India's 10 Most Innovative CTOs to watch in 2022

ANKUR GOEL

Leadership Lessons : Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

Contents

Prasad Palla

Unleashing the Power of Technology

Samit Chakravarty

Creating Opportunities through Innovation

Editor’s Note

Tech Leaders, Spearheading Digital Innovations to Make Significant Breakthroughs

The desire to create the best solution ever inspires the average person to go deeper into innovation by weaving the dream into their daily lives. They inspire others and lead them on the path of technological advancement through their perceptive thinking. In its latest issues, Tycoon Success Magazine brings "India's 10 Most Innovative CTOs to watch in 2022" into the limelight.

They are tech-skilled executives who are the driving force behind their organisations' technological prowess, ensuring the functionality and efficacy of software products. They are managing high-performing teams to produce solutions that enhance the overall business operations of their clients by streamlining processes, boosting productivity, interpreting data, and much more. They have also assisted in guiding their own enterprises through a challenging and unpredictably changing period while managing to not only sustain but occasionally increase growth. They are figures who talk to the aspirants for leadership positions in a language of empowerment. These people have been setting norms for the entire world while in the spotlight.

Technology is a key facilitator and contributor to a business's success. Choosing, implementing, and integrating the appropriate technology is essential for a long-lasting company with a good cash flow. And in each of these procedures, a CTO is crucial. Not only must they be aware of emerging disruptive technologies, but they must also comprehend the risks and opportunities they pose to the company. They collaborate with other departments to identify opportunities for improvement, develop solutions, and even execute them. The role of a chief technology officer is continuously changing along with technology. A C-suite job designated as a CTO is in charge of meeting an organisation's technical needs.

The editors of Tycoon Success Magazine had the joy of crafting these stories, and it is our privilege to celebrate the spirit of innovation that these leaders honour. The editorial team of Tycoon Success Magazine wishes you a pleasant reading experience and welcomes your insightful comments. We would love to hear from you, and your opinion aids us in developing topics that are most important to you. You can contact us at editorial@tycoonsuccess.com for the same.

We would love to learn about your areas of interest so we can write about them in the best way possible.

Cover Story

Dr. Aspi N. Patel

CTO- Aditya Birla Group

A Steadfast Leader Pioneering Innovation

Dr. Aspi N. Patel is an accomplished leader with over three decades of international experience leading various technical, manufacturing, and tech marketing functions in the global textile, chemical, and flooring markets, building products, filtration, and aerospace industries. He has held leadership positions in organizations like GE, DuPont, and Invista and is the present CTO of Aditya Birla Group Mumbai. During his three-decade-long career, Dr. Patel has demonstrated his ability to lead and mentor cross-functional teams with the responsibility of research, development, and commercialization of new products, processes, operations, quality, and customer technical services.

He has developed a reputation for excellence while dealing with various stakeholders thanks to his ability to lead and mentor international cross-functional teams with responsibility for technological development and commercialization of new products, processes, engineering, and manufacturing. Dr. Patel is proficient in developing technology, vision, and strategy, recognizing emerging industry trends, and identifying competitive threats and acquisition opportunities.

Dr. Patel has received several awards and accolades during his long and illustrious career. In 2015, he received the Chairman's Award for Outstanding Leader; most recently, in 2019, he received the prestigious Aditya Birla Group's Leader of Leaders Award for his immense contributions to shaping the organization's technology strategies and for the lasting impact of his leadership.

The Leading Textile Manufacturer

Grasim Industries Limited, a flagship company of the global conglomerate Aditya Birla Group, ranks amongst the top publicly listed companies in India. Established in 1947, Grasim started its journey as a textile manufacturer in India. Now, it has evolved into a leading diversified player with a presence across several sectors. It is a leading global producer of Viscose Stape Fibre and Viscose Filament Yarn, the largest Chlor-Alkali, Epoxy, Linen Yarn, and Fabrics in India.

Recently a team of fiber experts at Birla Cellulose, a unit of Grasim Industries Limited and Australia-based leading research and development company, Nanollose, has filed a joint patent application for a high-tenacity lyocell fiber made from bacterial cellulose. The patent application, titled 'High Tenacity Lyocell Fibres From Bacterial Cellulose and Method of Preparation,' represents a significant advancement over Nanollose's previous viscose versions of nullarbor™ and nufolium™.

"It is potentially a path-breaking innovation that can replace some of the current MMCF feedstock with microbial biomass developed from food and agricultural waste. Birla Cellulose filed a joint patent with Nanollose, where we successfully converted microbial biomass to a high-tenacity lyocell fiber. We are now exploring pathways to scale up this technology from food and agriwaste streams,"- said Dr. Patel.

Pioneering Environmental Control Technologies

Birla Cellulose's approach involves the development of innovative solutions to increase circularity, resource efficiency and minimize environmental footprint. For example, Birla Cellulose's work on chemical recovery from waste streams has led to the development of a new membrane distillation process that can use up to 50% less energy than the existing process, which has a significant impact on lowering GHG emissions. There is also a new process in development for recovering low-concentration zinc from waste streams and recycling it back into the process. Over the past few years, the organization's intense focus on recycling has reduced chemical consumption by an annualized rate of 5% to 7%.

Birla Cellulose is the first manmade cellulosic fiber (MMCF) producer to have achieved Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) in the viscose and lyocell process. Although MMCF manufacturing is water-intensive, Birla Cellulose has become a global leader regarding the lowest water consumption per ton of cellulosic fiber. At one of its plants, Birla Cellulose recently completed a Zero Liquid Discharge (ZLD) project that essentially eliminated all liquid discharge. This is an entirely new development, as no existing ZLD technology was available to treat viscose and lyocell effluent along with high organic and inorganic content, dissolved solids, and hardness. Birla Cellulose has also developed and commercialized the process in a way that the salts extracted from ZLD are of sufficient purity for reuse in industrial applications.

Building a Sustainable World

Grasim and Birla Cellulose's business strategy and organizational culture are both fundamentally based on sustainability. They have a long-term commitment to building a sustainable business that is in line with their sustainability model, which is

based on identifying risks and opportunities, mitigating risks, inclusive growth of all their stakeholders, building transparency in the process, and public disclosure of commitments.

Future Aspirations

As a global conglomerate, Aditya Birla Group is governed by a robust set of unifying values with a vision of creating value for all stakeholders. The organization seeks to be a leader in the industries it serves, with a focus on the following;

● Excellence in Quality

● Sustainability across the value chainImplementing measures to continuously improve consumption ratios, reduce water usage and greenhouse gas emissions.

● Customer centricity- Understanding customer expectations and obligations to convert them into meaningful long-term partnerships for shared benefits and goals.

● Responsible governance- Creating sustainable employment, stimulating economic growth, and creating positive value for all our stakeholders, including investors, customers, employees, surrounding communities, and society at large.

Unleashing the Power of Technology

Prasad G Palla is a technology executive bringing new business strategies to life through the application of people and technology. With over two decades of experience in technology at leading global enterprises and early-stage companies, Prasad now serves as the Chief Technical Officer at Mahindra First Choice Wheels Ltd, which is India’s largest used auto platform business organizing the market by demand and supply. Presently Mahindra First Choice has the largest pan-India used car retailing network and several fast-growing partnerships to procure used vehicles efficiently.

Since the start of his career, Prasad has led several digital transformation initiatives across multiple companies to leverage technology for new solutions and enable data-driven decision-making. He has also managed technology teams across 8 different countries and set up a 200+ engineering team in India, which consistently ranked among the most motivated teams in multiple internal surveys, with a lesser attrition rate than the industry standard.

Prasad started his career with i2 Technologies and went on to serve several other companies like Microsoft corporation, Talisma, Ocwen Financial Solutions, Informatica, Avagmah, and QS Quacquarelli Symonds. He played a key role in the core company leadership at Informatica, Avagmah, and QS. In 2013, he moved back from the U.S. to India to establish Quark Science and Technologies, a science education company to provide world-class science education at affordable prices for lower-middle-class Indian students. However, after spending two years on his venture, Prasad moved back to the technology sector and joined Avagmah as its CTO.

Currently, at Mahindra First Choice, Prasad is a part of the management committee and the group-level Technology Leadership team for the 19 billion Mahindra Group of Companies.

“Mahindra is one of the most respected brands in India and has the highest levels of trust and integrity as part of the work ethic. I relish working in such an environment,”- he said. “This company is at an inflection point and has started a journey to leverage technology to become the dominant player in the market. This is an exciting opportunity for me as the CTO of the organization.”

Over the years, Prasad and the products he managed have received several awards, including, SIIA CODiE Award, Startup 50 best technology award, Informatica R&D Innovation Prize, Informatica Cloud- Excellence Award, Informatica Cloud- Extreme customer focus award, Informatica R&D labs award, Truss Award etc.

Serving the Growing Automotive Sector of India

Mahindra First Choice Wheels is one of the key companies of the Mahindra Group, which is a $19 billion conglomerate. It operates in after-market services of the automotive sector and is mainly focused on the used car industry, which is a largely unorganized sector in India, with a market size of around $23 billion.

Mahindra First Choice is working on organizing the used car market by aggregating demand and supply by leveraging technology.

Currently, it has the largest pan- India used car retailing network, large and fast-growing partnerships to procure used vehicles efficiently, and the major share of the enterprise solutions market for banks, NBFCs, OEMs, and insurance companies.

Mahindra First Choice now offers various services, including used car sales and procurement, E-commerce for new and used vehicles, support for launching electric vehicles, yard management solutions, auto inspections, an auction portal for sales and procurement of vehicles, India Blue Book, and Carandbike, a major Autoportal in India.

Creating a Sustainable Model

Currently valued at $23 billion, the used car market in India is projected to grow at the double the rate at a CAGR of 19.5% till FY 2026-2027. Key factors contributing to this massive growth in the next few years are the rising middle class and the growing youth population. This massive growth in the used car market has prompted multiple organizations to enter the sector. However, the primary issue with the used car market in the country is the lack of organized players. The unorganized and Semi Organized participants take up nearly 45% of the total market share, and Consumer to Consumer sales take up 35%, leaving only 15% market share for the organized sector, which often leads to a highly supply-constrained market. This also means there are no set standards for vehicle inspection, and the price of a car gets determined in an ad-hoc manner with little or no clarity. In most cases, buyers are robbed of the satisfaction and excitement of getting a fully certified car with a detailed inspection.

So, Mahindra First Choice strives to transform the used car landscape in India by making transactions simple, efficient, transparent, and equitable.

“Most of our competitors do not have a good revenue model and rely on investor money to scale operations and become profitable. This might not be a sustainable model in the current macroeconomic environment,”- explained Prasad. “Mahindra first choice has multiple businesses that are generating revenues and can create an organic growth engine for the company to grow in a reliable and organic way. It is also backed by Mahindra, which inherently adds trust to the customers.”

Looking at the Future

Mahindra First Choice aspires to become the most customer-centric auto tech company. As the CTO of the organization, Prasad is working on creating a series of digital transformation steps to integrate the islands of technologies and operations and create an efficient suite of applications, built technology platforms that allow for agility for operations and automate a lot of repetitive tasks, standardize the data definitions and build a data platform for data-driven decision making at every stage, and develop the teams into agile and self-managed squads to speed up development.

The reward for work well done is the opportunity to do more ”

Chief

One Point One Solutions

Samit Chakravarty

Technology and Information Officer

Creating Opportunities through Innovation

Meet Samit Chakravarty, the Chief Technology and Information Officer at One Point One Solutions, a market leader in business process management (BPM). Samit's propensity for innovation has brought several technical developments to life. He oversees all technology needs for the business, including the network, customised CRM, and in-house dialer. Additionally, Samit has taken up the virtualization of all company assets to provide consistent and scalable software services delivery, business intelligence, and security systems.

"I am passionate about technology, innovation, and big challenging tasks on my to-do list, and I believe in pushing the boundaries of customer experience by leveraging tech innovations. One Point One Solutions' vision to upscale customer experience each day with technology has been inspiring; to be part of this vision & grow together has been the driving factor,"- explained Samit.

Incepted in 2006, One Point One Solutions offer technology, accounting, skill development, and analytical solutions that help businesses build better capabilities and enable them to achieve seamless growth. It serves various industries, including Telecom and Broadcasting, Retail and E-Commerce, Consumer Durables & FMCG, Banking and Finance, Travel, Hospitality, and Insurance. The organisation has five service centers across Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon, Indore, and Bangalore, with over 5,500 seats per shift basis. One Point One Solutions also offers customer care, lead generation, content management, voice analytics, accounts payable and receivable, SME Management, predictive analytics, Chatbots, IVR, voice analytics, and E-mail management.

One Point One got listed in 2017 and currently boasts more than 40 leading clientele across several sectors. Recently it has also entered into a strategic partnership with Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) to target potential clients in the MENA region and other international geographies.

Standing Apart

One Point One's team of more than 5,500 young and dynamic professionals is led by industry veterans with decades of experience across various sectors and verticals. This enables the company to provide solutions across industries that support and deliver realistic requirements with a great combination of people and technology. One Point One exposes itself to several different market segments, which allows it to help clients achieve increased market share, improved sales, and higher CSAT while reducing the cost of acquisition. The organisation's contextual knowledge across industries has enabled it to implement best practices and deliver better value to its clients.

Employee Wellbeing

Samit and his team at One Point One believe employees are the true assets of an organisation, and skilled, motivated, empowered employees drive better results. Thus, One Point One strives to bring out the best in them and help align their long-term personal goals with the organization's strategic objectives. It overhauled its performance enhancement process to provide them with augmented learning and development opportunities.

"Our employees continue to get hands-on experience in emerging technologies as they are

part of our work streams. We also help them upskill or reskill in using new technologies through various training programmes. We believe these efforts will help them to upscale themselves and the organisation,"- explained Samit.

Looking at the Future

"We pride ourselves as an organisation that is extremely sensitive to our clients' goals and strives to achieve and sail through these trying times with agility and adaptability,"- said Samit. One Point One's cognitive assets, coupled with operational excellence, have been able to map the journey in the business operations with precise segmentation. By harnessing the power of technology adaptation like Artificial Intelligence, Omni channel solutions at all touchpoints, Social Media governance, Cloud system and communication, Unified communication, Hyper automated systems, etc., One Point One optimizes product development for its clients and helps them lead on the curve of innovation. With the help of AI, the organisation can accelerate growth & achieve better results in client's project delivery by including RPA (Robotic Process Automation), Chatbots, etc.

“ Reinventing customer experience with digital-first is definitely the way forward and is the new battleground. At One Point One Solutions, we strive to provide proactive, tailored, and scalable customer experience with the most superior tech solutions. “

Leadership Lessons : Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

I have had the privilege of being the country manager for Poly India & SAARC for over 3 years and one of my biggest learnings so far is : become comfortable with being uncomfortable. As a business leader, you will have to be decisive, take tough decisions (and stand by them) and see how you motivate your team to achieve the best outcomes.

If I could impart five tips and learnings from my personal leadership journey, it would be :

Take that giant leap of faith. You never know; it might just be worth it, and the decision to make that jump may end up changing your life and career.

Often, growth happens when we step outside our comfort zone. Have conviction and self-belief in yourself and your abilities, and take a giant leap of faith when you are presented with an opportunity. It maybe scary at first and you may even end up failing, however, you would have had the satisfaction of having tried.

Give in your 100%, no matter what you are doing

Like the Bhagavad Gita also says, “The wise man lets go of all the results, whether good or bad, and is focused on the action alone.”

I want to take this a step further and modify it by saying, give it your 100%, whatever actions you perform, personal or professional, give it your all, and whenever you do this, despite the fact that you may not get your most desirable or ideal outcome, the results still won’t be half as bad because your hard work and efforts never go to waste.

Master the art of intrinsic motivation

Even when no one else is watching you, or there is no one to support you or push you to deliver your best, you owe it to yourself to discover your own potential. When you learn to motivate and push yourself without any external motivators like a manager watching over you or even when there are no sales numbers or deliverables that are attached to your performance, is when you have become a true leader and a great performer.

To be a good leader, you need to learn to lead with your head, heart, and hands.

The head to envision the future and the priorities that are needed to succeed, the heart to inspire and empower my employees and the hands to ensure innovative and agile-execution capabilities.

Be decisive, loyal and committed

As a leader, you will have to sometimes make tough decisions. Make these decisions and stick by them. There is no shortcut to hard work; learn about loyalty and commitment and embody its principles. Be loyal and committed to your organisation, customers, and partners. Always put yourself in your customers’ shoes and think about their pain points and how you can support them. Be committed not just to your own professional growth but also to the organisation’s overall growth and success.

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Remember, in the end, we will only regret the chances that we didn’t take ”

ANKUR GOEL