Remembering Saji Antony
It is with enormous shock and profound sadness to inform you about the sudden death of our dear colleague and close friend Saji Antony, SVP of Engineering and head of Vanenburg India. He was a beloved father of two daughters, and husband of Agalya Kitherian, Director Cloud Operations, Support and AI/ML at Vanenburg. The unexpected and sudden departure of Saji has created an immense emptiness in the lives of everyone he influenced during his lifetime. His willingness to help, guide, and share will always be remembered amongst his colleagues.
If you want to express your heartfelt condolences or leave a message, please visit the memorial page.
In Memoriam - Saji Antony
Saji Antony (30 May 1971 – 30 November 2023) started working at Baan Company in 1995 as an engineer and a product architect, directly fresh out of college. During his professional career, he has for 28 years worked in companies related to Vanenburg Group.
It was in 2005 that his wife, Agalya Kitherian, who was working for Cordys, was asked by Mr. Jan Baan to start a new R&D center in the south of India. She accepted the offer and due to that Saji also joined Cordys, taking a senior product manager role. They moved to Coimbatore and started a new development center for Cordys.
In 2011, Saji left Cordys and joined Vanenburg, becoming one of the cornerstones of the Vanenburg India team. Soon the team grew to 20 people who were involved in development initiatives for all kinds of start-up companies.
At Vanenburg, he became the founding father of our Collabrr product (which we now are calling the Rappit Composer). Saji had a passion for product development and a profound technical background. Later he became responsible for all solution development & professional services activities. Apart from that, Saji acted as the general manager for the Vanenburg India activities.
The real growth of the Vanenburg India team came when Vanenburg started working for enterprise customers. Currently, Vanenburg India has around 159 employees to date. Being in charge of the delivery organization, Saji was connected to all customer projects.
Saji had a special involvement in many internship projects and had a passion for bringing the youngsters up to speed. He was a huge advocate of the working culture known as the “Baan culture”, which he described as “something all former employees fondly relate to where we have the freedom to execute and the constant encouragement to perform our work in the best way possible.”
“Saji was a reliable core employee who has meant a lot to our company in its current situation. Humble and tenacious and visionary and always a support to me in business circumstances, but above all a beloved friend and colleague.”
Saji held a master’s degree in computer applications from the National Institute of Technology Kozhikode (India). Saji was married to Agalya (Director Cloud Operations, Support & AI/ML at Vanenburg) and leaves two daughters.
“On behalf of the entire Vanenburg team, we offer our heartfelt condolences and deep sympathies to Agalya and her two daughters. Saji has played a very big role in our team and took a great place in our hearts; his willingness to help, guide, and share will always be remembered amongst his colleagues.”
“Our deepest condolences - words are not enough to describe this deep sadness. We will remember Saji as one of us. He has meant so much to us as a company and for all of us individually, for which we are very grateful. He really has given all he could! May God bless Agalya and her two daughters in these very difficult times and may His presence comfort you.”
