The new rules of building global tech teams

Introduction

In this edition of the Business Insights Series, I sat down with Digant Jobanputra, Business Director at Latitude Technolabs, a 16-year-old IT services firm based in India. Latitude offers a full suite of digital services, including mobile and web app development, ERP software, UI/UX design, eCommerce platforms, digital marketing, and staff augmentation. The company focuses on delivering high-quality, cost-effective, and scalable technology solutions for startups, SMEs, and global enterprises.

Latitude is a tech company with a strong focus on being a long-term partner in digital transformation. Their mission is to bridge the gap between client needs and business success by providing high-grade service powered by the latest technologies and a clear sense of purpose. Their approach blends innovation with practical execution, whether it’s launching a startup MVP or managing complex enterprise software projects.

With nearly a decade of experience in the industry, Digant brings a unique blend of business development insight and hands-on expertise in helping startups and SMBs navigate the complexities of IT outsourcing and software development. Latitude started as a product-based company but has evolved into a flexible, service-focused partner offering remote staffing solutions and innovative models like Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT). Digant’s story reflects a journey of market adaptation and a deep commitment to building long-term trust, turning clients into collaborators and collaborators into friends.

This conversation touched on why networking acts as a business engine, how non-technical founders can benefit from free consultations, and what modern outsourcing looks like when human connection leads the way. We also examined project management pitfalls and how cross-border communication challenges can be overcome with systems and empathy.

Let’s dive into the lessons.

Networking That Builds More Than Leads

There’s networking, and then there’s connection-building that leads to real business. Digant shared how his casual virtual coffee chats, what he calls his “Virtual Coffee Meet”, have led to surprising outcomes, including successful partnerships and real team expansions.

“I have helped some people with investment by just introducing them to the right folks in my network. After that, they increased their strength by almost 15 to 20 people.”

That kind of impact emerges when someone takes the time to listen, connect the dots, and care about mutual outcomes, instead of relying on pitching services or pushing sales. We both agreed that being a bridge, a connector, has a force-multiplier effect that goes beyond any transactional agenda.

“Networking can have that unlimited power. My network can be helpful to you or yours to me, or to someone we haven’t even met yet.”

The beauty of these stories is that they often start with a simple conversation and no agenda. But behind the scenes, what’s really happening is long-term value creation. When two people meet, and there’s no rush to close, no hard sell, they can co-create space for opportunity. In Digant’s case, that opportunity turned into job creation and startup growth. In mine, it often meant lasting collaborations that only became clear months or years later.

These interactions reflect a deeper truth in today’s business landscape: when attention is the most scarce resource, the people who give it freely, without expecting immediate return, build the strongest reputations. And in an age of constant pitching and outreach, the person who genuinely connects stands out.

Real leverage lives in the ripple effect of meaningful relationships. What shapes real influence is the quality and depth of the impact you create through your connections. The most influential people in any network often work quietly, making introductions, opening doors, and staying engaged without needing an immediate reason or return.

It grows in ways that can’t always be predicted, quietly at first, then with a surprising force. Recent data supports this: executives report they would lose 28% of their business without networking, and face-to-face networking meetings result in deals 40% of the time, far higher than most traditional sales approaches.

Building With Clients, Not Just For Them

Digant explained how their model shifted after COVID. Instead of just being a vendor, they now help clients build their own offshore teams through a Build-Operate-Transfer system. This approach stands out in the outsourcing landscape, a collaborative operational strategy designed for companies that want scale without bureaucracy.

“We proposed a system like BOT. The hiring belongs to them. The infrastructure and everything will be for themselves. We are just going to manage all their resources.”

Think of it as infrastructure-as-a-service, but human. The client owns the direction and the resources, while Latitude becomes the steward of daily management. For businesses expanding into new markets or trying to reduce operational costs without compromising on quality, this approach offers an elegant solution.

“They don’t need to have a whole team to manage people. We hire for them, but it’s their team.”

It works. One UK-based client began their journey with 20 people and doubled their team within two years using this model. That kind of scale is rare without giving up either control or speed. The success of the model depends on the alignment between team structure, culture, and execution. Digant’s team ensures cultural integration, project management, and reporting systems are all in place to support seamless operations.

This model reflects a deeper trend. Many growing companies want the flexibility and cost-efficiency of outsourcing, but not the detachment that often comes with it. The BOT model creates a hybrid space, where Latitude’s structure supports the client’s autonomy, and the result is a team that feels local, even if they’re working remotely across the globe.

It’s a modern staffing architecture designed for a borderless business world. This model reflects market intelligence: 70% of IT enterprises entering new markets now prefer BOT arrangements due to their scalability and reduced risk profile, while companies can achieve up to 30% cost savings and 50% faster deployment times.

Service First: Helping Founders Before Selling to Them

When I asked Digant about his work with startups, he lit up. His passion lies in helping early-stage founders shape their ideas, long before a formal contract or invoice.

“I do a pre-consultation. I don’t look after money first. It’s about the relationship I am making.”

This generosity reflects a thoughtful, long-term approach to building trust and opportunity. By helping founders validate their MVPs and define lean features, Digant ensures startups don’t burn through budgets before they even start. His work spans adtech, fintech, logistics, and e-commerce, and his focus is always the same: find the simplest version of the product that offers real value.

“I’ve done this for more than 10 to 15 startups. Helped them figure out which kind of features they can start with, without paying more to agencies.”

Startups are full of enthusiasm, but often lack structure. Digant fills that gap by acting as a thinking partner, a translator of ideas into execution. He doesn’t overwhelm them with technical jargon or force them into complicated roadmaps. Instead, he breaks things down, often contributing UX direction or basic flows for free. For many first-time founders, this is the first moment when their vision becomes tangible.

This type of founder-centric support is rare. And it works. Because once trust is established, it becomes much easier for clients to return for development, scaling, or longer-term engagement. Digant is building something more enduring than revenue: loyalty rooted in trust and service. And loyalty is worth more than any one project.

In a startup’s earliest days, decisions are murky, and resources are tight. That’s why this kind of early guidance matters. Early decisions in a startup’s journey have lasting effects, avoiding false starts, wasted money, and painful pivots is crucial. Digant has carved out a reputation through slow, deliberate guidance offered at exactly the right moment. That’s a superpower in today’s noisy tech world.

Navigating Cross-Cultural Collaboration

When working across countries, communication matters more than ever. Digant shared how they recently worked with a Spanish client and overcame language hurdles with structured tools.

“If we are managing tools properly, Jira, Slack, then the journey is easier. Instructions can be given clearly, and collaboration becomes possible.”

Translation plays a role, but expectation management is what truly shapes the collaboration. This project succeeded through a combination of shared working language and systems designed to clarify responsibilities, timelines, and tasks. With structured tools and consistent reporting, Digant’s team transformed what could have been a frustrating collaboration into a smooth, efficient workflow.

“It’s not just about my resources. The way they have made the journey easier for my resource, that’s also part of why collaboration goes well.”

This mutual adaptability, on both sides, is key. It reveals something that’s often overlooked: cultural empathy goes both ways. While his team worked hard to adapt to the client’s expectations, the client also created an environment of patience and support. When that balance is in place, it unlocks a more productive and enjoyable working relationship.

It’s easy to think that successful outsourcing is just about technical expertise. But even the best developers can’t perform if the communication layer is broken. Real collaboration comes from clarity, consistency, and mutual respect. When you combine those elements with the right tech stack and senior talent, distance starts to disappear.

This is a reminder that tech relies on more than code: communication, systems, and human adaptability all play a crucial role. There’s real business value in getting those elements aligned, and when they are, geography becomes irrelevant.

Growing Into Leadership Through Discomfort

Digant’s journey into client engagement is a lesson in confident growth. Early in his career, he hadn’t yet stepped into international client calls, but when the opportunity came, he leaned into it and never looked back.

“At first, I was afraid to take calls. I was not sure how to talk with someone sitting in the US.”

That moment became a launchpad. When he had to take a client call unexpectedly, something clicked, not just in how he handled the situation, but in how he reframed the entire idea of business conversations. From that point on, Digant made a conscious choice to lead with authenticity rather than pitch decks.

“Since then, I never do any sales pitch on call. If you have bonding, people are going to ask you for your expertise.”

Now, he approaches every conversation with curiosity and a calm focus on connection. His method is more about relationship-building than presentation, and it’s working. He leads a team of business developers and encourages them to see every call as an opportunity to build trust, not to close a deal.

This mindset shift has become a cornerstone of his leadership. Digant exemplifies what it looks like when someone turns initial hesitation into long-term confidence. And that confidence, grounded in empathy and clarity, continues to open doors for both his team and his clients.

Addressing the Hidden Pain Points in Outsourcing

From our discussion, it’s clear that many outsourcing frustrations come down to poor project management and unclear communication protocols. Digant and I both acknowledged how tricky it can be to keep action items aligned, especially in dynamic, fast-paced projects with distributed teams across time zones.

“Even if you acknowledge the task during a call, if it’s not put into the system, not documented, it may get lost and then repeated again and again.”

It’s a familiar scenario. You have the meeting, decisions are made, everyone agrees on next steps, and then the trail goes cold. Weeks later, the same item resurfaces, untouched, misunderstood, or misremembered. This creates a loop of repetition and frustration that slowly erodes trust.

Clients value progress they can see. They look for clarity, follow-through, and assurance that their input is understood and acted upon.

This is where structured project management tools, like Jira or ClickUp, and tight internal accountability systems become essential for both planning and tracking the micro-decisions that make or break a build.

Companies like Latitude Technolabs are growing and evolving, but with that growth comes a new layer of pressure: to meet global standards of delivery and process maturity. The market is evolving rapidly, creating new expectations for how outsourcing partners deliver and communicate. As more companies enter this space, the difference between “good” and “great” will often lie not in the quality of code, but in how well teams communicate, document, and follow through.

This moment presents an opportunity. If companies invest in systems that make work traceable, repeatable, and clear, investing in better systems helps companies retain clients and stand out as leaders in their field.

Conclusion: Trust is the New Leverage

Digant’s story highlights something powerful for every business owner reading this: relationships scale. What drives real outcomes are human connection, empathy, and clarity in action. Whether you’re launching a startup or expanding your operations globally, the quality of your relationships will shape the quality of your outcomes.

“We started as client and vendor, and now it’s like family. We still talk, even when we don’t have anything to work on right now.”

That kind of bond is built through values in practice, like showing up without pitching, guiding without charging, and building systems that serve people before profits. Digant’s approach, from BOT models to MVP consultations, shows us what it looks like when business becomes a space for generosity and shared momentum.

This conversation also revealed that Digant is currently navigating the “Pain” stage of the Sandler Selling System. He’s self-aware about what needs to improve from project management structures to scaling team leadership, and that transparency is exactly what sets up lasting growth.

So here’s the real takeaway: business doesn’t have to be cold or complex to be effective. When trust is present, communication is clear, and systems support execution, you build more than just software; you build legacy.

If you’re a business leader exploring outsourcing, digital solutions, or just looking to grow through better partnerships, this is your nudge to go deeper.