In 2013, Ranjith Yengoti saw the future of IT and embraced it.
Big tech corporations like Amazon, Oracle, Google and Microsoft were launching their cloud platforms and infrastructure. Yengoti knew public- and private-sector organizations would need to navigate this growing digital landscape and decided to focus his startup on providing Oracle cloud consulting and support.
Today, Dublin-based SMACT Works has more than 150 employees and consultants across the U.S., offices in North America and India, and clients spanning the higher education, health care, government and commercial sectors.
SMACT Works’ name is derived from an industry acronym—(S)ocial, (M)obile, (A)nalytics, (C)loud and (T)echnology, or the internet of (T)hings—and the company now is an Oracle-preferred partner. In 2025, Oracle recognized SMACT Works for innovation in PeopleSoft applications, and more than 95 percent of employees have earned Oracle certifications.
SMACT Works is a first-time Top Workplaces winner and ranked No. 1 in the Small Organizations category (124 or fewer employees). Additionally, Yengoti is the recipient of the Special Award for Leadership in the Small Organizations category.
From the start, Yengoti identified excellence, integrity and a platform of growth as the core principles he wanted the company and employees to embrace. They’re rooted in his immigrant background: Yengoti arrived in the United States from India in 2004 to pursue a graduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of Texas. After completing his studies, he found employment in tech consulting and became a U.S. citizen. In 2010, his wife landed a job in Columbus, and the family moved to Central Ohio.
“Things have worked out very well for me,” Yengoti says. “With the U.S. being a place for opportunities, I had the opportunity to start a company. In the interim, I saw I could provide employment opportunities for many others like me. I see SMACT Works as more than just a revenue-making mission. It gives me the opportunity to help others.”
Within the company, that means operating with a people-first, growth-oriented mindset. “We don’t have pressure here that we need to continuously grow and grow,” Yengoti says. “Our motto is to do your best. As long as we are striving for excellence and doing things with integrity, the results will come automatically.”
Recent achievements have validated that approach. SMACT Works is a four-time entrant on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private companies list. Over four consecutive years, SMACT Works moved from No. 4,651 in 2022 to No. 2,957 on the 2025 list based on revenue growth. For the 2025 list, the company’s three-year growth was 139 percent.
Employees are encouraged to participate in community service and social responsibility projects outside the office. SMACT Works’ Attitude of Gratitude initiative encourages and matches employee volunteer time and contributions to organizations such as Toys for Tots, Mid-Ohio Food Collective, LifeCare Alliance and a homeless shelter. Yengoti is the executive director of Sponsor Kids, a nonprofit helping underprivileged children through education and care programs, and has an advisory role at HoloPundits, where he supports integration of augmented and virtual reality technologies to enhance K-12 learning.
Rae Scherrer says SMACT Works’ emphasis on trust, accountability and flexibility for employees has kept her at the organization for more than two years.
“There’s a long-term thought process here, not just immediate gratification,” Scherrer says. “I like challenging and collaborative environments, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed. I’ve never been at a job before where I wake up and want to continue coming each day.”
Scherrer did not plan a career in tech. An English and theater major at Ohio Wesleyan University, Scherrer was pursuing a master of fine arts in acting in New York before the pandemic made her rethink her plans. She returned to Columbus, where her partner lived, and looked for jobs where her left brain and right brain could be equally engaged, she says.
She landed an operations administrative position at SMACT Works and became operations manager within three months. Now a proposal manager, Scherrer gets to employ her communications skills to talk technology with potential customers and detail how SMACT Works’ offerings would work within their organizations.
Scherrer also recruited another key team member to the company: her dog, Harry. A corgi in training to become a service dog, Harry visits the office to learn how to navigate social situations. A “Happy Hour Harry” program takes place weekly, and Yengoti even gave Harry an official CEO title: chief emotional officer. Other employees have embraced Harry and offer to take him for walks outside during their breaks.
“There are so many different people impacting how this dog is going to grow and become an effective member of society,” Scherrer says. “It’s led to beautiful conversations about developmental stages from adolescence to getting older and how it all works.”
That’s the kind of growth Yengoti envisioned when he launched the company: skills and lifestyle growth for employees while building a better community through public service. Physical growth has naturally followed, and in early 2026, SMACT Works moved to a larger Dublin facility. The company continues to embrace cutting-edge digital technology, adding augmented reality, virtual reality and cloud AI services to its portfolio.
“It takes time to grow and create success, but that type of success will last much longer,” he says. “You can have an overnight success, but at the same time you can have an overnight failure, so I’m looking for a steady growth perspective that’s a lifelong activity.”
Shannon Shelton Miller is a freelance writer.
This story is from the Top Workplaces 2026 section in the Spring 2026 issue of Columbus CEO. Subscribe now.
This article originally appeared on Columbus CEO: Top Workplaces 2026 Winner SMACT Works Succeeds With a Growth Mindset
Reporting by Shannon Shelton Miller, Columbus CEO / Columbus CEO
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