Few leaders can combine financial expertise and human-centered leadership as well as Pradnya Bagade, Vice President – Corporate Affairs at Electronic Payment and Services (P) Ltd., in the complex world of acquisitions, strategic expansion, and investor relations. Her leadership path was not formed overnight; rather, it was forged in the furnace of difficult decision-making, cross-functional cooperation, and a silent but unwavering dedication to inclusive development. Her strategy is based on influence, empathy, and strategic clarity rather than authority. As the Executive Assistant to the Chairman and Managing Director, she is gaining a foundation in Industrial Psychology and a front-row seat to high-stakes business maneuvering. She is learning early on how strategy must always be founded in people and how vision is becoming executive. Her involvement in significant business events, such as acquisitions and stock injections, demonstrating a unique capacity to match stakeholder interests with the long-term goals of the company. Her ability to maintain composure under pressure is what is making her unique. She is leading with composure, vision, and conviction whether she is negotiating a complicated M&A deal or fostering investor confidence. She is promoting innovation without sacrificing governance and cultivates an inclusive culture without sacrificing effectiveness. Her views on measured risk, open communication, and developing up-and-coming leaders are subtly changing the definition of resilient leadership in contemporary India. Pradnya Bagade is overseeing EPS’s next phase of impact-led growth, making sure that strategy is based on values, diversity is integrated into teams, and leadership is always a duty that is both visionary and human. Inclusive and Evolving Leadership Approach Pradnya Bagade describes her leadership style as inclusive and growth-oriented which is shaped by her academic background in Industrial Psychology and professional exposure to top-level decision-making. Her transition into the role of Executive Assistant to Mr. Mani Mamallan, Chairman and Managing Director at EPS, was instrumental in transforming her approach. The role allowed her to witness firsthand how strategic vision translates into daily execution, teaching her to bridge the long-term goals of the organization with on-the-ground action. “Over the years, my leadership style has matured into one that emphasizes collaboration across departments and functions.” she describes. She combines empathy with a clear focus on measurable outcomes, blending analytical decision-making with emotional intelligence. This balance has been crucial in the high-pressure world of mergers, acquisitions, and investor relations—areas where clarity, conviction, and trust are paramount. Strategic Decisions That Shaped the Journey Among the key milestones in her career were EPS’s major equity infusion in 2015 and the mergers and acquisitions executed in 2017. These events were not just crucial for the company’s growth, but also played a transformative role in Pradnya Bagade’s development as a strategic leader. Her involvement in identifying acquisition targets and aligning them with EPS’s long-term vision showcased her ability to balance ambition with pragmatism. Leading these deals required more than just financial expertise, it demanded the ability to align various stakeholders, from investors to internal teams. Pradnya Bagade successfully built investor confidence through transparent communication, well-crafted narratives, and consistent delivery of business outcomes. These strategic moments underlined her strength in managing risk while staying focused on the larger organizational vision. Leading Through Uncertainty and Complexity One of the most defining challenges Pradnya Bagade faced came during complex M&A negotiations under intense market uncertainty. In these high-stakes environments, she was required to manage legal, financial, and strategic dimensions simultaneously while addressing conflicting stakeholder expectations. Her calm demeanor, emotional intelligence, and clarity of purpose helped her steer the process toward successful closure. Instead of relying solely on formal processes, she built trust across departments, anchored every discussion in EPS’s mission, and ensured that all voices were heard. These experiences reaffirmed her belief in “calm leadership” a style that is combination of resilience, empathy, and a deep understanding of the business landscape to achieve alignment and drive impact. Enabling Calculated Risk-Taking and Innovation In investor and M&A space, risk is inevitable but at EPS, she has ensured it is always intentional and calculated. She fosters a culture that encourages data-backed decision-making, rigorous scenario planning, and bold execution. Under her leadership, cross-functional teams’ model multiple outcomes before committing to a strategy, making the decision-making process both inclusive and thorough. Engaging with external advisors legal, financial, or domain-specific further strengthens the strategy, allowing for validation of key assumptions. While the team is operating with full confidence in “Plan A,” Pradnya Bagade ensures that contingency plans are always in place. This approach allows EPS to be agile and responsive while maintaining a strong core vision. Driving Diversity and Inclusion with Intent Diversity and inclusion are not just corporate buzzwords for Pradnya Bagade they are core values that shape her team structures, project groups, and stakeholder engagements. With her roots in psychology and HR, she has always believed that diverse teams bring more nuanced judgment, especially during high-pressure decision-making. Though she may not oversee hiring end-to-end, Pradnya Bagade consciously builds project and deal teams that reflect diversity in gender, experience, and function. This diversity helps reduce group thoughts and encourages a range of perspectives to surface during strategic conversations. In her external collaborations, she also chooses to work with partners who uphold similar inclusive values, ensuring alignment not just internally but across the ecosystem. Strengthening Inter-Departmental Collaboration In her role, Pradnya Bagade regularly collaborates with teams across Finance, Legal, HR, Risk, Business, and Technology. Her philosophy is rooted in trust-building through deep listening and co-creation. Rather than working in isolation, she prefers a hands-on approach—walking over to the stakeholder, engaging in direct conversations, and collectively arriving at the best possible solution. This collaborative, solution-driven style has enabled her to lead high-impact strategic initiatives with full organizational backing. She believes that innovation and alignment are born in open dialogue not in silos. By understanding each department’s challenges and aligning them with EPS’s larger goals, Pradnya Bagade has become a trusted partner across the company. Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders, Today Pradnya’s belief in nurturing emerging leaders is reflected in her mentoring style, which emphasizes exposure, encouragement,

Leaders who possess both vision and tenacity are not common in a world where cyber-attacks are gaining the upper hand over traditional defenses. Mike Crandall, CEO of Digital Beachhead, is an individual whose journey is shaped through decades of military life, entrepreneurial resilience, and a steadfast commitment to protect small and medium businesses, the most overlooked of the digital world. Security has always been for Crandall not an issue of encryption and firewalls but one of service, trust, and building futures. His integrity as a cybersecurity professional and his voice as an author and mentor to the next generation are what make him different. He writes and speaks about the goal of guiding young adults into successful careers and lives, particularly those struggling with ambiguity. His “crawl, walk, run” approach forms the basis of his philosophy, used from business strategy to leadership development and presenting a challenge to would-be leaders to emphasize progress rather than perfection. He is still combining military discipline and people leadership as the head of Digital Beachhead today, pushing employees as well as readers to perceive challenges as opportunities to develop. In doing so, Crandall is modeling an exemplary mode of leadership which protects futures as well as networks. A Different Kind of Service That community, Crandall discovered, was the underserved small and medium-sized business (SMB) sector. After reviewing the cybersecurity landscape, he found that while most companies focused on enterprise-level clients with deep pockets, smaller businesses often the backbone of local economies—were left to fend for themselves in an increasingly dangerous digital world. Digital Beachhead was born from this revelation, but not without its own journey of adaptation and growth. Like many startups, the company began with a focused vision that evolved with market realities. Initially, Digital Beachhead concentrated solely on winning Department of Defense and other government contracts a natural fit given Crandall’s military background. However, when growth proved slower than anticipated, the company made its first strategic pivot. “When we realized that the effort to maintain, continue to win and grow was slower than we had hoped, the company pivoted into supporting companies working with those agencies to become more cybersecure based on the NIST 800-171 requirements levied on them.” he recalls. This shift proved prescient, as businesses working with government agencies increasingly found themselves subject to stringent cybersecurity requirements they were ill-equipped to meet. The Crawl, Walk, Run Philosophy What sets Digital Beachhead apart in the crowded cybersecurity market isn’t just its focus on SMBs, but its approach to serving them. Crandall and his team operate on what he calls a “crawl, walk, then run mindset,” understanding that smaller companies face genuine financial constraints that can’t be wished away with one-size-fits-all solutions. “Starting small ourselves, I understood the financial limitations that companies face. It isn’t about solving all the challenges upfront but building a plan to work towards a deeper cybersecurity solution as the company grows.” Crandall explains. This philosophy reflects Crandall’s military training, where incremental progress and adaptive strategies often mean the difference between mission success and failure. Rather than overwhelming clients with comprehensive (and expensive) security overhauls, Digital Beachhead works to uncover the best possible solutions within existing budgets, creating roadmaps for enhanced security as businesses grow and mature. Leadership Through Example Crandall’s leadership style stands out in an industry often characterized by technical expertise divorced from human understanding. His approach is deeply rooted in his military experience, where leadership meant more than just giving orders it meant inspiring others to excel beyond what they thought possible. A recent example perfectly illustrates this philosophy in action. When Digital Beachhead became an Authorized Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) Third Party Assessment Organization (C3PAO), the certification process required multiple courses and two challenging exams for team members to become CMMC Certified Assessors (CCA). Rather than simply directing his team to complete the requirements, Crandall took the same courses and exams himself. It wasn’t for the purpose of conducting assessments, but rather because he understood the challenge of becoming certified and wanted his team to know he was with them on the journey. When a team believes in their leader, sees that he is willing to get in the trenches and take on the hard things alongside them, they tend to work harder and gain confidence in themselves to excel in everything they do. This distinction between management and leadership is crucial to understanding Crandall’s approach. “I think many leaders provide management which, to me, is not leadership. Managers direct their teams to achieve tasks and expect results, where leaders inspire their teams to achieve not just tasks but to excel in everything they do. Results are achieved based on the team’s desire to perform and not the requirement to perform.” he observes. Navigating an Ever-Evolving Landscape The cybersecurity industry is perhaps one of the most rapidly evolving sectors in technology, with new threats emerging as quickly as solutions are developed. Digital Beachhead’s ability to adapt has been tested multiple times, and each challenge has led to strategic expansion rather than just pivoting. After establishing a rhythm in supporting government contractors, the company expanded to work with manufacturers and medical technology companies, helping them develop enhanced cybersecurity strategies. Most recently, Digital Beachhead returned to its roots by becoming an assessment organization for the Department of Defense within the CMMC ecosystem, a move that required the company to undergo the same rigorous assessment process it now provides to clients. Crandall notes with evident pride that currently fewer than 80 companies have successfully completed the requirements to become an assessment organization. He explains that the Department of Defense has recently implemented the requirement for any organization wishing to bid on contracts to pass an assessment and obtain CMMC certification. At present, it is estimated that more than 50,000 organizations will need this certification. Addressing Tomorrow’s Challenges Today Looking ahead, Crandall sees cybersecurity challenges that keep pace with technological advancement and sometimes outrun it. The emergence of AI, quantum computing, and advanced automation presents both