Digital and Tech Leaders in India

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INDIA EDITION

First Stop for Digital, Technology and Business Insights

FEATURING INSIDE

FEATURING INSIDE

Chief Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Fertilizers & Insulators

A TALE OF TALENT SET ABLAZE BY COMPETENCE, COURAGE, AND CURIOSITY JULY 2020

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Digital First Magazine July 2020

Digital First Magazine July 2020

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8:30

July 2020

Vol - 1 Issue - 1

Digital & Tech Leaders Special (India Edition) Editor in Chief

Dr. Manoj Varghese

Managing Editor Rose Mary

Consultant Editors

Dr. Johny Andrews Anjana K Shyam S

Navya Venkatesh Stanly Lui Emma James

Editorial Enquiry: admin@digitalfirstmagazine.com

Art and Design Ajay K Das

Sales & Marketing

Jyoti Kumari Prathyoosh K Shaji

Arati Waghmare Samatha S P

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Higher First Digital Education Magazine Digest July 2020 March 2019

Digital First Magazine is a digital magazine published by Connecta Innovation Private Limited. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in the content are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Connecta Innovation Private Limited or any of its members or associates.

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MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE

Cloud is the New Cool

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uman Beings are reactionary creatures. That is why it took a pandemic for most companies to clamber their way up to the Cloud. Digital transformation was never optional. But most companies treated it that way, applying digital technology sporadically. Those that did take it seriously, not only made a name for themselves but also got a leeway to be ahead of their peers and scale their companies higher, thus underlining that the essence of leadership is to foresee and act accordingly.

The pace at which leaders have had to work and respond to business and employee needs has been relentless and the need for agility has never been greater, as companies are crying out for digital workflow apps that help maintain business continuity. But even more than needing these digital solutions, companies need them to

be simple, fast and affordable to build while still meeting enterprise standards for security and scalability.

Through this issue, we have tried to name some of those Digital and Tech leaders in the country who have paved the way for others. Their acumen and discretion are nothing short of excellence. Apart from these stalwarts, we have also featured some accomplished and industry specialists, who have shared their thoughts on the current digital landscape.

We hope this issue helps you gather insights as to how the pandemic has affected the corporate world, for better or for worse, and the importance of digital transformation.

Cheers!

Rose Mary

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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.

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Digital First Magazine July 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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DigitalCXO FirstOUTLOOK Magazine May July 2020

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C O N T E N T S

Chief Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Fertilizers & Insulators

A TALE OF TALENT SET ABLAZE BY COMPETENCE, COURAGE, AND CURIOSITY

28 - 32 A TECH SAVANT FROM THE INFORMATION SECURITY DOMAIN

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Anuj Tewari Chief Information Security Officer, HCL Technologies

40 - 43 THE TECH WHIZ TAKING OYO TO OH-WOW!

Anil Goel Group Chief Technology and Product Officer, Oyo Hotels and Homes

52 - 56 THE CLAIRVOYANT – CHOREOGRAPHING BRILLIANT IT SECURITY COMPOSITIONS

Dr. Lopa Mudraa Basuu Director, Cyber Security & Risk, Sysinnova Infotech Pvt Ltd

66 - 68 AHEAD OF THE LEADERSHIP CURVE

Ramya Sampathkumar Chief Digital Officer, GMMCO LTD

78 - 81 DEFTLY WIELDING TECHNOLOGY TO FACE IT SECURITY CONCERNS

Shweta Srivastava Chief Information Security Officer, Paul Merchants Finance (P) Ltd.

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52 66

C O N T E N T S

MARKET WATCH

LEADER’S INSIGHTS

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Cube Wealth

Tech Trends to Watch Out in The Fashion Industry

Satyen Kothari, Founder, Cube Wealth

58 Machine Learning: The Wayforward in Education Randhir Kumar, Founder and Chief Mentor,BasicFirst Learning OPC Pvt Ltd

Neetu Pavan Manikatalia, Managing Director, Fashionista –The School of Fashion Technology

74 How AI is Helping the Insurance Sector Rebrand Itself Rakesh Goyal, Director, Probus Insurance

EXPERT’S OPINION

88 Virtual Reality: Myths and Misconceptions Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Vice President, Whistling Woods International

IN MY VIEW

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Event Management during a Pandemic

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and its Benefits

Dirk Daenen, Licensee and Curator, TEDxLuxembourgCity

Kuonal Lakhapat, Co-Founder and CEO, 23 BMI

10 Things You Should Take Care About Yourself in COVID-19

How Technology Is Boosting Kirana’s Business and Helping Them Sustain in Rough Times

Dr. Anuj Choudhary, Founder, Animal Booster Nutrition

46 Find your North Star!

Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, InterviewBit and Scaler Academy

ENTREPRENEUR TALK

Akshat Saxena, Co-Founder, ePayLater

MOST INSPIRING

DIGITAL & TECH LEADERS IN INDIA

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ithin a span of a few months, the pandemic has put a spotlight on the performance gap between those organizations that invested in technology innovation at scale before the pandemic and those that did not.

The challenge now is how to accelerate this kind of digital change during a crisis, even as many are slipping behind. To persevere and prevail, companies of all sizes across industries will need to employ a new strategy and mindset. Companies that understand the unique nature of this crisis and apply these new rules of transformation have the opportunity to emerge even stronger and become trendsetters for tomorrow. As we transition out of lockdown and into an uncertain future, digital leadership will be more important than ever, as companies across the country continue to build on the digital lessons we’ve learnt and invest in digital infrastructure. At the helm of these digital transformations are the Digital and Tech Leaders.

These leaders are building a digital core and scaling it across their business quickly, thanks to their strong foundation in the Cloud. As easy as it sounds, moving everything to the Cloud, is anything but easy.

These experts must possess strong foundations in analytics capabilities, data governance, and KPI frameworks to understand and grow their company’s businesses. The time and effort that these digital and tech experts put into action to enable their companies to soar are exceptional and praiseworthy. In short, what they present is nothing short of tech brilliance coupled with leadership magnetism; excelling in corporate rocket science.

This is why we at Digital First Magazine decided it was prime to showcase ‘10 Most Inspiring Digital & Tech Leaders in India’.

Our editorial support team and panel of experts laboriously sifted through the many names in the industry and finally shortlisted the ten names listed in this issue. This small elite of digital champions has set themselves apart in several areas, including analytics maturity, Cloud, management alignment, cybersecurity, and customer-centricity. We hope their practicality and profundity will help answer questions regarding leadership, competence and prognostication.

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Name

Designation

Company

Alka Selot Asthana

CTO

Bharti Infratel Limited

Ananth Krishnan

CTO

Tata Consultancy Services

Anil Goel

Group Chief Technology and Product Officer

Oyo Hotels and HomesÂ

Anil Nama

CIO

Cloud4c & CtrlS

Anuj Tewari

Chief Information Security Officer

HCL Technologies

Director Cyber Security & Risk

Sysinnova Infotech Pvt Ltd

Namrita Mahindro

Chief Digital Officer

Aditya Birla Chemicals, Fertilizers & Insulators

Ramya Sampathkumar

Chief Digital Officer

GMMCO LTD

Saravanan Natarajan

CTO & President

Ashok Leyland

Shweta Srivastava

Chief Information Security Officer

Paul Merchants Finance (P) Ltd.

Dr. Lopa Mudraa Basuu

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Want to find Investor for your Startup?

Digital First Magazine July 2020

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COVER STORY

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Chief Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Fertilizers & Insulators

A TALE OF TALENT SET ABLAZE BY COMPETENCE, COURAGE, AND CURIOSITY

By Rose Mary

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n app a day keeps worries at bay. Do not have time to run to the store and get that dress you have been eyeing for some time?

You have about 50 online shopping apps at your fingertips. Hungry? App. Banking? App. Fitness? App. One would think apps grew on trees, given the number of apps that the playstores keep adding to the list. So, what makes an app click? The major reason why an app hits the success mark would be because of customer experience and interaction. These apps are often the face of a company. The bigger the company, the bigger the expectation from the app.

Earlier in 2015, Namrita Mahindro, and the Digital Transformation team she was then heading, were shouldered with the responsibility of creating an app for a USD$20bn+ company. The app would stand as the customers’ preferred destination for information discovery, engagement, and transactions. Following an agile methodology and design thinking approach, the team had completed the first two phases of design.

However, when they took it for user testing, before the third and final phase, they received critical feedback on the user experience front, which they had not received earlier. Namrita and her team estimated that the changes required would set them back by at least by a month or two.

The problem?

The app launch was scheduled in two months; the date already communicated to the Group Chairman.

Back at the drawing board, the team debated their different options. However, all routes took them back to the same point—postpone the launch. So Namrita got to work. She spent time convincing everyone that they needed to be true to the company’s core values of being a customer-centric organisation and do the right thing even if it meant some pain in the short term. Namrita had made her point clear and concise and the CEO backed her and her team completely on her recommendation and its logic.

Did it work?

Well, under Namrita’s leadership her team took prompt actions and the app was realized, albeit the initial postponing. The app won not only customer hearts and appreciation but also enabled the whole company to set new benchmarks in customer satisfaction. The accolades did not stop there. The group was also the centrepiece for several external recognition and awards and consecutively became the benchmark for future transformational work in re-imagining the customer experience.

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Who is Namrita Mahindro?

Felicitated with the IDC Digital Transformer Award for 2 consecutive years for Club Mahindra (2017) and Mahindra Auto (2018), Namrita serves on Advisory Boards and as a Jury Member across various industry forums. She joined Aditya Birla Group earlier this year and is currently the Chief Digital Officer, Aditya Birla Chemicals, Fertilizers & Insulators.

To the question, ‘Why Aditya Birla?’, her response is clear and straightforward; “The leadership team, their vision for the future and purpose of leveraging chemistry for a greener world was what attracted me to the Group. I saw great synergies in my prior experience of building customer-centric organisations, driving operational excellence and fostering a culture of growth and innovation with their vision to be a premium global business that delivers safe, sustainable and profitable growth through focused commodity and specialised platforms and offers a superior customer experience”.

She says that with the advent of Industrial Revolution 4.0, customers are embracing digitization and are making better decisions and becoming more demanding of manufacturers for transparency, quality, and customizations. India had already changed its way of operating to adopt Industry 4.0, a couple of years back.

The challenge thus far has been that it has been adopted in a piecemeal fashion. The key question remains around ROI and scale. In the post COVID world, as circular economies and digital take centre stage and business priorities pivot towards enabling greater customercentricity, health and safety of workers, driving cost/ operational efficiencies, supply chain innovation and strengthening competitiveness, there is an opportunity for this adoption to get accelerated.

To leverage this opportunity India needs to invest in building capabilities which can help accelerate the execution of this transformation as well as build a culture that supports the sustainable change. Although COVID-19 has accelerated the urgency for digital transformation in India, the actual adoption by India’s businesses has so far been uneven. She says “For companies to completely digitally transform themselves, they must ensure that their digital strategies are aligned with their overall business strategy. Secondly, they need to examine how their businesses can be disrupted and consider potential new business models. Third, they need to invest in digital capabilities.”

She continues to remark that Digital transformation is not about technology, but it is about talent, so it

Currently Reading Namrita is currently toggling between two books ‘Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a book on Stoic Philosophy and ‘Out Innovate’ by Alexandre Lazarow, which shares how global entrepreneurs from emerging markets are rewriting the rules of Silicon Valley’s success with an alternate approach to business models given that their challenges are very different to Silicon Valley’s.

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involves hiring the right talent, upskilling existing talent, building a culture of fast fail and embracing agility. This transformation also needs much greater investment in R&D and building IP by Indian organisations as well as encouraging international organisations to set up their R&D hubs in India. Additionally, the collaboration between government, industry, academia and Startups needs to improve. For example, by building public–private partnerships in advancing technological innovation, training tech talent, and incentivizing it to stay in the country. Besides programs like Make in India, Digital India and Start-Up India, government and the private sector need to partner to build up digital ecosystems beyond the one that has been built for digital payments, be it in the areas of agriculture, healthcare or retail.

A keen observer of all things tech, Namrita says that IoT and data analytics provides an opportunity for an organisation to gather a lot more information than ever before which can be used to help improve processes, drive

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innovation, and enhance the customer experience. “At the beginning of 2020, the digital universe was estimated to consist of 44 zettabytes of data, and we are already living in a world with 14.2 billion connected things. In my specific context, I see lots of opportunities for leveraging IoT and data analytics to enhance real-time visibility into the end to end supply chain. Additionally, there are opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning to simulate and enhance operations/productivity as well as assist and augment humans from a health and safety perspective.

Similarly, robotic process automation can support nonvalue add labour-intensive activities.

To enable embracing the change requires creating a vision and communicating the same; a deep understanding of current business challenges; an investment in evangelising the benefits of the new; being empathetic towards the pace of adoption and delivering incremental results to build credibility and strengthen trust. This can potentially result in building a

At the Moment

Namrita is focusing on how we can reinvent ourselves to build sustainable competitive advantage for our organisation leveraging digital and technology, create value for stakeholders and drive a culture of innovation. On the personal front, she is giving fitness its due importance. Apart from yoga and transcendental meditation, she is also devoting her time to learn about Chakras, the energy system in the body and how to channelize that energy for increased consciousness and an improved sense of overall wellbeing.

culture of openness to change” comments Namrita.

What are Corporate Guv’nors Made of?

For Namrita, being a true leader, in whatever field it may be, is 1% talent and 99% hard work. “I have tried my best to imbibe, besides hard work, discipline, perseverance, curiosity and a seeking spirit is core to my DNA. To stay on top of my game, I ensure that each year I add a new skill or sharpen an existing one. The diversity of subjects helps me connect the dots in unique ways which often gives me a creative lens to view everyday business issues as well as more strategic matters with a difference,” she says.

Watching Namrita lead and manage her team is like watching the quote by John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States come to life, ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader’. Namrita points out that while living in a fairly disruptive time and age of perpetual change, one must also possess a few other traits to be a stand-out Leader. These include authenticity, adaptability, empathy, communication, agility, collaboration, vision, a creative mind, and resilience.

“As far as my leadership style is concerned, I think that it is a combination of being a transformation, participative and a laissez-faire leader,” she smiles.

One characteristic trait that sets Namrita a class apart from her peers is that she believes in self-disruption.

‘One must have the ability to create environments for

intellectual stimulation & innovation. She also believes in fostering a participative culture to facilitate the exchange of ideas, generates creative solutions and contributes to higher employee engagement. I am also that kind of a leader who gives a great deal of autonomy to my teammates so that they can learn by taking risks and making mistakes. I want my teammates to have a safe environment, where it is okay to commit a mistake out of which you can learn a valuable lesson; and that is where the laissez-faire style fits in”.

Apart from a long array of managers, from whom she learned the ropes of being a good manager, she holds Daisaku Ikeda as her mentor. Daisaku Ikeda is a Japanese Buddhist philosopher, educator, author, nuclear disarmament advocate and third president of the Soka Gakkai, the largest of Japan’s new religious movements.

She stands strong by Daisaku Ikeda’s guidance over the years as they have enabled her to transform herself and strengthen her contribution towards building a valuecreating society.

Namrita spends her time and energy focusing on how technology can be made more meaningful and useful and advices several boards and board members to become more digitally and technology savvy. She often muses on how to mentor and guide new business and operational models that leverage technology as well as help them become more conversant with the different technologies to ensure that their businesses are not missing an

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opportunity or exposing themselves to undue risk.

A Titan in The Making Reflecting on her years of experience Namrita says that one must be a lifelong learner, keen on re-inventing oneself. “I believe that one must embrace a growth mindset and also find your purpose in life. Another fact, which I have learned, that constitutes a complete human being is giving back more than what you receive. I have had the fortune of having worked with some great organisations and people across my career who shared their knowledge and experience without ever holding back and went out of their way to help others rise. Outside of work also, my varied interests put me across people who gave selflessly and showed how altruism is a key ingredient to leading a more enriched life,” she says.

Sticking to her life lessons, Namrita has strived to do her bit of “giving back” by mentoring start-ups and individuals and strengthening the larger ecosystem through government and industry associations and participation to enable them to leverage digital and technology for innovation and transformation.

Taking inspiration from Clayton Christensen book that she read back in 2012, Namrita concludes with a stirring question, ‘How will you measure yourself?’ She concludes by answering her own question, ‘By introspecting on what is really important to you in life and evaluate what gives you true happiness. For only if the self is satisfied and fulfilled can you inspire to help those around you to achieve their goals.’

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IN MY

VIEW

Event Management during a Pandemic Dirk Daenen, Licensee and Curator, TEDxLuxembourgCity

Prof. Dirk Daenen lectures at universities around the world, including University of Luxembourg, UBI-Middlesex University, Vietnam National University & Tongji University in China. He has given workshops at the European Parliament and Commission and assists a range of companies and people on public speaking. Dirk’s true passion is TED Talks. Dirk hosted his first TEDx event 7 years ago and is now curator and organizer for TEDxLuxembourgCity

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few weeks ago, I was forced to cancel an event with an anticipated 1200 attendees. Prior to this cancellation, TEDxLuxembourgCity had been going from strength to strength and we had wonderful and eclectic plans to spread ideas for this June event. While the cancellation was certainly a financial problem it was moreover emotionally heart-breaking!

My journey with TEDx started 7 years ago when I was asked to host an event for a local university. Since then I have had the privilege of organizing TEDx events for my university and then Luxembourg’s own capital city event.

The events grew from less than 100 people to over 1000 people. Each event to date has sold out… but then the pandemic outbreak happened, and the lockdown started. No social gatherings were permitted.

As a team we started our research. Fortunately, the broader TEDx community around the world are incredibly inspirational, where ideas thrive and are encouraged as “Ideas Worth Spreading”.

We concluded we had two main challenges: 1) is there an alternative and acceptable virtual format to best spread ideas and 2) is it financially viable?

There are so many online experiences that are free to the audience (advertising-driven) that it seems odd to charge for tickets

The Virtual Format With live gatherings forbidden, we investigated virtual formats, so our first decision was choosing between ‘long-form’ or ‘short-form’ digital programming. We did some research and found ‘screen fatigue’ to be one of the most significant problems and would have to be a primary concern for us. TED’s 2020 event, which was due to take place in April, has moved from the typical conference hall, 12 sessions over 5 days to a virtual event of short-form programming over 12-weeks. We are excited to see how that goes but it seems to be clear that short-form digital programming is the way forward.

So, what is short-form programming? We decided between five types of talks. The most obvious way forward is ‘talking to camera’, and while this clearly works, we found viewer screen fatigue to be most prevalent here. The ‘interview’ works well and the banter between interviewer and interviewee keeps the audience engaged for longer; it further takes stress away from the speakers. ‘Demonstrations’ are now also possible

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because we aren’t stuck to a stage and our speakers can be somewhere that they can show the audience what they mean. Closely linked is the ‘performance’, where artists do not talk, they perform. Finally, we had the ‘interactive streaming session’ which is mostly live streaming but also streaming of a pre-recorded talk. The fact that the audience can engage with each other during the transmission makes it very engaging, and if a ‘live’ stream questions and answers are possible.

We decided on two virtual formats to engage our audience. Our interview format is called TEDxLuxembourgCity presents: “Coffee with…”.

We contacted former speakers and interviewed them concerning the current situation. Our second format is TED Circles hosted by TEDxLuxembourgCity where strangers can log in to watch a TED talk together and then debate it for an hour. They are both working very well.

Financial Viability Cost was definitely a consideration for our choices. TED Circles was affordable as the only cost was the license of the virtual meeting software. The interviews however are far more production heavy. None of the team are video producers so with a lack of in-house skill we needed to engage a video production company to produce the videos.

Clearly TEDx talks are all recorded, and we have worked with a great team that are comparatively affordable and know what we are looking for when filming an event.

Physical events are very transparent. We raise funds through ticket sales and sponsorship. Depending on

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how successful we have been, we adjusted the attendee experience accordingly. For example, while we always offer food and drink to our audience, if we can raise enough funding, we provide exceptional food and drink, but if we fall slightly short the food and drink may be quite basic. Our first events had university students preparing sandwiches for our audience, but our latter events had incredible caterers provide truly exceptional food and beverage. In the case of a virtual event, our research has not shown a successful practice of ‘ticket sales’. There are so many online experiences that are free to the audience (advertising-driven) that it seems odd to charge for tickets.

So, if we can’t sell tickets the financial viability is exclusively down to sponsors. Pandemic lockdowns effect everyone at the same time and we found that our sponsors are also looking for new and exciting ways to reach out to the clients and partners. Sponsors are very interested in what we are planning, however, this is new to them also and, while there is a clear market value to sponsor physical events, these new types of virtual events are still establishing an equilibrium.

The TEDxLuxembourgCity team are super excited about this new dynamic. While we are still trying to figure out what we are doing and how to afford it, we recognize that virtual events can reach new audiences and can be very timely. We don’t just engage our audience in one day, but potentially all year. I hope our experience can help you decide how to navigate your events. Feel free to reach out and share your experiences too.

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Anuj Tewari

Chief Information Security Officer, HCL Technologies

A Tech Savant from the Information Security Domain In conversation with Anuj Tewari

1. What are your views on the current information security domain of the country?

In the past few decades, a wave of technological advancement has changed the global economy.

The rise of the digital revolution has pushed industrialism aside while the world became connected. The launch of Digital India in the 2015 has accelerated the pace of all things digital, which called for greater attention to data security. India is going digital faster than most world economies, continuously increasing levels of connectivity—from offline to online, from phone to smartphone, from local to the cloud, and from private to sharing; thus creating a ripple across the world that demands greater, better and more innovative technologies for developing cyber security solutions.

And now with the new way of working due to pandemic, where everyone is connected

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If you are trying to implement change in a team, you must be able to change yourself

online, information security has become a priority more than ever. In this new dawn of digital revolution, hackers are exploiting every opportunity to steal information by phishing, ransomware, inject malware and crash networks. As the new ways of working has changed the threat landscape with the increase in IoT and BYOD devices, we should re-look at the security infrastructure, policies and regulations to secure our perimeter.

There is a need to how to collect, use and disclose personal information about people in a privacy compliance manner and Privacy law will play a key role in regularizing it.

2. What do you think are some of the most important leadership traits and how would you describe your leadership style? What is your leadership philosophy?

Leaders makes leaders and leadership style in it its ideal form, create valuable and positive change in the team with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. I

believe in a transformational style of leadership, where a leader acts as a mentor to the team and reward them for creativity and innovation. The team members are treated differently according to their talents and knowledge.

Each individual is empowered to make decisions and are always provided with the needed support to implement their decisions. An empowered individual has the will and aspirations for self-development and has intrinsic motivation for their tasks. In order to foster supportive relationships, it is important for a leader to keep lines of communication open so that team members feel free to share ideas, enabling the leader to offer direct recognition of the unique contributions of each individual.

3. Who is your mentor/s and what recent challenge/s have you sought their advice for?

I am an admirer of Stephen Covey from a long time, which has transformed me professionally and personally. Whether you want to improve relationships with colleagues, managers or have more fruitful social

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relationships, he bestows serious lessons on his readers.

These lessons have more or less withstood the test of time and remain relevant as a solid foundation in interpersonal communication. ‘7 habits of highly effective people’ is one of the founding school of thought. Covey starts the book with three habits which he groups together under the title Private Victory. These habits are more about developing your own habits as an individual. It is important that a private victory comes first because if you are trying to implement change in a team, you must be able to change yourself. I always refer to the lessons taught in the book to seek answers whenever I face challenges.

4. When and why did you join HCL Technologies?

I joined HCL in 2014. I have always been inspired

by Mr. Shiv Nadar (Founder of HCL Technologies), he is a philanthropist and a great leader and same can be seen in the core values of HCL. HCL has a culture of grassroots, business-driven, customer-focused innovation, in which every employee is an ´ideapreneur’.

This environment is shaped by HCL’s ‘Employees First’ values, which empower and encourage employees across the organization to come up with innovative solutions to operational and customer challenges. This value centric approach and culture were the key drivers for my decision to join HCL.

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Be careful of what you dream of, because dreams do come true

5. How do you predict the IT industry will be different in two years, and how do you see yourself shaping that change?

Learning to navigate our entire lives online has been a sudden learning curve for all of us over the last few months. With the emergence of new norms of working, IT industry is definitively going to be different in next two years. Organizations would require to review infrastructure and policies to support new norms.

Unlike the older days where, where continuity of services would typically be thought through at a building, facility, state or at a country level. With the new working situation, the resilience plans may morph to have work at home as normal business operating state.

While the organizations moving towards a fluid workplace to maintain service continuity, there is a need to ensure an adequate security posture is maintained and compliance is monitored.

6. A woodcutter must always keep his axe sharpened. How do you ensure that you are always on top of your game?

With the ever-changing threat landscape and new technological advancements, it is particularly important to stay on top of developments in industry. Companies that focus on the past tend to stay in the past, learnings from mistakes are key to better growth. In order to stay ahead of our competitors and to experience increasing success, we must plan for growth. We must find ways to make our business niche even more unique. We should invest in new technology so that we can remain a leader in our industry.

7. What do you do when you are not working? Are you learning anything right now? If yes, kindly brief us about it.

I am an avid reader and I enjoy non-fiction reading, over the years I have also started listening to

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podcast, web casts. These days I am reading on the evolving risk landscape with the current pandemic.

Several ecosystems whether private or public had possibly not preempted and are learning from the COVID19 pandemic.

8. What are some of the key credentials that you own?

• CISSP ® - Certified Information Systems Security Professional • CISA ® - Certified Information Systems Auditor • CISM ® - Certified Information Security Manager • CIPT ® - Certified Information Privacy Technologist • CCSK ® - Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge • CEH ® - Certified Ethical Hacker • ISO 27001LA, BS25999 LA, ITIL v3, ITSM, MCSE Security Track, CCNA 9. What books and blogs are you currently reading?

I am currently reading A million thoughts from Om Swami. There are several tech blogs I follow and enjoy reading.

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10. What lessons have the past decade thought you?

• If you follow your passion, you will thrive: I have learned that you should not let others tell you what to love. With digital disruption all around us we are at times feeling passionate about what later feels like a momentary excitement. Whether is responding to something your friend posted, or what made the news that day. I found this by putting my energy on aspects that I am passionate towards and be less distracted by noise in the environment around us.

• Don’t take rejection personally: Rejection is not a reflection of self-worth. Now say this loudly nine times. I have experienced a lot of rejection over the years. Whether it was personal or professional, those rejections did teach me to make myself better and push the envelope. Rejection is a sign that something (career, college, relationship) is not a match. It is not a reflection of who I am as a person.

• Be careful of what you dream of: Dreams come true. Be careful of what you visualize, and think. Thoughts seep into our speech, behavior, actions and ultimately shape our destiny.

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MARKET

WATCH

Cube Wealth

T

he investment industry has not worked well in terms of gaining the public’s interest. The industry has not leveraged technology to even the playing field between the rich and the middle class. Most often, investors are misguided by the sales agents into buying products that are not good for them.

The users on the other hand, due to lack of proper financial education materials and sources, do not educate themselves on the financial products that they are planning to buy/invest.

This is where Cube Wealth steps in. Cube Wealth is a simple wealth creation service that is aimed at busy professionals who do not have the time or skills to invest by themselves. Cube guides investors on the right path and provide the best possible market options for them to park their hard-earned money.

Usually, a new investor must wade through a lot of financial jargon and complicated documentation to start investing. On top of that new investors are often forced to pick their own mutual funds based on hearsay or unreliable advice. Cube Wealth offers a simple app with a beautiful UI. This makes it easy for even a complete novice to start investing in a few clicks. Cube takes the onus of choosing from over 17000 mutual funds away from the user. In a few taps, Cube’s recommendation-engine suggests the best investment options for a user based on their risk appetite, time frame and budget.

COVID-19 & the lockdown that followed have made a solid case for digital payments and transactions. The old

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Satyen Kothari, Founder, Cube Wealth

Cube Wealth offers a simple app with a beautiful UI, that makes it easy for even a complete novice to start investing in a few clicks

wealth management world required physically meeting advisors or setting up calls for even the smallest of things from opening an account to getting top quality advice. Cube Wealth allows users to view and access their portfolio, upcoming payments etc. easily. In addition, the Cube Wealth app offers in-app chat so users can ask questions on the fly. Today thanks to Cube users can invest in international mutual funds, alternative assets, US Equities & more without leaving the comfort of home.

Cube Wealth gets its name from 2 facts – that there are many dimensions when it comes to investing and many aspects, just like the many faces of a Cube and the value of Cube in mathematics, where cube means raise to 3, a very powerful compounding function. With Cube’s Perfect Portfolio, amazing assets, and personalized service from Wealth Coaches, an investor has a shot at compounding their money to great wealth.

Cube offers education, investment options, access to great advisors who were only available to the ultra-rich in the past, and personalized service. Cube’s Investment options go well beyond mutual funds.

They include equity advisory, Indian & international mutual funds, lending money to merchants, digital gold, US equities, and P2P. Moreover, all stock and mutual fund options have great advisors from the real world associated with them. These advisors have track records of over 10 years and have beaten the market by wide margins in their careers.

Cube also offers financial analysis, mutual fund & stock portfolio analysis along with specialized Wealth Coaches who help users build a Perfect Portfolio.

Cube is aimed at the busy professional.

Someone who is intelligent. Earns well. And is responsible enough to care for their future and for a better future for their families. It is NOT meant for those who prefer to research investing on their own and go over graphs, data, and ratios of various assets every day.

Our expert partner advisors do this every day for our users, and frankly, are a lot better than the average individual user at doing this. As is proven by their long track record of success.

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Cube’s senior team has over 100 years of cumulative experience across the world in the areas of technology, product, UI, sales, marketing, finance

Cube Wealth believes that education is step 1 in the journey to great wealth. Since only an investor that understands the core concepts of investing can be disciplined enough to achieve great wealth.

The Cube Wealth Blog covers a host of popular investment-related topics. “We’ve also recently launched the Cube Wealth Forum where people can post investment-related questions and get answers from financial experts & Wealth Coaches. Another way Cube Wealth is driving financial literacy is through The Cube Wealth Show on YouTube - where all popular investment-related topics are turned into concise short videos. Inside the app itself, we have guides such as Perfect Portfolio that users can review to understand how to invest. Our Quick SIPs for MF gently teaches users of risk and reward even in mutual funds. And we just conducted a 2-day wealth webinar with 4 expert speakers in TED-style for our users,” says Satyen Kothari, Founder, Cube Wealth.

Cube’s senior team has over 100 years of cumulative experience across the world in the areas of technology, product, UI, sales, marketing, finance.

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For instance, Satyen, the founder, has started 4 prior ventures including Citrus Pay. He has the experience to handle billions of dollars of customer transactions.

Some of Cube Wealth’s esteemed clients include founders & senior professionals from organizations like Deloitte, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, IBM, Amazon, Uber, EY, Cars24 and Nestle “Following through our mission, we have helped all our clients build a Perfect Portfolio with quality assets. As a result, even in the Feb/March market drop of -28% for the Nifty, many of our client portfolios were in the positive! Cube is a product and tech-led company. We like to build, and we take our user’s money seriously. So, we build responsibly. We keep polishing our services so that our clients can improve their understanding of their investment risk profile.

We build smart solutions that can guide users towards lifestyle mapped investing,” adds Satyen.

Cube Wealth is on its unwavering mission to offer proper guidance to the millions of hard-working, honest, busy, middle-class Indians that deserve to grow incredibly wealthy in the next 20 years.

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IN MY

VIEW

Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) and its Benefits Kuonal Lakhapat, Co-Founder and CEO, 23 BMI

An inspiring and motivational entrepreneur, Kuonal demonstrates first-rate interpersonal skills with the ability and the passion to develop the vision of any company he manages. He started off with a team of 8 individuals and worked hard to gradually expand the business, his company now serves 200+ clients in more than 6 cities in India. Kuonal’s biggest achievement was how his products were able to successfully reverse Type 2 diabetes and enabled people lose weight with a success ratio of 98%. He co-founded 23BMI after he completed his tenure with PayTM backed by LogiNext Solutions where he was the founding member. In his previous role, he was able to scale whilst onboarding several fortune 500 clients before leading expansion for the SE Asia market. Kuonal holds a Post-Graduate degree in Wireless Communication with a minor in Business Management from Kingston University London.

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I

nternet of Things / Internet of Medical Things is an interconnected device used for medical purposes for better and more accurate management of healthcare. The use of IoMT is helping healthcare providers to conduct advanced diagnostics which were never possible before the technology evolved, lower the costs of procedures, enable predictive/preventive treatments, identify health trends, etc. It can reduce unnecessary hospital visits and the burden on health care systems by connecting patients to their physicians and allowing the transfer of medical data over a secure network. Wearable devices have contributed to the growth of IoMT and related services.

Some of the IoMT technologies:

Approx. 60% of the global healthcare facilities have already implemented IoMT in some of the other areas of function

In-Home Segment: In-home IoMT segment includes a remote patient monitoring system (RPM) and a personal emergency response system (PERS). PERS can integrate with relay units or wearable devices and can connect with the healthcare facility/medical center in case assistance is required.

It is very effective in the case of seniors with limited mobility and are generally homebound. RPM consists of all the sensors and home monitoring devices used for disease management for continuous monitoring of various parameters to support long-term care.

On-Body Segment: They are primarily divided into two major types: Consumer health wearable and clinical-grade wearable.

Consumer Health Wearable: This category includes devices that are used for personal wellness or fitness. These devices can be in the form of sensors, wristbands, smart wristwatch, smart shoes, etc. Most of these devices are endorsed by health experts to record data/monitor data enabling visibility in a lot of personal healthcare parameters.

Clinical-Grade Wearable: These devices are generally regulated and supported by platforms approved by health authorities. Most of the devices are used based on expert advice or if prescribed by the physicians.

In-Hospital Segment: This segment includes IoMT devices that are spread across quite a few functions such as asset management monitoring, patient flow management, streamlining and managing inventory, etc.

Community Segment: IoMT’s are used as point-of-care devices used in environments such as medical camps (outside hospitals). IoMT’s are also used in mobility services that allows passenger vehicles to record and transmit health parameters. There are other areas wherein IoMT has played a key role in enabling technology to improve health care significantly. Approximately 60% of the global healthcare facilities have already implemented IoMT in some of the other areas of function. Due to these reasons, the conventional healthcare system is witnessing a fundamental change with technology being the most dominant factor.

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Anil Goel

Group Chief Technology and Product Officer, Oyo Hotels and Homes

The Tech Whiz Taking OYO to Oh-Wow!

O

yo Hotels & Homes is one of the largest and fastest-growing hospitality chains of leased and franchised hotels, homes and living spaces, and currently has thousands of employees globally.

The company has been making smart investments in monetizing collected data, generating intelligible insights and ultimately putting them into action by creating personalized experiences through careful identification of issues, following regular customer insights like their orders, likes, dislikes, and gauging preferences.

Why go the extra step? After all, it is just booking a hotel room, right?

OYO understands that the essence of hospitality does not end at meeting the customer’s needs, it is to delight them. This is the oldest, yet often ignored, rule in the book, ‘Put the

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The technology and start-up environment in India, albeit fast evolving, is still in its nascent phase, and there is a lot of unlearning and learning to do

customer first and they’ll last’. For instance, OYO recently launched ‘OYO Wowcher’, a customer-centric initiative, that doubles its value for the customers and flexible redemption.

What makes it a delight for OYO patrons?

In unprecedented times like this, ‘Wowcher’ offers value for money and flexibility in booking for customers.

Furthermore, since safety is the top priority for customers today, OYO has also rolled out ‘Sanitised Stays’ initiative across its properties, thereby, implementing standard operating procedures for higher hygiene standards, minimal contact service and enhanced credibility.

When Anil Goel joined OYO in 2016 as the Chief Technical and Product Officer, he came with nearly 20 years of experience and helped build the world’s leading and first true technology-driven hospitality company, OYO. He was responsible for providing strategic direction and strengthening the technology infrastructure, powering the company’s business operations.

It is often said that instead of hiring people to fill a position, it is wise to select people to fulfil a dream and to serve a purpose. When Anil was welcomed into the OYO family with open hands by Ritesh Agarwal, Founder, OYO, the company just earned itself a ticket to experience major tech developments.

Although OYO has been creating history through a revolutionary and disruptive business model that had not been attempted anywhere in the world, the complexities in delivering end-to-end stay solutions for guests and innovative and intuitive partner-managementsystems along with the strong reliance on tech to drive business can still be bettered. Along with furthering his career graph, Anil found OYO as a great opportunity to contribute to its growth and evolution “Investments in building technologies that assure efficient and reliable security systems, complete transparency, innovations in CRM, POS tools, hotel inventory management software and more enables a seamless and delightful consumer experience. At OYO,

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Currently Reading

At present, Anil is investing his gift of time and resource into two main arenas, best practices in the Information Security Arena and IoT. Under Information Security, Threat Hunting has got his special attention, as although it is a relatively new area, it is a very crucial part of a comprehensive information security regime.

we have a threefold digital strategy to enhance customer experience, on-ground team/employee operating efficiency and asset owner support. Backed by innovative technology, we plan to upgrade all forms of real estate and thereby provide quality living spaces to travellers around the world. We expect a lot more consumers to adopt new technology methods like Contactless payments via QR Codes / Online payment, Online checkin check-out at hotels, App-based in-room services, lot more preference for self-service—packed foods, vending machines and self-cleaning mechanisms, among others in the hospitality industry. To achieve such a feat, our diverse team of engineers, data scientists, tech experts, coders, people with design backgrounds are working together to introduce technology-based solutions to help manage end to end operations, improve customer experience, enhance capabilities for remote working and on-ground operations in the current world of heightened cautiousness” informs Anil.

Tech, Tech and More Tech Dabbling in technology, Anil observes that the overall technology and start-up environment in India, albeit fast evolving, is still in its nascent phase, and that there is a lot of unlearning and learning to do. He further says

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that the service industry is at the forefront, bringing about disruption to create (brand) preference by personalizing unique experiences for every customer through the power of new-age technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and Automation among others.

“Technology is deeply embedded in our DNA at OYO Hotels & Homes. We leverage the power of AI & Machine Learning to predict guest behaviour, how they interact with our search results and app, and the interactions they carry out while staying at our hotels.

For example, if you prefer a certain kind of hotel and amenities, relevant hotels matching previous preferences will appear on top of the search results. We also have a Centre for Excellence for OYO’s Machine Learning and AI initiatives that powers many of our consumer offerings,” he explains.

With a nimble and adaptable yet practical leadership style, Anil encourages his team to innovate, think big and push boundaries. “At OYO, we instil the value of entrepreneurial spirit among each team member, so they do not just think like coders, or engineers, or analysts but entrepreneurs. Being responsible to drive tech at the company, I often try to think about the big picture and bring all ideas together under one umbrella to ensure that tech runs through the length and breadth of the

organisation to make things easier, rather than complex,” he comments.

Never one to shy away from challenges, Anil was faced with the task of building a great technology culture, early on at OYO. “We had a fairly smart but very junior team with not enough leaders to guide them. While the company was growing and each of these team members were quite smart, the cultural reset required us to have a more focused team that can be effectively managed. I was able to gain support from both my partners as well as team members at OYO, by showing them a clear short term and a mid-team roadmap on how we will evolve our products, architecture, processes, team maturity and overall culture that gave everyone confidence.”

Accolades Anil is someone who believes that the impact your work creates is the best kind of award. In this regard, Anil Goel has an amazing repertoire of accolades.

“The technology my teams have conceived and built have helped us rapidly scale to 80+ countries across the globe delighting our guests, hotel partners and employees alike,” says Anil, “At Amazon, I was fortunate to lead the conception and initial implementation of many parts of their Global Transportation Network, Amazon Logistics, which is now not only serving a large part of Amazon’s needs but disrupting a century old global industry. The positive impact on tens or hundreds of millions of customers that technology developed by my teams has created is the best accolade I can even imagine winning.”

Expect the Unexpected ‘Prepare for the unexpected’ is the motto by which Anil goes by. “It’s not what you know today that will make you successful in future; it’s your ability to understand and adapt to the changing environment quickly. During my career, I have had the fortune to work with several great leaders that I have learnt a lot from. Early in my career at RealNetworks, I learnt from my manager David Poole on how to set clear goals for a high performing team and give them maximum autonomy to achieve the best outcome. At HyperQuality, our CEO Chris Coles taught me how to be both gentle, kind and firm while getting the message across clearly and respectfully. At OYO, I have learnt from Ritesh on when to use data vs. anecdotes to sell your viewpoints effectively. Technology is a very fastchanging industry and in my career, I have gone through many complete paradigm shifts. There is hardly any technology among the hundreds of technologies that was in use at OYO that even existed when I started my career.” he says.

As a parting note he adds that he is hopeful that Indian companies can leverage AI and Machine Learning to drive greater product variety, with increased personalisation, attractiveness and affordability over time.

“By harnessing the power of AI-enabling technologies like Predictive Analysis, among many other emerging innovations, companies can cater to the discerning needs of the new-age, digital consumer. After all, Customer is King!”

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ENTREPRENEUR TALK

Find your North Star!

O

ne of the co-founders at InterviewBit and Scaler Academy, Abhimanyu Saxena completed his B.Tech in Computer Science from IIIT – Hyderabad and is passionate about creating something new. He started his entrepreneurial journey during his B.Tech days, co-founding ‘Daksh Home Automations Systems’ with his batch mates.

Together they developed a cost-effective and green AI-based system that helped households reduce their monthly electricity consumption. While working with Fab.com, Abhimanyu experienced a scarcity of skilled tech talent owing to the considerable gap that exists between the university curriculum and the skills that are required to succeed as a software engineer.

This led him to join hands with his college friend Anshuman Singh and launch InterviewBit. ​ Since its launch in 2015, Abhimanyu and the team have been able to build InterviewBit into one of the most popular skilling and tech recruitment companies in the country. In 2019, they successfully launched Scaler Academy - an online career accelerator program - the next step in the evolution of InterviewBit. We had the opportunity to ask Abhimanyu a couple of questions and his responses were proof that with a strong vision and trust in your abilities, you can scale heights!

In a word, describe your life as an entrepreneur.

Mission-driven

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Abhimanyu Saxena, Co-founder, InterviewBit and Scaler Academy

Our youth capital is enormous, but they need requisite skill training and development. It is a challenging goal but also hugely rewarding

As an entrepreneur, what is it that motivates and drives you?

I have always been a very goal-oriented person. So once I have identified a goal or a mission to chase, it keeps me awake at night. Our current goal right now is to enable as many students as possible to achieve their dreams of becoming a successful software engineer. Despite being talented, a lot of young professionals are not able to make it because of lack of access to the right learning resources, and that is something we are trying to address with InterviewBit and Scaler Academy. It is a constant thought running in our minds, and we are continuously thinking of ways to achieve it. A country like China spends almost 15% of its GDP on education, and that has helped them chart such an extraordinary growth into a leading world economy. We as a country can also learn from that, our youth capital is enormous, but they need requisite skill training and development. It is a challenging goal but also hugely rewarding. Helping these young techies achieve their dreams is a huge motivator in itself. And that feeling drives us to do more.

How do you handle adversity and doubt?

When you genuinely believe in the mission to ensure everyone gets high quality learning and the right opportunities and understand that it’s much more significant than your fears, egos or failures any adversity seems manageable as there is just too much at stake.

We are so rooted in our north star and determined to get there; we somehow find a way to get over all the difficulties and doubts. Our goal is to ensure every single engineering student out there has the capabilities to realise his potential, and we will do all in our power

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to help them with it. Whatever hurdles that come our way, we are committed to crossing them. We strongly believe that nothing is unattainable; it just needs hard work and right direction. Our philosophy is to see every doubt, confusion or initiative from the student’s point of view. After all, our business is to enable them to achieve their best, and all the efforts/initiatives are in that regard. So it’s pretty straightforward for us.

How did you build your team? How do you motivate your team to be optimistic?

Our hiring philosophy is straightforward, we want to work with people who believe in our mission and goal as much as we do. We can’t build a successful business if our people don’t believe in our shared vision. We have been fortunate enough to find some extraordinarily talented and driven people at the beginning of our journey. And like magnets, they are the ones who are helping us attract more talent. Several of our team members have left lucrative jobs in leading organisations like McKinsey, Facebook and Google to work with us because they feel strongly about what we are trying to achieve with InterviewBit and Scaler Academy. Quite a few of our students come from very humble backgrounds, and Scaler Academy has been able to help them alleviate their professional journeys. The combination of passionate team members and enthusiastic students/alumni has helped create an ecosystem where we all are equally invested. There are always going to be ups and downs on the way, but it is our shared conviction that keeps us motivated and optimistic.

What would you say are the key elements for starting and running a successful business?

The most important thing about any business is to find a need gap that exists and create a service or product that adequately fills that gap. Value Addition is a very critical element of business if you want it to be successful. Value addition is not only for your consumers/users but also to the people you will work with and the society at large. It is imperative to find that sweet spot. If you can positively impact the entire supply chain, you have found yourself a business that has real potential.

If we take the example of Scaler Academy - the course not only empowers and upskills young techies, it is also able to provide value to hiring partners by giving them a ready pool of capable engineers to pick. We are also helping the economy by creating a large pool of jobready engineers. It is a win-win situation for all.

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What a lot of us fail to understand is that while access to opportunities in places like Google is definitely an issue, the more critical aspect is skills and aptitude

What made you start Scaler Academy?

How did you know when you had the right idea?

When it comes to the number of institutions imparting technical education, the Indian education system has undergone a drastic change over the last decade. While significant efforts are being made to make education accessible by churning out new institutes, what is missing, from even a Tier 1 college, is the necessary industry-connect. Majority of the private organisations, both large and small, claim that while graduates might possess theoretical knowledge, they usually don’t have skills that are required for them even to do entry-level jobs. We experienced this first hand when we started working in the tech recruitment space with InterviewBit in 2015. We realised early on that most people we engage with are capable of achieving even greater things given the right guidance.

The only thing missing in the picture was access to instructors and mentors, who would not only teach them new skills but also guide them in their careers - which led to the launch of Scaler Academy back in April 2019.

How is Scaler Academy different from InterviewBit? Scaler Academy is an online accelerator program for the top 1% of software developers in the country. It offers an intensive six-month computer science course through live classes delivered by tech leaders and subject matter experts. Scaler Academy’s meticulously structured program enhances the skills of software professionals by offering a modern curriculum with exposure to the latest technologies.

On the other hand, InterviewBit is a recruiting and interview prep platform for programmers to help master the skills that top employers seek while hiring.

Scaler Academy is a product by InterviewBit. How has technology redefined the boundaries of education?

One of the most significant benefits of technology is that it has made distance redundant. A decade ago, you could have a

particular experience or mentorship if you were geographically present at a specific city or institute. Technology has made everything accessible including quality education, experienced industry leaders and exceptional course curriculum. Today you don’t need to be living in the US or have a particular social standing to be mentored by a Harvard graduate or Facebook Engineer. The Internet and technology have made it easier for us to have access to the best facilities from the comforts of our homes. Technology has enabled us at Scaler Academy to provide our students with live classes from some of the best instructors in the country. We are also able to have them mentored by CTO’s of leading tech organisations virtually.

Technology has helped in creating a level playing field for everyone - all you need is access to the internet.

How has InterviewBit & Scaler Academy geared up to reform the educational landscape of rural India?

We have a student from a small town called Burdwan in West Bengal who is today working with a leading Mumbai based tech start-up called Lido Learning. And there are so many such examples among our alumni network. There is massive scope in the Tier 2, 3 and 4 markets. We aim to ideally help every engineering student in the country.

We are in the process of launching basic and intermediate level courses also that could help people from rural areas.

What are some of the common misconceptions people have about InterviewBit & Scaler Academy? How have you turned the non-believers into believers?

A lot of young people out there believe that the only reason they are not working with companies like Google or Facebook is that they don’t have any connection with the organisation. If someone were to introduce them, they would surely get it. What a lot of us fail to understand is that while access to opportunities in such places is definitely an issue. The more critical aspect is skills and aptitude. Unless we are technically sound and have the requisite knowledge, even if

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we get that interview, we are not likely to crack it. In our hurry to get to our destination, we often forget that it’s only possible if we have the right foundation and that takes time and effort to build. Similarly, companies spend a lot of time, effort and money to find the right employees from outside instead of upskilling their current workforce.

Over the last few years, things have changed. A lot of our students today understand the importance of learning and are focusing on that to further their careers rather than just blindly chasing jobs. Also, several CTOs and lead engineers from leading companies are now taking up mentorship on the side to help bridge the gap. Slowly but steadily, things are changing for the future, and we are happy to be playing a part in this change.

How do you keep learners motivated and engaged in this digital era?

We employ some gamification methods and techniques to keep our students engaged. We have something called ’Streak’. That is a score that you build if you solve problems and assignments on the platform. It is shareable and encourages people to practice daily. We

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also have leaderboards that showcase how peers in a course are performing, in a bid to promote healthy competition. These have worked well for us so far. We will be building on more such experiences in the next few months.

How do you plan on growing your business?

Our aim this year is to expand our reach and help more and more young professionals to scale up their career.

The goal is to scale up enrollment as well as to enter new markets, while also investing in their curriculum and the live teaching product to enhance the studentteacher experience.

What is your advice to young entrepreneurs who are starting?

My advice to all entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs will be to build a business that has a substantial impact and truly adds value to the lives of your consumers/ users. Find your north star and then chase it with all the determination you can find. Keep at it, don’t relent. The universe has a way of making things fall into place!

!ncredible

No matter where you decide to go in India, you’ll find something incredible. And right next to that, you’ll find us. Safe and sanitised stays, waiting to host you.

So pack up your bags, dust those boots, come to an OYO near you.

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Dr. Lopa Mudraa Basuu Director, Cyber Security & Risk, Sysinnova Infotech Pvt Ltd

The Clairvoyant – Choreographing Brilliant IT Security Compositions

T

here is nothing that captivates an audience like a well-composed dance routine.

Every step is counted, every movement in control, and every sway in accord with the rhythm and tempo of the music. Dancing and its basics develop and teach creativity, teamwork, confidence, critical thinking, selfdiscipline, physical health and the ability to work collaboratively—all qualities that must reflect in any 21st-century leader. Just as the lead dancer would provide direction, space the stage wisely, ingenuously improvise when others make a mistake, and be the face of the routine with their perfection, a corporate leader must provide opportunity, give direction, set up an expectation, delegate and empower others to perform, followed by timely support and recognition. Dr. Lopa Mudraa Basu is once such incisive leader.

A Cyber security evangelist, Dr. Lopa believes that people are the key assets that make

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The key is to understand the risks and strike a balance between business and compliance keeping the business security and reputation in a costefficient way

a difference in security. “Every individual is unique with certain capabilities and limitation. We need to identify the same; stitch them cohesively with accountability, vision and mission and provide a conducive environment. Boost them with continuous learning to create the value chain that will earn a win-win equation.”

Dr. Lopa holds that Sensitive Manware Orchestration and Utilization is the key for the best outcome. “Security is a team game and every player an important role. Even an individual contributor is an integrated part of a bigger team and acts as an enabler. The best result comes when we allow each player to play their natural game.”

Currently the Executive Director of Cyber Security and Risk at Sysinnova Infotech Pvt Ltd, Dr. Lopa was the Global Head of Cyber Security, Risk Governance and Compliance at NISSAN Motor Corporation. Needless to say, her vast repertoire of experience and her acumen makes her an invaluable asset to the corporate world, especially the Enterprise Risk & Cyber Security domain.

She observes that with the rapid technology advancement,

disruptive innovations, digital transformations, changing social ecosystem, increased compliance needs, exponentially enhanced technology risks, and new challenges are emerging manifold. “The key,” she says, “is to understand the risks and strike a balance between business and compliance keeping the business security and reputation utmost in the mind in a cost-efficient way.”

Always Have a Game Plan A security and risk professional, Dr. Lopa is faced with several challenges in a day. “As a value appropriator it is imperative to strike the balance between customer delight and business security by identifying the technology risks proactively in collaboration with Business, IT, Operations and Compliance followed by addressing them effectively in-time. Some practices which I stand by are: Flag the issue in time and understand what it is. One must also look at it from a business lens and have clarity of management expectation. Having a strategy and plan is fundamental, so is your confidence, decision capability and directive

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Professional Qualifications: A

Doctor(hc)

of

Excellence

in

Cyber

Risk

Management, Dr. Lopa holds a master degree in IT. She is a Certified Global CIO from ISB Hyderabad.

She also has the required industry certifications - C|CISO, CRISC, CISM, CHFI, ECSA, CEH, DCPLA, DPO, Certified HIPAA Officer, QSA PCI DSS, CPISI, LA ISO 27001, RSA Archer Certified Administrator, CyberArk

Certified Trustee,

Certified

in

ITIL

foundation, CobiT & Val IT Foundation Certificate, Certified SAFe 4 Practitioner (Scaled AGILE), Six Sigma Yellow Belt, CCSA NGX, CCNA, ADSE from APTECH and Diploma in Hardware.

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Awards and Accolades • Member of Prestigious International Judging Panel for The IFSEC Global Top Influencer of Security 2020 • Esteemed Jury Member for Women Leadership Influencer 2020 • Esteemed Member of EC Council Global Advisory Board • Member of Cloud Security Alliance APAC Research Advisory Council • Program Advisor of CISO Platform Flagship Program “CISO Fellowship” • Esteemed Member of “Cyber Security Hub” Executive Advisory Board • Featured on ET CISO Wall • Featured as Epic Women in Cyber • Global Top 20 Security Influencer 2020 on peer voting over CISO Platform • India’s Top IT Security Influencers and Community Contributors Award 2020, 2019 and 2018 • Top Women in Cyber Security in India 2019 • CSO 100 AWARD 2019 and 2018 from IDG • CISO MAG Award - InfoSec Leader of The Year 2019 • Cyber Sentinel Award, 2018 • IT World Change Agent Award 2018 • Extra Miler Award at SLK Global • Most Consistent Performing Leader Award at SLK Global • Academic Excellence Award from APTECH Computer Education

competency. However, it is always wise to be open to different viewpoints. How you communicate your game plan is also of importance. Be transparent and as direct as possible, keeping your stakeholders informed. Be attentive to the time frame and avoid surprises. In the end, get it done and own your action irrespective of the result.”

Dr. Lopa states that with disruptive innovation and adverse situations imposing a huge techno-cultural shift, impacting government, public, and private sectors and citizens, Cyber has emerged as 5th warfare. She observes that since India is one of the major users of the internet and early adopters of new technologies, the country is experiencing both the pros and cons of early adoption.

India is ranked 47 in GCI (Global Cybersecurity Index) out of 175 countries published by ITU in 2018. This indicates

that as a country, India is committed to cybersecurity and has significant growth opportunity both in domestic and global markets. However, with cyber threats increasing manifold with the proliferation of digital technologies, securing cyberspace becomes an utmost priority. The increasing sophistication, scale, complexity and upshots of cyber-attacks in recent years impose a huge challenge, which, if tapped effectively, is going to unplug an ocean of opportunities that will transform and catapult India as a Global Hub for Cyber Security Services and Products.

According to Gartner, the global cybersecurity market is estimated to touch USD 200bn by 2025. ‘NASSCOM– McKinsey Perspective 2025’ study forecasts that Indian outsourcing industry will achieve a size of USD 350-400bn by 2025 with special mention of Cyber Security as one

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Currently Reading

Like all Masters of trade, Dr. Lopa keeps polishing her fountainhead of knowledge and skills by extensively reading professional articles from trusted sources. She is currently engrossed in the book, ‘The Luminous Sparks’ by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. “The poems are inspiring, gently cascading down, boosting the mind with passion and purpose. In his own words, ‘Successful leaders can never be defeated by problems. They become masters of the situation and defeat the problems.’ The book is just a reflection of that,” she conveys.

of the four prominent service lines that will contribute significantly, to this industry growth. Knowledge and Speed are the key differentiators in cyber. The need is to break the myth and visualize cyber beyond hacking and tools and establish the service lines to cater to global needs. For that, it is important to create an environment that nourishes the skills and allows them to flourish and contribute to Cyber Security. Policies need to be relooked in the light of cyber, to mitigate skilled resource crunch.

Thriving in a Challenging Environment Grateful to Mr. Prabhakar Devdas Mallya, Mr. Bruce Geddes, Mr. Burgess Cooper, Capt. Sivakumar V, Dr. K Santosh Iyer and Nritya Samraggi, and Kathak Queen Guru Bandana Sen, Dr. Lopa explains that she chose this profession out of her passion to welcome new challenges and step up her game. A trained Kathak Dancer, conferred with Prestigious “Nritya Ratna”, Dr. Lopa says that she always looked for versatility, speed, rhythm, balance, all of which are also the key elements of the Security and Risk domain. “Ensuring security is like orchestrating an opera, where you need to finetune individual functions and people like instruments without impacting their uniqueness and efficiency and then blend them with the power of technology, statutory requirements and deliver a seamless composition to achieve the business objective securely- all while the compositions keep changing. Being a security leader, we

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perform a very dynamic, versatile and demanding role by nature. It allows one to contribute towards strategy and shape the future of the business that gives immense satisfaction as a professional. Being a multifaceted role it provides the opportunity to work with different stakeholders in and out, in a different capacity – Business Leader, Governance Leader, Influencer, Board Advisor, Strategy Enabler, Compliance Enabler, Technology Enabler, Security Officer, Execution Officer, Change Agent, Innovation Catalyst and Value Appropriator.

Mentoring next-gen cybersecurity professionals and industry peers, Dr. Lopa says that Security and Risk is a high-velocity domain that is dynamically changing. “To match the pace, a high learning curve is the necessity to success for both Organization and individual. Proactive knowledge sharing and gathering using different mediums is important. Teaching and Learning is a continuous process. Right now, IoT and RPA have my attention.”

As a parting note, Dr. Lopa states that we are in a digital era witnessing the emergence of new age of consumers and Netizens driving the adoption of digital technologies to transform their selves. In this scenario, for business to stay ahead, Collaboration and In-time Advisory is their game changer. It helps to unfold security as a business USP that not only helps the business to achieve objectives safely but also capable of opening the new avenues for business to generate the revenue.

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EXPERT’S

OPINION

Machine Learning: The Way-forward in Education Randhir Kumar, Founder and Chief Mentor,BasicFirst Learning OPC Pvt Ltd

Randhir Kumar plays a key role in implementing technology in education tutoring and test preparation. His experience in the industry has helped him to analyze the dominant qualities among students and understand the concepts of the curriculum which has in the process helped the students score good ranks in competitive exams and board examinations. With over 23 years of work experience in the education industry, Randhir has been a consultant to startups and a mentor for the stakeholders in the education industry. Before founding BasicFirst, Randhir was a Director and Mentor of India-based Pen4future, an education company founded by a group of IIT and IIM Alumni. He was also the mentor of a series of educational institutes and has been instrumental in shaping the career of more than 40,000 students both from the Engineering and Medical streams. In the last 21 years, he has conducted over 600 counselling sessions for 15,000 parents and has helped more than 3000 students in reaching IIT’s.

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Technology aids in nurturing the creative minds and helps in accelerating the learning process

his path-breaking technology has the potential to change the lives of millions of students in the coming years, in more ways than we can ever imagine.

The education sector was long due for a fresh makeover. The emergence of the machine learning era has, in a way, revolutionized the whole perception of education by introducing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to manage the affairs associated with teaching and learning. This technological intervention has been one of the most sought-after developments in the world of education in the recent times. Powered by Artificial Intelligence, machine learning is the next big thing to bank upon in the said sector. While human intelligence is unique in more than one way, AI possesses the ability to perform complex jobs like collecting and analyzing information, recognizing patterns and taking decisions, among other things, way faster than a normal human brain. Artificial Intelligence has already been making its presence felt across the lengths and breaths of the education sector, and with the current upshot in the trend of machine learning, its penetration is destined to break every barrier in the future.

In developing countries like India, dearth of teachers has always been an issue. With slow improvements in the past years, the standard of curriculums in such countries also seem to lack sincerity towards the goal of all-round development of the learners.

To gap this bridge, and aid to the efforts of our education systems, educators all over the world are now joining hands with various Edu-Tech start-ups to facilitate machine learning on any subject, to the remotest corner of the Earth, and spread the joy of learning.

This path-breaking technology has the potential to change the lives of millions of students in the coming years, in more ways than we can ever imagine. Let us check below what this hype about machine learning is all about.

Learning does not stop: Let us see it in the light of the COVID-19 crisis. Going by our current situation, the world is dealing with a global pandemic. Owing to which, schools, colleges and universities are closed for an indefinite time, like the majority of other sectors. However, is this a valid enough reason to stop learning? No! Learning is a continuous process, and we cannot afford to just put a halt on it whenever, and for just whatever reason.

Proving just that and more, we have all witnessed a sudden upsurge in the rate of e-learning in a lot of countries, including India in the last couple of months. In the absence of regular classes, machine learning has suddenly become the absolute need of the hour for the entire student fraternity. Like I said, learning does not stop. And this will continue for years to come.

Tech-Savvy Classrooms: With the introduction of multiple formats of learning, modern classrooms are equipped with the most advanced technologies to give students complete engagement.

Technology aids in nurturing the creative minds and helps in accelerating the learning process. Difficult textual content can be

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Machine learning has finally enabled every student to pursue any course, taught in any institution, by any professor, sitting right inside the comfort of their own homes

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explained through videos as documentaries and movies, to give it a more relatable touch. Podcasts have also become an integral part of a number of classrooms, and students find it helpful to get useful insights on the textual contents. In fact, audio-visual communication works as the best supplement to get the hook of a complex subject, and it also helps students to retain information for a longer period of time.

Customized Techniques: Almost ruling out the age-old concept of one-size-fits-all technique, e-learning brings into table the all-new customized techniques to meet with the unique needs of every learner.

Channeling AI’s incredible ability of recognizing patterns, top EduTech companies are going to lengths to assess student data by studying online history and touchpoints from multiple platforms, to determine the most suitable learning techniques, to cater to individual needs.

Unlike how previously uniform courses were imposed on students, e-learning with the help of AI uses clever-coding, algorithm and big data, and enable students to opt for courses and concepts that they are interested in, and are carved especially for them. Additionally, lesson plans are specially customized for each learner to suit their special needs and grasping abilities. This allows students to excel in their chosen career and lead a brighter future.

360-degree Feedback: Constructive feedback is a part of any learning system, and the growth of an individual is very much dependent on it. Machine learning also provides highly curated feedback to each student or individual after mapping their learning graph and scrutinizing further to identify the best approach for them to be able to churn out the most of their chosen course. However, feedbacks are a two-way process, and teachers need it for their development as much as students. Hence, a lot of e-learning platforms take support of AI to analyze teachers’ data as well, to enable them to better adjust with the teaching requirements.

Fun Experience: Learning and fun were two terms standing poles apart until a few years back, but not anymore. By leveraging the most out of artificial intelligence, modern classrooms have been turned into some of the most enjoyable places to learn new things. Teachers have started using simulation as one of the newest ways to grab attention of the students, both online and in the classroom. Many institutions for technical courses like medical, flying and engineering have been using Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality to train the students by putting them in a more real life-like situation. These highly interactive sessions allow the students to see how they can apply their textual knowledge in a real situation.

Blurring Barriers: Things like geographical barriers can no longer stop anyone from learning new things. Machine learning has finally enabled every student to pursue any course, taught in any institution, by any professor, sitting right inside the comfort of their own homes. Further, AI makes interactions with global peers smooth as butter through internet, and also helps in creating cross-country partnerships. This process works exceptionally well when used for learning new foreign languages and get better understanding of different cultures.

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IN MY

VIEW

10 Things You Should Take Care About Yourself in COVID-19 Dr. Anuj Choudhary, Founder, Animal Booster Nutrition

Dr. Anuj Choudhary founder of Animal Booster Nutrition, Anihac Pharma and Anihac Movies did his schooling from Government Senior Secondary School of Boys, Janakpuri, New Delhi and did his graduation in medical science (Pharmacy) from Aditya Institute. He pursued his graduation degree in B.Sc. (Diet and Nutrition) and Post Graduation in M.Sc. (Diet and Nutrition) and also has a PHD degree in Sports Science. He was always crazy about body building and has participated and judged many bodybuilding competitions which led to his appointment as a coach of Indian Body Building Federation (IBBF). He has won the Healthcare Leader Worldwide owning the 5th Rank beating almost more than 50 competitors and recently he got the “Atal Yuva Award 2020� and many more in India and International.

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Meditation and Yoga are salvage from all the pessimism and anxiety. Take time out of your day just to be with yourself and meditate

he situation in the world seems a bit upside down and the reason behind this is Coronavirus. Due to this global pandemic of Covid19, our lives in dire straits. It has never been so difficult for any country to fight with anything, but this is deteriorating. It has been four months since we all are dealing with this virus.

Taking all the precautions of social distancing by staying at home in lockdown.

Dealing with this Covid19 can be hard and overwhelming, you can also feel stressed and anxious by staying home for months. This whole situation and being locked in homes is frustrating and people are being very slothful. But you can always make things work out better even in the lockdown, this is the best time you can take a break from your rushing lifestyle and focus on self-care.

Being at home made us all out of our daily routine, we need to fix our routine even when we are at home. When we follow a daily routine, we feel livelier.

We are now in lockdown and there are chances that it can be extended again for a month or even more than that. This is a daunting being at home for such a long time without any work to do or going outside as we used to. As the COVID-19 has disrupted every human activity, everyone has to adopt the theory of new normal life.

The most essential thing is our health and we need to focus on maintaining it by eating lots of fresh and healthy food. Also, we have to shift on some food items that are even good for our immune system that can build strength.

After focusing on our health, we also need to emphasize on our habits. This is a good time to include something new in our list of learnings. Exploring new things makes us happier and more productive. It can be anything that we want to learn.

Here are some of the 10 things that you can do for taking good care of yourself.

1. Stay active We all know that exercising and staying fit is important for both our physical and mental health. You can make this lockdown more worthy by focusing on your fitness by doing the workout. There is a pile of different ways of staying fit, cardio exercising, yoga, and weight training.

These are some of the best exercises that you can lose that extra fat. Thanks to YouTube and other fitness apps. There are also other ways of being active in quarantine. There is this idea, do whatever that suits you. Go for a walk on the terrace or do household chores for being active.

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2. Cook healthy dishes Cooking is the best way you can give yourself a good treat and eating healthy meals can even make you happy. With certain cooking techniques and recipes, you can make healthy yet super tasty dishes for your diet. You can make puddings, homemade healthy pizzas, and oat cookies, banana pancakes and some team healthy smoothies made of fresh fruits.

At a young age group of (18 -24) almost half (45%) are reading more. If you want to inculcate a habit of reading, you first have to set a time for it. You also have to reduce the time you use electronic gadgets and pick a book or any story that you like, for instance, romantic novels, or mythology books. Having a book partner is also a great way to mark your progress in reading speed. The best time to read it before you go to bed for sleep.

3. Spend your time with nature This situation of the whole pandemic from the last few months is intimidating and it gets worse when you see news of one particular thing that is Covid19. We need to get a break from thinking of Coronavirus and how it is ruined many lives.

Being indoors for so long can even make you sick.

Now that the environment is so clean and pollution-free, go out and spend some time in nature. Have your morning tea in your garden or spend your evening time on your terrace.

Spending time in nature reduces your stress and also improves your immune system.

7. Help in cleaning This lockdown with family is hectic for your moms! She has to do all the jobs from cleaning the house to cooking meals for the family and she might not ask for help but she would love it if their family members help a little bit. Pick up some jobs that you can do daily like cleaning your room or cleaning utensils. Help in any way is always good.

4. Stay connected to your loved ones When life gives us a harder time than we always need our friends and family around us and this is a panic situation for all, so it would be really good and might be helpful if we keep in touch with our family or friends. People who are not with their family and alone in this lockdown are dealing with this bravely and we should be calm and nice to them. Try to connect through phone calls and video chat. Even social media is the best way to connect with people and share your memories.

5. Learning new things Learning a new skill or a hobby can be exciting, but if you have that urge to learn something new and different in this lockdown you are not going to regret this time. There are very good online courses that anyone can opt for. Learning a new language, blog writing course, photography course, art and design course and whatnot. There are many new opportunities that you can explore and learn in this quarantine.

6. Make a habit of reading In a recent survey, it has been seen that nearly 31% of people are reading more during the lockdown.

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8. Turn off the news This whole Coronavirus thing is making all of us quite stressed out. There is only one thing on the news channel that is Covid19. This made us more negative day by day, so the best is do not watch the news for a while. Instead you can watch a comedy movie or a show to lighten up your mood and divert your mind from the news.

9. Make time for Zen Meditation and Yoga are salvage from all the pessimism and anxiety. These times can give you such kind of negativity and meditation is the only way to calm your mind and thoughts that are running in. Take time out of your day just to be with yourself and do meditation at that time.

Make sure no one disturbs you when you are sitting in your comfortable position.

10. Watch a movie In this quarantine Netflix and Amazon prime are mostly active applications. You can watch a movie of any genre you like with your family in your living room. There is a great variety of content that is available on Netflix you can pick anything you would like to watch. You can even watch your favourite movies on your friend’s blog with your friends through screen sharing on the zoom app. This can be fun and entertaining for you and others.

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Ramya Sampathkumar Chief Digital Officer, GMMCO LTD

Ahead of the Leadership Curve

I

n a corporate setting, most leaders are usually one out of the following two types: Leaders who are quite cogent in identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their team members, helping them amplify their strengths, while working on their weakness through transparent, frequent, and frank feedback.

Such leaders roll up their sleeves and get the work done themselves as a method of mentoring and they garner tremendous respect. The team works hard to ensure that they do not let the leader down.

Then comes those leaders who are good friends with the team. They mentor through encouragement and teaching patiently and are excellent in communication skills. They shield their team from difficult situations and have earned the team’s undying loyalty. The team most often tend to follow their leader if they move.

While each has its own perks, the sum and substance to being a true leader is not someone

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A digital program does not end with the rollout. It begins there.

who takes people where they want to go, but one who takes them to where they ought to be. Ramya Sampathkumar’s leadership style is a mix of these two, slanting slightly towards the former. “I believe that a good team comprises of members with the right complementary skills and do not expect everyone to know it all. I like to challenge them by appealing to an area that is meaningful to them. I teach through doing, provide guidance that is direct and clear, trust my team immensely and only intervene when asked for and where my support will help.”

Scaling the Career Graph Currently the Chief Digital Officer at GMMCO Ltd., Ramya joined the company 2 years ago. “They reached me with an opportunity that was too difficult to pass by!

The JD shared with me showed GMMCO’s commitment to digital by creating the role of a CDO with precise expectations, wide-ranging responsibilities, and a free hand to start the practice and drive the digital strategy.

I was managing the business development for IoT & Engineering for the Manufacturing & Utility sector, suggesting transformation opportunities for the largest of our customers. When the offer came in from GMMCO, it seemed a natural progression to go to the other side and take on the challenge to execute such a transformation. The thrill to own a transformation program, to deliver it, and manage the necessary change to make it successful, and to do it with a company of such repute as GMMCO and be part of the CK Birla family were all compelling factors to make the move,” she informs.

Ramya believes that digital leaders should own change management to ensure successful adoption and achieve the desired digital transformation. To this end, having a welldefined Project Charter with measurable and signed off business outcomes expected is a great start. She stresses the importance of not compromising in choosing the right partners for the program implementation.

“The cost of setting right an implementation that has gone askew is very high from an economics, time and

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Currently Reading Ramya is currently reading ‘Ikigai’, ‘The Monk who sold his Ferrari’, and ‘Draupadi’. After completing a Carnegie workshop, she is reading an oldie but goodie, ‘How to win Friends and Influence People’. She just flipped the last page of ‘From Sand and Ash’ and ‘A Hundred Little Flames’.

reputation perspective. Having well-defined processes that are consistently followed is a must. The process itself can be tuned for your organization’s working culture.

And finally, monitor and measure post-implementation.

A digital program does not end with the rollout. It begins there. Hence having an eye on issues faced, adoption rates, user feedback and KPI data is important to ensure that the program is successful and that your organization truly benefits from it. It will also help plan subsequent enhancements or any pivot needed,” she clarifies.

Keeping the Axe Sharp Keeping her skill set updated and polished, Ramya never misses a chance to be part of business meetings, because it keeps her on top of business strategy and understand any changing scenario.. She also networks whenever possible, leveraging her past peer connects through chats and the occasional calls. She also makes herself available to have a power chat with other group company tech leaders and external tech leaders and reading up on what other dealerships or competitors are doing successfully, looking at ways to learn from their experiences.

An ardent traveller, Ramya used to frequent several short vacations and one annual long vacation. However, the current pandemic, and the subsequent lockdown, has opened up more free time for her, enabling her to expand her interests to wide-ranging trivia, hair styling, reading more and increased TV time.

“I also run and do cardio boxing to help keep my mind and body fit”, she says. “These activities are a great way to have a positive mind-body connect and rejuvenate before heading back to work. However, I would say that spending time with my kids is the best way to wind down.

I have become deeply engrossed in learning the art of drawing kolams, an old tradition of using a mix of ground

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chalk powder or ground limestone and rice flour to draw intricate designs in front of the home on a slightly wet floor. I was captivated by the history and aesthetics around it but the designs that I am trying out using dots with lines and curves seem to build skills such as dexterity, pattern solving, understanding symmetry, and other benefits like mindfulness and fitness too. Especially during the lockdown, this interest helped calm my mind and provide focus to all the right things at hand: support for the business, keeping our teams engaged, and our families safe.”

In retrospect, Ramya says that the past decade has witnessed her career graph move from a managerial position to a leadership position, while teaching her to temper her reactions and the value of empathy. “It has taught me the great thrills of taking risks and how much we can learn from failures. This helped to take on challenging assignments in new programs & practices.

I have learnt to be more patient and applied it to investing in people that can lead to a win-win situation over time. It has taught me to rely on and even seek support and know that there is no bravado in doing it all alone. This has resulted in my great belief in the power of collaboration, and knowing that it is the result, rather than recognition, which matters.”

“Various experiences have revealed that we have more in common than not, and to reach out to people to support and to learn. It has taught me how to balance between duty and passion knowing they are equally important. I never give up on a task due to family commitments or give up on family time due to work pressures; instead, I use all these other learnings to keep up with both. Above all, I know enough now to be extremely grateful for my support system, my close family and friends, great colleagues, my life experiences, and the best spouse!” Ramya concludes.

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LEADER’S INSIGHTS

Tech Trends to Watch Out in The Fashion Industry Neetu Pavan Manikatalia, Managing Director, Fashionista –The School of Fashion Technology

Neetu Pavan Manikatalia is a qualified professional who started her legacy 2 decades back by being the first lady in Jharkhand, Bihar to start fashion education at the age of 21. With the vision of taking education and fashion to a higher platform, she has created an education system which is not just unique but divergent in various aspects. Her address to the fashion scene is intelligent and studied, yet imaginative and inspired. Her mantra of living a successful life is hard work and be rooted. Believing in uplifting arty expression and proficient exchange of encounters, boost creation and novelty within the industry and enable trends to shine forth, she started Fashionista school. Today, the AICTE approved, skilled knowledge provider is a member of CII as well as IID and aims for students to develop into professionals with immense calibre who can carve a niche for themselves in the industry. Its vision is not only limited to incubating raw talent but also believes in frosting them and giving them a taste of the real world.

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he changing technologies have changed the way we live. The constant development of technology has inspired us to move the fashion industry into an innovative and artistic era.

The refined and shooting manufacturing processes provide designers with endless opportunities.

The ever-increasing digital world opens up new opportunities, both in the creative process and the way we communicate with and unearth fashion.

Technology has enabled us to avail incredible products by using the expertise of manufacturers, designers and other creative people. When it comes to education in fashion industry then the main trend is Fashion Tech education. The learning process in this regard needs to be continual so as to support and increase the right use of digital education with innovation. Education is the foremost priority for everyone like never before.

Technologies have made way in almost every possible aspects of life including the way we buy products, retail shops, and through social media apps in both B2B and B2C platforms. Brands are preferring to be updated and improvised so as to get their products in front of their customer.

Creating a new and exclusive experience can set a seller apart from the rest in an over catered fashion world.

Machine learning has been used by a number of fashion brands to forecast and upgrade the search functionality on their sites

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Creating a new and exclusive experience can set a seller apart from the rest in an overcatered fashion world

There is a great trend towards using technologies to create a favourable and unique customer experience with brands and companies extending their feet in varied areas of the fashion fraternity. We are witnessing a real concern in the retail sector of the fashion industry to make the shopping experience more interesting, friendly and exciting for the customers. With updation and refinements in the processes of manufacturing, there are burgeoning new fibres and blends to create a variety of product offerings.

The exciting new products are the result of collaboration by utilising the skills of different industries to create something efficient and innovative. With the continuous stream of new and exciting technology advancement, the fashion industry is moving towards the future, yet these endless possibilities have more path to cover.

Mobile and e-commerce technologies brought about the first wave of transformations for the fashion industry.

Now, we can look ahead to the next possibilities for retail, more specifically virtual reality technology. Virtual reality is another technology that is making headway in the mainstream. Just wearing a headset, consumers can be completely engrossed in an alternate reality, adding a depth of experience to a brand or product. Speed and transparency is another aspect of fashion brands improving through technology. One day delivery times and the see now buy now and fashion show concept are proof of the faster service for the consumer and customer orientation.

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The expectation of transparency around supply chains and labour conditions are crucial to the consumer in order to decide if the brand fits their personal parameters. Brands today need to divulge their brand culture in a way that is fair, transparent and appealing to their customer.

The incorporation of technology into sportswear is making life easier for many of us. Distance covered, measuring heart rate, breathing depth etc are some of the fitness tracking technology and using these analytics can give workout suggestions to the wearer. A company has released a workout shirt with silver thread woven into the garment combined with sensors that relay information including breath depth, heart rate and movement, as well as the relationship between these and how to improve your workout.

Machine learning has been used by a number of fashion brands to forecast and upgrade the search functionality on their sites. Whether this intelligence is built in-house or facilitated by a third-party, it requires training algorithms to predict shopper behaviour with a high level of efficiency based on its understanding of a set of largely consistent and recurring parameters.

As a number of sites focus on customer orientation and trying to be extremely efficient in delivering products, suggesting proper alternatives, and improving the overall shopping experience, customers have almost started to expect this to be the default setting.

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EXPERT’S

OPINION

How AI is Helping the Insurance Sector Rebrand Itself Rakesh Goyal, Director, Probus Insurance

To head one of the leading Insurance firm with 230 + Crore premium in a year, customarily from the retail clients paired along with its panIndia presence and also balanced by an equal mix of Life and Non-Life Insurance, is both a coveted and challenging job. The job mix makes the person most sought after in the Insurance Industry-Rakesh Goyal, the man behind the very successful ‘Probus Insurance Broker Pvt Ltd.’ (Top 5 Insurance Brokers in India). An MBA graduate with a diploma in International Trade, Goyal has been in the field of financial services since 1996 bringing utmost understanding of the market and sharp thinking that has been the reason behind the continuous growth and success of Probus. Excelled in the fields of general and life insurance distribution, channel management, and relationship management, Goyal has implemented pioneering strategies for distribution and has helped build corporate relationships and management skills.

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The most interesting cases of Artificial Intelligence in insurance could be the automatic classification of claim cases based on image recognition

ne of the biggest and trending buzzwords in today’s Digital Era is Artificial Intelligence (AI). To put AI in simpler words, it is basically a technology which enables computers to learn, think and behave like a human. The technology allows to interpret and inspect data in a much more productive manner. This technology takes the data and creates an algorithm that then generates predictions for various insights. Artificial Intelligence has helped the people make more objective, informed and evidence-based decisions.

Artificial intelligence has been implemented in several business verticals ranging from healthcare, education, financial services, security, human resources, e-commerce and Insurance. What makes the implementation of this innovative technology a significant shift is that Artificial Intelligence helps in creating a digitally enhanced automated ecosystem and valuable opportunities for business growth. The range of this innovation is not limited to automating the scheduling of executive-level tasks, but it has also contributed towards the enhancement of enriching the quality of making the right and informed decisions.

Machines when mimic human intelligence with better accuracy and speed, they change how things work and it is definitely changing the insurance space.

Insurance companies have been struggling all these years for technological advancement to reach the prospective customers, provide the best fit of plans to their customers and ease the process of claim settlement.

There has been a constant effort to make the insurance ecosystem more versatile than ever before and ensure that the customers get the best user experience. The acceleration in AI has transformed areas such as customer service, claims, marketing, underwriting and fraud detection.

Considering the current state and digital transformation, some of the process of distribution methodology, IT-related processes, the corporate culture, claim process, etc. are proving no more beneficial or lucrative or even as an option. There is a tide of change with AI that the companies of tomorrow are adopting and gradually inclining towards the process which would be staffed by AI-based bots and thereby making things seamless and quick.

AI-based Text and Voice Assisted Chatbot Talking about the implementation of AI into the insurance sector, the AI-based Chatbots are helping the insurance companies change the overall customer

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experience. It has now become easier and faster to select the policy of your choice and needs in just a few seconds by filling out some basic questionnaire. Apart, from this one can also transfer the existing policies, get the renewal done, report claims and get the perks of real-time alerts.

The Chatbots interactions are indeed instantaneous and delightful. The computer program which is capable of imitating human conversations is now helping to transform the overall customer experience, facing the customers efficiently and also lowering the cost of the businesses. This has also helped deal with the bulk of customers and save significant time and resources for insurers which can be invested for other profitable activities. It is also said that the next insurance leaders would be led by AI-driven bots.

Customer’s KYC and Recommendation One such exciting example of implementation of Artificial Intelligence is the video-based Know Your Customer (KYC) which was an effortless option to establish the customer’s identity in India. Also, the videos would be facilitated with the geo-tagging i.e. the video consisted of the location, time and the date where it was recorded. This high-level of verification incorporated the use of the most up-to-date technologies, artificial intelligence and face matching algorithms to ensure the integrity of the customer information and process.

In addition to this, the insurance industries deal with millions of data on a daily basis, hence, data privacy is one of the major and significant elements. With the usage of AI, there are different methods which are implemented to align with the needs of the customers and at the same time keeping their confidential data safe and secure. Moreover, with artificial intelligence, the one thing that is sure to come into the system is a much more streamlined and a lot of simpler methods for day-to-day decision making. This would help to give better services and products along with low cost have reduced the friction for the policyholder towards buying the policy and thereby making things simpler.

Also, based on the information, insurers can provide a recommendation on which product should be bought.

Claims Process The most interesting cases of Artificial Intelligence in insurance could be the automatic classification of claim cases based on image recognition, so if there is a car incident then the policyholder can take the photo and upload it instead of making an appointment with

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the surveyor for surveying and reviewing the situation.

The insurer would then take care of the situation. The classifications technique that could be adopted from these processes would help to smoothen the claim process and make it more efficient. Customers are covered with the estimated repair cost and can go ahead for repairs without long waiting.

Fraud Detection Fraud detection using AI is the most effective way to detect fraud and prevent risk. With the help of artificial intelligence, it is possible to identify the false information, fraud patterns, or abnormalities that the customer provides to get a bigger claim or pay the low premium cost. This is basically the technique to reduce fraudulent claims. The decreased fraud metric through this technique will help settle the claims much faster.

Customised Products Thus, customer analysis has helped to tailor cheaper and better insurance products as per the customer’s needs.

Now, insurance companies can price their policies in a more personalized way for every customer. The personal information about the individuals opting for policies based on their location, financial affordability and the driving record would make it easy to create policies with competitive rates. Plus, it would be wise to understand their needs and offer relevant products.

This game-changer could be the biggest turning point as it is going to change the huge legacy infrastructure and create ways to adopt open source technology and give a much more impactful meaning to insurance. This will also build deeper connectivity to real-time technology and accelerate the processes.

The involvement of such technology acts as a steer to redirect the traditional approaches and bring about benefiting change in the standard or existing practices.

Also, this new process has made things much simpler and easier has been a good point of attracting millennials and creating awareness about the importance of insurance among them.

As the 21st century is approaching technological recognition, it has become very significant and the need of the hour for any industry to flourish.

Innovation through new technologies has become a key driver to bring a magnificent revolution in any industry thereby leading to extensive performance gains. The pragmatic approach and the boundless possibilities of artificial intelligence into the insurance environment would be a constructive step towards an efficient, instant and competent result.

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Shweta Srivastava

Chief Information Security Officer, Paul Merchants Finance (P) Ltd.

Deftly Wielding Technology to Face IT Security Concerns

I

ndia is home to the third biggest Start-up ecosystem in the world, adding over 1,300 new Startups in 2019. To say that the pace at which the country has adopted digitalisation across industries is daunting would be an understatement. Every day we see hundreds of new Mobile Apps on our feeds that come with the motive of market penetration, customer service and engagement. The underlying motive of each App is to reach potential customers across geographies and to collect as much data as possible. In this scenario, it is vital to ensure the security of customer’s sensitive data and keep the individual’s privacy intact. The importance of information security becomes even more grave in the Banking and Finance industry.

Apart from these apps, there are scores of online payment channels and technological advancements that have changed the BFSI landscape completely. With UPI, QR Code,

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India is aggressively exploiting new age technologies, paving way for disruptive and transformative shifts

Aadhar-enabled payments, BBPS, API Banking, Video KYC, and Online wallets, giving extreme flexibility and convenience to customers to transact anytime anywhere, how does these translate to information security? More importantly, how does this translate to a BFSI industry player? Although there are several clauses in the IT Act that are intended to protect the data of sensitive nature and constant efforts being made towards firming up the information security framework, it would do an organization good to have an expert on its side.

Shweta Srivastava is one such expert who joined Paul Merchants Finance (P) Ltd as its Chief Information Security Officer in 2017. The word ‘expert’ is not used here in vain, as Shweta is a true expert. A recent testimony would be that within two days of the country’s lockdown announcement, Paul Merchants went digital. The company, two years back, had migrated completely to the cloud with a robust PR & DR setup with a replication set on a realtime basis. Since Paul Merchants’ setup was up and running on the cloud, working from office/home did not change

how these were accessed. This migration helped Shweta and her team in testing the infrastructure and policies in a real-world scenario. Hence, when the lockdown dawned, all she and her team had to do was to ensure computers at the residences of all key employees and ensuring updated virus definitions & other security patches. Shweta proved that a true leader envisions problem before they become emergencies.

A BFSI-Curious Mastermind Shweta had a vested interest in BFSI sector as the sector had seen tremendous growth in past few years, especially with digital payments, which has shown a great breakthrough of technology in payment industry. With Paul Merchants being quite open to new technology and automation tools, Shweta decided that it would be the perfect avenue for her to flex her skillsets and ideas to further both the company, and herself.

Strongly believing in leading by example, Shweta understands that a true leader is one who knows the way,

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We need a strict vigilance mechanism to counter cybercrimes and Computer Emergency Response Teams to keep a check on malicious cyber activities.

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goes the way, and shows the way. Which is why instead of expecting the outcome on assigned goals, she prefers working along with her teammates and taking on the new challenges as a team player to give confidence to her peers. Identifying Delegation, Empowerment, Empathy, and Compassion as the core traits that marks an excellent leader, Shweta says, “I am quite in easy reach in case my support is desired. At the same time, I encourage new ideas and innovations.”

Speaking of the current BFSI trend, she says that the industry has been extremely agile and is not shying of by disruption caused by technology. “The trend is going to continue, and it will be interesting to witness the changes as they touch every single individual of Indian population. India is progressing towards a cashless economy and is aggressively exploiting new age technologies like ICT, AI, ML, Blockchain, Robotics, RPA etc. These developments are highly disruptive and will bring about major transformative shifts in the way industry functions. With adoption of these changes, we cannot undermine the threat posed by it, in terms of cyber-attacks, ransomware, malwares, botnets etc. It calls for a strong security infrastructure and impeccable governance model. We need a strict vigilance mechanism to counter cybercrimes and Computer Emergency Response Teams to keep a check on malicious cyber activities and educating the teams against any vulnerabilities. I personally believe that Technology is not a support function anymore. It plays a vital role in achieving business needs and therefore it is the time that organizations should re-visit their technology landscape and deploy right technologies, tools, processes and people to ensure efficient, effective and productive ways of running the business,” explains Shweta.

Having worked with several people over the years, Shweta takes care to be receptive of the lessons each person has to offer. However, there is one person whom she looks up to. Shweta met this particular maestro in her career’s formative years, working with and learning several lessons from him. “Mr. Gunjan Kumar has been my go-to person for smallest of the issues. I am fortunate enough to have him as my mentor. A very recent advice that I took from him was related to strengthening cybersecurity in times of COVID-19” says Shweta.

A regular of several Newsletters and magazines like TechTarget, ComputerWeekly, SearchCIO.com, Search Security, Express Computer, ETCIO, etc., Shweta admits that it is paramount to stay abreast with the latest developments in the industry and technology. “I

make sure that I read as much as I can, attend webinars, tech discussions, network with industry experts and try to upskill myself whenever possible. Apart from technology, it is also important to be aware of regulatory and statutory changes in the industry. I indulge in deeper discussions with subject matter experts and try to understand the market trends and upcoming trends in the industry,” she says. No wonder, she has won awards like “Champion ‘Tech Woman’ of the Year” by Women Leadership Influencer Awards, ET CIO Annual Conclave Awards 2019, ITNext100 CIO and InfoSec Maestro Award 2019 among several others.

Read, Learn, Evolve When she is not working, Shweta can be found reading.

Although her book collection primarily includes fiction, she loves reading current industry updates as well as about new advancements in technology. “I read articles from different publications as well as follow different groups/pages on online platforms. Especially now, during the lockdown, I try to attend a lot of webinars and fireside chat sessions on subjects relevant to COVID and technology enablement in different sectors.

Recently I completed a crash course on PDPA (Personal Data Protection Data) – India and have joined Indian IT Act Workshop.”

An Executive MBA graduate from IMT Ghaziabad with specialization in Information Technology, Shweta’s thirst of learning and information can be quite visible in the number of Professional Certifications that she has managed to garner over her career period. NamelyPrince2 Foundation & Practitioner, ITIL V3 Foundation, and Project Management from the Symbiosis Institute of Management.

Looking back, Shweta reminisces that the past decade has really been a roller coaster. Having switched industries from healthcare to logistics and then to BFSI, she learnt an important lesson—technology and automation are only enablers. “The real ROI comes only with how efficiently technology is utilized and adopted by the intended user group. As CIO/CTO/CISO, it is vital to understand the business requirements and the pain-areas where technology can add real value. It is the business objectives of digital transformation that define the success of a particular technology solution/tool.

Decision for adoption of any technology should purely be driven by a strong business use case and not because something is trending in the market. ROI achieved by adopting any technology should always be more than the investment towards it” she concludes.

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IN MY

VIEW

How Technology Is Boosting Kirana's Business and Helping Them Sustain in Rough Times Akshat Saxena, Co-Founder, ePayLater

An engineer by qualification from DA-IICT Gandhinagar, Akshat Saxena is a management specialist in Marketing and Information Systems with an MBA degree from the Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (MDI). He cofounded ePayLater - India's first of its kind "Buy now Pay later" checkout service in December 2015. Within a short span of 3 years, ePayLater has been able to establish the concept in Indian market and has also diversified the product portfolio to address a wide array of customer use cases, powered by short term credit. ePayLater today is a strategic partner to the biggest names in the world and is accredited with pioneering innovations. He was awarded the Business world Achiever of the Year award (Top 40 under 40) in Oct 2016 by Business world. He was chosen as one of the top 40 entrepreneurs in India under the age of 40 in the country.

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Many FinTechs not only aid in digital payments but also offer the facilities of automated inventory and catalogue management lifting the load off the retailers to maintain records manually

hat is an idea? An idea is a thought that has the potential of transforming lives. It could be a social initiative, an exemplary invention, or a purely commercial one. However, it is an innovation’s exceptional and unhindered applicability at the time of distress that brings its brilliance to the fore. Driven by technology, such ideas in education, insurance, health, and supply chain management are touching lives and reaching people, globally.

India has over 12 million independent Kirana stores- small to medium size grocery stores that provide essential commodities to its customers.

During COVID-19, the government-mandated nationwide lockdown directed businesses to either implement remote working or suspend their functions temporarily. Viewing the vitality of some services, retailers and behemoths dealing in essential goods and services such as grocers were exempted from the mandate.

Consequently, the lockdown called for a dire need of essential commodities at all places.

Since a large portion of the supply chain in India remains unorganised, the stress came down upon Kirana stores who could not see ample footfall despite great demand. Social distancing and the risk of contracting contagion kept the customers away. But technology came as a saviour, helping Kirana stores transform themselves into new-age retailers.

Fintech, Kirana Bonhomie Since their advent, technology-driven financial Startups not only eased the way payments were made but their collaborations with different business sectors simplified logistics and inventories for retailers as well as individuals.

The cutting-edge technology-driven apps also enable retailers to get insights into how their business is performing. Let’s look at how FinTech technologies are helping Kiranas amidst the coronavirus scare.

Groceries Accessible from The Safe Confines of Home Tech-based collaborations have enabled digitalisation of Kirana stores. This has helped Kiranas to reach out to the customers online,

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The biggest challenge still remains Internet connectivity, with rural India still lagging.

Therefore, not all tech solutions can be introduced as seamlessly as in cities and small towns

take orders and payments, and procure stock from the distributors. The sale of commodities is not restricted to physical footfalls anymore. The digital interface is ensuring business continuity amidst the crisis.

Faster Checkouts and Automated Inventory Refill FinTechs have revolutionised how transactions are made.

Digital payments have eliminated the need for hard cash and long queues at store counters. This reduces the time spent during transactions which can be utilised for other productive purposes and business development.

E-wallets and golden features such as ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ have empowered consumers to make instant and cashless digital transactions.

Many FinTechs not only aid in digital payments but also offer digital credit to Kirana stores to help with faster inventory churns, ensure business continuity and sufficient supply of commodities to dispense at all ends. Moreover, they offer the facilities of automated inventory and catalogue management lifting the load off the retailers to maintain records manually.

Insufficient money cannot restrict the functioning of Kirana stores now. In the wake of the current scenario, faster checkout, and automated stocking remove the risk of contracting contagion.

Ensuring Last-Mile Logistics for Kiranas Collaborations amongst different businesses are helping with contactless delivery, imperative in view of social distancing norms. The concept of online ordering

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portal has empowered neighbourhood Kirana stores with last-mile logistics. Big retailers, food delivery, restaurant aggregators, and e-commerce platforms are sourcing products from Kiranas and/or other retail chains to facilitate home-delivery of essential goods at remote locations.

Big distributors too leverage technological solutions to directly receive orders from the retailers, manage inventories, accept online payments; thereby facilitating the supply chain irrespective of the size or scale of the retailer.

Detect Other Issues to Streamline Supply Chain A major problem that the Kirana stores faced in the past were that of streamlining demand and supply. Now there are a number of Startups who have streamlined the supply chain. Furthermore, such technology-based solutions can also keep a digital and real-time record of supplies and demands. This can help retailers, wholesale, and even concerned government bodies detect issues such as hoarding amongst customers.

Technology is helping Kirana stores to survive tough times. The AI & ML enabled platforms are ensuring seamless demand-supply flow throughout the country.

The biggest challenge, of course, still remains internet connectivity, with rural India still lagging and, therefore, not all tech solutions can be introduced as seamlessly as in cities and small towns. Things have, however, started changing and the neighbourhood kirana is gradually transforming and adapting, especially in crucial times like these.

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EXPERT’S

OPINION

Virtual Reality: Myths and Misconceptions Chaitanya Chinchlikar, Vice President, Whistling Woods International

Chaitanya has a multi-faceted 2-decade career spanning the Film & Creative Arts Industry, Education, Event Management & Chartered Accountancy. Most of it has been spent at Whistling Woods International, India’s premier Film & Creative Arts institution. He is currently a part of the leadership team and serves as Vice President & Business Head of the institute as well as its Chief Technology Officer. He also heads the institute’s efforts to evangelise its education by incorporating emerging technologies into its education, through development labs set up in partnership with global technology giants like Sony, Apple, Google, Reliance Jio and many more. He has acquired a strong understanding of the Indian & global Film & Creative Arts industry and how best to deliver education in the same, as demonstrated through several papers written & analytical presentations made by him. He is an active speaker on topics related to Education, Film Education and the Film, Media & Entertainment industries at key global M&E industry, Technology & Education forums.

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Virtual Reality is one of the most impactful emerging technologies today and is taking massive impactful strides in all fields like education, healthcare, gaming, live entertainment etc

ithout doubt Virtual Reality has been established today as both a highlyimpactful content consumption platform as well as a tool to ease & augment multiple functions undertaken commonly. Education, simulations, deep-sea drilling, treatment of psychological conditions – these are just a few areas which VR has showcased the ability to revolutionise.

The key reason for this is VR’s ability to augment the sense of immersion of the viewer/ user. This is even more impactful today because, in an age when average attention spans are reducing, VR provides a captive individual experience tool, devoid of all distractions and enables focus on just one thing. Such a tool in today’s world, is invaluable!

That said, there are few myths and misconceptions around Virtual Reality that must be addressed.

VR is a new technology Just like cell phones and AI, virtual Reality was invented a long time ago too.

The very first reference of VR can be traced back to the Sensorama in 1957 but the first real captive individual viewing VR headset is ‘The Sword of Damocles’ developed in 1966 by Ivan Sutherland. It had all the basic concepts of our current VR headset that included 3D visuals and audio. To add to an extra effect for an immersive experience, there was a custom device that blew scented air.

The ‘90s witnessed many VR headsets such as CyberMaxx & Jaguar VR. Some of these did not specifically fall within the category of a proper VR headset but were just an extension of stereoscopic 3D technology. The early-to-mid90s also saw the emergence of VR headsets for gaming with both Nintendo & Sega launching their own headsets. Today, we consider all of these as progenitors of our current VR headsets.

Virtual reality headsets can cause headaches and nausea Well, this is not entirely a myth. Just like any technology, VR too, if abused or not used as per instructions, can cause health issues, especially

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for the eyes. Most of the early discomfort however is physiological & emerges from the fact that very few people are used to such a heightened sense of realism coming at them from outside. The sense of immersion (yes, ‘Immersion’ is a sense) oftentimes overpowers other senses like balance & kinesthetic sense causing disorientation.

The body & brain does take some time to recalibrate itself to a reality where the eyes & ears may see & hear things which may seem very real but are not there.

VR technology is meant for gaming and theme park entertainment only Quite the contrary. These are actually the newest uses of VR. While Virtual Reality has completely transformed the gaming and LBE (location-based-entertainment) industry adding an experiential aspect to them that was hitherto missing, the impact of VR is actually felt the greatest in areas of education & training – right from middle school all the way through to complex technological & medical modelling. The immersive & interactive abilities of VR enables deeper learning of concepts by enabling greater focus, even for those with limited visualisation skills.

Airlines, Militaries, Space agencies have all been using VR devices & VR technology for decades now. Police forces around the world are able to better prepare themselves with drills & simulations in VR. VR is also proven to be an excellent tool for PTSD treatment.

VR headsets are super expensive Gone are those days. A mobile-based VR headset costs between Rs 700-1500 (10$20$) and a decent mobile for VR viewing will cost you approximately Rs 15,000 (200$). The premium VR headset prices have crashed from 1000-1500$ in 2018 to 400$ in 2020. Going forward, rates are going to crash even more. There are already multiple VR headsets in the market for as low as Rs 20,000 (250$).

VR discourages physical activity Infact quite the opposite. Given that VR is a frameless environment and content

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is coming at you from all directions, the best VR experience is had standing up and looking around. In a fixed-point-view 360 video, there isn’t much moving around but in a volumetric video experience, one moves around the VR-space as well. Simulations, theme part VR entertainment experiences are considerably physically strenuous. VR Escape Rooms, Virtual Sports and Virtual paintball will make you break a sweat easily.

Also, merging of VR content with physical activities (eg cycling on an exercise bike with visuals of the rider cycling in the mountains) actually enables the person to push themselves to exercise longer as the physical discomfort of exercise is supressed by the immersive VR content.

VR is not Social Given that it is a captive individual experience, it is natural for people to expect VR to be anti-social. While in principle VR will never be able to replicate the feeling of being in the same physical place with other people, however from VR meetings and co-habiting a VR place while consuming content in a immersive experience with digital avatars of your friends – social VR has been deployed in multiple ways. Yes, it will never be like being in the same physical place with people but it can be definitely be ‘social’.

In Conclusion Virtual Reality is one of the most impactful emerging technologies today and is taking massive impactful strides in the fields of education, training, healthcare, gaming, content, live entertainment & other immersive & experiential experiences.

The technology of VR without doubt has a great future. Just like we have done with the mobile phone & the wristwatch, the world will be visionary with VR as well, expanding the areas which it can be used for.

Let’s all remember that when the electron was discovered nobody thought it would be put to any use. But today, the whole world is run on electronics. Who knows what the future holds for Virtual Reality?!

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