly as if a thousand ideas are bubbling up in his head.
Not surprisingly, this brilliant man has sired a tech company called Tangentia which is one of the 500 most profitable companies in Canada today.
Starting from his bedroom condo in downtown Toronto in 2003, Tangentia has gone on to become a global player in artificial intelligence, e-commerce, digital solutions and consulting.
With offices in Canada, India and the US, it is also listed among America’s fastest growing 5000 companies.
“We have 11 Fortune-500 companies among our more than a thousand clients,’’ beams Vijay Thomas, sitting in his swanky office in downtown Toronto.
Reliance Retail in India and Royal Bank and liquor giant LCBO in Canada are his major clients.
Speaking about Tangentia’s core businesses, he says, “With our dedicated team of over 150 professionals worldwide, we run three core businesses. Tangentia AI that provides blockchain and robotic automation solutions. Tangentia B2B relates to e-commerce and supply chain. And Tangentia Digital – which is about agile app development.’’
His future goals?
“We want to become a leader in AI (artificial intelligence). Anyone considering AI should choose us,’’ says Goan-born Thomas.
“Actually, I am so many things. I speak Konkan, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Hindi… I am from Goa. My wife Parul Verma is from Alwar. I am Christian and she is a Hindu. Both of us went through not one, not two but three weddings – a court wedding (must in Goa), a Hindu wedding in Delhi and a Christian wedding in Goa,’’ laughs Thomas.
After finishing his mechanical engineering degree from Karnataka University in Dharwad, he went to the Goa Institute of Management for his MBA degree. “That’s where I met my wife Parul who was also an MBA student.’’
His first job was with Satyam Computers in Hyderabad. “It was a big brand at that time. They sent me to Chennai where I was with them for two years – from 1998 to 2000,’’ says Thomas, narrating the start of his life journey.
In 2001, he was sent to Boston on deputation as a project manager for a company. “Since I was on L1 visa, my fiancee couldn’t work in the US. I could have gone back to India.’’
But destiny brought him to Canada.
“From Boston, I went to visit a friend in Montreal. That friend told me that Bombardier has an opening for a project manager and I should try my luck. I asked him if my spouse would be able to work in Canada, and he said `yes.’ I went for the interview and was selected.’’
Bye-bye America!
Having sewn up a job in Canada, young Vijay Thomas flew straight to India to tie the knot with Parul.
“One month after our wedding, we both landed in Montreal towards the end of 2001. I was with Bombardier till 2003 and then moved to Toronto.’’
Why?
“Because my wife, who is an MBA in marketing, couldn’t get a job in Montreal as she didn’t know French. So in 2003, I joined a software development company called SINC as head of their Toronto operations.’’
Then his life took another turn.
“At the end of 2003, I went to India for Christmas and New Year celebrations. By the time I came back, my company had been sold to a Montreal-based group and I was left as their only employee in Canada. When I came to know this, I was shocked. I thought why I should work for them. Though I always wanted to be my own man one day, this event changed my mind. I quit that company.’’
And Tangentia was born!
“Well, we started from our bedroom condo in Bayview and Sheppard in Toronto and our first job was as a system implementer of IBM Websphere software in the supply chain and e-commerce domain.’’
How did he settle on this name?
Chuckles Thomas, “When I was in my MBA course, I had this habit of going off on a tangent in asking questions in class. Everybody on the campus started calling me `tangent’ and it became my nickname. So when the time came for us to name our new company in 2003, my wife said: why not use your nickname and call it Tangentia. That’s how we named our company. We coined the word Tangentia.’’
It was very hard in the beginning, he says.
“For four years, I didn’t pay myself and my wife took care of the family. Slowly, we started getting projects. By 2006, things started getting better as we signed a hundred thousand-dollar project with Sony Music for doing their EDI – electronic data interchange.’’
In 2007, Tangentia started India operations from Pune.
“Our first multi-million project came in 2009-2010 when we became premier partner of IBM in Canada and the US. We had a staff of 40-50 people by then. In 2012, we expanded to the US,’’ says Thomas.
As it swiftly moved on the growth curve, Tangentia debuted as number nine on the Profit 500 list of the fastest growing companies in Canada as well as making it to the Branham 300 list of largest ICT companies in Canada in 2013.
“We haven’t looked back since. We have repeatedly made it to these top lists and garnered more top-notch clients. LCBO chose us as one of their IT vendors in 2017,’’ says Thomas who is surprisingly also a big stock investor.
In fact, this techie is one super smart investor!
“I started investing in stock markets when I was a student at the time of Harshad Mehta and got hooked on stocks – that was 1991-92.’’
With a laugh, he adds, “Actually, I would use other students’ money for investment. I would persuade them to give me their money by telling them that I would make them so much more money.’’
Not surprisingly, legendary investor Warren Buffett became his idol.
“I am invested in many of his companies and have attended AGMs of Berkshire Hathaway. I call these AGMs the Woodstock of capitalism.’’
The father of two says Goa will always remain very close to his heart.
“I am just back from a roadshow in Israel to woo businesses and companies for participation in the Vibrant Goa Summit taking place from October 17.’’
The son of soil is pulling out all the stops to promote his native state as a business destination for investors.
READ ALSO: How young immigrant became a multimillionaire in just four years
