Interview with Uday Virkud, President and CEO, 3E Company

Share with us your professional background?

The IIT education prepared me to take on various professional challenges. During more than 25 years of experience I was fortunate to have opportunity to work in three distinct industries as diverse as transportation, financial risk management and environmental health and safety (EH&S). And help these companies to grow their businesses, by leading innovation, team building and international expansion.

At the onset of my career, I worked as a transportation engineering and planning consultant before joining Verisk’s AIR Worldwide unit and ultimately serving as the firm’s Executive Vice President. In this role, I was responsible for a number of successful strategic initiatives, including product development and global business development. In 2014, I was invited to lead 3E Company, a leader in the field of environmental, health and safety (EH&S) regulatory compliance. Our vision is to help businesses proactively and intelligently meet their regulatory compliance obligations throughout the world and their supply chains.

What opportunities do you see for your company from the recent Global climate treaty in Paris?

Not directly, but an increased focus on the environment will only benefit our business, and the Paris Agreement underscores the fact that environmental issues are commanding a presence on the international stage. This increased focus will likely result in tighter environmental regulation and enforcement, and as companies work to comply with both new and existing regulations, they will likely require professional expertise and proven solutions from companies like 3E.

What are your growth markets, in other words what regions of the world you look to do business with?

International growth continues to be an important part of 3E’s vision for the future. Over 20 percent of our business is outside US. We have over 5,000 companies working with us that span many industries and verticals. Many leading global chemical manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies, based out of US, Europe and Japan are 3E clients.  Since 2014, we have pursued an aggressive global expansion strategy by strengthening our presence in Europe and we have opened an office in Japan to serve the growing Asian markets. We are also pursuing growth through regional partnerships in many parts of the world. Regulatory compliance and EH&S is a global challenge for companies. Many companies manufacture in one region, have raw material suppliers in the other and often sell their products in a different country. It is a global economy; hence the compliance with regulations is also a global challenge for our clients.

How do you keep track of changing laws in 95 different countries?

Our dedicated team of regulatory analysts plays a critical role in tracking regulations around the globe. Over 50 3E professionals with backgrounds in international regulations, chemistry, toxicology and chemical engineering have more than two decades of experience in this unique field. Our professionals have deep domain expertise and many are recognized as industry thought leaders, as evidenced by our industry awards, speaking engagements and published articles. 3E’s team is unique in its expertise to research complex and evolving global regulations and then add value by validating, interpreting, and analyzing this data that is seamlessly delivered to our clients via our products for their compliance decisions.

What happens when one of the companies is caught for violations?

Cost of non-compliance is high. Companies have paid over $1.7 Billion USD in fines over the past five years according to Verdantix EH&S Market Insights, October Edition, 2015. Companies are often audited and sometimes found lacking in their EH&S compliance. The cost of non-compliance is beyond monetary fines and is a risk to the company’s reputation and market share.

Recently, food giant Nestlé, got caught up in scandals in both India and the US. In India, government tests found high levels of lead in ‘Maggi Noodles’, which will lead to full-year profits falling short of expectations. In the US, Nestlé has come under fire for drawing water out of California’s San Bernardino Mountains via a permit that expired more than 25 years ago. Although many other factors are at play in California’s water shortage, critics rarely pass up the chance to put blame on a corporate behemoth, and this was no exception.

3E works diligently with our customers, by providing up to date information, through our products and services so such situations could be avoided.

What do you think about use of big data and analytics in your industry?

Big data and analytics certainly play important roles in our industry, and for this reason, they are at the very core of 3E’s business. Our award winning content is “Big” and includes over 4.75 million safety data sheets (SDS), information about over 100,000 suppliers, and over 8 million compliance documents just to give some examples. It flows through all stages of the chemical and product lifecycle and across the supply chain. Our solutions are used for compliance from product research to manufacturing, storage, supply chain and distribution then through the usage of and eventual proper disposal of products.

What technologies do you use in your business?

We leverage many different technologies to deliver our content. Our solutions are delivered through client server implementation, via web portals and recently we introduced delivery through cloud. In fact, we recently released the first in a series of cloud-based data-loading applications supporting the Flavors, Food and Beverage industries. We will continue to broaden our product offerings with cloud-based solutions, mobile access solutions, and tighter integration across the board, to give customers’ access to our product suite from a single platform.  Doing so allows us provide the highest level of service that we can to our customers. The world is trending towards having access to necessary information whenever required and wherever needed. And that is our strategy.

What major changes have you instituted after taking over as the CEO?

Since joining the company in February 2014, I’ve led the company to growth. I’ve also pioneered the expansion of 3E into global markets that include chemical, manufacturing, cosmetics, and food to name a few. I would like 3E to be the “Super Compliance Company” that helps our clients to meet all their compliance data and analytics needs. As a thought leader, I have championed the concept of intelligent compliance, which helps companies proactively manage their regulatory obligations that are integral part of their sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategies.

Do you have any diversification plans into other areas to grow your revenue stream?

If we look at our areas of investment, we have plans to both diversify and specialize.  We will continue our expansion towards the goal of becoming “Super Compliance Company”.  From a content perspective, we will introduce specialized regulatory offerings, including content and analysis for food and beverage topics such as Additives, Flavorings, Supplements, Vitamins, GMO’s, Nutritional and Health Claims, Product Standards for food ingredients, Banned and Restricted Substances, Labeling and more. We are also actively looking to expand our services to emerging countries including China, India and Brazil. I anticipate both of these initiatives to drive revenue.

How have you been involved in the local community ?

I have lived in Massachusetts since 1986 when I moved to US. First, I came to Amherst, then moved to Boston area in 1988 after completing my MS. Since then I have been an active member of New England Marathi Mandal (NEMM) and was a key member of the 1997 BMM convention management team. I enjoy Marathi theater, movies, travel and cricket. And you may have read my article published in Lokvani about my Jamaican experience - World Cup Cricket and beyond.

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