Introduction
MAX – Metro Africa Xpress is a mobility platform that empowers commercial taxi drivers via vehicle subscription and financial services. On a mission to ‘power Africa’s forward movement’, MAX was founded by Chinedu Azodoh and Adetayo Bamiduro in Lagos, Nigeria in 2015. The company started off as a delivery service provider back in the day and has now grown to become the largest 2-wheeler vehicle subscription platform in Africa.
MAX is a team of passionate people leading a tech-enabled company driven by the vision to solve mobility challenges in Africa. MAX is working towards making mobility safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable through the deployment of high-performance technologies and operators.
Problem Statement
To best solve the mobility challenges in Africa, MAX wanted a seasoned techie to join their team as the Vice President of Engineering. This leader would be the head of the engineering vertical, directly reporting to the Chief Technology Officer.
Solution and Execution
Purple Quarter was approached with the mandate for a seasoned tech leader to fill in the leadership gap at MAX. Together with MAX, Purple Quarter customized an approach to map and locate the best fit for the open position. The leadership team at MAX was clear that they wanted a Vice President of Engineering who would take on the team to develop a holistic tech ecosystem in the product offerings along with developing IoT and ML.
Given the Nigerian organization was particularly looking for a techie who had seen a journey of 0-1 and 1-10x, Shivakumar Bagi became the best bet for the role. Shivakumar Bagi’s career trajectory was the winning factor in the equation. His successful association and hands-on experience with BlackBuck gave him a competitive edge for the role and responsibilities that lay ahead at MAX.
MAX specifically wanted a techie who had prior experience in the mobility space, was product-customer oriented and had witnessed scalability. Shivakumar Bagi checked all these parameters. Shivakumar Bagi found this role to be an interesting opportunity; he could connect better with the vision and that of the founders.
Purple Quarter’s IP, the Behavioural Metrics Model – BMM was instrumental in assessing Shivakumar Bagi’s match for the role. His personality and interpersonal skills along with other set parameters, make him a true nurturer—one who’s capable of taking the business to the next level by optimizing existing service/ product/ technology or, by adding to the existing value proposition. A nurturer leader takes care of the people and the team and moulds them to engineer the businesses of tomorrow. A talented techie, Shivakumar will enable MAX’s tech team and overall business goals to achieve the next level of growth and scalability.
Looking Forward
MAX strives to become a 100% API and Data-driven organization, develop software, and include more offerings to make the company more than just a subscription-based platform provider. Shivakumar Bagi’s addition to the team will help customize MAX’s offerings to serve the company’s diverse customer base that is spread out across different markets.
For more information, please reach out to the Marketing Team.
