About Us
Our Story
About Us
Our Story
In a world where traditional analyst firms were towering institutions, slow-moving, expensive, and built for the few – and where many new-age players in markets like India were churning out low-quality reports with fabricated data and zero integrity, Piyush Dewangan and Ritika Agrawal saw something fundamentally broken.
They weren’t outsiders looking in, they had lived the analyst life in research rooms, customer meetings, and vendor briefings. They had worked alongside some of the biggest names in the game. And in that experience, they saw the gap.
It was everything QKS Group stood against. We were born to change thatto open doors, level the playing field, and accelerate the progress the world deserves.
The story of QKS Group didn’t begin in Silicon Valley, London, or Berlin. It began in India, a place often seen as the engine room of global technology, where millions of brilliant minds build the systems, code the software, and run the operations behind the world’s most powerful enterprises.
For decades, India played the part of the silent contributor – delivering excellence, but rarely standing in the spotlight. Most global firms came to India for support.
But what if India could offer something more? What if it could not only execute someone else’s vision but shape the future with its own? That’s the question that sparked QKS.
We weren’t just building a company. We were challenging a pattern. We believed that a bold, visionary, and globally respected analyst firm could emerge from India, not as a cost center, but as a center of clarity, strategy, and thought leadership.
Yes, we started small. No towering office. No famous names, no investors behind us. Just conviction, integrity, and a belief that the world didn’t need more noise, it needed truth. We wanted to flip the narrative: from a country known for back-office support, to a place that delivers front-line vision.
Today, QKS Group serves clients across the globe – from disruptive startups to Fortune 500s – not as an offshore vendor, but as a trusted voice shaping strategic decisions.
“Piyush met a leading European tech vendor – dominant in their home market, delivering exceptional products, and trusted by top enterprises. But in North America, they were just expanding and were not known. Despite outperforming many global players, they didn’t make it any major Quadrant/Matrix, not because of their capabilities, but because they didn’t ‘fit’ the rigid criteria of traditional evaluation models. That moment was a wake-up call: the system wasn’t built for product excellence – it was built for presence.”
That’s when the story began – not in a boardroom, but in deep reflection and bold ambition.
In 2015, they set out with one belief:
The world didn’t need more research. It needed sharper insight, more agile frameworks, and a bold voice willing to say what others wouldn’t.
In one early client conversation, Ritika faced skepticism. “You’re small, based in India - trying to mimic the big firms for a quick win?” the client asked. That moment wasn’t discouragement - it was fuel. Because behind every doubt was a deeper reason to build something better. “We’re here because the system needs to change. And sometimes, it’s the small voices that start the loudest revolutions”, she answered. That same client have been working with QKS Group for over seven years now.”
The journey began with a bold idea: to bring clarity and actionable insights into the crowded, noisy world of technology evaluation. Before SPARK Matrix was even named, our pioneering framework – the Competitive Landscape Quadrant - aimed to spotlight innovation beyond legacy players.
But it wasn’t easy. As a fledgling startup known then as Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, we faced tough realities: limited resources, skepticism from clients, and a market dominated by giant analyst firms. Many dismissed our fresh perspective, and early failures tested our resolve.
Despite the setbacks, we remained true to our vision – to accelerate technology advancements by enabling smarter decisions for both vendors and end users. Our early work in emerging fields like Customer IAM, Robotic Process Automation, Process Mining, Low-code Development Platforms, IIoT Platforms, SD-WAN, CCaaS, CXTech, and others began to gain attention, setting the stage for what was to come.
In one of the “Industry Analyst Summits,” the head of analyst relations of a CXTech firm pulled Piyush aside and said, “QKS Group is a hidden gem – we spotted it early. Every time we license a SPARK Matrix™ reprint, we see the same results and impact we get from the top two global analyst firms. The difference? QKS brings speed, agility, and clarity without the red tape.”
2018 marked a pivotal turning point. Our framework “Competitive Landscape Quadrant” evolved into SPARK Matrix™, a modern, inclusive evaluation model designed for today’s dynamic tech landscape. Unlike rigid traditional quadrants, SPARK Matrix spotlighted both established leaders and disruptive innovators – valuing future potential alongside legacy strength.
The market responded. Vendors and buyers alike embraced the clarity and depth SPARK Matrix provided. Within a few years, it became one of the most sought-after technology evaluation platforms globally – a testament to the power of vision meeting product-market fit.
This success wasn’t just about a product. It was about changing how the industry views technology evaluation – putting transparency, fairness, and future-readiness front and center.
Just as momentum built, the world faced an unprecedented crisis. COVID-19 upended businesses and budgets. Many clients froze spending. Remote work became the norm overnight – a model that proved challenging for an emerging firm deeply invested in building culture and collaboration.
Yet, QKS Group’s agility became our greatest strength. While many struggled, we adapted fast – turning the remote challenge into an opportunity to innovate and connect differently. Our small, passionate team pulled together, overcoming isolation, communication hurdles, and uncertainty.
Against the odds, we not only survived the pandemic but grew stronger - earning several new clients across North America, Europe, APAC, and others who valued our clear, nimble approach in an uncertain world.
Post-pandemic, QKS Group accelerated growth. With our foundation solid, we focused on building a world-class team of analysts, consultants, and visionaries. Culture, collaboration, and continuous learning became our pillars.
We invested in talent across various technology practice, blending deep industry expertise with fresh perspectives. A team that believed in our vision, shared our obsession for truth in insights, and brought relentless curiosity to every problem. And as the team grew, so did our impact. Our insights got sharper, our frameworks deeper, and our global footprint wider. This empowered us to serve clients more effectively expanding our client base significantly across North America, Europe, and APAC.
Our culture of boldness and innovation attracted some of the brightest minds – fueling QKS Group’s rise as a formidable challenger to legacy firms.
As QKS began to gain global momentum, one thing became clear: we were outgrowing our name. Quadrant Knowledge Solutions had served us well in our early years – a name born from the framework we pioneered, and a reflection of our analytical roots. But over time, we realized we weren’t just producing research. We were building movements. We weren’t just evaluating vendors — we were reshaping markets and empowering decision-makers on both sides of the table. The name no longer matched the ambition, agility, and impact of who we were becoming.
So, we did what bold companies do, we evolved.
We became QKS Group, not just a shorter name, but a stronger identity. It marked our transformation from a research provider into a full-spectrum advisory service providers realising our vision of “Accelerating Technology Advancements”.
It was a strategic shift, a signal to the market that QKS was now built to serve not just vendors, but enterprises, system integrators, investors, and transformation leaders across the ecosystem. It marked our expansion into subscription-based advisory (SPARK Plus™) and community-led enablement (QKS Community™). But more than anything, the new identity stood for clarity.
Clarity in how we speak, Clarity in what we stand for.
Clarity in the vision that had always been at our core:Accelerating Technology Advancements, not through noise but through truth, trust, and transformative insight.
Looking ahead, QKS Group is on a clear path to becoming a global top 5 technology analyst and advisory firm. The launch of SPARK Plus™ offers clients a powerful “next best action” service moving from evaluation to execution. Our community-led initiative, QKS Community™, is shaping the next generation of industry leaders fostering collaboration, learning, and growth from the ground up.
With QKS Review Blogs, we deliver bold, unbiased, and sharply contextual insights cutting through the noise to give end users the clarity they deserve and vendors the truth they need to hear. These are not just blogs – they're reality checks, built to inform, challenge, and empower.
With a growing portfolio of trusted clients, proven ROI stories, and relentless innovation, QKS Group is redefining what an analyst firm can be – nimble, insightful, and truly customer-centric.
The journey continues – bold, purposeful, and unstoppable.