Above: 2024 NexGen Leadership Award winner Durgesh Singh of Magswitch Technologies is flanked by Steel Manufacturing Association President Philip K. Bell, Modern Metals Publisher Michael D’Alexander, and Nicola Coslett, CEO for CRU Events.
October, 2024: The 2024 SMU NexGen Leadership Award, sponsored by the Steel Manufacturers Association and Modern Metals magazine, was awarded to Durgesh Singh, who is chief operating officer for Magswitch Technologies, which specializes in proprietary magnetic technology, providing material handling solutions across several industries, including industrial automation, automotive and steel.
Brad Hite, president of the Heavy Lifting Group at Magswitch, nominated Singh for the award. Well known in the steel industry himself, Hite wrote to the award committee that within four months of joining the company in 2018, “it was clear that [Singh] was a positive force,” and Magswitch appointed him as global operations consultant.
Hite noted that the company sources rare earth magnets from China for use in its lifting equipment. The implementation of the Section 301 trade remedy “meant Magswitch was facing a 25 percent tariff on one of its main inputs. Singh took it upon himself to seek an exclusion from Section 301.”
Hite wrote that only 5 percent of requests for exclusions to the U.S. trade administration are successful. “Durgesh’s submission was one of them. In less than 11 months in the metals industry, Durgesh was able to navigate an extremely complex situation and save the company millions of dollars.”
That task accomplished, Singh was promoted to global operations manager. In that post, Singh led a team of 30+ employees and managed Magswitch’s supply chain, ranging from manufacturing in China to fulfilling orders globally with the primary distribution centers in the U.S. and Germany. “The key focus was on digitizing the systems for seamless information flow from the customer to the factory.”
Within 16 months, Singh was again promoted, to group general manager, overseeing P&L and day-to-day operations. As global economies were grappling with COVID disruptions, Singh and his team implemented strategies to address these challenges. Magswitch was one of the few companies in the U.S. small industrial space with a global supply chain that was not severely impacted, says Singh. In fact, revenue grew due to its resilient supply chain and mitigation strategies. Later, a consulting group gave Magswitch a gold-standard rating for management, operations, supply chain, systems and new product innovation.
Only 34 years old, Singh is COO of Magswitch and collaborates with the CEO, the board of directors and the executive team to define the roadmap and ensure its execution. He also plays a key role in M&A transactions, participating in both sell-side and buy-side due diligence processes.
“Durgesh’s grit, curiosity, and servant leadership style has served him well at Magswitch,” Hite wrote in the award nomination letter.
Singh says he handles the pressures of a challenging job with the support of his extended family (photo, below), and his wife, Tushita
NAVIGATING A NEW LAND
Singh grew up in India with his extended family. An older brother lives there and works in a prestigious government job. Although Singh moved to the United States to pursue an education and a fulfilling career, he misses the family who, along with his supportive wife Tushita, “still keeps me going. It’s the foundation. Both sides of the family are very supportive of me leaving and making a name for myself.”
Singh earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering in 2012. He learned coding, business services and consulting before joining Infosys Ltd. He worked there for over four years as a technology analyst and systems engineer. He helped customers achieve digital transformation across various industries worldwide.
In that role, Singh created a next-generation parcel delivery model for a postal service in Canada. When Singh and his team doubled throughput, they were declared winners at the Infosys Confluence program for the most innovative project companywide. Infosys had more than 250,000 employees at the time. “That was a key milestone and got me interested in exploring the supply chain domain,” he says.
With financial aid from his father, Singh was able to move to the U.S. and earn an MBA in 2019 from University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. At school, he met a professor and expert in supply chains and corporate strategy, Gregg Macaluso. A mentor, “he helped me develop my interest in—and understand the impact of—the supply chain.”
As an international student, Singh was required to get job within one year of graduation in order to stay in the U.S. “It was a tough phase for me. I applied to a lot of companies and was not very lucky.” Through the university mentorship program, Singh met Kevin Moore, an entrepreneur who was instrumental in guiding him. “I remain very good friends with Moore and am very grateful for his mentorship over the years.”
Moore introduced Singh to David Morton, CEO of Magswitch Technologies. Singh told Morton, “‘I am ready to work in any area where you see me fit.’ That was the start of my career in the U.S.” He did receive other offers but after consulting with his father, “I decided to work for a smaller company to learn every aspect of the business, get to know the company well and help it grow.”
Once he grasped the fundamentals, he says, Morton “gave me complete autonomy,” a sign of the culture at Magswitch, “where we develop ideas and execute them on the ground, unlike big companies where it takes longer to move from ideas to execution.”
One example is when Section 301 was introduced, a 25 percent tariff was imposed on all imports from China. “We had to find a way through it.” Upon hearing this assignment, “I called my dad and said, ‘I think they are trying to get rid of me!’ I had no idea where to start,” Singh recalls. Credit goes to the entire Magswitch team for nurturing this culture over the years, he adds.
Credit goes to the entire Magswitch team for nurturing a culture of exploration and idea sharing, according to Durgesh Singh.
TRADE SCHOOL
“Everyone was trying to navigate Section 301 rules and didn’t know how. The rare earth magnets can only be procured from China,” he notes. “I did a lot of research, contacted industry players and trade compliance experts, and reached out to USTR to apply for exclusion. We were not expecting much, but we got the exclusion because we had a strong case and several other companies joined forces as the U.S. has no domestic supply of rare earth metals.” He says he “was happy to be able to deliver.”
Singh sees the current era as “a critical point in global trade, with conventional open trade policies being challenged by geopolitical tensions and supply chain risks. Companies are recognizing the fragility of supply chains, leading to a surge in onshoring efforts amid rising tariffs.” A key challenge ahead, he says, is to manage inflationary pressures while ensuring a level playing field for U.S. industries.
The rare-earth metal neodymium, used in magnets, is mined in China.
AI INFLUENCE
Conventional business models are changing, particularly with the influence of artificial intelligence, according to Singh. “The biggest impact is that AI will make us more efficient, and change will happen rapidly. With the open-source platforms and fierce competition among tech peers, we’re witnessing massive growth in innovation. The core model is improving exponentially each day.”
He calls this a revolution comparable to the development of the internet and cell phones. “Every resource can be fed into AI programs and, every day, new problems are being solved. Moving forward, we must be smart —job profiles must change, and they will become more dynamic.”
He believes everyone will have to become familiar with AI. “We want to keep abreast of the technology. You can hate it, but you must be in sync with it. If you don’t keep up, you will get lost. It’s one of the challenges of this century.”
In business management circles, “communication has become more streamlined.” For instance, Microsoft Co-Pilot’s enterprise version can take notes, suggest action points and facilitate various collaborations. This leads to fixed accountability. As a result, he says, “people are more concise and better prepared. Calls with customers can be recorded, and AI provides insights on each participant and the meeting content, offering key takeaways and serving as a valuable training tool for new employees.”
Singh notes that Salesforce, a widely used customer relationship management tool, is making progress in the AI space. “It monitors pipelines, predicts close rates based on historical performance and offers guidance, making the process more dynamic. This assists finance and operations in cash and inventory planning, respectively, and provides insights to the sales team on which transactions are more likely to close.
“Salespeople receive alerts to follow up with customers and guidance on maintaining disciplined cadence,” he says. On the engineering front, AI means “all repetitive tasks can be automated, emphasizing the importance of keeping data clean, organized and continually collecting more data.” Singh urges, “We must embrace this evolution. If we don’t evolve now, it will be very hard to catch up.”
GRATITUDE
Singh says he owes a great deal to the people who helped him on his journey. “I was never a brilliant student, but I was driven by curiosity and discipline. In India, where everything is based on grades, it’s hard to get far without good marks. However, the goal is to learn things fundamentally, collaborate anmeet great individuals along the way who inspire me,” especially his colleagues.
“We have great people in our company,” Singh says. “As managers, it is our job to have the vision, communicate it to the team and support and inspire employees in their work. We are lucky with great customers, a great culture and great employees.”d have the heart to fight for the right goals.” Curiosity has been the biggest driver for Singh, alongside hard work and chance. “Luck has played a vital role in my career. I’ve been in the right place at the right time. I strongly believe in having a plan and being prepared for opportunity when it knocks. Keeping myself open to all possibilities has helped, and I continue to explore new spaces and
