Experts' Insights For CXOs In India

JUNE 2020

INSIGHTS. IDEAS. INSPIRATIONS

Building More than Just Homes Yukti Nagpal, Director, Gulshan

The Struggle and Success of 5Paisa.com

Significance of Ethical Entrepreneurship in the Post-COVID Economy

Agnelorajesh Athaide, Serial Entrepreneur and Chairman, St. Angelo’s VNCT Ventures

Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO, 5Paisa.com

The Four-Wheel Drive for Getting Your Data Strategy Right!

An Animal-Lover Bitten by the Entrepreneurship Bug

Anthony Devassy, Principal Industry Consultant, SAS India

Yash Sheth, Founder, Let It Wag

A Learning Platform That Does Not Have Any Direct Competitors Kamini Vidisha, Co-Founder, ACadru

What Has COVID-19 taught Us About Risk Management?

Hersh Shah, CEO, GLECO - Institute of Risk Management (UK) - India Aff iliate

THE ROAD AHEAD FOR

ATHER ENERGY Ravneet Phokela

Chief Business Officer of Ather Energy What Ather did differently to become the face of intelligent electric two-wheelers in India?

CXO OUTLOOK May 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

June 2020

Vol - 1 Issue - 2

Indian Edition Editor in Chief

Dr. Manoj Varghese

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

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CXO OUTLOOK May 2020

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

On a Recovery

Mission B

usiness leaders across the world are going through unprecedented challenges as they continue to struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. For most of them, the priorities are now different from what they had before the pre-COVID time. Supporting their people, customers, and suppliers, addressing supply chain disruption, stabilizing revenues, aligning their businesses with evolving demand and identifying new growth pathways are some of the new focus areas for CXOs today.

As the world has come to a stage where more businesses are reopening their shops, now is the time for leaders to the turn their attention to the next - a path of erratic economic recovery with new threats and opportunities. Being leaders, CXOs need to reevaluate how to make employees deliver relevant customer experiences, where they work, and how to utilize digital channels to support business continuity through the crisis and beyond.

The reopening of businesses also require reinvention.

It is, in fact, an opportunity for CXOs to build the competencies they wish they had invested in before.

In this issue, we bring a collection of informative articles and interviews of business experts, which will help the CXOs around the world to make informed decisions. On the cover, we feature, Ather Energy, a company that began in 2013 as an idea being nurtured

by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain at the IIT Madras Incubation Centre. In an email interaction, Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy shares a few crucial things that Ather Energy did differently to become the poster-boy of intelligent electric scooters in India.

Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Kuldeep Nagi, Ph.D, MBA, BSc. Program Director of Ph.D, Recipient of Fulbright Fellowship Award & Dan Evans Award for Excellence and Writer columnist.

Mr. Amulya Sah, PGD PM & IR, PG Diploma in PM&IR (XISS Ranchi) Senior Director HR. Former Head HR group Samsung R&D Institute India,Transformative HR Leader, Change agent, Digitization facilitator, Engagement architect, Trainer and Diversity champion.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Dr.Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB. Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU

Dr. Ajay Shukla, Ph.D, MBA, BE. Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Higher Education UAE

Mamta Thakur CEO (ASEAN), Arc Skills

Mr. Sreedhar Bevara, MBA, B.Com Senior General Manager: Panasonic Middle East & Africa, Thought Leader, Speaker & Author of ‘Moment of Signal’ (Amazon’s International Bestseller)

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CXO OUTLOOK May 2020

COVER STORY

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INSPIRING

IDEAS

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Prakarsh Gagdani

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An Animal-Lover Bitten by the Entrepreneurship Bug

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ACadru: A Learning Platform That Does Not Have Any Direct Competitors

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ATHER ENERGY Ravneet Phokela

Chief Business Officer of Ather Energy What Ather did differently to become the face of intelligent electric two-wheelers in India?

Amandeep Singh

116 116

Yash Sheth

Kamini Vidisha

THE ROAD AHEAD FOR

Empowering the Underprivileged with Education, Shelter, Food, Medical Support and Many More

The Struggle and Success of 5Paisa.com - The Stockbroker Firm that Simplified Online Trading in India

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CONTENTS

IN MY VIEW

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How Start-Ups’ Can Eventually Overcome and Bounce Back in Their Businesses Amidst COVID-19 Sumeet Srivastava, Co-Founder & CEO, Spocto

CXO IN FOCUS

16 Building More than Just Homes Yukti Nagpal Director, Gulshan

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What are the Key Trends that are Driving the Packaging Industry?

Gaurav Jalan, Founder, Packman Packaging

The Four-Wheel Drive for Getting Your Data Strategy Right!

44 Anthony Devassy,

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Principal Industry Consultant, SAS India

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7.5 Billion People Wait for COVID Vaccine! What Is Happening?

When Will It Come?

Dr Hari Krishna Maram, Digital Brand Ambassador & Chairman Vision Digital India Pharmacist & Ex Novartis

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Significance of Ethical Entrepreneurship in the Post-COVID Economy Agnelorajesh Athaide, Social and Serial Entrepreneur, Chairman of St. Angelo’s VNCT Ventures, and Co-Founder of the Business Opportunities Club (BOC)

How to Keep Negative Thoughts at Bay Dr. Rahul Kalia, Medical Director, International SOS, India

What Has COVID-19 taught Us About Risk Management?

Hersh Shah, CEO, GLECO - Institute of Risk Management (UK) - India Affiliate

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How Today's Challenges Can Create a Foundation for a Better Tomorrow for Entrepreneurs Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder and Managing Director, 9Unicorns

5 Simple Tips to Ensure Safety of Your Digital Information

104 Rovin Coutinho,

Chief Product Officer, Canvs

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Ed-Tech Companies Need to Leverage Effexctive PR for Sustained Growth Anindita Gupta, Co-Founder, Scenic Communication

EXPERT'S OPINION

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LEADER'S INSIGHTS

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A Temporary Situation will not Get Cash Out of System Rustom Irani, MD & CEO of Cash Business Unit, Hitachi Payment Services

It is Time to Look Beyond Chalk and Talk Pedagogy Achin Bhattacharyya, Founder & CEO, Notebook

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How to Build a Brand Using Social Media During Lockdown?

40 Dr. Ranjit Nair,

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How to Get the Supply Chain Up and Running: Important Measures Every Business Needs to Introduce Now

CEO, Germin8

Kushal Nahata, CEO and Co-founder, FarEye

‘TAP, CLICK, SCAN’ Will be the New Buzzwords in Indian Payment Space

The Evolving Role of DevOps in Today’s Industry

Navtej Singh, CEO of Digital Business, Hitachi Payment Services

How can Entrepreneurs Overcome the Ongoing COVID-19 Outbreak?

Hetal Sonpal, Startup Advisor and Mentor

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Kavita Vishwanath, General Manager, JFrog

Gaining Popularity of Telemedicine in India and A Few Important Tips for Diabetic Patients in this Lockdown Dr. Pramod Tripathi, Founder, Freedom From Diabetes

IN MY VIEW

How Start-Ups’ Can Eventually Overcome and Bounce Back in Their Businesses Amidst COVID-19

By Sumeet Srivastava, Co-Founder & CEO, Spocto

12 Sumeet has over 21+ years of experience in several world geographies and multiple business segments. In his last senior leadership role as the CIO Asia for a Fortune 100 agriculture conglomerate, Sumeet was responsible for driving the company’s global IT vision across Asia.

Sumeet Srivastava

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orry, fear and anxiety are prevalent everywhere with the pandemic and more so in the start-up’s scenario. Funding, new leads and scaling are becoming a nightmare for most of them.

The pandemic has caused widespread fury, and no one has been spared.

Does it mean doom and all gloom for the start-up industry? Certainly not for everyone.

If an individual can sustain this, survive, and thrive with newfound opportunities and create a new chapter in life, this should be no different for a start-up organization. Just like maintaining the health of body and

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Ways of doing business have to be relooked at, from a human angle and perspective if not yet already

mind is vital for an individual, it is so true for an organization on its journey to success, especially at these times when the challenges are at their peak. Overcoming them should not be a daunting task. However, it certainly has to be a well thought through, planned and executed one, not to be left aside for chance or hope.

There are five predominant areas I would like to touch upon, where the right amounts of focus, energy and efforts will result in carving a niche in their respective domain or industry and thus the start-up would be the most sought after one.

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1. Focus on Health Everything starts with the ability to perform, in simple terms “HEALTH�.

When we talk about the health of an organization, we are looking at its financial health, health of its members and employees too. Without which, the best plans to execute will fall flat. By this what I mean is that understanding the limits and potential and work towards strengthening the weak points, keeping a bird’s eye view on the overall situation, and seeking out support immediately.

Prevention of symptoms or identifying them at the initial stages is of paramount importance. Education and awareness of safety measures to be taken, following the social distancing norms, maintaining hygiene even if required to work from designated work areas if the industry that the organization is operating in, warrants for, helps prevent and curb the spread of the pandemic.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Sumeet Srivastava 14 Under Sumeet’s leadership, an IT team was able to create a complete mobile based Rural Marketing business, touching lives of millions of farmers across the developing world. The free service was able to provide relevant services and results which had a profound impact on lives of smallholder farmers.

In Sumeet's' career, he has continuously demonstrated how businesses can leverage focus areas such as Cloud, Mobile Technology, Analytics to create a distinct competitive advantage in Core Sector businesses.

With nearly two decades of varied experience in strategic roles and leading IT projects, Sumeet was previously associated with companies such as GE, ST Microelectronics, and Business Software Associates. He has extensive experience in leading teams across various geographies in the Americas, Europe, and Asia. When not articulating and brainstorming with his team on new ideas that would later shape into major IT projects, Sumeet spends his time reading, travel tracing world war history and renaissance art.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Focusing on emotional well-being too is very important. Now that most of the employees are working remotely, and may no longer have the chance to catch up with their colleagues over the coffee machine or water filters. Supporting them with regular online fun engagements helps maintain their well-being and reduces work-related stress.

2. Family – Priority not only in times of COVID-19, but always Employees may be working remotely; however, they may not be able to work at the same time blocks as they would have in a typical scenario at the workplace.

When organizations understand that a meeting cannot be noise-free because their members no longer are seated together in a plush conference room complete with noise-cancelling upholstery, and are amongst their family members sharing the same space. Display the understanding that background noise is ok and not a punishable offence or a crime that has been committed.

It helps the team feel less stressed and concentrate more on the task at hand. These things may seem very simple, but when practised meaningfully, seals the trust between their employees and their family members, who don't feel shunned out totally by them.

Sometimes small kids peep into video conferences and come on screen out of curiosity to know what is going on, for them, it may seem like a television screen with characters on it, they may not know the gravity of the discussion going on, letting your team know that such instances are ok, waving out to the little one, makes everyone feel welcome, 2 minutes of extended meeting hasn't harmed anyone, but yes being indifferent can cause considerable irreversible damage especially when teams are small and the organization is in a very nascent stage.

3. Employees – the treasure chest of the company Understanding that the roles of each family members have been altered too, with no extra help for domestic chores, child care, elderly care and so on. The women employees especially are burdened more and with limited or no choice of takeaways from restaurants, cooking every meal is no longer a choice, it’s a necessity.

When organizations understand these changed roles and the key stakeholders emulate this sensitivity in their behaviour and discussions, it flows down through every employee, making them feel acknowledged and appreciated for their efforts beyond workspace, and helps in their mental well-being.

It doesn’t mean that the male employees do not have additional chores, there may be many staying alone in the city, and not knowing how to cook themselves a meal, being sensitive to their feelings also drives in more compassion.

By and large, when employees see this treasure trove of affection and concern, they feel working at that organization is the best decision they could have made, and will do their best to support the organization tide through these difficult times.

This brings about a feeling of togetherness and fosters a healthy, thriving attitude amongst all the team members.

4. Customers – Understand their current needs The start-up may take pride in its array of products of services, a niche segment it could be catering to, however not all or some of their products and services may be relevant in today’s times. Therefore, understanding what your customer is going through, realizing a challenge they are facing and helping them with a new customized service will make them your loyal and raving customer.

IF for some reason you may not be able to solve a problem with what you have to offer, however you know of someone who can help them, go ahead and connect them both. It's not always business. When you develop true and meaningful relationships with your customers, they no longer are a customer. You begin to see each other as a partner, and when they meet someone who is looking for a product or service you offer, they will send them your way. Ways of doing business have to be relooked at, from a human angle and perspective if not yet already.

Some start-ups' have already jumped onto the market with new and customized offerings for their customers, and their loyal customers have no qualms in referring others to them. This will be the new normal, and the sooner an organization understands and adapts, the faster they are on route to success.

5. Leads – New Business Now is not the time to be complacent or play safe. Go out and showcase your product or service to as many as possible before you call it a day. Facing rejections or delays should not stop you from chasing new leads. The more you focus on delivering value and creating awareness around your brand, leads will automatically move through stages of your funnel and by the time you realize, both of you will be doing business together. Maintaining a positive outlook despite the economic situations and conditions, focussing on what you bring to the table, taking cues from the market and developing new products is all it requires to sum up a winning game.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO IN FOCUS

Yukti Nagpal Director, Gulshan

Building More than

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Just Homes R

eal estate is one of the most affected industries during this lockdown time. “The lockdown has definitely decreased the site visits to a great extent, and there is a strong fear of getting out in public spaces amongst the people,” says Yukti Nagpal, Director of Gulshan, one of the top real estate companies in Noida. However, Yukti was not among those people who would sit quietly until the situation gets better. She adds, “To some extent, digitalization has eased the things and therefore minimized the impact. We have been reaching out to our audience through digital marketing and virtual tours.

Now, few have even started visiting the sites, so things are looking up.”

Yukti believes in leading by example. During the lockdown time, she embraced the new normal and got hands-on with technology. She hosted e- meetings, worked with structured agendas, ensured that each of the employees was set with the required infrastructure to be able to work from home, and kept them motivated.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

"We have been lucky with our teams. Each one has been supportive and were willing to contribute to every step required to ease the current crisis. Additionally, as a developer, the only way to beat the impact of the lockdown is to focus on construction," shares Yukti.

Celebrating 30 Years of Legacy Started as an establishment that built homes of superior quality without cutting any corners, Gulshan has been serving the nation from the past 30 years. “Now, after three decades journey from independent houses in East Delhi to Multiple Housing Project in Delhi NCR, Gulshan has grown into a massive renowned and reputed luxury Real estate developer. We have marked a place for ourself as an epitome for quality construction and luxury apartments,” states Yukti. From constructing luxurious bungalows to creating living landmarks in the group housing sector, Gulshan has delivered landmark residential and commercial projects that account for an area of 4.5 million sq.ft in NCR.

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Yukti Nagpal

The Youth Icon of an emerging new Gulshan, Yukti Nagpal announces the arrival of a new breed of real estate stalwart. She is an iron-willed leader who knocks the ball out of the park when it comes to fulfilling her passion for balancing her high-profile business ethos.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Observing the society and knowing the needs of people help to become a successful entrepreneur and a leader today

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Yukti Nagpal

Feroze Azeez

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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“Through the journey, we have successfully launched multiple projects like Homes 121, Gulshan Vivante, and Gulshan Ikebana in Noida and GC Grand, GC Centrum, GC Emerald Heights in Indirapuram and Vaishali respectively,” says Yukti. Each project of Gulshan Homz is developed with a focus on luxury living. With all the residential projects across Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad, the company has delivered 4,581 units. “We are now developing Gulshan Botnia sprawling to an area of around 21,495 sq.mt and Gulshan Bellina spreading to an area of approx 28,374 sq.mt, with a modern twist to urban luxury living with 1888 units in Noida and Greater Noida (West) respectively,” adds Yukti.

With a vision to pass on a green environment and prosperous cities to the future generations, Gulshan has always been the leader in the market in developing luxurious real estate options. “We are committed to its

sole objective of providing quality, luxury, state-ofthe-art apartments for our customers - a new level of exclusive luxury lifestyle,” pinpoints Yukti.

The Woman in A Man’s Industry Yukti grew up in an environment where she has seen the passion of people in the construction business and has witnessed her family work tirelessly to make this business more than just brick and mortar. "After completing my schooling and internship, I came back and joined Gulshan – a real estate company run by my father, Gulshan Nagpal. The decision was in line with my father's endeavour to provide not just homes but a lifestyle to the customers,” recalls Yukti. An MS in marketing from San Francisco (US), Yukti not only graduated on the Dean’s list but also did alma mater proud by bagging the prestigious MARCOM Gold Award.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Yukti Nagpal

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However, getting into the family business was not easy for Yukti, as the expectations were high. She says, “The real estate industry is mostly man dominated. I had to work with people who had experience matching my age.” It was challenging for Yukti to bring a new set of thoughts and ideas, as she had to prove herself at every step to overcome stereotypes. However, with dedication, she made her own name in the industry and today, she takes suggestions and decisions better than many men in the industry. “Making my place as an equal in the boardroom of this 30-year-old company and Gulshan Dynasty is a significant milestone during these years. I feel proud every time we deliver a project that lives up to the promises made to the customers.

Real estate has given me numerous reasons to feel proud as it is the sector that brings a smile to people when they realize their dream of buying a property,” explains Yukti.

The journey so far has been phenomenal for Yukti.

Now, her target is to change the perception of people that developers are interested only in delivering a project without paying heed to the customers’ need. She says, “For me the quality of life is important, and I would like to give that to all my customers. I feel pain when I see projects that look like shanty towns made of brick and mortar shorn of any effort towards making the lifestyle of people better. I want real estate to seriously address this issue and make the buyer feel honoured.”

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

As the Director of Gulshan, Yukti manages and heads the entire marketing planning cycle. She ensures brand aesthetics at every touchpoint to achieve brand equity and brand image. She is also involved at every stage, from conceiving a project with architects, to planning the best value to accomplish the same. Yukti works out the construction timelines and accordingly plan the sales and marketing of the project and ensures that the post-sale process inevitably increases with the help of CRM. “Observing the society and knowing the needs of people help to become a successful entrepreneur and a leader today. At Gulshan, our focus is a lifestyle, and it requires meticulous planning and futuristic ideas. My father has always given ear to my ideas,” shares Yukti.

Today, Yukti brings a fresh new arsenal of ideas to the table. Her brand of zest and talent inspires many within the organization. She is responsible for taking the brand to the next level and setting new trends in the real estate. “Challenges are everywhere, and so many people are gender stereotypes. In my opinion- one should have to be strong, have a strong core, and never let anyone tell you that you are not good enough! The simple motto of life that - perseverance, passion and determination and your attitude can melt any hurdles than come your way. So, always follow your head,” concludes Yukti.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

A Temporary Situation will not Get Cash Out of System

By Rustom Irani, MD & CEO of Cash Business Unit, Hitachi Payment Services

Despite the advice from Government and media to use contactless transactions during the COVID time, many banks have higher levels of ATM usage as customers withdraw cash more than usual rate. “With the

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imposed lockdown in the country, in March 20 people withdrew almost four times more cash from bank branches and ATMs. It was more than they did on an average every month in the financial year 2019-20,” says Rustom Irani, MD & CEO of Cash Business Unit, Hitachi Payment Services. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Rustom Irani talks about the impact of COVID – 19 and lockdown on customers in terms of cash withdrawal, challenges faced by ATM operators in replenishing and managing ATMs in the Rustom Irani

ongoing situation, the future outlook of ATM industry in India and many more. Excerpts.

In this time, when everyone is advised to have contactless payments, what is the need for ATMs in the payment ecosystem?

The Indian payments industry has witnessed remarkable growth, innovation and regulatory support over the last few years, and the evolution of the digital payments ecosystem in India has been particularly noteworthy. At the same time, cash withdrawals from ATMs

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Cash remains the preferred mode of payments for many people and more so in semiurban and rural areas

have increased over the past five years. As per RBI data for 2019-20, the currency with the public increased 14% or Rs 2,86,741 crore to Rs 23,41,851 crore.

In the wake of COVID-19, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, to help migrant workers, farmers, women, urban and rural poor the Government released a ₹1.7 trillion relief package.

Unfortunately, India’s ATM penetration relative to population is one of the lowest amongst the emerging markets and less than a fifth of the ATMs are in rural areas. As of December 2019, only 46,000 ATMs of the 2.3 lakh ATMs operational in India were deployed in rural areas. This Low ATM penetration causes a roadblock and hinders ease of access-to-cash, primarily for dwellers in semi-urban and rural areas where the maximum need is seen.

ATMs remain a vital and necessary touchpoint that serves as an extension of the bank branch, facilitating financial inclusion and in the current situation providing easy access to cash for withdrawals supporting the Government's economic relief initiatives to the less privileged.

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Despite having digital payments facilities around, the usage of hard cash is still high in our society. What has been the impact of COVID – 19 and lockdown on customers in terms of cash withdrawal?

Cash remains the preferred mode of payments for many people and more so in semiurban and rural areas. Many of the small retailers, wholesalers and local vendors are not part of the digital ecosystem. They prefer cash as their transactions happen in this medium – both from their customers and to their suppliers. Also, because cash is convenient to use and does not require access to infrastructure, which is difficult to find in many areas, and is universally accepted. The usage of cash continues to remain high.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

With the imposed lockdown in the country, in March 20 people withdrew almost four times more cash from bank branches and ATMs than they did on an average every month in the financial year 2019-20.

During the time of the pandemic, what are the trends you observed in cash withdrawal?

While ATM transactions dropped initially, particularly impacting White Label ATMs. Since cash is not provided easily by banks, that are primarily present in semi-urban and rural areas, transactions have slowly started picking up while they are still much below the normal transactions due to continuing lockdown measures in many locations. With the COVID-19 situation continuing and with a certain level of economic uncertainty, people's reliance on cash is expected to rise in the next few months.

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Tell us about the challenges faced by ATM operators in replenishing and managing ATMs in the ongoing situation.

Initially, challenges were faced on account of both repairs and refill due to stoppage of transport of goods trucks, which move spares for ATM repairs. There were many other issues including the inability to reach ATM sites due to location hotspots, people returning to home towns and villages, vehicle movement restriction, banking hour restrictions and cash pickup difficulties due to many restrictions on reaching bank branches as well as the offices being staffed by fewer officers. We expect these challenges to ease out as the lockdowns get lifted.

What are some of the significant developments in the ATM Industry that everyone needs to look forward to? What are the opportunities for Hitachi Payment Services (HPY) in the future?

One of the new introductions is the Cash Recycling Machine (CRM) which is the next-generation ATM that will further drive ATM penetration in the country.

It works like an automated mini branch, where customers can withdraw and deposit cash along with the availability of other facilities such as money transfer and bill payments. Hitachi's Cash Recycling Technology continues to drive this innovation in India, bringing banking to the customers' doorstep.

CRMs offer ease of cash deposits through interoperability, i.e. one can deposit cash into a Cash

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

With low ATM penetration in the country and the Government's financial inclusion initiatives, we feel that ATMs, with its innovative technology, will continue to serve as an essential digital touchpoint for the masses

More about

Rustom Irani Rustom Irani has been with the Hitachi Payment Services for over 8 years and served as the Chief Operations Officer of Hitachi Payment Services, before assuming the role of the CEO of the company’s Cash Business in April 2018.

Rustom last worked with

MindTree Ltd as a Senior Vice President in the IMTS (Infrastructure Management and Technical Services) business between May 2010 and Feb 2011. Prior to that, he co-founded 7Strata (Sevenstrata) IT Services Pvt. Ltd. which specialized in providing Remote Infrastructure Management Services.

Rustom’s previous assignment before co-founding 7Strata, was with Yahoo India Web Services Private Ltd between August 2006 to July 2007. Prior to his assignment with Yahoo, Rustom was designed as the Chief Technology Officer for Sify Limited, one of India's largest ISP companies where he worked between December 1999 and July 2006. Rustom had a brief stint with GECIS at Hyderabad as their VP and CIO, after spending 12 years with Citibank India’s Technology division, and a short stint at Tata Consultancy Services.

Recycling Machine operated by another bank.

Banks are now slowly becoming a part of the interoperable cash deposit (ICD) network, and soon we expect to see much more participation by banks, providing their customers with this facility and reducing the distances travelled to reach specific bank branches. CRMs also offer innovations such as QR – based transactions which in the ongoing situation of COVID–19 improves safety by minimizing physical contact.

Another critical development has been the growth of White Label ATMs that operate mainly in remote geographies, contributing to greater financial inclusion. As part of our Social Innovation Business, our White Label ATM under the brand Hitachi Money Spot continues to provide the much need access to essential banking services for the populace.

With low ATM penetration in the country and the Government's financial inclusion initiatives, we feel that ATMs, with its innovative technology, will continue to serve as an essential digital touchpoint for the masses.

In your view, what is the future of the ATM industry in India?

Cash is an integral part of the Indian economy.

With the various Government initiatives to push financial inclusion such as the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) as well as direct transfers as part of the Government's relief package in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, ATMs continue to remain an important touchpoint that facilitates easy access to cash.

ATM sites serve as an extension of banks, providing a host of banking services, and we will see innovations that move closer to a zero-touch model. Additionally, deployment of CRMs by White Label ATM Operators and interoperable cash deposits will further drive growth in the country, improve penetration levels in rural regions and support the financial inclusion agenda of the Government.

In the future we believe that both cash and digital payments will continue to co-exist, offering consumers a host of payment modes to choose from and enabling them to carry out financial transactions as per their requirement and convenience.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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ROAD AHEAD FOR THE

COVER STORY

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

ATHER ENERGY In conversation with Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer of Ather Energy, to know what Ather did differently to become the face of intelligent electric two-wheelers in India

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Ather Energy began in 2013 as an idea being nurtured by Tarun Mehta and Swapnil Jain at the IIT Madras Incubation Centre. Since then there has been no looking back for Ather Energy. “We have evolved from a small startup to the maker of one of the highest-selling EV manufacturers in the country and the journey for us has been incredibly satisfying,� says Ravneet Phokela, Chief Business Officer, Ather Energy. Ravneet has been with Ather since 2015. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Raveneet shares a few crucial things that Ather did differently to become the posterboy of intelligent electric scooters in India.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic is undeniably affecting industries across the globe. How is it going to impact the automobile industry in India, especially the electric vehicle manufacturing segment and the production and sales of Ather?

The lockdown has undoubtedly disrupted the local supply chains and manufacturing and has also impacted demand in the short term. But it’s essential to keep the mediumlong period in perspective and not let the short-term issues affect the strategic direction more than they need to. This disruption will have a strong impact over the next 2-3 quarters, post which we should begin to see the industry starting to get back to pre-COVID levels. In the immediate future, there is an opportunity to experiment with new ownership and finance models, given the squeeze in people’s disposable incomes. The fundamental need for mobility has not gone away. If anything, people for whom public transport, ride-share and so on was their primary mode of transportation, will now be open to personal mobility. That is great for the automobile industry. The impact on EVs will probably be lower than it will be on ICE vehicles. There are two key segments in EVs today – one that is looking at EVs purely from a TCO perspective, and the other that sees EVs as the future of automobiles, and technologically superior. For the first, the challenging economic environment makes

the case more vital to go for EVs. The second segment is skewed towards the premium end of the market and relatively less vulnerable to the economic environment.

Our new markets foray, and the launch of our new product was planned for Q3 this year; this period was the planning and building phase for that. To that extent, the timing of this unfortunate pandemic has not hit us as hard as it could have. We have used the time to refine our expansion plan and get the ball rolling on our goto-market strategies. We have also been working very actively with our supplier partners to ensure minimal disruption in the supply chain so that we could hit the ground running when the lockdown is lifted.

Although many startups tried to build electric scooters in India, none of them has been booming like Ather Energy. What did you do differently at Ather?

In addition to building a strong product, I’d say there are two things that we did differently. The first was not to take the easy route of importing and assembling but investing in building core technology. This allowed us to create a deeply integrated technology platform on which we have full control. It has a profound impact on a variety of things such as cost structures, the seamlessness of consumer experience, ability to do

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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rapid variants and many more. The second is that we chose to build an ecosystem focused on delivering a frictionless consumer experience, beyond the physical product – the experience centre, a completely digital consumer buying journey, an integrated fintech platform on our website with innovative finance and ownership models, home charging solutions, the public fast-public charging infrastructure, an integrated app for scooter management, doorstep service and many more. This end-to-end experience is what consumers love.

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Tell us about the founding story of Ather. What were the significant challenges you faced as a product company, and how did you overcome those challenges?

Ather began in 2013 as an idea being nurtured by Tarun and Swapnil at the IIT Madras Incubation Centre. It first became real for us when Sachin and Binny Bansal came on board as angel investors, and we moved to Bangalore.

That was in early 2015, and that is when the growth momentum began. I was fortunate to be one of the early joiners and have been on board since 2015. What has been remarkable is that the vision for the product was crystal clear from the very beginning – whether it is the technology, the specs, or the design. The product that is out in the market today is remarkably close to what was on paper five years back. It is this clarity of thought and the courage to back our instinct that is led us to build what we have. Along the way, we were fortunate to have great investors in Tiger Global, Hero MotoCorp and Sachin Bansal, who came back with a more considerable investment.

As a product company, there have been different challenges at different stages. One of the early challenges that we faced was getting the right talent to build what we wanted to. India has an incredible pool of talented engineers, but we do not have a strong product development ethos of building products from scratch. Therefore, people with that skillset and bent of mind tended to move overseas. The fact that EVs and connected vehicles were nascent industries did not help matters. We decided that if we could not find people with the previous experience, we would hire those with the right skillset and attitude and groom them. In hindsight, that proved to be a great move because these folks came with no baggage of what standard industry practice was, and no previous experience that led them to say, ‘this can’t be done’. They just saw the problem and got down to solving it, and that allowed us to build this powerful platform and ecosystem that we have created.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Ather began in 2013 as an idea being nurtured by Tarun and Swapnil at the IIT Madras Incubation Centre

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The second big challenge was building the supply chain. Since the vehicle was designed from scratch, we could not use off-the-shelf parts. We had to find vendor partners who would believe in us and our vision and be willing to invest upfront to build what we wanted them to. For the most part, most of these vendor partners were making these parts for the first time, and they had their learning curve to go through. It took us a long time and multiple iterations to get this piece right and build the strong supply chain that we today have.

Is the lack of awareness about electric twowheelers still a major hurdle in the growth of Indian electric scooters and motorcycles market? How is Ather trying to make awareness in the market?

It is not as much about awareness as the major hurdle is about the lack of credible product options for consumers.

That does not mean that EVs have reached the awareness level that is required. However, even with the awareness that exists, the sales are not in line with that. This would

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

suggest that merely increasing awareness is not going to solve the problem. The problem lies elsewhere. It is about consumers having a portfolio of strong products to choose from, that would be legitimate replacements for ICE vehicles. Until that happens, the market will not take off.

At Ather, more than just driving awareness of EVs, we are focused on busting some myths that exist around EVs. For example, many people believe that EVs are inherently slow and sluggish – and we rolled out the Ather 450X which is to the best of my knowledge, the quickest scooter in India (0-40 kmph in 3.3 seconds).

We spend a lot of our Energy in consumer education around issues such as battery life, the value of connected vehicles, concepts such as remote diagnostics etc.

As a leader and an early entrant, we believe it is our responsibility to educate the market. We have a highly engaged community who we engage with through inperson Open Houses, the forum on our website, blogs, emails, social media etc.

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Leadership is not going to be easy in the coming days. What has your approach been, and what are your plans?

The recent developments have been a setback for the entire industry, and we are no exception to it. However, the impact on sales does not mean that the factors that made us a leading player have changed. Our ecosystem approach, the frictionless consumer journey, the bestin-class product, the innovative ownership plans – these are critical elements of our strategy, and that is what our customers love us for. The current crisis has not changed that, and we continue to stay focused on this path.

We have used this lockdown phase to plan our entry in 8 new markets, and to work out our operations and manufacturing strategy – given that we will soon be transitioning to a new, much bigger manufacturing facility. Meanwhile, we have re-started our retail and vehicle service operations in Bangalore and Chennai and are slowly inching to full capacity.

Tell us about the work culture at Ather Energy.

How do you inspire them to come up with innovative ideas?

For us, culture is something that we are obsessed with.

We have always believed that if we have to actualize our potential as individuals and as an organization, it is critical that we discover, define and actively drive the culture that is right for who we are and what we want to achieve. It is so easy to ignore this aspect of organization

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Ather used this lockdown phase to plan their entry in 8 new markets

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development when you are a young startup. Still, for us, it was important enough for us to focus on it amid all the pressure and chaos that comes with launching your first product.

Instead of a top-down, we took a bottom-up approach. We spoke to people across demographics – age, tenure, experience, gender, exploring different arrangements – one on ones with leaders, dyads, triads, groups. Across the length and breadth of the organization, we collected thoughts, ideas, and aspirations. Lessons learnt and unlearnt. We tried to understand what exactly is it that makes us tick, what is the value system that binds us, what makes this place so unique for us. We also looked at cultural traits that might not be prevalent but would be vital for us to succeed.

A synthesis of all of the above led to ‘Think as a Species’ – our secret sauce. What we hold sacrosanct and inviolable today was rooted in the assumptions

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

and beliefs of our very own people and emerged from their minds and expressions.

The values that make up our culture “Think as a Species” are: • Know Your True North: this is about knowing what the goal is and staying true to that.

• Move Fast and Do not Break Things: moving fast but not in a hacky manner.

• None of Us is as Smart as All of Us: the power of collaboration and being a part of the solution.

• Always Be Closing: focusing on closure.

• Be Nice: this is about listening with an open mind and trusting by default.

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What this translates to is an open, non-threatening culture that allows people to express themselves through their work. It is a culture where it is perfectly ok to make mistakes and learn from them. It is also ok to say that you have a strong instinct about something, but you do not have the answer yet and need time to get to it. It is a culture where there is no pressure to stick to a decision just because you would look silly if you changed your mind. All this creates an environment where people are not nervous about trying new things, taking on audacious challenges, or signing up for things that they have no idea about how to get them done.

Growth usually is accompanied by some awkward stumbles. What sort of mistakes have you made as Ather has grown? What was your most unexpected lesson in leading for growth?

We have had our share of stumbles. We were grossly underestimating the time required to take the prototype into commercial production; underestimating the complexities of setting up the supply chain; introducing an innovative battery subscription model but complicating the messaging so much that most people didn’t understand it at all. These are some of the bigger stumbles that I can think of.

The big learnings that we have had from our mistakes are – accepting wholeheartedly the moment you know you’ve made a mistake, and being brutally honest in communicating it, whether it’s internally or to customers.

It is this honesty and transparency that build trust and enables us to move on very quickly from our mistakes.

Could you tell us more about significant milestones Ather Energy has achieved? What has been your favourite one? Why? There have been so many big milestones – the unveiling of Ather 450 in 2016, to the eventual market launch,

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

setting up of our experience centres, our manufacturing unit going live, the charging infrastructure being set up, the unveiling of the Ather 450X etc. Lots to be happy about. But what has been most gratifying is the consumer love that we have been able to build and the special bond that our consumers share with us. A great manifestation of this was the launch of the Ather 450 in Chennai.

When we announced the fact that we’d be launching in Chennai, a few of our Bangalore consumers expressed interest to be there for the launch event – which we obviously were fine with. What began as a few customers very soon gathered momentum in our owners’ community and eventually, on the weekend when we launched in Chennai, over 50 owners showed up there – some of them with their spouses. Forty-seven of them even handed over their scooters to us in Bangalore, for us to take them to Chennai where we did an owners’ ride. It was not a fancy holiday. All of them travelled to Chennai on a bus or an overnight train and stayed at a standard business hotel.

The weekend was four back-to-back consumer events.

They spent their entire weekend at these events, talking to new Chennai consumers, evangelising the product and doing a better sell-job for the product and the company than any of us employees could have done. In my entire career, I have not seen too many examples of this kind of consumer love, that too for a brand as young as ours.

What are some of the most innovative technologies in electric vehicles right now?

What are the key trends of this sector to follow in 2020?

Electric vehicles are adopting IoT technology; building product lines that are built around the benefits of connectivity and technology features. The EV industry will lead the move to a technology-backed shift in personal commute – from AI-enabled vehicle personalization, predictive maintenance, regular feature updates leading to shorter model cycles. Vehicles built on connected technology also allows for new business models – new ownership models that encompass everyday subscriptionbased ownership, usage-based models etc.

Everything is going digital, and the lockdown has propelled that movement forward, and brands are having to invest in an omnichannel experience. Consumers will witness new retail experiences coming their way, more personalized digital content, AR/VR enabled immersive shopping, smaller physical retail stores, replaced with more pop-up experiences. Brands are investing in a new digital consumer journey, replicating their in-store brand experience on their websites and apps. The use of

videos, 3D models and consumer testimonials will take more prevalence.

What would be the future of the electric vehicle market from now? What is some advice that you have for startups that are emerging in this space?

India rides on 2-wheelers and therefore, the future of EV in India is going to be led by 2-wheelers. A recent study shows that there is a jump in EV sales in India for the year 2019-20. While a 20% increase in EV sales is a healthy jump, we believe it does not reflect the massive growth potential of the EV market, especially e2w. The demand will always be there, but it needs strong, well-performing products that are viable alternatives to ICE vehicles to unlock it. With mainstream brands entering the market and smaller brands introducing high-performance products, consumers now have multiple options to choose from, which will help address demand.

My advice to startups in this space would be to not approach the market opportunistically just because they see demand growing. It is very tempting to jump into it, launch a product, and get some revenues going. But unless you are clear about what your moat is – it could be the

product, technology, business model or something else – you will find it exceedingly difficult to stay relevant in the long run. If you are not clear, it is unlikely that you will be able to build a defensible position, and you will eventually find it challenging to survive profitably. Take your time, understand what your game is, and commit to it. If you are looking to make quick money, there are easier ways to do it than getting into the automobile business.

Tell us about your plans for Ather. What are your short-term and long-term goals?

The next three years are about expansion and scale. This year, we add eight new markets to the existing 2, and the following year we add another 12-14 cities. Over the next three years, we expect to be in about 40 markets. We are also ramping up our manufacturing, having recently signed an MOU with the TN government for a new manufacturing facility. That facility has the potential to take us to about half a million units annually. In parallel, we will also look at international opportunities. We have received tremendous in-bound interest across Latin America, Europe, and SE Asia, and we will explore these opportunities over the next couple of years. Exciting times ahead.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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EXPERT'S OPINION

What are the Key Trends that are Driving the Packaging Industry?

By Gaurav Jalan, Founder, Packman Packaging

A brilliant academic, a good graphic designer

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and a graduate from India’s top management institute IMT Ghaziabad, Gaurav Jalan Jalan is a visionary businessman and an eminent spokesperson on matters related to the Indian Packaging industry.

He has witnessed and as well as participated in the growth process of India's packaging industry's that was few billion-dollar the market in 2010, grew into USD 31 billion in 2015 and is expected to turn$72 billion by 2020.

Gaurav Jalan

T

he packaging industry is something that can be very well described as indispensable. After all, there is hardly any product that does not require packaging. Right from small household products to big industrial products, one needs packaging. Thus, this way, the packaging is an indispensable product in itself. Over the years, the packaging industry has seen several changes and the same will continue in the future years too. After all, change is the only constant. To survive this long one need continuous innovation, thinking, implementation, and planning.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

The packaging industry is not just about packaging; it is about constant changes and adaptability

Now that we are living in a consumer-driven world.

Thus, the onus is even higher, that makes the packaging industry to keep looking for new ways to drive the packaging industry.

Several things have come and gone, but packaging has survived meticulously, and this is purely because of constant improvement and innovation.

When talking about today, we are living in a world that is under the clouds of COVID-19, and this situation too has forced the packaging industry to try out different things to minimize the infection that can possibly travel with the packages.

In simpler words, the packaging industry is not just about packaging; it is about constant changes and adaptability. Let us take a look at what the packaging industry may possibly do in the coming years to drive its unstoppable growth.

In the year 2018, the world manufactured around $36 trillion worth of manufactured goods, almost all of them were packaged, secured, protected, and shipped in some kind of industrial packaging. These industrial packaging products are vital to the safe, efficient, and cheaper transport of manufactured goods in local, regional, and world commerce.

There was a report that was mentioned in The Future of Industrial Packaging to 2024, it foresees steady growth in demand for industrial packaging during the next 4 years, with market value increasing from $56.2 billion in 2019 at a CAGR of 3.3% to achieve $66 billion in 2024.

The report suggested overall demand in the packaging sector will always closely follow international trade norms. However, several other far-reaching factors could facilitate more exceptional packaging innovations and evolutionary restructuring of

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Gaurav Jalan and Packman Packaging Gaurav Jalan is the Founder and Director of Packman Packaging, one of the largest Indian packaging company that has been serving some of the world’s eminent technology, pharmaceutical, retail, fast-moving consumer goods, food, courier, publication, Jewellery, fashion, e-commerce organizations for the past 30 years.

Under the leadership of Mr. Gaurav Jalan, Packman. co.in (Packman’s official website) became India’s first

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e-commerce store for packaging solutions in the year 2002. In years 2003-2005, when the majority of Indian packaging companies were primarily focused on their revenue and operations, Packman under Mr. Jalan’s leadership has started using eco-friendly and recycled packaging raw materials.

Today, Packman Packaging manufactures more than one lakh of corrugated rolls, corrugated boxes, high-quality bubble sheets, safety/courier bags and more from its state of art manufacturing unit, located in Delhi NCR region. The manufacturing unit uses some of the world’s most advanced packaging material manufacturing machinery with world’s best printing technology that ensures Packman’s customers get fast and efficient delivery, high-quality brand representation through their product packaging.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

value chains and business modules. With shifts in end-use demands across the four years to 2024, the report suggests the following 5 key trends that will drive the industrial packaging industry further ahead.

Ongoing shifting to developing countries: Manufacturing economies and the demand for industrial packaging products will look to shift to China, India, and other emerging and developing countries of Asia, Africa, and other nations, specifically among lower-value, less technicallydemanding manufactured goods. (Currently, China’s situation cannot be predicted because of the pandemic of COVID-19, but for the rest of the nations the same is still possible).

Potential commerce and tariff disputes: Industrial packaging usage growth is driven by the state of the world manufacturing economy, and by the state of the world and regional economies and commerce. While overall predictions point to a relatively balanced global and regional business atmosphere, but the frequent trade and tariff disputes in Brexit, NAFTA, and China vs U.S. protectionism, for instance, can impact future industrial packaging usage patterns.

Safety, health, regulations: No ultra-major changes in the regulatory environment for industrial packaging are foreseen. Packaging manufacturers in developing countries could face challenges in adapting to international norms, like those concerning the transport of dangerous goods.

Packaging Industry will continue to implement evolutionary improvements in terms of durability and fire safety of plastic drums and IBC products.

Smart packaging: The integration of packaging materials with tracking devices, sensor and communications technologies, logistics functions, and management information systems will let realtime observation and analysis of the status and condition of valuable shipments while in transit Package innovation: Suppliers, manufacturers of materials, specifically plastics, will continue to give evolutionary improvements to vital raw materials, including bigger puncture, cracking, and abrasion resistance; better strength and rigidity to help downgauging, improved chemical resistance, and barrier qualities.

These are possibly going to be seen in the coming years with a lot of emphasis on overall economic growth and environmental factors.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

How to Build a Brand Using Social Media During Lockdown?

By Dr. Ranjit Nair, CEO, Germin8

Before the lockdown, social media usage was on average 150 minutes per day. However, in the first week of lockdown, the figures jumped to 280 minutes per day, says

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Hammerkopf Consumer Survey. So, what brands can do on social media during lockdown to engage their audience? “Brands should be thinking about how they can be compassionate and useful to consumers during this COVID-19 period,” says Dr. Ranjit Nair, CEO, Germin8. As a digital intelligence company focused on using data analytics and artificial intelligence, Germin8 helps companies become more customer-centric. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Dr. Ranjit talks about the importance Dr. Ranjit Nair

of digital media intelligence and how brands can leverage social media platforms for branding purpose during COVID-19. Excerpts.

Why is digital media intelligence important for today’s brands? What business questions can social media monitoring tools realistically help companies with?

In today's times of lockdowns and social distancing, there are severe restrictions on travel, face to face interactions and physical transactions.

More and more people are turning to online avenues for satisfying

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Brands should be thinking about how they can be compassionate and useful to consumers during this COVID-19 period

these same needs, which translates to more social media, virtual meetings, online shopping, digital banking, online education, and many more. This increased online time of users has meant that marketers are also investing more in digital advertising compared to traditional advertising.

Furthermore, traditional market research that relies on field surveys is virtually impossible. All this underscores why digital media intelligence is especially important for brands today.

Social media listening, a crucial part of digital intelligence, can be thought of as understanding what top of mind for consumers is.

People will only write about what they feel the most passionate about, so you can expect to get feedback from engaged customers on company news, product experience, service experience and campaigns. This can help answer questions for companies relating to their brand and marketing communication, on how their products and services can be improved, what new product or service they should launch, and how their campaigns should be modified.

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More people are turning to social during this lockdown time. How can brands leverage social media platforms for branding purpose during COVID-19?

Brands should be thinking about how they can be compassionate and useful to consumers during this COVID-19 period. If they are an essential service, they should be thinking of how they can ensure that their supply chains are working and focus their communication on helping consumers find their products. If they are a service that is deemed as non-essential, they should be thinking about how they can continue to engage with consumers even though their products are not accessible right now. Just because a product is deemed as non-essential, it does not mean that consumers do not need it. This would a good time for brands to connect with consumers on how they can temporarily make do without those products (e.g. a salon brand could put out

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

daily beauty tips for consumers that they can do on their own at home) or how the brand is preparing for a “social distancing” world( e.g. a hotel chain could share how they are preparing their hotel for social distancing after restrictions are removed).

This is also an excellent time for brands to get their act together in terms of figuring out what kind of brand they want to be once restrictions are lifted. Many times there are important things that brands should be doing like being more data-driven that get put to the back burner because there is plenty of demand and they don't have any bandwidth to spare on things that are not crucial. Now that there is likely to be more time at hand, brands must use this time to plan.

This includes figuring out what new products and services consumers will need once restrictions are lifted but also in terms of making sure that they have a robust back end.

How can social media analytics and insights help drive differentiation? How are Germin8’s clients using social media analytics to improve their business or marketing strategies?

Social media listening helps brands to understand what consumers think about their brand, campaigns, products/ services, and competitors. In contrast, social media analytics helps brands understand how well consumers are engaging with the content put out by the brand.

Germin8's customers use insights from both social media listening and social media analytics to answer questions relating to the 4Cs of marketing – Consumer needs, Communication, Cost and Convenience. Germin8 help companies understand consumer needs, how well they are getting addressed well and where the gaps lie. We also help brands understand how well the brand's campaigns

More about

Dr. Ranjit Nair and Germin8 42

Dr.

Ranjit

is

passionate

about

artificial

he founded Germin8 along with his father, Raj

intelligence, innovation, and the analytics to generate

Nair, who is a successful strategy consultant and

value for both companies as well as individuals.

serial entrepreneur. Today, Germin8 helps many

He completed his PhD in Computer Science with

large companies across sectors like financial

a specialization in Artificial Intelligence from the

services; automotive, FMCG and pharmaceuticals

University of Southern California in 2004. His

to use analyze their customers and become more

thesis focused on decision making in multi-agent

customer-centric.

teams involved in collaborative tasks in uncertain

Apart from Germin8, Ranjit serves on the India

environments, like robots tasked with rescuing

Advisory Board of the University of Southern

people in the aftermath of natural disasters. Post

California and is the past President of the Alumni

his doctorate, Dr. Ranjit worked as Senior Research

Club of Mumbai of the University of Southern

Scientist with Honeywell Labs in Minneapolis,

California. In his spare time, he enjoys advising

where he continued his work in developing

young entrepreneurs who have just begun their

algorithms for planning and decision making in the

startup journey. He also serves as visiting faculty at

face of imprecise and incomplete information.

several institutes like MICA and NMIMS.

He returned to India at the end of 2006 to be

Outside of his professional interests, Ranjit

a tech entrepreneur and to fulfil a desire to see

spends his time with his family and is the father of a

India become known as not just as an exporter

precocious three-year-old. He spends the little time

of IT services but also for world-class software

that remains on reading science fiction, running long

products and innovation. With this goal in mind,

distance, and experimenting in the kitchen.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

and content are faring vis-à-vis their competition and whether the content strategy needs to be modified. Finally, we help companies know what consumers are saying about their experience across the entire customer journey across all touchpoints on factors relating to cost and convenience.

All of this results in brands that are most customer-centric and hence more competitive.

How can brands leverage technologies like AI, machine learning, blockchain, and others to improve their social media insights?

As the amount of data available in social media about a brand and its competitors increases, it becomes more and more difficult for manual or traditional analysis to deal with the scale. This results in the company's focus on just high-level metrics which are rarely insightful or actionable. A lot of the analysis tends to be descriptive and rarely predictive, let alone prescriptive.

By leveraging technologies like AI and ML, which are sometimes available within sophisticated social media listening tools like Germin8, brands can move beyond mere numbers to get to the meaning behind the data. This enables brands to get actionable insights relating to when to act and how to work in different situations.

When social media data is coupled with other internal data, relating to customer transactions, brands are able to derive sharp insights relating to upsell, cross-sell and churn, which would not have been possible by analyzing both types of data in silos.

Because of the influence of social media, are companies today more customer-centric? What are your thoughts on it?

The attention that social media gets has meant that most companies pay attention to what is said on social media about them. However, many companies are incredibly reactive and tactical when it comes to social media. This means that they focus on each case as it appears on social media without changing their strategy based on the big picture. I would call these brands as reactive and not customer-centric because they are driven more by the fear of reputation loss rather than wanting to learn and adapt based on customer feedback.

From your experience at Germin8, what are the top three things companies need to have in place to deliver a more seamless customer experience?

The top three things that companies need to have in place for seamless customer experience are

• The ability to understand customer feedback in the form of unstructured text and translate it into an action related to some aspect of the customer journey that will improve customer experience • The ability to quickly determine the identity of the customer who they are communicating with and the issue they are facing without a lot of back and forth communication • The willingness to communicate with the customer across social media platforms openly without diverting the customer to some different channel, e.g. asking them to call the call centre What are the limitations of Digital media Intelligence? What types of business questions cannot be answered using social media data?

The biggest limitation when it comes to social media and digital intelligence is that the data pertains to what is top of mind for the customer and not necessarily what is top of mind for the company. For example, people will only write about what interests them, while the company might be seeking feedback about some aspect of their product or service that the customer is not interested enough to write about. This suggests that questions about things that the consumer does not experience directly and does not deem as important enough will not get answered.

The other challenge is that the data is not always authentic. This arises because sometimes, organizations and individuals might deliberately seed false information about themselves or others. While this may seem like a huge challenge, an experienced analyst is able to discern such fake posts quite easily.

What would be your word of advice to companies who are still reluctant to use social media listening?

I honestly cannot think of any good reason why companies do not use social media listening. Some are reluctant to respond to customers because they do not have a team or processes in place to respond to all customers and feel that if they start responding, they will not be able to stop. But regardless of whether they choose to respond, it cannot hurt to listen. One excuse that comes up is that brands claim that they do not need to listen because they are too small and not being spoken about. This again is not true because you can always listen about your product category or your competitors. My advice to any company that is reluctant to use social media listening is: Do not be an ostrich sticking its head in the sand; listen, learn, and make data-backed decisions.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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EXPERT'S OPINION

The Four-Wheel Drive for Getting Your Data Strategy Right!

By Anthony Devassy, Principal Industry Consultant, SAS India Anthony Devassy has 17 years of experience in the areas of Data Governance, Business

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intelligence, and Analytics and is currently the Principal Industry Consultant at SAS India. He specialises in conducting Data Management & Analytics Maturity assessments and providing thought leadership, frameworks, best practices, and innovation in the space of Data Strategy & Analytics.

Anthony Devassy

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

T

here are numerous studies which have established a direct relationship between data-driven decision making and the impact it has on the output and productivity of an organisation. However, few organisations have been able to realise the desired value from their investments on data and analytics.

The fundamental reason for organisations struggling is because data is never treated as a Strategic Asset. While many organisations speak about it, few walk the talk.

People, Finance and Technology, are all strategic assets for an organisation, and there is a visible structure to how these assets get managed within an organisation. There are skilled people, robust processes, and sophisticated tools to manage these assets.

The road to realising value from data is rocky and muddy and would need you to have a 4 Wheel drive to overcome the challenging terrain

If there is concurrence on Data being a Strategic Asset, then it deserves all the interventions mentioned above. The road to realising value from data is rocky and muddy and would need you to have a 4 Wheel drive to overcome the challenging terrain. Lack of torque to any one of the four wheels will make your Data Strategy SUV slip and skid.

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Wheel 1 - Building a Data Sensitive Culture This is the most ignored area and ironically, where most companies struggle. A data-sensitive culture cannot be built or purchased overnight, and it needs to be nurtured and developed.

• Executive sponsorship: If your leaders don’t believe in data being a strategic asset, it’s going to be difficult to expect others within your organisation to adopt a data-driven mindset. This commitment, however, must be demonstrated by more than occasional high-level decrees.

In one of my previous organisations, the CEO was designated as the Data Champion, and through dedicated Data Council meetings there would be continuous engagement with the ground teams to share the vision and direction on the data discipline.

• Data Organisation – Every organisation needs a dedicated team to bear responsibility for managing data as a strategic asset. This team would work with stakeholders across the organisation to build the right culture, develop people, monitor processes and ensure that the required technology is deployed.

This team will ensure that all the Information Asset Management Policies, Principles and Standards are implemented. Lack of such a team will see the data agenda falling between cracks with every team running their own agenda.

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Anthony Devassy

A lot of organisations do an excellent job at documenting all the data processes, but that is battle half won

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Wheel 2 - People and their skills matter Change management is not a single person sport and needs the entire village to come together. To succeed with data, your employees will need specific data-related knowledge and skills. While you can undoubtedly hire people with data skills, your existing talent possesses valuable domain knowledge and expertise.

• How can I make the difference – Educate people on how they can make the difference. A representation of how a data point captured within their work area impacts decision-making works best. Also, business users should be fully trained on the consequences that can happen when data isn’t adequately protected.

• Link Data KPIs to Business KPI: Every employee in an organisation is driven

by KPIs, and any activity that takes them away from those KPIs will never get done.

Work with senior management to introduce Data KPIs in the framework which is used to measure employee performance. If there is a Sales incentive program being run within your organisation evaluate opportunities on some data quality metrics to be introduced in the overall program.

• Citizen Data Scientist. Your organisation has many: Analytics is used to drive business decisions, and no one understands business better than the employees who are on the job every day. If these employees are provided training and coaching on how to access, process and present data using tools which are GUI driven there could be a lot of valuable discoveries that can be made.

Wheel 3 – Quit on Process, and you quit on the result Having well established processes around managing Data will ensure, right habits are formed across the organisation and are extremely critical in sustaining the Data culture. Data management routines need to be embedded into the daily routines of an organisation for them to be adopted by the business.

• Cadence drives behaviour – Ensure that there is a Data Governance Org in place where people from all work areas participate, and there is a predefined schedule for this team to meet. Decisions taken in these meetings are communicated to key stakeholders, and required followups are made to ensure execution.

• What gets measured gets done – A data health report sent periodically will get the attention from impacted business teams and provide the much-needed support.

Wheel 4 – Make it happen using the right technology A lot of organisations do an excellent job at documenting all the data processes, but that is battle half won. If those processes are not executed using technology these would just be documents lying in one of your folders. For Eg. data definitions can be well documented but to ensure that the business accesses these definitions at the right place and right time, the right tools would need to be used. Also, on the other hand, organisations can accumulate a variety of data systems and tools for solving more or less the same problem. This siloed scenario can often hinder rather than help the development of a data-driven culture.

• Strike the right balance between Choice & Control: Data, Analytics & IT teams want a lot of choices when it comes to programming languages, analytic techniques and deployment of the models.

At the same time, they need controls to ensure sustainability, scalability and security. A lack of control would lead to chaos and lack of trust on data and on the other hand, too much control would see innovation taking a hit. Neither can be dominant in an organisation to ensure success.

The focus areas mentioned under each of the Wheel is not an exhaustive list, and many other factors help develop a datadriven culture. Developing a data-driven culture at your organisation is a long-term game and not a short one and ensure you play it accordingly.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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The Struggle and Success of 5Paisa.com The Stockbroker Firm that Simplified Online Trading in India

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

he stock markets across the world are experiencing frequent crashes due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

However, the crash and recovery are not new for stock markets. “For the last two months, stock markets have been very volatile but have also seen unprecedented participation from retail investors.

We as a prudent organization are helping our clients both on the professional and personal front,” says Prakarsh Gagdani, CEO, 5Paisa.com.

On the professional front, 5Paisa.com is actively asking its customers to invest in mutual funds, safe stocks, and gold. The company is also doing campaigns asking customers not to speculate in such markets and lose money. Prakarsh adds, “On the personal front, to help our customers in these times, we gave Rs. 50, 000 as a personal loan to clients without documentation and fees at a meagre rate. It was done only for supporting their daily needs in these bad times.”

Started operations in 2016, 5paisa.com is a leading stockbroker in India. Prakarsh recalls, “I started this journey five years back and built 5Paisa from scratch. There has not been a single day in the last five years, where I did not have problems and challenges to solve.” However, the growth was rather quick for 5paisa.com, as it became one of the top 10 brokers in just four years of operations, which is much better than any other broker in the country. “The biggest problem for us and any startup is, how to scale your business exponentially with limited capital.

Another big problem is how to solve more problems with the least no of people. Though it is a continuous work-in-progress, we have been successful in solving these two issues to some extent,” shares Prakarsh.

On Novembers 2017, 5Paisa.com was listed on BSE and NSE. “To get your company listed is a quite different feeling. It suddenly makes you more accountable and responsible. I am not longer running this company for myself and my 1000 employees but more than 25000 shareholders who have faith in me and my company,” says Prakarsh.

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The biggest problem for us and any startup is, how to scale your business exponentially with limited capital

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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Overcoming the Initial Challenges Before 5paisa.com, there were two challenges in the broking industry. One was the rising cost of running business and second was high brokerage charges which were pinching customers and was detrimental to industry growth. “We realized that the solution to this is only two things, Mobile and Internet. From day one, we focused all our energies only on building a mobile app which is self-sufficient for customers, and they will not need any help of any person to carry their business,” explains Prakarsh. The relentless efforts from Prakarsh and his team resulted in 5paisa.com being the broker with the highest business done on the Mobile app. Prakarsh adds, “Over 75 per cent our business happens on the mobile app, which is unique to us only.”

Today, 5Paisa has a full suite of financial products. “We were noticeably clear from the start that we will only have financial products which can be transacted 100 per cent online without any paperwork and human intervention. Hence, now we have equities, mutual funds, research & advisory, insurance (Only health and term), personal loans and gold on our platform. What makes us unique is all of this is bundled in one mobile app,” states Prakarsh.

Harnessing the Energy of a Young Workforce 5Paisa.com has a young and energetic team with more than 90 per cent of its employees yet to cross 35 years of age. “I am the oldest among my core top team,” says Prakarsh. However, age does not play any politics at 5Paisa.com. Prakarsh knows that hierarchy and multiple layers would slow down the growth and discourage innovation. That is why, even today, 5Paisa.com has a flat structure.

“Barring customer service and sales, no other department has more than ten people. My core team members are not the heads. They are the owners,” pinpoints Prakarsh.

Inculcating sense ownership among the workforce helps the company in many ways.

“As owners, they find solutions to the problems, implement and are responsible for the results. I am fine with people making mistakes because they learn from that and shoulder responsibility with me,” explains Prakarsh. Though he continually interacts with each other, as a practice, he meets with every department once in a month only to

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

discuss new ideas. Prakarsh adds, “The idea should be either to improve customer experience or to improve internal efficiency. It has helped us a lot as the junior-most person in the team sometimes comes with the best idea.”

Education and Influencers An average student throughout his school and college days, Prakarsh holds Post Graduation in Business Management. “I have never come in top 3 or never got a rank. However, I have learned one important lesson. It does not matter whether you are a master of something, but it matters whether you are Jack of all,” says Prakarsh, who did everything from sports to dance, orating to debating, and competing to leading. Of all the things he learned, Prakarsh gives the highest importance to communication. He adds, “To become a leader you need to be a good communicator, as it requires knowledge, articulation, clarity of thoughts, and command on language. For a leader, these are the tools to succeed."

Over the years, Prakarsh is fortunate to have worked with successful entrepreneurs. He is highly influenced by Nirmal Jain, Founder and Chairman of India Infoline (IIFL) Group, a financial conglomerate. “It has been five years I am closely working with him, but even now there is something that I learn from him every day,” shares Prakarsh.

In 2016, Nirmal Jain’s IIFL Holdings Board had invested Rs.100 Crores in 5Paisa.com. “Nirmal still works more than most of us. He is still excited about starting something new, and he is still deeply involved in the grass-root level. I feel these qualities make him one of the most successful 1st generation businessmen of our country,” adds Prakarsh.

5Paisa.com is recognized for ‘Best use of Mobile Technology in Financial Services’ and accredited as Premier Depository Participant by CDSL. Prakarsh states, “Fintech is very much an explored sector by startups, but most have been around lending and payments. In the capital market, I see some good innovative concepts around research and advisory. Building models involving tech and research tools will be one trend I see for 2020.” Prakarsh understands that online business has a monopolistic competitive environment, and there is space only for two or three players. “For 5Paisa, my short-term goal is to be in Top 3 and for long term to sustain that place,” concludes Prakarsh.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

EXPERT'S OPINION

7.5 Billion People Wait for COVID Vaccine!

What Is Happening?

By Dr Hari Krishna Maram, Digital Brand Ambassador & Chairman When Will It Come? Vision Digital India - Pharmacist & Ex Novartis Dr. Maram's work in the field of Management and Management Education spans over 25 years.

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He has an illustrious career in education and has served as the Governing Council Member at AIMA (All India Management Association), Vice President at AIMS (Association of Indian Management Schools). Additionally, he was Honourable Secretary-BMA (Bangalore Management Association), Treasurer-Education Promotion Society for India (EPSI) South India, Executive Board Member at NIPM and Chairperson Higher Education Forum –Karnataka. His efforts in Dr Hari Krishna Maram

management education have been recognised on numerous occasions by the Government of India.

He is also a part of the UGC Committee.

A

vaccine looks like humanity's best bet against coronavirus.

Unprecedented efforts are being made, with researchers and organisations across the world pursuing both traditional and novel methods to create one as soon as possible.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

The minimum number of vaccine doses the world will need is 15 billion if it turns out to be a two-dose vaccine

53 With over 100 labs scrambling to develop COVID-19 vaccination, pharma executives are hopeful for rollout before 2021 but cite 'daunting' challenges in producing billions of doses. Pharmaceutical company executives said that one or several COVID-19 vaccines could begin rolling out before 2021. Still, they warned the problems would be "daunting" as it was estimated that 15 billion doses would be needed to halt the pandemic. The minimum number of vaccine doses the world will need is 15 billion if it turns out to be a two-dose vaccine.

Well over 100 labs around the world are scrambling to come up with a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, including ten that have made it to the clinical trial stage.

Albert Bourla, head of Pfizer, said that his company believed a vaccine could be ready before the end of the year. Pfizer is conducting clinical trials with German firm Biontech on several possible vaccines in Europe and the United States. "If things go well, and the stars are aligned, we will have enough evidence of safety and efficacy so that we can have a vaccine around the end of October," he said.

Pascal Soriot, head of AstraZeneca, in a virtual briefing, said, "Many people hope that we will have a vaccine, hopefully several, by the end of this year." His company

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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is partnering with the University of Oxford to develop and distribute a vaccine being trialled in Britain. Oxford's virus vaccine trail enters phase 2 with 10,000 volunteers. Andrew Pollard, head of the Oxford Vaccine Group said, "It is possible as early as the autumn or towards the end of the year, you could have results that allowed the use of the vaccine on a wider scale."

India has identified six local vaccine candidates with 30 groups trying to develop a vaccine for COVID. The government made it clear that the vaccine was not going to be available to everyone at once, besides taking time to develop.

It can take years for a new vaccine to be licensed for general use. Still, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, experimental vaccines shown to be safe and effective against the novel coronavirus could likely win approval for emergency use. Vaccines take so long to develop because they are expensive to produce, and developers wait to be sure of results from each stage before taking the next step. But with COVID vaccine, multiple stages are being pursued simultaneously to save time.

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) highlighted the "daunting" challenges facing the industry in the push for a vaccine. One challenge, which may seem counterintuitive, is that transmission rates are rapidly declining in Europe where some of the trials are taking place. Soon they will be too low to conduct clinical vaccine trials in a natural setting properly. Soriot said, "adding that so-called "human challenge" studies in which people are intentionally exposed to the virus to test efficacy, were not considered ethically acceptable with COVID-19, as we are running against time."

The novel coronavirus has killed more than 358,000 people and infected at least 5.7 million worldwide in a matter of months. IFPMA director Thomas Cueni pointed to estimates that the world will need some 15 billion doses to stop the

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Once an effective vaccine is developed, one of the biggest obstacles to putting out the amount needed could be, surprisingly, that there are not enough glass vials to store the doses in

More about

Dr Hari Krishna Maram Besides being an excellent academician and educationist, Dr Maram is involved with many CSR activities. He is the District Chairman of Lion's International and Trustee of Lions Super Speciality Eye Hospital & Lions District Service Foundation. Additionally, he is the Chief Mentor of the great initiative "Bangalore Green" which aims at environmental conservation in Bangalore. Throughout his lifetime, he has received various awards like Prestigious Knighthood Award from the UK, MTC Global Top 10 Thinkers, "Ramaswamy P Aiyar Best Young Teacher" Award by AIMS, "J L Batra Best Research Paper" Award, "Education Evangelist of India" Award, Lions International President's Medal, Karmavira Chakra Award, "Medal of Honour" from CIAC Global & The Education,

50 Most Admired Global

Indian award from Passion Vista Magazine, Sunfo High appreciation award from Srilanka, International Leadership Innovations Excellence Award from IndoSrilanka Economic Summit, SHIKSHA RATTAN award from Institute of Economic Studies,

International

Icon Award from International Economic Summit @ Thailand, Global CIO Award by Global CIO Forum and many more.

virus, posing massive logistical challenges. He stressed that the industry was committed to ensuring equitable access to a future vaccine, but acknowledged that “we will not have sufficient quantities as from day one, even with the best efforts.”

Once an effective vaccine is developed, one of the biggest obstacles to putting out the amount needed could be, surprisingly, that there are not enough glass vials to store the doses in.

"There are not enough vials in the world," Soriot said, adding that AstraZeneca, like many other firms, was looking into the possibility of putting multiple doses in each vial.

Paul Stoffels, vice chairman and chief scientific officer at Johnson and Johnson, meanwhile said that if 15 billion doses were needed, several different vaccines would be necessary to satisfy the initial demand. "Not all vaccine candidates could go all over the world depending on features, so somewhere between five and ten will be needed to serve the whole world," he said.

One challenge could be that some of the vaccines being worked on require storage at very low temperatures, which could be difficult in places lacking the proper infrastructure.

While stressing the need for solidarity and for ensuring fair and equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine, the pharmaceutical chiefs flatly rejected any suggestion that intellectual property rights should be waived on vaccine research. "IP is fundamental to our industry," GSK chief Emma Walmsley said. Soriot meanwhile pointed out that pharmaceutical companies are currently investing billions of dollars with little chance of recuperating the costs. “If you don’t protect IP, then essentially there is no incentive for anybody to innovate,” he said.

Let us hope and pray the COVID vaccine hunt will be fruitful soon.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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An Animal-Lover Bitten by the Entrepreneurship Bug

oing about his routine day, Yash Sheth one day heard a loud howl of a dog in pain. Curious, he looked outside his window and found an injured dog lying on the road. “I called my friend, and we went to see the dog. His leg was crushed. We picked him up and put him on the footpath. I called the animal hospital for an ambulance, but there was no response from them. I then called a local vet, but he was already busy and was out on some other case,” recalls Yash. This incident made Yash think of a way in which all stakeholders would be able to connect together.

Yash started reaching out to animal volunteers, NGOs, vets, telling them about his plan for a startup that would bring all the animal lovers together. “I used to draw the mobile screens on paper which were in my mind and meet people to show how the app would look and how will it help,” shares Yash. It was not easy for Yash to convince the crowd. He adds, “I heard a lot of ‘NO’ from the people. There was a lack of acceptance for another platform trying to solve the problem, as they were used to social media like Facebook and WhatsApp.” However, Yash did not lose hope. Instead, he was determined to give it a shot, as he knew that the regret of not trying will be far more painful than trying to make it work. “Once we launched, we gave it to our beta users to test, and that is where the game begins. We got our first 1000 users in a short time and were able to do a POC,” says Yash. Believing in his idea, Yash feels his most significant milestone is to kick off with it and make the App. Though people’s initial reaction and hesitation of using an App to help animals made him sceptical of investing his time, money, the energy behind this, Yash made up his mind and went along with it as he did not want to regret it in the future.

Connecting the Like-Minded People Indeed, there is always someone present somewhere who is trying to help the animals in any possible way. As a

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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From rescuing stray dogs to finding a home for them, we do it all

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crowdsourced platform used by animal lovers to connect some other influencers talked about us on social media, with like-minded people, Let it Wag empowers individuals which helped us to attract more user,” shares Yash. With and organizations to collaborate and rescue animals in a community of 15000+ animal lovers and 12000+ need or at risk. “We have created a platform for animal downloads, Let It Wag is building a strong community for lovers and professionals alike. It enables them to respond animal rescue and adoption. to calls for help and work together to rescue and care for An App for all the animal lovers, Let it Wag caters to animals close and far,” pinpoints Yash. stray animals, pet owners, and people looking to adopt a Started in 2017, Let It Wag aims to reach furry best friend. Yash explains, “From rescuing every corner of the world where animals stray dogs to finding a home for them, we are neglected, left injured on the streets do it all. We raise funds for strays, find due to unavailability of timely help nearby vets in real-time, find nearby from those who can. “As soon pet owners, find animals for as we launched, we got some adoption nearby, create a local coverage in digital media. animal lovers’ community, Then celebrities like find and report missing Sonam Kapoor, animals and much Suresh Menon, more.” Let It Wag With a community Alia Bhatt, and offers additional

of 15000+ animal lovers and 12000+ downloads, Let It Wag is building a strong community for animal rescue and adoption

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

opportunities for pet parents to find help for queries, network with a community of pet lovers and owners and helps NGOs to facilitate pet adoption and rescue through events, adoption document agreements. The organization has successfully helped 5000+ animals and birds and facilitated 50+ adoptions and fosters till date with member posts and reports being added daily.

The Entrepreneurial Struggles After completing engineering from Shah & Anchor college, Mumbai in Information Technology, Yash started working in WIPRO. During his college days, Yash had developed a habit of finding solutions to the problems around him – one of the most essential traits of an entrepreneur. "While I was working in WIPRO, I always used to feel that I am not made to work under

someone, as I want my freedom to work. With that attitude, I left WIPRO in 9 months, and then started thinking of some business idea,” remembers Yash.

In December 2013, Yash launched his first company that provided home maintenance services. The startup that he co-founded with the help of a friend, however, was not a successful one. “After running the company for 3-years, we had to close down and move on in life. Post that, I started working with a startup accelerator and helped budding entrepreneurs with idea validation, business plans, connecting with investors, mentoring and so on,” shares Yash. The exposure Yash received while working with the startup accelerator helped him to build the much-needed qualities of leadership, networking, team building and many more.

“During my stint with the startup accelerator,

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Let it Wag has been awarded Rex Karamveer Chakra, a global civilian honours given by the international confederation of NGO (iCONGO) in partnership with United Nations to the people across the globe for relentless courage

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

I learned the art of networking. I used to attend events and meet new people every day,” says Yash. One such event apparently changed the life of Yash, the entrepreneur. Yash recalls, “We had gone to pitch our startup, and one of the investors from the panel liked our pitch.

He offered to mentor us and build our idea.”

However, Yash’s first meeting with the investor did not go well. “He ripped apart our entire plan, strategy and showed us the reality. I was terribly angry on him and thought I would never meet him again, as he had shaken my confidence,” adds Yash.

It took some time to realize who the investor was. “When I read about his journey and his background, I was shocked that I just met this person and he was ready to help me. Since then, our bonding became strong, and he became my mentor. His name is Mr Yash Kotak, who has been featured in Forbes Asia 30 Under 30, GQ 50 Most Influential Young Indians and 100 Most Influential Global Youth Marketing Professional,” shares Yash.

Another person who has always been with Yash since day one of his entrepreneurial journey is Mr Romil Shah, his elder brother.

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“As an entrepreneur, you need to have the support of your family. When I started, my parents were supportive, and my dad took a loan from someone and gave it to me to launch my business. My girlfriend, now my wife, has also been supporting me from day one,” says Yash. There were many breaking moments during Yash’s journey, where he thought of giving up. However, his family, especially his wife, encouraged him to move ahead. “My wife used to pay my phone bills. Whenever I had to go for meetings, I would tell her to transfer some money to me, so that I can pay for my coffee, fuel, and other expenses.

She did it because she has seen my struggle and always believed in me and my work,” Yash adds.

It is not easy being an entrepreneur. It is even tougher for social entrepreneurs. “Entrepreneurship is a journey, and you are bound to make mistakes and take wrong decisions. What matters is to make new mistakes every time and learn from your previous mistakes,” says Yash.

It has been approximately 30 months since the thought of Let it Wag came into Yash’s mind. In this short time,

Yash has learned his lessons. “One of the biggest mistakes is that I got carried away by the need of making new and new features without realizing whether our users would use it or whether there is a need for it. We invested a good amount of time, energy, and money behind one feature, which we felt will be a game-changer. Post-launch, we realized that people are not using it. Now, whatever new feature or changes we plan, we make sure we ask our community and users about it,” explains Yash.

Recently, Let it Wag has been awarded Rex Karamveer Chakra, a global civilian honours given by the international confederation of NGO (iCONGO) in partnership with United Nations to the people across the globe for relentless courage. “I see Let it Wag - an app made in India - will be used across the globe to help and take care of animals.

Soon we will be launching in the global market and empower people with a tool to help animals around them,” concludes Yash.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

How to Get the Supply Chain Up and Running: Important Measures Every Business Needs to

By Kushal Nahata, CEO and Co-founder, FarEye Introduce Now COVID-19 has hit at the core of global value chain hub regions. “This pandemic is a reality we must live with for a long time now.

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Businesses need to introduce drastic measures to get their supply chain up and running,� says Kushal Nahata, CEO and Co-founder, FarEye. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Kushal Nahata talks about the impact of COVID-19 on supply chain industry, the lessons every company must learn from this period, solutions to mitigate supply chain disruptions and many more. Excepts.

Kushal Nahata What are the significant impacts of COVID-19 on the global economy and supply chain sector? How has it affected businesses in India?

The COVID-19 outbreak with consequential factories/industries shut down, and worldwide quarantine has caused unprecedented disruptions in the supply chain sector. Since global supply chains are increasingly dependent on China, there is an acute shortage of equipment and supplies worldwide. Intensifying the impact, the initial supply shock has become entwined with a demand crisis, as workers and consumers are ordered to stay home. A recent report by The International Monetary

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Enterprises need to explore technologies and operational efficiencies to insulate themselves from future shocks

Fund (IMF) stated that the global economic yield will reduce by 3per cent this year.

India is similarly affected. The lockdown has taken a toll on all industries. Manufacturing production is down by 90 per cent, non-essential deliveries have reduced up to 90 per cent. Home deliveries for essential commodities are rapidly surging, further burdening a severely stressed supply chain. Air traffic reduction, zero executive travel, loss of staff to run onthe-ground logistics operations, stranded goods at crucial ports, and hubs are some of the critical problems plaguing the entire sector. All these factors have crippled all enterprises, be it large or small.

This is a time of learning and contemplation for everyone. While the fight continues, enterprises should explore technology measures that can go a long way in solving these issues and preparing for the future.

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How is FarEye helping SMEs and MSMEs to manage the current supply chain disruptions?

FarEye is offering SMEs and MSMEs an efficient delivery optimization software 'FarEye Serve' at zero cost. With 'FarEye Serve', small businesses can increase coverage and deliveries by intelligent routing, provide contactless deliveries, onboard temporary staff immediately, and provide a smartphone app for drivers to ensure real-time communication with customers.

FarEye Serve enables up to 40,000 deliveries per day, reduces delivery turn-around-time by 27 per cent, eliminates risks up to 57 per cent, and increases courier productivity by 15 per cent.

Serve will help MSMEs to efficiently move goods right from farms, distribution centres, and retail stores to consumers, hospitals, and people in need of essential commodities. The technology will further support them in scaling their delivery operations, making grocery, sanitizers, medicines, food available to all, helping them get back on track during these trying times.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Kushal Nahata Kushal is responsible for driving the vision, strategy, and growth at FarEye. A dynamic leader, Kushal drives the culture of ‘customer-first’ at FarEye which enables the team to deliver value to FarEye’s 150+ clients globally. He is an effervescent thinker who is passionate about enabling the digital transformation of logistics enterprises and is constantly working towards empowering companies to champion operational efficiency and customer experience. He has been mentioned in the coveted 30under30 list by Data Economy and 40under40 list by Business World Disrupt and the Top 100 Emerging Voices of India by YourStory.

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In your opinion, has this ongoing crisis exposed any of the underlying weaknesses of the Indian supply chain system? What are the lessons every company must learn from this period?

In pre – COVID times, companies usually relied on traditional metrics such as cost, quality, and delivery for improving supply chain competitiveness. This needs to change going forward as businesses now need to prepare for major events. Natural disasters, climate change, geopolitical tensions need to be considered in postCOVID-19 planning to mitigate future shocks.

An underlying weakness has been the reliance on traditional methodologies rather than technology. Databacked decision tools can be of immense use in times like these. For example, as enterprises resume operations, they need to seriously consider ways to predict downtime that could have a massive chain reaction and go on to affect production cycles for months. The right predictive and analytical tools can minimize wastage, improve operational efficiencies, and help enterprises recover faster.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

In the supply chain industry, what has been the role of technologies like AI, Machine Learning and so on in controlling the damage due to the COVID-19?

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine learning) technologies have been gradually improving the efficiency of supply chain and logistics operations ever since their inception. As per a Forbes report before COVID, AI and ML had the potential to create up to $2T in value by 2020, in manufacturing and supply chain planning. The possibility has increased even more in times of lockdown and pandemic restrictions.

From empowering enterprises to drive prescriptive analytics, mitigate risks, and expedite resolution of delays, ML technologies will see greater adoption in 2020.

Machine learning-based platforms can help companies to select the most optimum route for delivery executives, learn from customer behaviour, automatically update addresses based on past delivery behaviour, and much more. Case in point, FarEye's machine learning-powered logistics

platform has empowered hundreds of businesses across the globe to reduce delivery turn-around-time, mitigate risks, deliver high levels of predictive intelligence, and boost customer experience.

How can the supply chain be more prepared to handle a crisis like COVID-19?

Enterprises need to explore technologies and operational efficiencies to insulate themselves from future shocks.

Measures such as decision-making tools for multi-modal logistics, the right mix of intermodal transportation, building the right carrier ecosystem, and ensuring that you have an agile supply chain can help enterprises tackle the problem in the present and near future.

What is the future supply chain market looks like? Please tell us some of the significant developments in this sector that everyone needs to look forward to.

We see the following developments taking hold of the sector shortly: New pandemic policies – Worldwide enterprises have woken up from their complacency, and we will see systematic policies being put in place to shield enterprises from future jolts Emphasis on self-reliance and domestic manufacturing – We will see a course correction as nations will look to become more self-reliant, just like in the case of India. This will lead to policies and support for building domestic expertise. The overdependence on China will reduce, and we will get new trade and business alliances across the globe.

Deeper penetration of technology – AI, ML, Blockchain, and digital technologies will move from concept-based testing and experiments to mainstream adoption as businesses deal with manpower shortage and on-ground disruptions in the near future. This will lead to deeper technology penetration in the longer run What is your advice to businesses that are impacted by COVID-19 or trying to mitigate supply chain disruptions?

This pandemic is a reality we have to live with for a long time now. Businesses need to introduce drastic measures to get their supply chain up and running.

Here are a few ways businesses can bring their supply chain and delivery operations up to speed: Leveraging Crowdsourcing Capabilities - To meet the rising demand for home deliveries, businesses must immediately optimize key assets such as staff and vehicle capacity. They can leverage advanced crowdsourcing

technologies to optimize staff capacity by onboarding temporary or part-time delivery executives from across disparate delivery provider ecosystems Ensuring Contactless Payments and Deliveries - As ‘social distancing’ becomes the norm of the day, retailers must provide customers with contactless or “tap-andgo” payment options by completely eliminating cash transactions. OTP based transactions or even payment by touching cards are highly recommended now. Businesses also needs to strictly follow ‘leave at door’ deliveries.

Encouraging Employees to Drive Decision Making To respond quickly to immediate supply chain challenges, it’s important to build a "Crisis Team." Retailers should have the confidence to leave certain key aspects of decision making to employees below their management levels as these teams have first-hand knowledge about ground-level activities Implement Real-Time Dynamic Routing - Businesses must introduce real-time and dynamic routing capabilities to maximize staff-vehicle utilization capacity. Such capabilities not only increase delivery productivity and shrink fuel consumption expenses, but it also ensures businesses can efficiently plan multiple drops on a particular delivery route. Another key element that businesses should consider adding to their delivery strategy is ensuring the demands of the vulnerable (people seriously impacted by COVID-19 and lockdowns) are met first Controlling Prices and Reducing Promotions Retailers need to keep the prices of essential commodities the same and introduce additional layers of control to ensure prices do not increase even by mistake. This will help keep customers happy and avoid negative media coverage and hefty Government fines. Another important strategy will be to stop promotions. Promotions can further increase demand and manpower requirements which is not desirable now. Businesses can take that opportunity to shift investments into more vulnerable areas like operations, inventory and last-mile delivery Embracing the Dark Store Strategy – ‘Dark stores’ is a global phenomenon wherein stores are treated as mini-warehouses that are closer to customer locations.

This ensures faster execution of pickup orders and more efficient inventory Leveraging mobility and ready to deploy digital tools – A mobile app can help numerous operational activities - wallet-enabled / card-free contactless deliveries, quick driver onboarding, real-time communication, dynamic routing, or remote implementations. Depending on the scale of operations, tools that are built for plugging and playing and offer the shortest runway to go live are more suited for times like these.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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EXPERT'S OPINION

Significance of Ethical Entrepreneurship in the Post-COVID Economy

By Agnelorajesh Athaide, Social and Serial Entrepreneur, Chairman of St. Angelo’s VNCT Ventures, and Co-Founder of the Business Opportunities Club (BOC) As a self-made entrepreneur with an inspiring

story of passion, self-motivation, and a will power

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to succeed, Agnelorajesh is a formidable global entrepreneur and a powerful orator on economics and entrepreneurship, which he speaks on based on the experiences of his life and business. In a classic rag to riches story, filled with motivation and a never say die attitude, Agnelorajesh Athiade went on from a young boy of 16 selling household items as a salesman to become the founder of one of India’s formidable private computer education company.

Agnelorajesh Athaide

E

ven as we prepare to slowly resume our lives – personal and professional, the world around already seems to be a changed place.

From the norms for using public transport to the stringent work from home dictates for professionals, there appears to be a 'new normal' world order that is being implemented. While the health issues connected to the virus still being around, we need to ensure to be cautious and precautious. At the same time, we cannot ignore the need for keeping the economy in good shape.

Companies are today looking towards optimizing their operating costs. This will also benefit the customers as the competition will ensure

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Innovation in entrepreneurship during these times of crisis can help recreate a balance and synchronicity to the new scenario

better pricing due to reduced costs by the companies.

This will ultimately help consumers.

The current new scenario will now Ensure that every resource will be micromanaged, and micro monitored. Each Human Resource too will need to be productive and to be a revenue generator to the company, directly or indirectly. Upscaling of capabilities will become the need of the hour.

This will ensure improvement in the overall quality of output from all the engaged resources.

Innovation in entrepreneurship during these times of crisis can help re-create a balance and synchronicity to the new scenario. With more mindful and value-driven business decisions, entrepreneurs can help drive positive change that leads to a stable business ecosystem, which can eventually help the economy, to boost up faster.

Ethical Entrepreneurship – a concept that drives a holistic development of the entire ecosystem, versus just one's own business, has become the need of the hour. Here are vital pointers on how entrepreneurs can adopt ethical business practices to help drive positive change in not only their own business ecosystem but also help in the overall recovery of the economy:

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Employees are partners We need to make sure that the employees become partners in progress. One of the major and the most crucial shift in mind-set, required by business owners today, is to view employees as potential partners and wealth creators instead of a liability/ overhead cost. This can happen with the capability up-gradation of each employee.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Agnelorajesh Athaide Agnelorajesh Athaide is a First Generation Serial and Social Entrepreneur, the founder and Chairman of St. Angelo’s VNCT Ventures, a new age real estate venture, and the chief mentor and co-founder of the Business Opportunity Club (BOC) – a premium business networking and mentoring platform that helps SME’s and MSME’s scale up to the next level. Through talks on live seminars, his YouTube page - Inspiring Business Fundas, his mobile app – Inspiring Conversations

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and through keynote address at business and trade association events, colleges and media platforms, Agnelorajesh has currently reached out to lakhs of people, both on a national and international level.

Apart

from

entrepreneurship

and

business,

Agnelorajesh is also an avid sports fan and has founded the ST. Angelo’s VNCT Chennai Singhams futsal team. He also actively promotes the Women’s Throwball Premier League. He has also penned down his experiences and highlighted the journey of his life in his upcoming book, which is set to further spread his motivational and inspiring thoughts to millions of entrepreneurs across the world. The name of the book is Obstacles to Opportunities, An entrepreneur’s journey.

The book is being published by Times of India.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

India is a country with a considerable population, and our numbers have always been the strength of the economy. The human capital plays a vital role in the success of any business, more so during a suddenly changed economic scenario.

Recognizing them as partners in growth instead of cost overheads can go a long way in overcoming the crisis.

Businesses may look at re-imagining strategies to leverage the full potential of their employees while creating a transparent and trust-worthy engagement. These can range from better incentives, extended work hours or even additional training sessions to help them hone essential skills, etc.

Value Creation While creating profit and thus driving growth is the basis for any successful business, the new business environment today, demands a much more holistic approach than just benefits. Driving value-creation for all stakeholders through innovative business practices can help generate wealth, opportunity and develop long term collaboration opportunities.

Given the new economic scenario, creating valuedriven collaborations and partnerships within one's business ecosystem can help not only sustenance and growth but also create a stable and mutually beneficial business model.

Vocal for Local In tune with the PM, Mr Modi's call for supporting local businesses is the way forward for the economic upliftment of the country. From choosing local vendors and employing localized labour to working closely with domestic service providers, and IT consultants etc., that has Indian roots; ethical entrepreneurship looks to drive growth across the ecosystem by a consistent flow of business for its smaller, localized partners.

Community Building While building a value-driven business ecosystem is essential, ensuring the wellbeing of the community that supports the business is also vitally significant for creating a long term, sustainable business model. Community building may or may not necessarily involve a structured CSR outreach.

Still, a conscious effort to nurture and help it grow can go a long way to achieve the objective of holistic development.

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LEADER'S INSIGHTS

It is Time to Look Beyond Chalk and Talk Pedagogy

By Achin Bhattacharyya, Founder & CEO, Notebook

Education Technology, in the beginning, intimidated many educators. However, in trying times like COVID-19, most teachers are happy with

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the tools available to them. “In a country as large and diverse as ours, the only way to raise the quality of education and optimally utilize our educational budgets is by pooling in resources to build best in class content centrally, store it in the cloud and deliver it to every student using any handheld device which has a screen and is connected to the internet,� says Achin Bhattacharyya, Founder & CEO, Notebook. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Achin Bhattacharyya talks about how we can improve Achin Bhattacharyya

the quality of education in the country with the help EdTech and shares the change in the field of Ed-Tech that he wished to see in future. Excerpts.

The nationwide lockdown and school closures have brought online learning providers into the spotlight. How is Notebook responding to it?

The current crisis has entrusted all online learning providers with a fundamental responsibility of ensuring that children's education should

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Digital learning is still very much at its infancy in India, and the potential for doing meaningful work in this sector is tremendous

not be interrupted in any way because of schools being closed for such a prolonged duration.

As a socially responsible brand, we made access to our entire content free across all boards, classes and subjects free for all students, teachers and parents who are trying to do their best in helping their children in their studies.

However, giving free access was only the first step, as we saw the footfall in our traffic increasing by leaps and bounds in different parts of the country including B towns, C towns and remote villages. We also started getting a lot more calls in our helpline and thus ramped up the entire support infrastructure.

Also, in a situation like this, children, their parents and teachers are facing various other challenges that are emotional and psychological. To contribute in this aspect, we started holding regular webinars with eminent panellists including Child counsellors, senior teachers, Social workers, international cricketers from overseas and many more to motivate the students and promote a more wholesome education and upbringing for them.

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Online education can change the educational landscape of India.

What is the status of digital learning in India?

In a country as large and diverse as ours, the only way to raise the quality of education and optimally utilize our educational budgets is by pooling in resources to build best in class content centrally, store it in the cloud and deliver it to every student using any handheld device which has a screen and is connected to the internet. Digital learning is still very much at its infancy in India, and the potential for doing meaningful work in this sector is tremendous. However, the EdTech brands also need to take a severe effort of trying to identify the need gap and communicate with students in a language and sensibility that they can relate to. Unless the end-user is benefited, all technical jargons about state-of-the-art content and glittering 3D animation are useless.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Achin Bhattacharyya and Notebook Achin Bhattacharyya pursued this dream to provide access to learning for primary and secondary school education in India.

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was also taken to provide best-in-class creative elements and technology.

In the highly competitive EdTech sector,

With the inclusion of all major boards and

Notebook stands out with its exceptional features

outreach to urban and rural classes of the country

delivering accessibility to knowledge with better

at affordable price points, Notebook is an effort

functionality and efficiency. They take special

to provide access to easy and efficient learning

care to make the reach as simple as possible by

for school students. To provide quality content

converting every topic into concise audio-visual

aligned to the syllabus, Notebook has a highly

form, delivering through cloud-based architecture

qualified team of content developers and an

that can be streamed on any personal devices.

advisory board of senior educators, who have

Notebook is focused on bringing more features

helped in ensuring the highest quality standards,

and functions to act as an aid to make the process

that is validated across multiple schools. Care

of learning more inclusive.

What are the common misconceptions Indian students have about online learning programs?

The basics of education will never change, and that involves a great teacher who teaches his or her students in an engaging manner and online is no exception. If the classes are prerecorded, a particular student can go through a lesson as many times as he or she wants. Also, when we build content digitally, we have lot more resources and tools at our disposal like illustrations, animation, dedicated research team, background music and many more to make the whole experience more engaging.

Another common misconception is that online is a one-way communication, whereas the reality is entirely different. Our team is regularly reachable on the phone, and also we respond to thousands of emails every day from our users. We also hold regular live webinar sessions to answer their questions and address their queries.

Do we have a demand-supply gap in the online learning industry? What are the offerings from Notebook to ensure that everyone has access to the best learning opportunities?

The desire for good content is eternal and perpetual.

However, to convert this desire to an actionable demand, few steps need to be taken. First and foremost, the

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

believability factor of EdTech being a serious quality solution provider need to be built. Second, the platform needs to be responsive enough to chart out an individual learning path for each student, based on assessment outcome and various other parameters, precisely the way a good teacher guides a student according to his or her requirement.

At Notebook, we have taken care to ensure that we add real value to everyone who aspires to learn. Thus we also have customized bilingual content for state boards ( apart from CBSE & ICSE), and we are getting a great response to the same.

Further, we have designed our pedagogy based on the concept of augmented storytelling, which is the first in India, wherein education is delivered engagingly and seamlessly to the student. We have taken great care to ensure that the platform is very user friendly and the hardware requirements have also been kept to a bare minimum.

What would you like to change in the field of Ed-Tech or our current educational system in general?

Ed-tech, as a sector, has enormous potential. It can make a difference in the lives of millions by offering cost-effective

best in class education to every child in the country. The actual potential of the sector will be unleashed only when we will be able to break all socio-economic and geographical barriers to ensure that each child is able to learn from the best of teachers who are the masters of their craft.

It is essential to have long term collaborations between government and players in the private sector as the only state has the distribution machinery needed to ensure access to every child.

Education has been of the least transformed sectors for a very long time. I think it’s time that we look beyond chalk and talk pedagogy in the confines of the classroom and look for more participative learning where students are treated as active co-creators of knowledge and not a passive recipient. Also, the objective of examinations cannot be to test rot memory. It should instead assess conceptual clarity needed to apply that knowledge in a real-life scenario.

Ed-Tech, as an industry, is looking at more interactive platforms, which will take machine learning to a new level using artificial intelligence

What are some of the most innovative technologies in Ed-Tech right now? What are the key trends of this sector to follow in 2020?

Ed-Tech, as an industry, is looking at more interactive platforms, which will take machine learning to a new level using artificial intelligence. However, irrespective of all new technologies on the anvil, the human mind is irreplaceable, and thus the importance of teacher can never be undermined. The role of any technology will always be to act as a bridge between the student and the teacher.

What would be the future of Ed-Tech market from now? What is some advice that you have for startups that are emerging in the Ed-Tech space?

Convenience by solving logistical bottlenecks with the aid of technology has become a way of life and education cannot be an exception. Currently, not even one per cent of students are accessing any structured online learning platform, and that explains the tremendous untapped potential of the sector.

For all aspiring startups in this sector, my advice will be to embark in this journey only if they have the patience to get the result of their efforts. Content making is a very time taking and delicate process, which requires the highest level of precision as you are dealing with a child's future.

Further passion for education is critical, as it will be much easier to put your heart and soul into it if you are in the game not only for the financial return but also for the socio-economic return that the sector offers.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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INSPIRING

IDEAS

K 74

ACadru: A Learning Platform That Does Not Have Any Direct Competitors

amini Vidisha drank the most expensive coffee in her life during the first event that she organized as a part of launching her third startup, ACadru.

It was in 2017. To socialize the philosophy ACadru, Kamini had organized a massive event by reached out to hundreds of potential clients and stakeholders. A good fortune of money had already been committed. “We had over 100 confirmed attendants. I wore my best dress and went to the event. I suppose I was early because no one was there. Hence, I ordered a cup of coffee while I waited. Well, to cut a long story short, not even a single person turned up for the event. I just had the most expensive coffee and came back. I was dejected,” recalls Kamini.

ACadru has come a long way since then.

Kamini adds, “Our last event was packed to capacity. We had more than 150 people in attendance, and we had to reject many people who wanted to join in." Kamini, a serial entrepreneur, is currently the founder of two startups. “The first venture was born out of a need for flexibility and creativity. After that I felt I have learnt a lot with every failure, and now I guess it is my passion to create a purpose-driven business,” shares Kamini. As an engineering graduate, Kamini has always been empathetic towards issues prevalent in the world. Previously teaching underprivileged children, she believes that imparting meaningful education can play a huge role in creating an impact.

Making Unique Learning Platform The first startup of Kamini, UnivAdmitHelp, was a study abroad counselling arm of Anavi Learning (mother company). UnivAdmitHelp focused on providing mentorship and admission help to students by IVY League graduates.

Kamini explains, “In this whole process, we do one-to-one mentoring with students to build strong profiles for admission to IVY League Colleges. Our experience with these mentees highlighted some recurrent issues that we answered through

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Ka

m

in

iV

id

ish

a

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I ensure that there is no micromanaging and give the major stakeholders full responsibility with accountability,�

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Started in 2017, ACadru is a learning platform that gives access to multidisciplinary online learning modules on unique topics

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ACadru.” The mentees knew the coursebook contents very well but had little understanding of their application in a fast-changing world. There was a lack of focus on multidisciplinary education in general.

Started in 2017, ACadru is a learning platform that gives access to multi-disciplinary online learning modules on unique topics. "Building a self-mentoring platform with multi-disciplinary topics that could help prepare students to know their options for jobs in the future. The topics in ACadru such as Art/Design in engineering, Real Science behind reel make-up, and Interpreting machine psychology are designed to highlight the connections across domains,” shares Kamini.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

ACardu’s learning modules are a collection of blogs, videos, and journals from credible sources stitched together through a compelling narrative, giving the user access to the top-class content without corresponding higher costs.

“All the modules are directed towards the jobs of the future and the upcoming industries which can create substantive employment opportunities in the future,” claims Kamini. Every learning module ACardu culminates into projects which allow for better understanding, curriculum extension, and practical learning. In turn, they allow learners and educators to tailor their education in a fun, efficient way to their specific needs.

Showcasing a variety of career options aligned with the user’s passion and challenges for the future, ACadru has quite a lot of significance behind its name.

In Roman language ‘Cadru’ means compass. Kamini kept the name ACadru as she believes that her institute is a compass to the students, as it gives them a direction towards their career. Kamini adds, “We showcase career opportunities beyond the obvious ones. For example, when we talk about psychology, students and professionals tend to think of jobs available in clinical psychology, counselling, or teaching. In contrast, there are more jobs in technology, marketing, and branding for a psychology graduate.”

Though ACadru does not have any direct competitors right now, Kamini considers the plethora of online learning platforms to be of some competition. “We give our users access to top-class content without higher costs and help them shape their future in the industry, aligning them with the 21st-century Job-skills,” opines Kamini. ACadru provides modules that consist of projects and activities that help them to understand better and learn practically.

While the Pandemic Outbreak has been affecting businesses negatively, it has helped ACadru aggressively in soliciting customers. Kamini says, “While we have made the platform free for eager learners, we have seen tremendous traction. During the last few months, we have grown by over 100 per cent as everyone is moving towards online learning.” E-learning platforms have got tremendous traction these days. However, what needs to be seen is whether the gains from this emergency to edtech businesses are sustainable. "Unless the value that these platforms deliver to their clients is accretive and is a game-changer, the life will go back to normal, and their

popularity might wane once the pandemic passes,” opines Kamini.

Growing and staying ahead of the curve, Kamini’s short-term goal is to increase the user base to 50,000 and 200+ learning modules. “We are also planning to capture some part of the user journey and suggest learning modules of their interest”, adds Kamini. In long-term, Kamini aims to reach 1000+ learning modules and at least over 5 million users before she starts testing the underlying AI logic.

learn, unlearn and relearn. It helps me to be relevant the challenging times too.”

Starting your own business is like raising a child; it needs all your focus and attention before it gradually settles down. Although it is challenging, you are driven by a bigger purpose, which gives you a lot of satisfaction. Advising all the budding entrepreneurs out there, Kamini concludes, "Sometimes you feel to give up, but my suggestion would be to stay on it till you can, and from every failure, you can always start afresh so don’t be scared of failures”.

With the Help of Strong Support System Kamini has always been an energetic person. She is very empathetic towards issues prevalent in the world and looks forward to addressing some in future. “I used to teach under-privileged children earlier. In a way, making an impact through meaningful education has always been a cherished belief for me.” Today, Kamini takes pride in saying that she has an All-Women-Team. “Each one of us takes complete responsibility for her work without any additional supervision. We work hard and have tons of fun, that’s where the magic happens,” adds Kamini.

Interestingly, no one has left ACadru since its inception three years ago.

For Kamini, leadership starts in believing that everyone in her team is responsibleadults. "I ensure that there is no micromanaging and give the major stakeholders full responsibility with accountability,” says Kamini. She is also looking to ramp-up her team and go full-hog in the coming years as online learning spaces are going to be hand-in-hand with offline education institutes.

Helping her stay true to her goals, Kamini considers her brother, Nitin, to be a significant influence in her life.

Kamini says, “He is instrumental in not only helping me articulate a long-term vision which is durable but has also helped me anchor my thinking in alignment with strategic imperatives for the business.” Kamini has also worked with Accenture for a couple of years, post which she did her Masters in Operations from Cardiff Business School. Recently, she spent a year at Harvard University.

Kamini says, “My mother always taught me that there is no age to learn anything new, which makes me believe in

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

EXPERT'S OPINION

How to Keep Negative Thoughts at Bay

By Dr. Rahul Kalia, Medical Director, International SOS, India

78 Dr. Rahul Kalia has 17 years of diverse experience in pre-hospital and corporate healthcare. He graduated with MBBS from Mumbai University. He has undertaken pre-hospital emergency management course from Singapore and obtained diplomas in Hospital & healthcare management and Diploma in Medico-legal systems.

Dr. Rahul Kalia

W

e, as a community, apparently know that undue stress impacts mental health negatively, or do we? Very often we get reminded of how prevalent the mental health issues are in the community and that how low is the awareness. stress is often held responsible in contributing to the ill’s as far as mental health is concerned and rightfully so. However, stress is not all bad, it does keep us sharp within healthy limits. But, when this thin apparently invisible and subjective line is crossed, ‘stress’ begins to cause disruptions. A few examples of these disruptions may include inability to make decisions, not being as

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

In the current scenario that we find ourselves, the stress of isolation, that of multi-tasking and juggling between personal tasks and professional duties seems to be adding up and impacting us

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productive, limiting clarity of mind, lack of selfesteem and the list continues.

Working from Home is a concept that has always had a mixed uptake in the past. Most work environments have encouraged employees to show up for work daily. This has clearly trained the collective workforce in a particular way of, well, working. Without ample notice, the COVID situation escalated and fast forwarding the situation to today, most of the workforce is now working from their homes, if their work profiles allow for this. In the current scenario that we find ourselves, the stress of isolation, that of multi-tasking and juggling between personal tasks and professional duties seems to be adding up and impacting us. Some of us are finding it difficult to engage in professional tasks while others are unable to stop, thereby carrying work into extended hours at the cost of personal commitments. We are committed to raise awareness on this subject and here are a few key approaches that you can consider to help cope with the added stress and to help strike a balance while the new normal sets in now and for some time to come.

Find a Perspective It’s important to have a reasonable perspective on work.

Understand your limits and respect others limits. It all begins with an acknowledgement.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Dr. Rahul Kalia Dr. Rahul Kalia is the Medical Director at International SOS, India, based in Mumbai.

His areas of interest and responsibility include helping organizations in assessing their health needs, curate solutions and guide corporates

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on their health and wellness programs as their Health Partner. This entails analyzing the employees' health and wellness needs and crafting programs to fulfil identified goals.

As a Health Partner, he has supported many Indian and multinational organizations in remote pre-hospital and corporate domain in optimizing their duty of care by making onsite health more efficient, thereby contributing to business sustainability.

Support Network It’s important to have a support network amongst your workgroup. Reaching out to your trusted colleagues and leaders for their perspective, especially for apparently troublesome scenarios will surely help. Connecting with your teams frequently, helping them be aware of your priorities and knowing theirs, sets the ground for positive interactions. Ensuring that you have the necessary tools to deliver your professional tasks is imperative, especially in this remote working scenario. Switching on your video when connecting with colleagues helps connect better and we recommend you do so frequently. It’s always easier to speak to a face.

Time Management Respecting yours and your teams time by blocking time for planned activities is a sure way to reduce stress.

Also, blocking time for yourself regularly, keeping it free of calls, meetings and miscellaneous interruptions is recommended to help you focus on your development and tasks that are important to you.

Personal Time Being assertive on this front is seen to help. Agreeing with your significant others and prioritizing this personal time enables you with this psychological space. you will eventually look forwards this ‘me’ time as it helps clearing your head and relax.

Building a Healthy Routine Maintaining regular work hours, starting and ending your day with a set routine helps you switch from personal to professional mode easier. Having frequent breaks and preventing long periods of inactivity surely helps and so does having a dedicated place at your home to work from. it’s also vital to ensure you eat on time and don’t skip meals. A balanced diet is as important today as it was in the past.

Exercise Physical exercise has many known benefits. It increases the production of brains feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins. Regular exercise not only make to feel good, it helps with your confidence and lowers overall anxiety. Regular exercise helps you sleep better which is typically the first victim of stress. All these benefits can help you keep the unwanted stress away and contribute to your sustained and balanced performance in both personal and professional arenas.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

‘TAP, CLICK, SCAN’ Will be the New Buzzwords in Indian Payment Space

By Navtej Singh, CEO of Digital Business, Hitachi Payment Services

With concerns of transmission of the virus through the exchange of physical currency, digital payments have become a necessity in these times. However, digital payments

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ecosystem in India needs to evolve rapidly to help shape the post-COVID era. “Innovations such as Soft POS that enables merchants to accept payments via their smartphones, SMS link-based payments, digital onboarding of merchants, and servicing the merchant payment-related requirements through mobile apps are driving acceptance of digital payments," says Navtej Singh, CEO of Digital Business, Hitachi Payment Services. With over 41,000 ATMs, 16,000 Cash Recycling Machines (CRMs) and 1.1 Million POS Navtej Singh

devices (includes mobile POS & QR) besides Toll & Transit Solutions across the country, Hitachi Payment Services has been contributing to the development of payment infrastructure in India. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Navtej Singh talks about the opportunities for the FinTech firms in the future, the impact of COVID – 19 on the payments industry, future of digital payment industry in India and many more. Excerpts.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

We have seen online sales and e-commerce payments surge over the last few months, particularly for essential items, and there is an increase in small ticket payments, such as transactions at Kirana stores

What is Impact of COVID – 19 on consumer behaviour in terms of payments in India?

In India, we have experienced remarkable growth in digital payment transactions in the last 4 – 5 years.

The ongoing situation has further enabled the adoption of digital payments, and the same has been reinforced among customers. Amidst COVID – 19, from a safety and security standpoint, we are seeing a growing customer propensity towards contactless payments. The current situation has not only helped in bringing new customers on board but have also impacted the way the customers make day-to-day payments. A significant shift in consumer behaviour and habits have been observed - small ticket payments like day to day transactions at Kirana stores and other spends on essential items which were primarily done through cash earlier are now moving to digital.

According to a recent Capgemini report, before the pandemic, only 57 per cent of Indian consumers were interacting on mobile apps, which has now jumped to around 67 per cent. There is a definite shift in consumer behaviour in terms of adoption of digital payments, and it will only continue to grow.

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The digital payment landscape in India has been growing. How did nationwide lockdown catalyze this growth? Tell us about the trend you observed in the adoption of digital modes for transactions.

India with multi-fold growth has undoubtedly moved mountains in the payments' arena, and digital payment channels are continuing to thrive. Unfortunately, Digital Payments gets a push only when there is a ‘stress element’ such as that of Demonetization in 2016. Demonetization pushed India’s need to move towards digital and Covid-19 will accelerate the transition into a less-cash economy in the long term.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Navtej Singh Navtej Singh (Navtej) is the Chief Executive Officer – Digital Business of Hitachi Payment Services. Navtej has over 20 years of experience across financial services in Payment Solutions, Product & Channel Management, Retail Branch Banking & Sales. Before joining Hitachi Payment Services, he set-up BizStrat, a business & strategy consulting firm, advising various ecosystem participants on Product Strategy, Partnerships and Distribution structure.

Before BizStrat, Navtej managed key revenue

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verticals for leading financial institutions including National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), HDFC Bank, Centurion Bank of Punjab, Citibank and DCB. Navtej is credited with creating and managing one of the most profitable Direct Payments Businesses with market leadership in key segments with HDFC Bank.

With NPCI, he has played a pivotal role in defining and building the business development and marketing strategy, including product development and setting up of sales process for a niche product – RuPay Platinum Debit Card. An industry representative on various RBI working groups and discussion forums, Navtej was also a member of the RuPay Steering Committee and was Chairman for the India chapter of Prepaid International Forum, UK.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

In the ongoing situation, to limit contact between individuals, the RBI has been encouraging consumers to adopt digital payment methods for their regular transactions. With the nationwide lockdown and COVID – 19 impacts on consumer behaviour, there has been a shift towards digital payments with new customers adopting various digital modes of payments and a general increase in digital payment transactions.

We have seen online sales and e-commerce payments surge over the last few months, particularly for essential items, and there is an increase in small ticket payments, such as transactions at Kirana stores. Use of contactless digital payments like UPI based transactions, QR based payments, contactless card payments as well as e-wallet transactions has seen a rise owing to the convenience, speed, and safety that it offers.

Every financial activity is being upended by new technology. How are innovations and advancements in the technology helping digital payments to be more seamless and convenient?

Over the past few years, there has been a continuous push for the adoption of digital payments from the government and the regulators through various initiatives spanning infrastructure, literacy and ease of accessing digital payment services. The NPCI's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform and the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) program have further contributed to the widening of the digital payment’s ecosystem. With the RBI pushing for card payments to go contactless, allowing transactions of up to Rs 2,000 through tap and pay without an authentication such as PIN, contactless payments have also seen a rise.

RBI has also permitted contactless payments above Rs. 2000 with PIN authentication.

Innovations such as Soft POS that enables merchants to accept payments via their smartphones, SMS link-based payments, digital onboarding of merchants, servicing the merchant payment-related requirements through mobile apps are further driving acceptance of digital payments.

At Hitachi Payment Services, we are aligned to the Government's Digital India vision. We are continually focusing on technology-led

innovations enabling digital payments to be more secure, seamless and convenient while continuously expanding the reach and making digital payments accessible for the masses. Hitachi Payment Services' Tap & Pay solution enables contactless card payments using Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Our Open-loop card-based ticketing system on NCMC standards for metro train payments and enabling of FASTag payments at toll plazas have transformed the fare collection process while providing commuters with a safe and seamless payment experience.

Hitachi Payment Services' state-of-the-art and future-ready digital payment platform also drive POS transactions, E-commerce transactions, Bharat QR, as well as UPI transactions.

What are the trends in terms of merchants and the total number of daily transactions during the lockdown time?

Generally, consumers and merchants have been affected alike, with isolation and social distancing measures in place. Merchants offering essential services such as food, grocery, medical supplies, milk, etc., have seen a rise in their digital transactions.

Considering the current situation of Covid-19, small retail outlets, neighbourhood Kirana stores and small vegetable & fruit vendors seem to be now accepting digital payments as customers are keen to make payments digitally due to the lockdown restrictions as well as from a safety standpoint.

Soon, we expect digital payment transactions to grow multi-fold owing to new merchants being onboarded, increase in new customers and an increase in a number of transactions per customer.

Tell us some of the significant developments in the digital payment sector that everyone needs to look forward to. What are the opportunities for fintech firms in the future?

The economic disruption caused due to the pandemic has highlighted the importance of serving people who are currently outside the formal financial system. Advancing financial inclusion programs will play a vital role in bringing in more of the unbanked populace within the banking ecosystem.

While there has been a lot of developments on the issuance or the consumer side, we feel there are considerable opportunities on the acceptance or merchant side that can deliver innovation and value for the merchant – a key player in the

payment ecosystem. This could be in the areas of providing cost-effective and innovative acceptance infrastructure as well as in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Big Data that can drive additional revenue for the merchants.

Another important outcome of COVID-19 for FinTech may well be the continued acceleration of partnerships with financial institutions, other FinTech and biotech to innovate and accelerate digital payment services. Hence expanding partnership strategies and exploring new use cases would open up more opportunities for fintech firms in the future.

IoT is also a significant opportunity for fintech firms in the future. COVID-19 may accelerate the adoption of IoT-enabled contactless payments offering multiple growth opportunities.

In your view, what is the future of digital payment industry in India? What is some advice that you have for the companies that are emerging in this space?

The nation's tech-savvy demography - 1.2 billion mobile phone connections, 560 million internet subscriptions and over 350 million smartphones serves as the fulcrum of an inclusive digital transformation. India's digital consumer base is the world's second-largest, as well as the second-fastest growing among 17 major economies as per a report released by the Government of India's Ministry for Electronics and Information Technology.

Considering the low penetration of digital payments in the country, there is considerable opportunity for players to grow. While companies drive innovation on the consumer side, it is equally important to focus on the merchant side to drive adoption of digital payment systems at the merchants’ end.

Contactless payments could be the way ahead, and payment modes like UPI, IMPS, QR Code based payments and mobile payments would contribute to the growth of digital payments.

Services like bill payments and spend on essential daily services will mostly go digital. The industry shall accelerate self-service and automation initiatives around payments. Options which will dominate the future and play a vital role in driving digital payment acceptance across India include Biometric authentication, Tap-and-Pay payments, Voice Payments, Facial-recognition payments and many more.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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EXPERT'S OPINION

What Has COVID-19 taught Us About Risk Management?

By Hersh Shah, CEO, GLECO - Institute of Risk Management (UK) - India Affiliate

Hersh Shah, a Commerce Graduate from Mumbai

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University (HR College of Commerce & Economics), is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and an alumnus of IIM - Bangalore.

He is a Technical Specialist elected by the Institute of Risk Management, UK. He has over a decade of experience in audit and assurance, risk management, consulting and corporate finance, including structuring of strategic alliances & partnerships with a specific focus in the education sector.

Hersh Shah

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he onset of COVID-19 has changed the views that were consistently rising universal prosperity, and constancy is permanent fixtures of contemporary societies. Throughout history, businesses and risk managers have learned new lessons about how to combat challenges from each of the unanticipated events that have occurred.

A contagious disease pandemic is a far more significant threat to humanity than people ever thought. Could a sharper focus on uncertainty have made us more risk ready? Despite humanity’s scientific and technological expertise and the immeasurable resources at our combined disposal, COVID-19 has frozen the usual ways of existence and reversed our economic growth.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

As we continue our fight with COVID-19 across the globe, we are confronted with the paradox of studying the past, to prepare for uncertainty and unexpected events in the future

Considering threats like COVID-19, certain businesses that stand prepared to overcome the challenges head-on have a higher survival and recovery rate. This applies to companies in not just remote or low-connectivity locations, but any business in the world. Because of the outbreak, travel and tourism, other business operations world-wide are already considerably impacted.

As we continue our fight with COVID-19 across the globe, we are confronted with the paradox of studying the past, to prepare for uncertainty and unexpected events in the future.

At times like these, we must cultivate principles, tools, and techniques of risk management, business continuity, and crisis response that can be deployed to assist organisations in preparing and responding to situations like this.

Below are a top 6 takeaways about mitigating risks from the pandemic: Crisis mitigation: To be insured from unexpected risks in the future, it is wiser to establish a crisis management team. Proceed by deciding what authority it would have and what if the select members become ill or are unavailable due to a reason. Request all departments to review and refresh their continuity plans as required and necessary. Take note of any value statements the organisation may have put together that should guide your response and communications in challenging times.

Safeguarding the employees: For any organisation, its employees are the most valued resources. It is essential to conduct and regularly review risk assessments to ensure a safe place of work for employees and contractors. Make a note and follow all the health and travel advice laid out by the government. Know about the staff that is at higher risk because of pre-existing health conditions and take action accordingly. Lay-out and implement plans to reduce travel and facilitate working from home for the staff where possible. As an employer, do not neglect to review the impact of incentive elements of remuneration packages.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Hersh Shah Hersh was previously associated with KPMG Risk Consulting, where he worked on many enterprise risk consulting assignments. Hersh was also selected amongst the 'Top 6' of the firm as part of the Ideas for Innovation Initiative by the CEO's Office at KPMG India. He has travelled extensively to South Africa, USA, UK, China and the Middle East for his professional assignments. Post KPMG, Hersh also helped in setting up an entrepreneurship business school in Mumbai. He was also one of the 450 people to be selected in 2014 for a social entrepreneurship train journey across India which helped him decipher rural and semi-urban India. Hersh has trained over 1000+ students across India in the area of risk management since the age of 21. Hersh's last stint was Founder & Head of ITI Vikas – a microfinance NBFC at The Investment Trust of India Limited where he managed a portfolio of over 100+ crores leading a team of 250+ people across India.

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Risk Rejoinder: It is important first to review the key objectives and priorities from the information at hand.

Try to balance 'business as usual' while accommodating new demands and changing preferences. Make sure you have considered risk assessment(s) under the impact of COVID-19 or any other risk on your key objectives, formulate and implement response plans. For a fool-proof outcome, carry out a stress test of various set-ups. It is crucial to assess whether you have adequate expertise available, in risk management, supply chain risk management, subject matter and communications. As we move along, be alert to other risks materialising like cyber-attacks. Lastly, be aware of possible opportunities for research and learning that will help in improving processes.

Communications: In times of misinformation doing the rounds in media channels, monitor official advice, review public announcement websites regularly, and beware of fake news. Identify and map out your internal and external key stakeholders, and design a plan for how often you will communicate with them. Think about how you will keep the message consistent while understanding that policies may have to change rapidly alongside keeping your staff informed without being alarmist. Ensure leadership teams are briefed and kept up to date.

Regulatory, Competition Law, and Reporting Considerations: Make sure home working arrangements maintain standards of data protection and IT. Consider

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

anti-trust implications if you think about collaboration with other businesses to secure supplies. Consider how the impact of COVID-19 will be reported in compliance with corporate governance codes, e.g. when reporting on principal risks and uncertainties.

Supply chain disputes: Assess and confirm business continuity plans of critical suppliers. Ensure you have thoroughly mapped your supply chain and talk to your suppliers and to your customers to look at options and alternatives. It is crucial to understand how your contracts work and what entails them, especially force majeure provisions. Maintain safety and traceability standards if alternative suppliers are used. Ensure you have appropriate legal advice from time to time.

Robust cybersecurity and data privacy: Remote access has shaped to be the new normal of work because of the rising trend in work-from-home. To prevent employees from accessing confidential or sensitive information, companies should establish necessary commands or controls, and allow access to select staff members. Advise employees to create stronger passwords and set ground rules keeping in mind the cybersecurity policy of the organisation.

Lastly, ensure regular analysis and examination of liquidity and prepare a response plan accordingly. Stay abreast of the assistance offered by the government in terms of tax relaxations, initiative, or loan moratoriums to be able to make an informed decision.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

The Evolving Role of DevOps in Today’s Industry

By Kavita Vishwanath, General Manager, JFrog

DevOps is a philosophy that combines development with operations and demands a toolchain of technologies that is linked to increasing

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the change in collaboration. The organisation across the globe have started using DevOps in their business, and the graph is growing gradually.

Statistics derive that 65% of the organisation will use DevOps in their business as a mainstream strategy by 2020, indicating a high scope of DevOps in upcoming days. With over 19 years of experience in leading Enterprise Sales, Alliances, Strategy & Planning for core technology & e-commerce companies, Kavita Vishwanath, General Manager, Kavita Viswanath

JFrog, gives us her insights about the DevOps being one of the emerging industry sectors in today’s time, in her email interaction with CXO Outlook.

How has DevOps been perceived in India?

Increased complexity in software development due to new technologies such as containerisation, microservices, and others, has brought attention to software delivery processes that were earlier managed without tools. At times DevOps is perceived as just a collection of tools,

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

From leading private banks to e-commerce, we see customers across the spectrum adopting DevOps and demanding more in terms of sophisticated tools that help them manage their DevOps processes end to end

although they do rely heavily on them, it is more than that. The main principles of DevOps are collaboration, continuous testing and improvement, self-service, iteration and automation.

It ensures quick deployment by focusing on automation and the right tools. In today's 'app world' to meet the ever-changing demands of the customer, it becomes super important for businesses to look at continuous, secure and seamless delivery of software using DevOps tools. India is at the forefront of this adoption. From leading private banks to e-commerce, we see customers across the spectrum adopting DevOps and demanding more in terms of sophisticated tools that help them manage their DevOps processes end to end.

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Could you please elaborate on the scope and demand for DevOps? With multiple dev teams working on products using different tools, it is important that as a developer, you have freedom of choice to pick the right tool and technology. At the same time, as an organisation, the delivery of the software is platform-independent. This is where DevOps comes into play. What customers are looking for today is a single product that can support almost all software packages and at the same time provide Security with SecOps by scanning for vulnerabilities and checking for compliance. JFrog does precisely this for all its customers through a single platform. The vast number of tools used by developers and IT makes it difficult for leaders to get a holistic view of how each team is performing. Lack of visibility paired with manual processes slows the behavioural and cultural change needed to succeed with DevOps. We have now seen uptake from organisations as an understanding of DevOps is far better than what it was and have also realised the value DevOps can bring to the table.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Kavita Viswanath Kavita has over 19 years of experience in leading Enterprise Sales, Alliances, Strategy & Planning for core technology & e-commerce companies. As General

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Manager for JFrog India, she manages India Business and Operations including R&D, Support, Sales & Marketing, Finance & Operations.

Before joining JFrog, she was associated with Flipkart, where she worked directly with Sachin Bansal on building the B2B business of their Made in India brand Billion and also with Flipkart Ads as the Head of Planning & Strategy. Her most recent stint with them has been leading Global Sales at Myntra, for their AIbased SaaS product.

How has the COVID-19 Pandemic Outbreak affected the DevOps Sector worldwide?

DevOps has emerged as a common practice for many development companies around the world.

The methodology has been picked up very quickly globally; due to the vast scope of innovation, it provides and productivity as well as efficiency.

Therefore, any company that has not yet adapted to this approach, is sure to feel the pressure to do so. The pandemic has brought more opportunity than challenges specific to DevOps. The lockdown has severely impacted almost all businesses forcing the tech teams to innovate, reduce costs and push themselves to become more relevant in the changing environment. All these have worked as a trigger for organisations to think about developing and releasing software much faster than before and automate more than ever. DevOps is a very collaborative process involving developers and operations teams to come together, and with remote work kicking in, we are seeing more and more teams relying on tools to make this happen. This will only continue to grow in the future.

How do you plan on growing your company, JFrog, in India?

India is an important R&D centre for JFrog and many of our core products such as CI/CD Pipelines, Installers, Insight etc. are built out of our Bangalore office. Apart from that, India is also a critical support centre that provides end to end support for enterprise customers across APAC and EMEA. While we are scaling rapidly in R&D and Support, we are also adding new India customers each month and looking at expanding our Sales & Business Development team in India.

What are the top trends in the DevOps sector to watch out for?

DevSecOps is echoing in the market. Security has become a concern for everyone, and it’s no different for DevOps teams that carry the burden of securing every release before it goes out. Imagine releasing an update with a security vulnerability or maybe a license compliance issue. All of this fall under SecOps, and this is a growing concern amongst customers. Another big trend to watch out for is a CI, CD tool that offers a consistent and immutable platform to automate everything from code to production.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

EXPERT'S OPINION

How Today's Challenges Can Create a Foundation for a Better Tomorrow for Entrepreneurs

By Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-Founder and Managing Director, 9Unicorns

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma is a seasoned

veteran in the startup sector and a serial investor.

He is a seasoned veteran in the startup sector and

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a serial Investor. He is a globally acclaimed angel Investor, speaker and previously been a speaker at RISE Conference Hong Kong, Web Summit Lisbon, TiE Global SF and many more. He is also cofounder & President of Venture Catalysts - Asia’ first integrated incubator and No. 1 Early Stage Investor in 2017, 2018 & 2019, and globally 7th largest as rated

by Crunchbase. He is one of the most iconic figures in India to foster development of startup ecosystems Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma

across Tier 2 and 3 cities in India as featured by Forbes magazine.

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he COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and radically put a halt on business activities across the globe. Every organization, irrespective of its size, has felt the impact of the deadly contagion. The pandemic has also posed a myriad of unprecedented challenges for startups, most of which operate on razor-thin margins. These challenges include cash flow interruption, labour and supply chain disruptions, production

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

As the world prepares for the ‘new normal’, there is a chance for startups to take the lead and pave the way for incredible innovation

shutdowns, lack of infrastructure to maintain the safety guidelines, and changing consumption patterns. While some sectors such as retail, aviation and travel have taken the worst hit, startups in other areas too are facing a prolonged period of uncertainty.

However, as proven by history, a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity. As the world prepares for the ‘new normal’, there is a chance for startups to take the lead and pave the way for incredible innovation. When compared to large businesses, startups are better positioned to reinvent their business models as they are small in size, financially agile and have scrappy teams. For instance, when corporate giants scrambled to cope with the global financial crisis of 2008-09, many startups emerged with novel ideas that would later take the entire world by storm. Some of the biggest Unicorns were born around that time – WhatsApp, Instagram, Slack, Airbnb and Uber, to name just a few.

While nature, as well as the severity of the current economic downturn, are believed to disrupt at a much larger scale, today's challenging market scenarios can create a foundation for a better tomorrow for entrepreneurs and startups.

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Addressing the near-term challenges The coronavirus crisis, and the social distancing measures put in place to rein in the outbreak, has produced a wide range of previously unknown necessities. Besides essentials and PPE kits, there is an increased demand for products that can tackle the challenges plaguing the public healthcare systems, such as lack of testing equipment and ventilators.

This is where HealthTech startups come into the picture, offering

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

technology-led, innovative solutions like contact tracing apps, low-cost ventilators and ultraviolet disinfection robots.

Not just in the healthcare segment, many startups have stepped up to tackle the supply chain disruptions caused by the pandemic. They are leveraging modern technology to create hyperlocal models of delivery to ensure a smooth supply of groceries and daily essentials during the lockdown. This has not only helped keep the economy moving but has also created livelihood opportunities for the poor on a micro-level.

It is essential to remember that some of the world's biggest companies were built during recessions

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Bagging new opportunities The consensus is that the COVID-19 pandemic is a turning point for startups operating in sectors like EdTech, online grocery delivery, telemedicine and e-pharmacy, cloud computing, gaming, and home entertainment, among others – much similar to the way demonetization paved the way for large-scale adoption of digital payments and FinTech in India. Startups across the abovementioned sectors have already witnessed a spike in user demand, and they are likely to emerge from the current crisis stronger and gain larger market share. This is because even after the crisis subsides, social distancing measures will continue to be imposed, and virtual products/services will be prioritized for the unforeseeable future.

Entrepreneurs are not new to challenges.

Building up a company from scratch, hiring the right employees, and turning it profitable – their responsibilities are far higher than a salaried employee. While the COVID-19 outbreak may have caught them off-guard, it has also created enormous tailwinds for entrepreneurs with innovative ideas; entrepreneurs who aim to address large-scale, real-life problems. Of course, the economic crisis triggered by the pandemic will persist long after the virus is contained. Still, it is essential to remember that some of the world's biggest companies were built during recessions. The current crisis is unlikely to be an exception.

As Charles Dickens once said – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, we might look back at this event as a time when a new set of startups sprung into action and offered innovations.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

How can Entrepreneurs Overcome the Ongoing COVID-19 Outbreak?

By Hetal Sonpal, Startup Advisor and Mentor Advisor of ImpactGuru a Mumbai-based crowdfunding platform, and various other startups, Hetal Sonpal has been associated with

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leading Global MNCs namely, Intel, LinkedIn, Microsoft, and Wipro. He had held senior roles in Strategic Alliances, Sales, Strategy and Marketing, achieved business growth as well as a turnaround in global, regional, multi-cultural and rapid change environments. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Hetal Sonpal talks about how startups are faring through the pandemic outbreak, and he gives some valuable advice for entrepreneurs to get through the storm.

Hetal Sonpal

What tips would you like to give to entrepreneurs to weather the COVID-19 storm?

COVID-19 is a once in a lifetime crisis. One would be lucky if one can escape such a calamity in their life. An entrepreneur needs to look at this as an opportunity than a crisis. When a crisis impacts everyone equally, it levels the playing field. Which means, anyone, before the crisis, had

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Due to the WFH concept being enforced across the board, this is being called the 'DeMo' moment for tech startups

the advantage of scale, depth of engagement, etc., it's all neutral now because the wider presence means higher sunk investment and depth has no meaning when the customer cannot buy the product.

Why this is more important for an entrepreneur than an established business, is because entrepreneurs have agility and youth (young startup) to their advantage. Just like manoeuvring a small yacht is easier than a giant ship, similarly, it's easier for a startup to take bold decisions than a large business.

Some of the common actions suggested for startups: • Conserve cash • Minimize marketing or even make it zero • Over-communicate with customers • Build strong bonds with employees • Seek counsel from Investors • Strengthen bonds with suppliers, ecosystem partners • Reach out to Competitors for a healthy discussion (it helps when you need to address regulatory challenges) • Look at a brand refresh • Pivot. If there was ever an opportunity to redefine the business, it is now! Consider product changes and extensions that you were too busy to think about earlier.

• Smile - This Too Shall Pass

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Could you tell us about the challenges entrepreneurs are facing during the nationwide lockdown?

While this would vary from startup to startup, as the rules are different for a different type of businesses, but let me try and answer to whatever extent possible: Working from Home: This is probably one rule that hurts everyone equally, except for a few startups which were ALREADY WFH. Let's ignore those few. This transition is easy for IT and tech-savvy companies. For anyone who has foot soldiers and hardware and physical movement of people and goods, they have a challenge.

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Business Shut Down: Majority of the companies have had to face a sales decline of varying degrees and thus loss of revenue. However, the costs remain the same. While the initial directive from Government was not to lay off or reduce salaries, it's not practical for everyone to follow the rule.

Dip in Demand: Even if the business is allowed to operate, the sales are impacted, at least in the short and mid-term.

Change in Customer Expectation: With the increased emphasis on hygiene, some customers may demand changes or in some cases, stop using certain products.

Investor Challenge: While the bulk of the investors may call for a reduced valuation (down round in case of funding), there might be some others who might see an opportunity for a particular business and may go aggressive in investing.

Family Pressure: The crisis impacts everyone, including spouse, parents, and kids. But the entrepreneur is supposed to leave the work challenges outside the doorstep when he is home and take up the home challenges afresh. This is less practical in a WFH environment.

Cash Flow: Working capital management will come into force. Every rupee spent will be questioned, and such kind of prudence is very much justified and not over-reaction. If there is a dependency on revenue to run business (investment money has dried out), then it can be a crisis as most of the existing investors might take a 'wait and watch' approach, waiting for the 'dust to settle' and do a fresh look at the business before further investments.

• Digital/Online education has exploded. A lot of transformation in education to digital will be permanent and stay around long after the last COVID-19 has been cured.

• The travel and hospitality industry will see increased usage of tech as a fundamental requirement rather than a choice, for revival.

• Offline retail will need to look at a lot of tech solutions for restarting. There will be an increase in demand for AR/VR solutions as trial rooms and exchanges are done away with.

• Health tech will be the biggest beneficiary by far. There is going to be an increased need for tech solutions to not only generate a vaccine faster, but a string of medical procedures will need to have tech involvement for faster turnaround. The demand for AI and data analytics in health will skyrocket.

• Fintech- Digital payments will see an increase in usage. Better risk assessment of financial products will be in demand.

• Agritech will also see innovation coming in with fresh farm produce being supplied directly to end consumer, will enable more hygienic products (lessened threat of virus) • Food Tech - with the major disruption of the restaurant and bar industry, will also see overall growth.

• Insurance Tech will see expansion as a lot fewer people can take their life for granted, going forward.

• With an increased focus on localization, there would be a lot of support from the Government for indigenous development in technology.

Has the COVID-19 lockdown opened new opportunities for tech startups?

Due to the WFH concept being enforced across the board, this is being called the 'DeMo' moment for tech startups. Today, tech is an integral part of any business. Even a Kirana store has a slew of POS solution and data analytics software to manage and boost sales, so definitely, no company can shy away from tech.

However, if we look at the application use cases, yes, there is increased use of digital technology like AI, data analytics, thermal cameras, robotics, and many more, which are going to be in high demand, not only for new startups but for rapid transformation of existing startups.

• Safety, Security monitoring, and assessment will have increased usages.

How has the pandemic outbreak affected the startups?

The impact on startups is not the same for everyone.

Unlike the common public, who are not impacted in the same way, as not everyone is in lockdown. There are health workers, police and government officials who have been working all through the lockdown, just like not all businesses have not remained shut all through the 60-day lockdown. Similarly, not all startups have remained closed during the lockdown.

Based on the industry and the business model (online/offline), startups have fared differently.

Similarly, based on the funding status, startups have fared differently. The ones who have enough funds can surely survive for these two months. The ones who don't have enough funds have had to cut down on resources to keep the business going.

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

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EXPERT'S OPINION

5 Simple Tips to Ensure Safety of Your Digital Information

By Rovin Coutinho, Chief Product Officer, Canvs

104 As Chief Product Officer at Canvs, Rovin Coutinho's principal focus is to ensure Canvs continues to be the leading creativity platform for creative designers in India. As one of the key individuals responsible for driving Canvs from one successful milestone to another, Rovin oversees new and existing product development, works in collaboration with diverse teams across the company Rovin Coutinho

and with overall responsibility in central areas.

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oday we are practically always online. Security has hence become hygiene for us. We deserve to have the security of experts without having to be experts ourselves. Although the onus towards building secure environments lies on companies that make user-centric products, there are quite a few things users can do at their end, which pay off high

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

Your digital footprint is essentially the amount of identifiable data we leave behind on the various products we use online

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returns in the longer run. Much like most good habits, the lack of these practices has a much more pronounced downside than the observable upside of exercising these. At best, you shall use the products as they are without losing anything that belongs to you, at worst you lost everything, including your identity.

Here are 5 pointers for users to build sustainably secure environments: 1. Frugality in permissions: Applications often tend to ask for permissions beyond what they require. Users should be careful around such permissions by disallowing all unnecessary ones. In fact, in 2020, applications asking for permissions that don't make sense aren't exactly trusted or much used for that matter.

2. Update Products: For products like browsers messaging apps that users use every day and depend a lot on, users should be in the habit of updating them regularly to their latest versions. Teams behind such products are typically working on security patches for vulnerabilities they discover around the clock.

3. Smaller digital footprint: Your digital footprint is essentially the amount of identifiable data we leave behind on the various products we use online. Reducing that means releasing lesser information to strangers. Every day we share locations, signup to services, give credit card info and so on to new services. These actions happen so many times through the week that the sheer probability of one of them backfiring

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

More about

Rovin Coutinho Rovin leads product development, finance & accounting and project management at Canvs. He also manages fundraising and business development and is keenly active in building strategic partnerships with leading clients and partners. Before being one of the earliest members at Canvs, Rovin was instrumental in building revenue-generating products in the electronic trading space. He has made a significant impact with leading stalwarts of the financial industry, including Nomura & J.P. Morgan Chase. Armed with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering from MIT, Manipal and fortified with 8+ years

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in the Tech & Financial Services Industry, Rovin has an unparalleled understanding of

technology

in

developing

complex

real-time applications.

for us is considerable. Like most habits, exercising control on this is something we should act on atomically. It's easier to think twice every time you share some data with a new service than to dig out everything you've shared over a period of time to a multitude of products.

4. Using Social Signups: When given an option of signing up to a service that is new to you check for social signups via established products like Google, Fb, Twitter etc. This allows limiting security vulnerabilities to a single point of failure, which is heavily backed by teams supporting millions of customers online on products which have abundant resources backing their own security. It's

CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

easier to trust a Gmail than to trust an established chain of hotels whose prime concern isn't tech or security.

5. Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): In an environment where password thefts are getting increasingly sophisticated, having multiple touchpoints to create layered authentication is vital. We should use MFA by leading brands like Google to secure our passwords wherever supported.

General guidelines like these take users a long way towards staying protected online. However, it's always wise to think before you click; it's hard to undo mistakes in the digital realm.

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CXO OUTLOOK June 2020

LEADER'S INSIGHTS

Gaining Popularity of Telemedicine in India and A Few Important Tips for Diabetic Patients in this Lockdown

By Dr. Pramod Tripathi, Founder, Freedom From Diabetes

In India, providing in-person healthcare is challenging, particularly given the vast geographical distances and limited resources.

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Today, in this time of social distancing, Telemedicine can play an important role in cases where there is no need for the patient to see the medical professionals physically. "Future of Telemedicine is bright as it has three major benefits, namely improved access to care, improved cost and time effectiveness, and improved quality and monitoring. However, several barriers make its adoption slower, especially in India,� says Dr. Pramod Tripathi, Founder, Freedom From Diabetes. In an email interaction with CXO Outlook, Dr. Pramod Tripathi

Dr. Pramod Tripathi talks about the gaining popularity of Telemedicine in India. As a Diabetes researcher, he also gives some tips for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels during a lockdown.

As people are forced to stay inside their house, can Telemedicine help the Indian healthcare system in rising to the demands of the pandemic crisis?

Telemedicine is the exchange of medical information from one location to another using electronic communication. Telemedicine has multiple

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Telemedicine will make inroads and become the new normal in the years to come

applications and can be used for different services, which includes wireless tools, email, two-way video, smartphones, and other methods of telecommunications technology. As people are forced to stay inside their house due to lockdown, it has, and it is going to be an essential tool in meeting the rising demands of the pandemic crisis in India and the world at large.

Telemedicine has become a necessity.

In your opinion, what was the reason behind the slow adoption of Telemedicine in India? What will be the future Telemedicine from now?

Telemedicine has shown success; however, several barriers make its adoption slower, especially in India. Missing the comfort in traditional face to face practice for doctor and patient is one of the significant obstacles. Then comes lack of investment in technology to suit one's need (even if the technology is available, lack of comfort or mental barriers towards it), technically challenged staff, and concerns over online money transfer, age, preference and education level of the patient.

Future of Telemedicine is bright as it has three significant benefits, namely improved access to care, improved cost and time effectiveness, and improved quality and monitoring.

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The MCI and the NITI Aayog have developed new guidelines for registered medical practitioners to deliver consultations to patients via Telemedicine.

What will change under the newly announced telemedicine regulations?

The purpose of MCI ad NITI Aayog guidelines is to give practical advice to doctors so that all services and models of care used by doctors and health workers are encouraged to consider the use of Telemedicine as a part of standard practice. These guidelines will assist the medical practitioner in pursuing a sound course of action to provide useful and safe medical care founded on current information, available resources, and patient needs to ensure patient and provider safety.

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Telemedicine can offer access to quality opinion, diagnosis remotely, especially in Tier II/ Tier II segments. How is it going to change the Indian healthcare sector?

It is difficult to predict the changes precisely. As private players, technology partners, aggregators, government start developing sustainable models within the huge healthcare sector. Telemedicine will make inroads and become the new normal in the years to come.

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More people are working-from-home, and their physical movements are very restricted during the lockdown time. It is a challenging situation for diabetes patient. How can they overcome it and achieve the goals of treatment?

Yes, it is a challenging time for all, especially diabetics.

But there are sets of exercises which can be done even without stepping out of home and these do give all the required benefits. Here are a few tips: Try to concentrate more on exercise than diet in this lockdown phase.

Being homebound means less activity, less mobility and less exercise. Thus increases the risk to other health problems because of lack of movement.

Thus, one should include certain homebound easy exercise to be physically active, like: • Deep breathing exercise (Pranayamas) • Range of motion (ROM) - Neck exercises, Head tilts, forward and back AND side to side AND Head turns, arms and elbow exercise, hip and waist twisting, leg movements • Chair bound yoga (Chair Suryanamskar) • Chair base-exercise (sitting and stretching) • Since there is no walking movement outside the house, one can do an extra set of stairs climbing.

• 10-30 minutes of work out should be included in daily routine.

• Nitric Oxide Dump with 1-litre bottle • Skipping ropes As a Diabetes researcher, what are your tips for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels during a lockdown? In general, what are anti-viral foods to boost immunity?

Here are a few tips that every person with diabetes should follow to maintain healthy blood sugar levels.

• Maintain fasting and pp sugar levels below 140 • Maintain BP < 130/80 • Eat a calculated amount of calories to maintain the requirement of the body. This will help to lose or gain weight as per the requirement and to maintain body weight close to the ideal/ desirable body weight.

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More about

Dr. Pramod Tripathi Dr. Pramod Tripathi, an MBBS from BJ Medical College, Pune is an acclaimed Diabetes researcher and Founder of Freedom From Diabetes. His papers have been published in International Journals such as the International Journal of Diabetes and Endocrinology, American Journal of Internal Medicine and many more.

Since his early medical career, he has taken a keen interest in creating vibrant health for masses. With a Professional Diploma in Diabetes Management from Nanavati hospital, certification in Advanced Yoga and Ayurveda from Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth in Pune, a Certified Master NLP Practitioner and Advanced NLP-K Practitioner he has since led the way in the research for the reversal of Diabetes as an ailment.

He has applied the protocols of Holistic Health Management to his program and ranks among the top influential leaders in the field of holistic health. The Diabetes Reversal program, at Freedom From Diabetes, has seen immense progress wherein about 5000 plus have been freed from diabetes medicines, 1000 plus have been freed from the use of insulin.

• As far as possible, try to eat high fibre foods (whole grains, pulses, and all green vegetables) as well as greens and vegetables. During breaks take equal quantity of grain, daal, cooked vegetables and salads.

• Eat fewer fruits.

• Eat diet low in glycemic index, which helps keep the blood sugars in a normal range.

• Filtered mustard oil, groundnut oil, rice bran oil and gingelly oil can be preferred. Olive oil is best used for salads.

• Drink sufficient amount of water. 250 ml per 10 kg of body weight • Sleep before 11 pm.

Being homebound means less activity, less mobility and less exercise. Thus increases the risk to other health problems because of lack of movement

Some anti-viral foods useful during lockdown are: 1. Ginger and garlic: They are both powerful anti-viral foods and contribute to boosting one's immune system. Fresh ginger contains both antibacterial and anti-viral properties.

Ginger is believed to help prevent viral infections by increasing the body's temperature. It also works by flushing out toxins from your body. Garlic is anti-viral, antibacterial and anti-fungal, and it is especially effective against viruses if chewed raw. You can take mashed ginger and star anise, and make a concoction by adding little raw, unpasteurized honey.

2. Star anise (Chakraful): This flower-shaped spice contains Shikimic Acid that is used as a base material for the production of Tamiflu, which is used for influenza virus. It is super powerful as an anti-viral. Take star anise and boil it in water and add it to your teas like green tea or black tea. You can also use this as a part of your kadhas.

3. Coconut oil: Lauric acid and caprylic acid present in it are essential for boosting the immune system against viral infections. You can have 1-2 teaspoons along with the kadha that we generally make with Tulsi, ginger, cinnamon and various spices.

4. Resveratrol: Resveratrol is a plant compound that acts as an antioxidant. Foods rich in Resveratrol such as peanuts, pistachios, grapes, blueberries, cranberries, strawberries and even cocoa and dark chocolate are helpful to fight fungal infection, ultraviolet radiation, stress and injury.

5. Vitamin C rich foods: These include foods such as amla, red peppers, yellow peppers. Vitamin C supplements are a must-have to improve body immunity. Having lemon in hot water is an excellent vitamin C recipe to boost up your immunity.

6. Anti-viral herbs: Anti-viral herbs such as Oregano, Tulsi (basil leaves), dried thyme and turmeric are great for boosting immunity and can be used in teas or curries for respiratory health, including mucous problems. One can mix ginger, garlic along with a tablespoon of thyme, oregano and make tea.

One can inhale essential oils like thyme, oregano, eucalyptus or star anise. Can also use a diffuser in the room.

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EXPERT'S OPINION

Ed-Tech Companies Need to Leverage Effexctive PR for Sustained Growth

By Anindita Gupta, Co-Founder, Scenic Communication

With 14 years of professional experience in

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Public Relations & Marketing, Anindita comes with a deep understanding of the dynamic media and communication landscape in India. Through her successful stint with reputed PR agencies like Genesis Burson & Marsteller, Percept Profile and Mileage Communications and many more, she has worked closely with clients across verticals, such as travel, hospitality, F&B, fashion & lifestyle, entertainment, IT and corporate.

Anindita Gupta

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echnology has disrupted every sector, and it has become more significant now during the lockdown where everyone is working remotely. At such a time, education technology or Ed-Tech has come to the fore. Before lockdown, it was looked at as a complementary tool to the traditional methods of education. However, with the lockdown and schools being shut for over two months, more and more parents and teachers are exploring technology solutions for learning and trying to bridge the gaps between classrooms and students.

With the on-going crisis, the whole dynamics have been changed, and even academics, which had been relatively slow to adopt

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While Ed-Tech has been here in India for quite some time now, its role so far has always been minimal, keeping in view what it is capable of achieving

technology, are now embracing it. While Ed-Tech has been here in India for quite some time now, its role so far has always been minimal, keeping in view what it is capable of achieving. The COVID-19 crisis has, however, revealed the potential of EdTech and the significant role it can play in not just continuing ‘learning from home’ but also create an ‘impactful engagement’ and enhanced learning possibilities, for students across various age groups. From benefits like focussed attention span, parent involvement and ease of operation and tracking of student progress, among other features, has led to the sudden popularity and comfort among parents and teachers, for Ed-Tech platforms.

However, if we take stock of the available Ed-Tech facilities in our country today, we will realise that there is very less awareness, especially among parents and teachers. A lot of parents and teachers, who are still sceptical about depending on technology for the education of their children, are unaware of the potential and benefits it can have on the growth and development of the students. However, through effective use of PR and communication tools, Ed-Tech companies can leverage this current affinity towards technology and use this to build upon a sustained growth plan for the sector.

Here are four ways why Ed-Tech companies should utilise PR: Educating stakeholders: With each passing day, technology is becoming better and also more complicated. So brands must inform stakeholders on the benefits, impact, and

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If leveraged effectively, PR can help the modern Ed-Tech brands to not only create a presence and survive but to also lead the sector, by positioning the brand spokesperson as a visionary and thought leader in the domain

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long term significance of the technology. This becomes even more imperative in case of education technology and its impact on children, especially since parents are varied about technology access to children. PR tools allow for a long term, informative approach towards EdTech, offering content-driven solutions that assist brands in creating awareness about the product and services and also defining key industry trends. These can go a long way in creating positive brand valuation in the eyes of the stakeholders.

Category Building: As an emerging sector, Ed-Tech currently requires a focussed approach to PR that can help brands to create positive visibility for the Ed-Tech as a viable solution for impactful learning, creating an aspirational value for the same. Through content-driven trend stories and opinion pieces around disruptions and future potential, PR can help kick start conversations around the category, creating consistent, relevant, and impactful narratives to build affinity for technology driven academic solutions.

Build Thought leadership: Creating awareness and building a category for Ed-Tech as a sector is an extremely vital step before embarking on though leadership, for any brand aspiring to be viewed as a leader in the industry.

While there are several brands in the segment currently, there is a lack of a clearly defined purpose and vision in terms of the holistic sector and thus, a massive first mover's opportunity to create thought leadership! PR has, in the past, demonstrated its might by building brands out of innovative start-ups that led to disruptive growth for the

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industry and enhanced principal and intellectual valuation for the brand. If leveraged effectively, PR can help the modern Ed-Tech brands to not only create a presence and survive but to also lead the sector, by positioning the brand spokesperson as a visionary and thought leader in the domain.

Enhance reach and visibility: For any business to succeed; it is essential first to create differentiated visibility followed by strong reach and brand recall. From brands in the emerging Ed-Tech segment, this is more important than ever. Create the right image, with relevant narratives that can impact the trust and buying decisions of parents and academicians as secondary consumers, is vital for a segment like Ed-Tech, given its potential to shape and impact young minds. PR helps build trust, visibility and recall through compelling and researchbased narratives that can generate trust and reliability among parents and teachers.

Way forward In line with the pointers mentioned above, it is reasonable to say that PR is one of the most indispensable tools of communication for the Ed-Tech sector and its growth across age groups. Even as innovations continue to disrupt the market, more and more brands are turning towards innovative storytelling concepts to drive home the significance and the potential of Ed-Tech, helping create and share positive brand communications that reflects their key philosophy, corporate growth, goals, and value offerings.

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INSPIRING

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Empowering the Underprivileged with Education, Shelter, Food, Medical Support and Many More

he last two decades have witnessed a veritable mushrooming of NGOs in India. What, however, is not adequately appreciated is that the conversion of voluntarism into favouring a developmental intervention has changed, turning an organic part of civil society into merely a sector — an appendage of the developmental apparatus of the state.

Losing his father to cancer and his brother to medical issues, Amandeep Singh, Co-founder, The National Organisation for Social Empowerment, was inclined to do something for the society since he was young. What instigated him more was when he had gone to the hospital with his mother to visit someone. “In that hospital, I saw a small kid lying on the floor and getting his treatment done as there was no bed available. It was actually the turning point in my life when I decided to start an NGO for treating the poor and needy people,” says Amandeep.

Established in 2012, the National Organization for Social Empowerment has been continually working for the social integration of underprivileged children and people, people with special abilities, and women and girls of the community. Amandeep adds, “We are a group of dreamers with a collective vision; ‘Inclusiveness’.

We believe that a world without barriers should not be a luxury but a right.”

Initially, Amandeep was alone when he decided to start the NGO until his friend, Sparsh Maheshwari, chose to be a part of this venture.

"Once Sparsh was on board, we started researching about NGOs like the registration process and other formalities,” says Amandeep. Finally, on June 10th, 2012, The National Organisation for Social Empowerment was started.

Empowering the Down-Trodden Starting off with getting medical treatment for kids with poor economic backgrounds, the National Organization for Social Empowerment started their National Rehab Center where they run a

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So far, we have fed more than 80,000 people in Delhi by consistently providing food without fail every day

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118 playschool for kids of nearby slums and a physiotherapy centre. "We also started the National Training Centre to empower people with special abilities in the same year”, adds Amandeep.

In 2014, Amandeep started the National Public School in Bihar with their NGO Partner along with Mobile School.

Amandeep opines, "Mobile School was a project that we started with our NGO Partner. We imparted education to street children who did not have access to schools and showed them a world beyond the traffic lights where they used to beg due to their compelling circumstances".

In 2019, Amandeep started National NGO Kitchen with the sole purpose to eradicate hunger by providing adequate nutritious food to the ones in need. "We have been supporting in calamity reliefs, and organizing various camps like Blood Donation Camps, Health Camps, Relief Camps, Food Donation/ Food Distribution, Bhandara/ Chhabeel, Blanket Distribution, distributing study material to Chandra Arya Vidya Mandir every year. We have also hosted a self-defence camp for 15-20 days in collaboration with the Delhi Police," adds Amandeep.

Doing their bit in this Pandemic Outbreak, the National Organization for Social Empowerment has been providing cooked meals and dry ration to the needy with the help

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of the Delhi Government. “So far, we have fed more than 80,000 people in Delhi by consistently providing food without fail every day”, says Amandeep. Also reaching out to 5000 families to provide ration that covers the needs of a small family for 15 days, Amandeep adds, “Not only that we have provided 2500 masks and 800 sanitizers in Delhi Govt. Hospitals and in the community and have also been providing PPE kits.”

Picturing a Better Tomorrow A computer science graduate who pursued his MBA from Griffith College, Ireland, Amandeep Singh has over 15 years of work experience in various firms in the corporate sector abroad and India. Considering his mother to be his influencer and strength in life, Amandeep says, “My mother, who is a retired ACP in Delhi Police has been my inspiration for her selfless efforts in serving people.”

Changing the face of the not-for-profit industry in India, The National Organisation for Social Empowerment has made a considerable shift in its programming approach over the years. From direct service provision to enabling disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, they have evolved into a rights-based organization to address the underlying causes of poverty. Focusing on developing the potential of the downtrodden to drive lasting equitable changes, Amandeep concludes, “We strategically emphasize on promoting quality healthcare, hunger-free world, inclusive education, gender-equitable and sustainable livelihood opportunities, and disaster relief.”

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