Looking back on a year that included significant wins across CMS, HHS, FEMA, DOD, and the IRS, and being named an Elev8 GovCon Honoree, we caught up with Sky Solutions CEO Anil Boinapalli and EVP Slava Katz to better understand its focus on empowerment, how empathy has contributed to its exponential growth, and where this team is looking to move in 2024. Anil was also recently recognized as the 2024 State Small Business Person of the Year for Virginia.
Founded in Empowerment
Sky Solutions’ journey follows that of its CEO closely and is aligned with his hopes to empower and elevate people across an ecosystem, to bring technology to large populations to improve their experience, and their lives. An early focus on business rules, process management, intelligent business, and hyper-automation that was driven largely by the implementation of tools including Pega, Appian, Microsoft and ServiceNow, led the team to its current path.
While the company has been in business since 2008, it was only in 2018 that they stepped into the federal space. Unlike many companies who pursue 8(a) certification as a way to begin to win, and to grow, Sky received its certification in 2020 having already experienced significant growth in its federal footprint. “Currently we serve six Cabinet level departments focused on healthcare, financial services, and national security and our team has grown to more than 150 full-time employees.”
“Our success is focused beyond retention; the growth of the company depends on the growth of our employees. We’ve taken the approach that mentorship isn’t a one-time activity at hire, but an ongoing requirement for success.”
Leadership then works to mentor individuals to ensure they are meeting their professional, personal, and client-focused goals. “We are nakedly open in giving employees the ability to see where we are at any time in terms of objectives and key results that includes revenue, staff levels, and our planned direction. It helps build accountability and ownership because people really feel it is their company.”
Culture embedded in A.C.E.S.
While many companies may have cultures founded in accountability and collaboration, it is Sky Solutions’ focus on empathy and self-awareness that makes it stand out. “When we talk about human-centered design it’s really about building tools that have empathy baked in and that consider the stakeholder, the end user, and the various experiences they bring to the table. There is also the notion of understanding each other and ourselves in the process, how we engage and work with our clients and with each other.”
Self-awareness is about understanding strengths and weaknesses, knowing where you may need help or can help others, and where you want to grow in your capabilities and skillsets. It is not only about building teams that bring together the needed skills but also the opportunity for people to grow through their interaction and engagement with others. “In the end, we are all ordinary people doing extraordinary things together. Bringing out our strengths and weaknesses, learning and improving together, and accomplishing something as a unit that is meaningful and impactful and changes the lives of those we serve is the ultimate goal.”
Better from the Top Down to Serve Clients
From the top down, Sky Solutions embraces improving at all levels, including its leadership team who recently underwent training from a leadership counselor. “When we are a tight team, collaborate on shared goals, and work well together, it translates into excellent results for our customers.”
This focus on commitment and being part of an extraordinary team means recruitment at Sky Solutions combines an equal balance of skills, drive, and alignment with the company’s vision and its clients’ missions. It also includes identifying those willing to grow outside their comfort levels. “There is that drive to excel, to be better and to participate in larger and meaningful work that demonstrates a good fit.”
Community Engagement
Participating in multiple business forums, Anil is supportive of mentoring and providing growth opportunities for other small businesses. Sky Solutions is equally engaged in the communities in which its teams live and work, offering a dollar-to-dollar match for employee donations, showing up in person to support local food banks and shelters, and participating in initiatives including Toys for Tots.
Investment in AI and a Focus on Education
Looking ahead, Sky Solutions is driving a focused investment in AI, both generative and conversational. This includes spearheading a new AI Coalition. The focus of this group of small businesses will be to educate the government on use cases, implementation, security, and a more informed path forward. “There is an opportunity for government to do more, to do better but there is an educational component that requires showing them the differences, the possibilities, and demonstrating how they can meet their challenges by doing more with less.”
Ensuring ethical practices, elimination of biases, and ensuring comfort level and the total experience of the users will all factor into this forward-thinking initiative. Education will also involve reaching out to contracting officials to help them both understand the program requirements and how to evaluate what new AI technology is being put forward.
2024 and Beyond
Having already demonstrated success with digital transformation, modernizing data and technology, human-centered design, and case management solutions, Sky Solutions is setting the bar high for 2024, having set priorities on greater engagement with key agencies, and growing into other subagencies under those umbrellas, along with several completely new targets. “There are a number of agencies with needs that align with our capabilities and experience, places where we can bring lessons learned and perspectives to support new communities of citizens. There is also a concerted focus on evolving our delivery to ensure that Sky Solutions puts forward a solid team with effective processes.”
Calling this a critical moment, Sky Solutions is bullish on where it wants to go, focusing on the next things it will tackle for the government that will be meaningful and impactful, scaling its capabilities, and ensuring that the talent, relationships, and infrastructure are in place to meet its goals.
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