In this exclusive conversation, Kiran Mehta of AV Today speaks with Kuldip Kamat, Managing Director and CEO of Allwave AV, one of the foremost names in the industry.
From tech-savvy boardrooms with technicolor screens to notes that reverberate across a sonic auditorium, Kuldip Kamat believes that AV technology should make you feel every beat and capture your imagination with every visual frame. Helming Allwave AV, Kuldip understands that AV isn’t just two terms – audio and visual – but that the two words hold the promise of a multisensory experience.
“I’m a big music buff, an amateur rhythm guitarist, and that’s why I wanted the AV experience to be tactile, much like music is for me,” says Kuldip, who has merged his scientific know-how as a mechanical and industrial engineer with his love for music. “Whether you’re using AV to make corporate presentations in a boardroom, in an online meeting space, or in a training room, what I want you to take away is the experience,” explains Kuldip. And it is this unrivaled end-user experience that has led to a loyal, yet ever-expanding customer base, while also driving innovation and change.
The Backstory
Established by Kuldip’s father, the late Uday Kamat, Allwave began as a radio agency at a time when radio sales were booming. Soon they entered the television market. But in the late 90s, the company felt the need to pivot and ventured into paging systems, nurse call systems, noise cancellation technology, pipe music systems in restaurants, and even voltage stabilizers. “This was the first time the company went beyond radio,” explains Kamat. Soon there was no looking back.
Around the year 2000, the late Uday Kamat found a niche, decided to focus heavily on the corporate sector, and more specifically narrowed in on projectors, video collaboration, and conferencing systems. That’s when Allwave AV was born. The catchy name ‘Allwave’ had already created brand value, and it fit in perfectly with the new offerings.
In the early years of Allwave AV, the late Uday Kamat managed entire projects almost single-handedly. At that time, the company was finding its footing, which meant taking on smaller projects. That’s where the learning really was; from managing finances, keeping accounts, quality control and assurance, sales support, servicing clients, to managing people—every aspect of the project was done by a small team, helmed by the late Uday Kamat. It was this hands-on approach that gave a deeper, more nuanced understanding of the industry. Eventually, it was this invaluable know-how that was passed on to Kuldip by his father.
Kuldip says, “At this time I was an undergraduate engineering student, and I would occasionally contribute by writing code for the company. But I had no real intention of joining the family business. In fact, I got a scholarship to study in the USA, and I took it.” The scholarship at Ohio University was followed by a job in consulting in Washington, D.C., and after a few years of work experience, Kuldip found himself deciding whether to return home or set up roots in the USA. In 2007, he came back home to Mumbai. “India was definitely growing as a market. I saw potential in the AV industry, and I also felt that I was now ready for entrepreneurship under the mentorship of my father,” says Kuldip.
Behind the Scenes
Over the years, Allwave AV grew stronger, and their client profile changed from small companies to large and mid-size corporations. As the internet made the world smaller, the sector saw greater demands. The focus slowly but steadily shifted from projectors in training units and boardrooms to meeting rooms across borders. It was now about creating hardware and software solutions that allowed for presentations and communications in virtual meeting rooms. That’s when Kuldip really found his niche. “When I go to a music concert, I don’t just want to listen to music, I want to experience it.” And it was this focus on creating an immersive atmosphere at what may otherwise be a mundane office setting that set Allwave AV apart from the competition.
Their secret lies in the details: spatial audio systems, high-performance LED displays, intuitive interface programs, competitive and up-to-date hardware, the willingness and resources to customize solutions, and attentive client servicing.
The pandemic pushed the company upward on the growth curve. “It forced us to conceptualise for a different world, the modern corporate world,” says Kuldip. “Prior to the pandemic, if you worked from home, it was frowned upon and you were considered a slacker. That definition completely changed after 2020,” elaborates Kuldip. With WFH becoming the norm, the AV industry grew in leaps and bounds. It was during this time that Allwave AV joined the PSNI (Professional Systems Network International) Global Alliance.
PSNI is an alliance of carefully vetted, trusted AV experts around the globe. The alliance primarily serves as a platform for AV companies to grow their global presence while also sharing knowledge and learning from the experience of industry veterans. “Being part of PSNI helped us understand what global customers and multinationals need. It gave us deeper insight into the work of UK, German, Singapore, and US integrators,” says Kuldip. “It also made me think of how we can bring some of their tried and tested processes to India,” explains Kuldip. He believes that the AV world is moving toward global design and deployment, and the next few years promise to be exciting, marking a dynamic shift in the industry.
Being chosen to be part of PSNI was a privilege. “We were interviewed, and I think they realised that we are among the few companies in India that obsess over design, get into the little details of supplying, installing, and maintaining. We have a streamlined, efficient process to gain new clients and serve them. We maintain high quality standards. And it wasn’t just us that PSNI spoke to; they also interviewed our customers to ensure genuine customer satisfaction.”
Other happy customers who have been served tailor-made solutions include the Azim Premji Foundation. The Foundation has a presence spread across India, including rural India. They operate public health programs and deliver education across remote locations. Their sister organisation, Azim Premji University, based in Bangalore, is a hub for academic research, policy work, and faculty development. “Across these diverse environments, we provided customised AV solutions. It required meeting the AV needs of remote field offices, digital classrooms, training labs, and university auditoriums. We were able to create reliable remote monitoring systems. Essentially, we created scripts that were available remotely on online dashboards. This in turn required less skilled manpower in remote locations,” explains Kuldip. That said, manpower, though in lower numbers, was required and played an important role. Therefore, Kuldip invested in skilling and training personnel in remote locations so as to cater to clients in far-off locations. Instead of parachuting skilled personnel to far-away spots, Allwave decided to give back to local communities, training locals (with appropriate educational backgrounds) to work with AV technology as well as helping them develop communication and people skills to cater to clients.
Catering remotely also comes with its own peculiarities, such as concerns of privacy and cybersecurity. This is something that Allwave AV had faced even prior to the pandemic. “That’s when we came up with a networking operating center, which is a subset of security but not a whole cybersecurity system, as the latter doesn’t fall in the purview of an AV systems provider. But to ensure greater security, we follow the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library), which provides best practices for managing IT, including cybersecurity.”
Stumbling Blocks
According to Kuldip, one of the biggest challenges in the industry lies in educating consumers. “We get people who are impressed by our services but are looking for us to match the cheapest integrator in terms of price. We try to educate them on our niche offerings, high quality, and services, while respectfully letting them know that we cannot match those rates given our quality,” explains Kuldip.
The industry may see players who come in for a short time, create a few ripples, but don’t survive too long. “We have always focused on quality over quantity, which is one of the major reasons that we have continued to grow steadily yet surely over the decades,” says Kuldip.
Future Forward
Kuldip credits the success of Allwave to a sound scientific background. “My father had a background in physics. I have a background in mechanical and industrial engineering. I think that gave us an advantage in this tech-driven field,” says Kuldip. Yet he is acutely aware that the future involves leveraging the principles of science into technology that caters specifically to the informal office setups of Gen Z. “As compared to expensive, equipped studios, Gen Z wants to take their office around with them. So now the AV offerings include shotgun microphones and cameras, editing and post-production software on phones that don’t compromise on quality.” Kuldip continues, “Even when it comes to capturing their attention, instead of hoardings and billboards, we’re looking at digital signage or digital standees.” He believes that the method of communication has changed, and that’s exactly what AV technology needs to focus on. “At the end of the day, it’s all about the end-user experience,” he says.
A major point of focus and one that has always taken priority at Allwave, right from inception, is that of sustainability. “My father and I always looked at not just building a new customer base, but ensuring we maintained our customers for the long haul.” This decision was intimately tied into ensuring that corporate decisions and investments were made not just from one quarter to the next, but were profitable in the long run. “We’ve been in the industry for several decades and continue to focus on growing with every passing year,” says Kuldip.
This focus on the long-term wasn’t restricted to customers. “It was something that we also consciously worked on in terms of our team. We wanted to create a team where people joined and wanted to stay on, and eventually became a part of the Allwave family,” says Kuldip. The company’s leadership personnel, such as Tanaji Dange and Krishnan Panicker, have been with Allwave since inception. In fact, even Allwave customers have been known to join the company as tech personnel over the years. “We continue to invest in our people, creating an atmosphere that’s encouraging, and that’s probably why our rate of attrition is very low. We have a team that’s dedicated and knows the ropes,” says Kuldip.
Kuldip reveals that he has exciting plans in the making but remains tight-lipped. Suffice to say that Allwave is investing in novel technologies, particularly in the area of acoustics. Investments will touch upon both software and hardware, and Allwave will likely be aiming for greater virtualisation.
