Businessman tracks journey from India, Kenya to Allant CEO
Gaurav Issar has come a long way from India and Kenya to become the CEO of Allant Group LLC in Naperville.
And it's a journey he's glad he's made, even if it did involve his first taste of Michigan snow storms when he first came to the United States.
"Growing up, I was always fascinated with the United States for multiple reasons," said Issar, 48 and a Glenview resident. "We even watched 'Dallas" and "Dynasty' and that gave us a view of the United States so much so that I wanted to come here."
Issar's father was a civil engineer, and his family moved around a lot to help build new houses or other buildings when countries experienced growth, he said.
While he was born in India, he grew up in Nairobi, Kenya. He then studied at a junior college in Cyprus. But he finally had a chance to go to the United States when he went to the University of Michigan to earn his bachelor's degree, and then the University of Chicago for his MBA.
Issar then worked for Price Waterhouse and James Martin & Co. and later co-founded a business intelligence and data warehousing firm that provided analytical and reporting services to other companies. The startup caught the attention of Project Leadership Associates, which bought him out in 2005. He then worked for 11 years at PLA.
"I was passionate about data analytics," he said.
Data analytics is a process where raw data is analyzed just so you can draw conclusions. It continues to be a growing field because many companies depend on this research to help build their business.
That's why he got involved with a group of investors who recently bought Allant, a data analytic firm. Vencap Technologies, the investor group, is now the parent company of Allant, which has about 100 employees. Issar became the CEO. The terms of the sale were not released.
In many ways, leading Allant during this time shows how far he's come in the tech industry.
"I remember when I first started, people were looking at main frames and green screens and very simplistic computers," Issar said. "Things now have become so advanced and sophisticated and complicated. There are more mobile devices and downloads. There are so many things that just didn't exist when I first started. But this market has really started to evolve. That's why I have been so bullish on Allant. There's a lot of data out there, and we can harness that data and make it work for businesses."
<h3 class="briefHead">FastTracks</h3>
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David Van Elslander, president of Art Van PureSleep; and Keith Knautz, president of the Glendale Heights Chamber of Commerce were among those who attended the Art Van Furniture opening at its 11th area location in Glendale Heights last week. ... Tom Grooms is the new vice president and chief information officer at CF Industries holdings Inc. in Deerfield. He succeeds Kirk Siefkas, who will be retiring later this year. ... Kevin Madsen is a maternal fetal medicine physician, Mary DeHerrera Codo and Falguni Vasa, both endocrinologists, are now practicing at DuPage Medical Group, an independent, multi-specialty physician group in Naperville
Jordan Dolin, founder of Emmi Solutions, and J.C. Grubbs, founder of Dev Mynd will speak at The Chicago Suburban Tech Talk, on Thursday starting at 5:30 p.m. at the Happ Inn Bar and Grill in Northfield, ... Deerfield resident Brian Cook was promoted to executive vice president, and Glenview resident Greg Salah was promoted to senior vice president and president of North American business at USG Corp., a provider of building materials and technologies. ... The legal team of Glen Ellyn's Paul Bozych and Glenview's Dominick W. Savaiano has joined the national law firm Nielsen, Zehe & Antas P.C. Bozych and Savaiano's team also includes partners Elizabeth (Betsy) R. Grover, Bradford S. Krause, Jack J. Murphy and associate Sean Brogan.
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