Global connector of cutting-edge products

Ramesh Ganesan never wanted to be a lawyer, but it seemed to be the path that he was destined to take. “In traditional Asian families, you can study law, medicine or engineering, but I always wanted to study economics and business,” he says.

Ramesh followed his family’s dream, and like many young, ambitious Malaysians in the 1980s, he sought an international education. He attended high school in Suffolk and went on to study law at Hull University.

After graduating in 1989, and taking 18 months off for ‘fun and hard work’ as a cabin crew member with Singapore Airlines, Ramesh went back to Malaysia to do the inevitable: sit his bar exam. But while waiting for his results to come in, his good friend Teh Kok Ngun convinced him to work for a finance company, MBF Education, that was doing something ground-breaking: buying up high quality private education institutions such as Taylor’s College in Malaysia.

“Private education in Asia was at its infancy, and I felt lucky to be part of its early stages. What private institutions did was open the door to an international education, by allowing students to do preparation in their own country that would help them qualify for global university programmes.”

Just as he was starting to enjoy his new job, Ramesh’s bar results came in. He passed. But before he was able to don his gown, MBF Education’s CEO convinced Ramesh to stay in the education sector. “I haven’t looked back. It’s taken me everywhere and I’ve loved every minute.”

From MBF Education, he was recruited by his former manager to work at a new college in Penang, International College, which ran Australian programmes for students pursuing medical qualifications.

“I worked in business development, so a big part of my job was student recruitment. I felt a huge responsibility not just to my employer, but to the families - my customers - who were making an investment in their children’s future. It was so important to believe in the quality of what I was selling, and that still guides my approach to business development.” 

Ramesh was quickly scooped up by the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur to lead the promotion of UK health and education technology in the region. In his role helping British companies access opportunities in the region, Ramesh met royalty and supported one of the world’s largest trade missions at that time, ‘Make IT in Britain’.

Fresh start

When his wife’s career took him from the hustle and bustle of Kuala Lumpur to the peace and quiet of Palmerston North, Ramesh felt his thriving career had gone a bit off the rails.

“In a new country, no one knows you, so all that reputation that I had built was pretty much lost. I had to start from scratch. This is the story of many new migrants”

Ramesh took the opportunity to fulfil a lifetime goal of doing a Master’s in Management Systems at Massey University. “I was a terrible law student but an excellent management systems student.” Ramesh went on to teach on the MBA programme at the Australian University of Ballarat’s Upper Hutt campus, now disestablished.

His boss at Ballarat, Associate Professor Jonathan Sibley, presented Ramesh with his next big break: managing the education sector in Wellington for the regional economic development agency, then known as Positively Wellington Business.

“It was an outstanding agency that changed the city. It gave me a terrific introduction to local government in New Zealand.”

Ramesh was in charge of the production of economic reports, promoting Wellington’s tertiary education story to the world, to attract talent to support a thriving city and region as well as supporting the geospatial and selected tech sectors.

After that, Ramesh worked in the private sector for a while, helping companies such as Momentum Studios access Asian markets, but he kept coming across the same issue: a lack of access to capital and marketing in the region.

“I’ve seen the best of the best in the UK, but what I saw in New Zealand at the time was way ahead of that. It was clear we had the IP, brains, and skill here, but it was hard for business to get off the ground.”

Change from the centre

To change things for the better, Ramesh entered the central government with a role at the Ministry of Science and Innovation, building international relationships with Singapore, Australia, India and the US.

“The most valuable thing I learned was the interplay between business and policy. How policy impacts on operations, and how operations impact on consumers. It helped me understand how the government and industry can work together to benefit New Zealand.”

Ramesh then became Manager of Strategic Partnerships at ESR, New Zealand’s crown research institute specialising in forensics, public health and environmental research. He loved the busy, purposeful nature of the role, and the amazing scientists and staff. The organisation played an important part in New Zealand’s response to covid and, after seven fulfilling years, Ramesh needed a change.

“I had done my time in government and I wanted to go back to my roots in business development and relationship management in the private sector.”

Back to his roots

As fate would have it, in 2022 Aspeq’s CEO Hamish Findlay contacted Ramesh about a role as Aspeq’s Relationship Manager. Ramesh and Hamish worked together at ESR, so Ramesh trusted that Hamish had his finger on the pulse of innovation.

As Relationship Manager, Ramesh is responsible for managing and growing Aspeq’s partnerships, with a particular focus on government and education sectors in Australia and Singapore - a perfect fit for his background.

“This industry is mindblowing. You can’t overestimate how important it is. It ensures that the people who fly our planes, police us, connect us to electricity and install our plumbing, can do so safely because they are examined properly and fairly. Without it, we’d have a lot more accidents on our hands.”

Aspeq is already world-renowned for its assessment services in the aviation sector, but Ramesh’s vision is a balanced portfolio of aviation and non-aviation clients.

“We’re definitely growing our partnerships in government and academia. We have a reputation for understanding the challenges of working within a highly regulated system, like government or education, to deliver a world-class product. I’m excited to build on that reputation and bring our assessment services to clients across all countries and sectors.”