‘CloudExtel Believes that the True Differentiator in Attracting Talent is Purpose and Opportunity:’ Rahul Nair

Strategic workforce planning has emerged as a critical enabler for the success of cutting-edge telecom and digital infrastructure projects, which are at the core of driving next-generation connectivity, 5G deployment, fibre expansion, and smart city initiatives. Rahul Nair, VP-HR, CloudExtel explains to Sugandh Bahl Vij, Assistant Editor, CXO Media & APAC Media, on ways to adopt a forward-looking approach to workforce strategy is vital for transforming telecom and digital infrastructure into competitive differentiators that fuel economic growth and societal progress.

How is CloudExtel building a sustainable talent pipeline to support the execution of large-scale, high-tech telecom and digital infrastructure projects?

At CloudExtel, we have always said that our networks are only as strong as the people who build them. Large-scale, high-tech projects, be it fibre rollouts, small cells or neutral host solutions, demand not only deep technical skills but also resilience, adaptability, and a sense of ownership. That’s why building a sustainable talent pipeline is central to our growth strategy.

We are approaching this on three fronts –

• First, we are working towards strengthening grassroots partnerships with ITIs and regional institutes to create a steady flow of young engineers who can be trained specifically for fiber optics, small cell deployments and edge-ready networks.
• Second, we run structured talent assessments that go beyond performance to also map potential and critical know-how. This helps us identify future leaders, high performers and technical specialists, and then chart career paths that play to their strengths.
• Third, our learning and development model ensures continuous capability building. From simulations and lab drills to live deployment projects and mentorship, employees move from learning concepts to applying them in the field with confidence.

This blend of early talent partnerships differentiated career development and continuous learning has helped us create what we call a “Talent Factory” – a system that not only delivers for today but builds the workforce that will power CloudExtel’s ambition to be a world-class digital infrastructure player.

With 5G, AI-driven networks, and edge data centres redefining telecom, what are the critical skills and capabilities you believe the next-generation telecom workforce must develop?

The next generation workforce in digital infrastructure will need to bring together both engineering depth and digital fluency. At CloudExtel, we see three categories of skills emerging as absolutely critical.

• The first is digital and infrastructure engineering expertise. Skills in advanced fibre optics deployment and testing, small cell integration, neutral host & shared RAN architectures and FTTH rollouts will remain core. These must be complemented with digital capabilities such as network function virtualisation, edge computing, AI/ML-driven network optimisation and cybersecurity. Together, they will define how tomorrow’s networks are built and managed.
• The second is ecosystem collaboration and operational excellence. As projects increasingly involve multi-operator sharing and global vendor ecosystems, engineers and project managers must be adept at cross-vendor integration, sustainability-focused infra builds and managing large-scale rollouts with speed and reliability, without ever compromising safety.
• Finally, adaptive and behavioural capabilities will be equally important. Attitude rules every situation – problem solving, resilience, customer centricity and the ability to scale quickly in dynamic environments. The pace of technological change means learning cannot be a one-time exercise; it must be a continuous cycle of upskilling and cross-skilling.

Our approach at CloudExtel is to embed these capabilities through a layered learning journey – combining foundational readiness, technical mastery and leadership development, so that our people are not just keeping pace with industry shifts, but actively shaping the future of India’s digital infrastructure.

The telecom sector often competes with IT and startups for top talent. How do you attract highly skilled engineers and project managers to choose telecom infrastructure over other tech sectors?

At CloudExtel, we have learnt that the true differentiator in attracting talent is Purpose and Opportunity. We are building the very backbone of India’s digital economy – fibre, small cells, neutral host networks and edge infrastructure that power digital inclusion. This sense of purpose appeals deeply to engineers and project managers who want to contribute to nation-building and be part of something larger than themselves.

We also accelerate growth through broad exposure and end-to-end ownership. At CloudExtel, our people work across technologies, functions and stakeholders, whether it’s collaborating with global OEMs and hyperscalers or managing rollouts with government partners. This approach gives them visibility, responsibility and continuous learning opportunities. Engineers and project leaders don’t just execute tasks; they design, deliver, and see the real-world impact of their work, which creates a deep sense of pride and ownership.

Our entrepreneurial culture, flat structures and emphasis on ownership give talent the agility and innovation space of a startup, combined with the stability of a growing and profitable organisation. In addition, our compensation and performance management philosophies are transparent, competitive and merit-driven, reinforcing fairness and motivation.

Ultimately, CloudExtel attracts and nurtures talent by offering a rare combination – purpose, impact and growth opportunities – while building a future-ready workforce recognised for shaping India’s digital infrastructure.

How do you structure teams to be agile and ready for rapid scale-up while maintaining quality and safety standards?

Scaling up rapidly while maintaining quality and safety is a constant balancing act in our industry. At CloudExtel, we have designed our team structures to be agile with accountability. We operate through small and empowered squads that own delivery end-to-end, combining design, field execution, project management & customer engagement. This structure allows decisions to be made faster and closer to the ground, while ensuring full ownership and responsibility.

To prepare for scale, we maintain a flexible partner ecosystem that can be mobilised quickly, but always under CloudExtel’s strict governance for quality and safety. Technology further strengthens this model, be it digital dashboards, real-time monitoring and AI-enabled quality checks allow us to track progress and resolve issues without slowing execution.

Safety is treated as non-negotiable. Standard operating procedures, frequent drills and independent audits ensure that every rollout, whether in metros or smaller cities, meets the same high standards. Equally important are our learning loops, after every project, teams capture insights and feed them back into processes, continuously sharpening our execution playbook.

This combination of empowered squads, flexible scale-up, digital governance and a strong safety culture ensures that CloudExtel delivers with speed, reliability and consistency, while building the agility required for the future of digital infrastructure.

As CloudExtel expands into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities to bridge the digital divide, what’s your approach to building local technical talent and reducing reliance on metro-based teams?

As CloudExtel expands into Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, building local technical talent is central to our strategy of bridging the digital divide. Our approach is built on three pillars.

• First, we are investing in local capability development, training engineers and technicians from the region in fibre deployment, small cell installation and network maintenance. This not only creates skilled jobs locally but also ensures faster response times and stronger community engagement.
• Second, we run a hub-and-spoke model. While core expertise and design functions sit in central hubs, local teams in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities are empowered to manage execution, troubleshooting and customer engagement. This reduces dependence on metro-based resources and builds resilience into our operating model.
• Third, we are looking at partnering with local institutions and ecosystem players, technical institutes, contractors and vendors, to create a sustainable talent pipeline. Our L&D programs combine classroom learning, field shadowing and on-the-job mentoring, ensuring that local teams grow into future-ready professionals.

This approach not only strengthens our delivery capability but also contributes to inclusive digital growth by turning local talent into drivers of India’s digital infrastructure expansion.

Looking ahead 5–10 years, how do you see workforce planning evolving in telecom infrastructure as AI, automation, and sustainability considerations reshape project execution and operations?

Looking ahead, workforce planning in telecom infrastructure will be shaped by three forces – AI and automation, sustainability and flexible talent models.

• AI and automation will handle routine tasks like monitoring, quality checks and preventive maintenance. This will free up core roles such as engineers, planners, and project managers to focus on higher-value work like design optimisation and customer engagement. Teams will be leaner, but more digitally fluent and cross-skilled.
• Sustainability will add a new layer of specialisation. Workforce planning will increasingly integrate green methods, energy-efficient rollouts and circular economy principles. This will create demand for ultra-specialists in carbon accounting, sustainable supply chain management and renewable-powered infrastructure, skills that will be critical as the industry balances growth with environmental responsibility.
• Talent models themselves will shift to an elastic design. Beyond fixed structures, organisations will combine permanent staff with gig professionals, project-based experts and partner ecosystems. Many ultra-specialists will support multiple companies simultaneously, while non-core roles will scale up or down with demand.

At CloudExtel, we see this as an opportunity to build a future-ready workforce that blends core strength, specialist expertise and elastic capacity, powered by digital intelligence and guided by our purpose of creating sustainable, world-class digital infrastructure for India.

What strategies are you using to reskill your teams for operating in increasingly multi-vendor, software-defined, and AI-enabled network environments?

Reskilling requires moving beyond narrow expertise to layered capability-building. At CloudExtel, we apply a structured approach across four quadrants.

• Foundational Readiness (broad workforce): We strengthen operational excellence, safety, compliance and digital literacy through e-learning, micro-modules and on-site application. This ensures every field and operations employee can confidently use digital tools and follow standardised protocols.
• Technical Mastery (critical specialists): Our engineers and project managers are upskilled through instructor-led sessions, supervised practice and live deployments. They are expected not only to execute but also to codify knowledge into SOPs and mentor peers.
• Behavioural Excellence (all employees): We emphasise collaboration, resilience, problem-solving and client management. These skills prepare teams to work across vendors and ecosystems while handling ambiguity with ownership and agility.
• Leadership for Transformation (leaders, managers and HiPos): Leaders are developed to drive cross-domain arrangement, strategic decision-making and ecosystem partnerships. They anchor transformation by leading pilots in new technologies and managing change at scale.

This layered reskilling ensures CloudExtel’s workforce, core, specialist and non-core alike, remains adaptive, vendor-agnostic and future-ready.

In your view, what makes HR a true business partner rather than a support function?

At CloudExtel, HR is not a back-office enabler; it is a driver of business transformation. Rooted in our Purpose of empowering people through digital connectivity, HR anchors the aspiration to Build a World-Class Organisation (WCO): a growing & profitable company, a talent factory and an employer of choice.

HR acts as a business partner when it directly shapes outcomes that matter, growth, talent readiness, mobility and retention—not just processes. This requires a comprehensive strategy across Culture, Structure, and Technology: fostering a purpose-driven and performance-oriented culture, building an agile and future-ready organisation and leveraging HR digitalisation for effectiveness.

Our talent philosophies bring commercial sharpness, linking pay to performance and potential, ensuring differentiated retention of core and scarce talent and building leadership continuity. Similarly, our L&D architecture, from foundational readiness to leadership for transformation, creates business impact by turning the workforce into reliable operators, deep specialists, adaptive collaborators and transformative leaders.

In essence, HR at CloudExtel is a business partner by putting people at the heart of growth, fueling productivity, profitability and market leadership. By enabling our people to thrive, HR makes itself central to business strategy, not peripheral to it.

In fast-growing businesses, how can HR drive both capability building and cultural stability?

Growth and culture are inseparable; we scale only when our people are equipped to deliver today while staying rooted in a shared purpose. Our HR agenda is therefore anchored in building a World-Class organisation that is both a Talent Factory and an Employer of Choice.

On capability building, we follow a structured LEAD framework across four dimensions: Foundational Readiness for operational excellence and digital fluency; Technical Mastery for deep domain expertise in fiber, small cells, and neutral host networks; Behavioral Excellence to nurture ownership, collaboration and customer focus; and Leadership for Transformation to develop leaders who can steer change and drive growth. This ensures every talent category, High Potentials, High Performers, Know-How Holders and Operational Talent, has a distinct and progressive growth pathway aligned to business needs.

On cultural stability, we root people in our purpose of empowering people through innovative and scalable digital connectivity solutions, and reinforce our values -entrepreneurial mindset, people development, integrity & trust, collaboration, and customer centricity. Performance management, compensation, and talent practices are designed to reward not just outcomes, but also behaviours that sustain our culture.

In essence, we build capability while ensuring culture remains the constant that binds a fast-growing CloudExtel together.

How do you keep employee engagement high during periods of operational or strategic uncertainty?

At CloudExtel, we believe uncertainty should never erode trust or engagement. To understand how our people are really feeling, we built the CloudExtel Employee Engagement Survey (CEEES), a framework designed in-house to capture what truly matters across 11 themes, from engagement and direction to quality, safety and pride in the workplace.

When the survey launched, over 95% of our workforce shared their thoughts, ideas and honest feedback. We listened by analysing the inputs in detail and identifying what was working and where we needed to do better. But we didn’t stop there – We Acted.

From strengthening financial well-being, to supporting families, to aligning performance management and rolling out training & development plans – we acted on what our people told us matters most.

The CEEES journey ensures that in times of change, employees see visible proof that their voices shape decisions. It reinforces transparency, fairness, and care-keeping engagement high even during uncertainty. At CloudExtel, one thing is clear: when We Listen, We Grow. And this is just the beginning.

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