The Turnaround Leader In late 2018/2019 when the global optical fibre market unexpectedly crashed, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director at STL, used this downturn to calibrate and think of new ways to create value for key accounts

The truest test of a leader is always measured through the toughest times. When life throws challenges, they turn them around into opportunities.

In late 2018/2019 the global optical fibre market unexpectedly crashed while STL was spending on CAPEX. Customers started to cancel orders and large manufacturers from China started dumping fibre into global markets at low prices. Undeterred by the challenges, Ankit Agarwal, Managing Director at STL, used this downturn to calibrate and think of new ways to create value for key accounts.

"We did a Hackathon with British Telecom which yielded us a multi-year large order. It was very heartening to see that a lot of great talent was attracted to STL's agility and hunger for global growth," he said.

Agarwal's leadership style is collaborative and he doesn't believe in old pyramid models. "I have a collaborative and consultative style. Creating a flat organizational structure with decentralized control, trust, transparency and encouraging the younger talent in company's decisions are key steps that have helped promote increased involvement, efficiency and ownership."

Under his leadership STL has reached new heights, it's a global company with its heart in India. In the last quarter, about 70 per cent of its revenue was from outside India. "We have established ourselves as a tech-led organization with over 742 patents. We are recognized by BCG as Top 100 Tech Challengers."

Today, companies are taking steps to go green and STL is no exception. Commitment to the environment and sustainability is at the core of STL's business operations. Earlier In 2020, it became the world's first optical fibre and cable manufacturer to attain the Zero Waste to Landfill certificate for Indian plants in Maharashtra, India. "Since then, we have improved our waste diversion rate and extended these best practices to our remaining plants in India and optical cable and interconnect facilities in Italy which makes STL's optical solutions one of the most sustainable across India and Europe."

Earlier this year, the company committed to become a carbon-neutral company by 2030. "As STL drives digital networks of the future, we are accelerating our efforts towards net-zero manufacturing and sustainable network build strategies," said Ankit, adding that the company is focusing on zero liquid-discharge, zero waste to landfill, sustainable supply chain including local sourcing, power-consumption reduction, water conservation in Aurangabad, massive tree plantation drives and greening, among others.

As part of its social skilling and welfare, STL is committed to job creation for women, training of skilled technicians through STL Academy.