A couple of years back, many stories were published about the tales of crorepatis hailing from small towns in South India. Mr. Ajit Prabhu, the CEO and Chairman of QuEST Global was one of the few who were part of this community. He’s one of the few individuals who have built an empire right from the ground up. Mr. Ajit Prabhu had humble beginnings in Hubli, Karnataka, where he used to study in a government school as a young boy. He always made sure that he performed the best during his time as a student, which was one of the reasons he’s constantly overachieved in life. He’s gone through life with particular zeal. A defining moment in his life was when he used to look at the rich people in his town and wonder why his family did not have a life like that. His parents had always told him that education was how he could pave his path in life, which is why he was so focused on it.

With excellent scores and a vision to do better in life, he won many scholarships to pursue his graduate studies in the US, where he followed his heart and did two Master’s degrees in engineering. Once he realised that he wanted to go beyond the offerings of engineering, he got certified with a Six Sigma Green Belt certification. He launched his entrepreneurial venture, QuEST Global, in 1997. While Mr. Ajit Prabhu launched the company, a small business that provides product engineering services, over time, by maintaining a 30% CAGR, he managed to expand the company’s base to over 11000 employees spanning over 13 countries across the globe.

Since he’s become an established global entrepreneur with a company valued at over $1 billion, Mr. Ajit Prabhu has focused on giving back to his community. With that vision in mind, he launched the Ajit Prabhu Foundation back in 2016, where he helps many underprivileged students pursue their higher education in skilled fields. Since the launch of his foundation, many students have pursued higher education in engineering, medicine, and management.

As the foundation’s focus is to ensure that students access education that helps them and helps the world around them, it’s not surprising to see the many achievements of said students. In 2020, the foundation provided financial backing to over 90 students to go out and achieve their dreams, and the numbers are only set to rise in the upcoming years. Mr. Ajit Prabhu has one clear goal in mind, and that is to educate 1000 young individuals in the next 25 years so that they could go on and make their own mark in the world, just as he did. Now that he has begun, there is no stopping this vision from becoming a reality, and time will show the results of his mission. His venture shows how philanthropy also lies in the heart of business and entrepreneurship, and positive impact goes beyond business success.