Founder
Founder
& CEO, ProjectInternationalLifesaver
Scott
Bernard
Martin-ImmanuelLambaBittner
Boodeea Founder & CEO, Life Intelligence Group Louis Tetu CEO &CoveoChairman, Bernard Boodeea Louis Têtu Gene Saunders
Podolak
Scott
1 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 INSIGHTS. IDEAS. INSPIRATIONS GLOBAL EDITION AUGUST 2022
Martin-Immanuel Bittner
Saunders
Ham PinpointCEO,Predictive
Lamba
Rajiv
Co-Founder & CEO, Arctoris
& SurveySensumCEO, Brian Podolak CEO &VocodiaCo-Founder,
Brian
Gene
Ham Rajiv
Switzerland istockphoto.com/KvdB50
mustvisitdestinations.com
4 CXOCXO August 2022May 2020 GET THE MOBILE ISSUE Most Inspiring Leaders in AI-ML Industry - 2022 CXO Outlook is a digital magazine published by Connecta Innovation Private Limited. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in the content and pictures provided 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 and we do not assume any responsibility. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for the advertisements, its content, pictures, and all representation of warranties made in such advertisements are those of the advertisers and not of the publisher. CXO Outlook is a Free Subscription digital magazine strictly not for sale and has to be strictly for internal private use only. Publisher does not assume any responsibility arising out of anyone printing copy of this digital magazine in any format and in any country and all matters related to that. August 2022 Vol - 3 Issue - 11 Free Subscription www.cxooutlook.com InternationalAmericasRepresentation Connecta Global LLC 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, DE USA19958, Europe Connecta Global Ltd. 27, Old Gloucester Street, London, WC1N 3AX, UK Middle East Focus Innovation Technologies FZE P.O. Box 48299, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, UAE Asia-Pacific Connecta Innovation Pvt. Ltd. Ramanashree Arcade, 18 MG Road, Bangalore –India560001, Head of Advisory Board Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D Managing Editor Sarath Shyam Consultant Editors Editorial Enquiry: admin@cxooutloo.com Art & Design Charlie Jameson Sales & Marketing Sales Enquiry: admin@cxooutlook.com Dr. JohnyAndrewAndrewsScottJosephAlex Naomi Wilson Stanly Lui Emma James JenniferRachelAndersonRoy Monica Davis Anna Elza
According to Zion Market Research study, the global AI market was valued at nearly USD 59.67 billion in 2021 and is estimated to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 39.4 per cent to reach USD 422.37 billion by 2028. As per the report, the market in the Asia Pacific is likely to develop at the fastest CAGR during the projected period. The use of AI services in major end-user sectors, including healthcare, manufacturing, and automotive in nations like China, Japan, South Korea, and Australia, has fueled this expansion. In the coming years, AI/ML will clearly emerge as a powerful, transformative technology that can provide enormous value in any industry.
Sarath Shyam
A rtificial intelligence is not an alien concept anymore. Since it was first coined at Dartmouth College in 1956 by cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky, AI as a future technology has grown tremendously. Today, we are surrounded by AI. From assistants such as Amazon's Alexa to the internet predicting what we may like to buy next and self-driving cars, AI is found everywhere. Helping AI machines to learn and develop over time is Machine Learning (ML) algorithms. In a modern business scenario, AI and ML allow organisations to extract value from the troves of data they collect, delivering business insights, automating tasks and advancing system capabilities. Undoubtedly, AI/ML has the potential to transform all aspects of a business by helping them achieve measurable outcomes.
5 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
The MarketNew-AgeLeaders
To celebrate the success of business leaders helping the AI/ML industry reach new heights, we have developed a special issue featuring the 10 Most Inspiring Leaders in AI-ML Industry2022. In this issue, we have identified the world's most respected executives, entrepreneurs, and innovators in the AI-ML industry and shared their exclusive success stories. We hope our initiative will help business leaders looking to know more about the trends in emerging markets like AI-ML.
Enjoy Reading.
6 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022 Founder & CEO, Life Intelligence Group BERNARD BOODEEA A Disruptive Leader Giving New Dimensions to Success & Well-being 24 CEO &VocodiaCo-Founder, BRIAN PODOLAK Leading the Conversational AI Revolution 36 Founder & CEO, Project Lifesaver International GENE SAUNDERS Making Individuals with Cognitive Conditions Feel Safer 42 CONTENTS
7 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Founder & SurveySensumCEO, RAJIV LAMBA A Visionary Leader Disrupting the Market Research Landscape 76 PinpointCEO,Predictive SCOTT HAM Harnessing the Power of Deep Learning to Advance the Insurance Industry 82 Co-Founder & CEO, Arctoris MARTIN-IMMANUELBITTNER Leveraging AI to Bring About a Paradigm Shift in the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Industry 66 CEO &CoveoChairman, LOUIS TÊTU Providing Better AI Accessibility to Businesses of Every Size 52
8 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 How AI and Data Science is Helping to Solve Real Life Problems Emma InternationalPayne,RecruitmentManager,GlobalEngagement,UniversityofHull 12 Watch out for these 5 in 2022: Tech Trends Transforming iGaming Dmitry Belianin, Chief Commercial Officer, Parimatch International 30 IN MY VIEW CONTENTS
9 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 SolvingEntrepreneurship:theProblem Shaik Waseem, Senior Entrepreneur Educator, Wadhwani Foundation 16 How DisruptsBlockchainRealEstate? Waqas Nakwa, Chief Executive AqarChain.ioOfficer, 48 AI PlatformLow-code/No-codeTrendstoWatch SagarPrimathonCEO,Patidar, 72 What’s the Future of Conversational AI? Praful Krishna, Chief ProductHaptikOfficer, 88 EXPERT OPINION
10 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 How New Age AI has Created a Need for Skilled Workforce A.R. Ramesh, Director- Managed Services & Professional Staffing, Adecco India 92 Web 4.0 and Sustainability Have the Potential to Take the Indian Biotechnology Industry to a Global Level Raghavendra Goud Vaggu, General Manager, Cytiva South Asia 60 Making Smarter, Faster Decisions: Breakthrough Insights Powered by AI Raj AlphaSenseCo-FounderNeervannan,&CTO,Technology India 96 LEADER’S INSIGHTS CONTENTS
Emma Payne, International Recruitment Manager, Global Engagement, University of Hull IN MY VIEW T he evolution of technology has made human life relatively simpler than ever. In this age and time, science has a solution for all processes, be it autocorrect in our phones or grammar software on our desktop. All of these wonders have been made possible because of the fundamentals of artificial intelligence. The concept of artificial intelligence may be lesser known to a multitude of people but it is applied in almost every part of our day to day lives. Artificial intelligence is a combination of experiences that are taught to machines through machine learning and programming. Artificial intelligence is supported bythe rich mine of data science and machine learning made readily available to enhance human lives. Data science on the other side is the ability to understand, analyze, process and extract value from a given data. The term was coined in 2008 when corporates gradually realized the importance of data in this ever evolving technological world. It has been projected that by 2025, both theses In the new world order, especially after the pandemic, the demand for data sciences and artificial intelligence professionals has growninitscorroboratingexponentiallywideusagegivingreallife solutions
12 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
HOW AI AND DATA SCIENCE IS HELPING TO SOLVE REAL PROBLEMSLIFE
13 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Emma Payne has worked in international higher education for 16 years in various roles, for the majority student recruitment. Emma’s genuine warmth and passion about study in the UK comes through especially when speaking to students about their futures. Emma’s empathetic and sincere nature comes from her intercultural communication abilities to support students on a daily basis. Emma is from the UK and lives in the city of Hull, she loves travelling to India and misses the people when in the UK. She currently works as an International Recruitment Manager for South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa in the Global Student Recruitment Office at the University of Hull.
Several colleges and universities are offering undergraduate, postgraduate and advance level engineering courses in data science and artificial intelligence based on the demand these applications have garnered.
The use of artificial intelligence in our daily lives is best explained by our smart assistants. Be it to check the weather, the traffic in the morning on our wayto work or to track our steps of the day, we are highly dependent on our smart phone assistants. Artificial intelligence has made this possible to interact with a digital system and avail assistance at every level. Artificial intelligence in healthcare
Smart Assistants
The pandemic on one hand showed us the importance of building a strong health infrastructure, and on the other it also led to the creation of digital health solutions. Several startups in the health sector kick-started in healthcare sub domains that are using artificial intelligence to aid human lives. Some of these are designed for the consumer directly and the other group for healthcare workers, covering a wide range of solutions. Hospitals have also stated making use of AI powered software to register inventories and manage patients.
The rise in Saas based products Saas (software as a service) is providing solutions for a wide variety of everyday problems. Beginning from cab booking services like Uber and Ola to food booking through a QR code powered menus, every solution is Saas based supported by artificial intelligence. These software services are also providing some bigger solutions in the domain of HR management and corporate operations. Touching downon the primary sector of agriculture, Saas based solutions are even helping farmers to track down various aspects of farming and how to make it better.
Ecommerce It has taken two decades for online shopping to come into existence. However, the pandemic era has seen the peak of online shopping. With giants like Amazon making deliveries in one-to-two days to essential deliveries in 10 minutes, artificial intelligence is assisting consumers to make sound shopping choices. These days several shopping sites are helping consumers with personalized stylists and real time application of the product to increase its desirability. These days artificial intelligence has evolved to fit our customized needs. The e-commerce apps analyze the data of your previous shopping experience and based on that suggests you similar or complimentary items that can work well with the item you are purchasing.
14 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 interdependent fields will impact human life in all aspects. In the new world order, especially after the pandemic, the demand for data sciences and artificial intelligence professionals has grown exponentially corroborating its wide usage in giving real life solutions. Data science and artificial intelligence are amongst the hottest brewing career options of the 21st century because of its wide ranging applications that touches human life even on a microscopic level.
choices
15 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
in 10 minutes, artificial intelligence is consumersassistingtomakesoundshopping
There are several websites and software that can help you in debunking fake news and doctored visual and audio material. Fact checkers make use of these tools to identify real news and stop the spread of disinformation. There are separate tools used for tracking the gravity of news, special tools for understanding photo shopped pictures and doctored videos. The sense of consuming real news has also ignited in consumers and they can spot such differences when it comes to news consumption. These tools are easy to use and anyone can use it to assess the gravity of news. These aspects are a few of those which are touched by artificial intelligence and data science on an everyday basis. Artificial intelligence and data science see new evolutionary changes every day which are touching human lives in new ways.
From voice assistants to smart satellites, artificial intelligence as new technology is being used in a wide range. In India, a 20% jump is noted in the rise of AI professionals indicating towards India’s readiness to amplify the usage of artificial intelligence further.
With giants like Amazon
essentialdeliveriesmakinginone-to-twodaystodeliveries
It is about time, when home automation and internet of things are flagging off big time smart homes are the next best innovation in the field of artificial intelligence. Smart home access of all appliances becomes available through remote access over the internet. In this ecosystem, all functions depend upon the data which is ultimately analyzed by data scientists and converted into artificial intelligence. Home automation and smart homes are becoming increasingly common this has raised the usage of artificial intelligence in human interaction. Fighting disinformation
Smart homes
16 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Entrepreneurship: Solving the Problem Shaik Waseem, Senior Entrepreneur Educator, Wadhwani Foundation EXPERT OPINION
Identifying the problem is very necessary as it connects the thinking ability of an entrepreneur from the market to the consumer directly. He
Mr. Shaik Waseem is a Senior
ntrepreneurship is the term that is usually misunderstood by the common masses as unemployment, while in reality, it is an ability to develop, organize and run a business. But the time has changed a lot during two decades with the introduction of Made in India, Start-up India, Stand up India, and Atal Innovation Mission. These innovative steps have been introduced for empowerment of entrepreneurship by the emergence of IT and technology development. These missions help in guiding start-up ideas as well as help in their respective funding to their launch in market.
E
prettyWillowsuccessfulunderissueswhohelpingknowledgeunavailabilitythehisgoalisstartupinspire,governments,globallyFoundation,EducatorEntrepreneuratWadhwaniwhoworksinpartnershipwithfoundations,corporations,andeducationalinstitutestoeducate,andenableentrepreneurs.Heazestful,energeticanddrivenpersonality.Inyoungcollegedays,latterhadanamazingstartupideabutduetoofcompleteofthemarketheinsteaddecidedtobeahandtothepeoplewerefacingthesameregardingstartupsthatheusedtohave.Now,thementorshipofMr.ShaikWaseemnumerousstart-upslike2WheelR,chef@homeandtalehavebeendoingwellforthemselves.
17 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
The concept of business does not arise just by selling a product into the market, it arises long before the same. It is the place where entrepreneur plays a part in it. The mindset of an entrepreneur thinks more dimensionally and conceptually than that of a businessman. Entrepreneurship is more about innovative ideas for the betterment of life, it is different from business in terms of taking responsibility and no greed of making excessive revenue from their product, you can also consider entrepreneurship as the first or fundamental step for initiating a business. Business is like investment of energy, resources and technology on the existing model, while, entrepreneurship is the investment of energy, resources and technology on building up a novel product from scratch. While both the ways are joined in the end by launching their product into the market and making a profit from the same. Entrepreneurship arises by identifying the problem, which is not easy in the first place.
While describing the value proposition of the product, above mentioned customer surveys comes in handy. They help in describing what are the actual pains of the customer they want to eradicate, and what are there expected gains from the product. Evaluation of these surveys helps in designing the product more accurately and leads to its launching into the market for Launchingtesting. a product into the market doesn’t generate revenue, but regular feedback from the customers is also required to modify the product so that it will be always in a demand. Creating a customer persona is the easiest way to connect to customers for complete feedback. These customer personas include various driving forces like early adaptors, they easily adapt to any new product from the market even if it is required by them or not just for the sake of technology. Later the product is analyzed by the majority of the consumers.
Identificationsolution.starts by observing the root cause of a problem by stating the problem, it should be detailed, clear and specific about the circumstances, behaviors, and social and emotional impact which is making it a problem. This could be easily achieved by taking customer’s polls, surveys, and perspectives on the problem. Direct connection with the customer is very crucial for finding the root cause. It could be achieved by analyzing the subsequent market according to the demand, resources, investors and technology.
• Business & Execution Capability
18 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 needs to understand whether the problem is worth solving or not, as not all problems require a
• Product • Market
Analyzing the market is a very crucial step when it comes to solving the problem and choosing right market for your product is a tedious job in itself. Market is generally not that simple as we have observed it, it has its various components which includes investors, demand and technology which decides future of any certain product. As entrepreneurs have limited resources, hence segmentation of market is required which can be demographic, psychographic, geographic and behavioral. This process of segmentation helps the entrepreneur in order to modify their product which is needed by the consumers. Here, comes an important criteria for testing some assumptions regarding the product which is sometimes termed as testing risky
Testingassumptions.riskyassumptions is another way to dig the market in correlation to your product as we had identified the root cause of problem. It simply includes the various hypothesis which could affect the product performance, it could be either over estimation of the market size, lack of product performance or under/over estimation of competitors. These assumptions help to get a better view of market as sometimes the assumptions are neglected while sometimes they are not. There are three buckets that your main assumptions are going to fall under:
Product building and performance is decided by three circles ie; Desirability, Viability and Feasibility, their intersect creates a sweet spot which makes the product to be effective. Entrepreneurs build a product which is beneficial to the customer in a specific way in which he had analyzed the problem statement.
20 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Headquarters: Florida, USA About the Company: Vocodia is poised to explode on the scene with a next-generation conversational AI that promises to disrupt the contact centre industry.
Website: https://www.lifeintelligencegroup.com/ Website: https://vocodia.com/ IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022
Brian Podolak
Bernard Boodeea
Founder & CEO, Intelligence Group CEO, Vocodia
Headquarters: New South Wales, Australia About the Company: Life Intelligence Group is a technology company established in 2018 with a vision to use the power of AI and Machine Learning to help individuals, teams, and businesses to optimise their capacity for success and wellness.
Life
Headquarters: Quebec, Canada About the Company: Coveo combines unified search, analytics and machine learning to deliver relevant information and recommendations across every business interaction, making websites, eCommerce, contact centres and intranets. effortless and efficient.
Headquarters: North Carolina, USA About the Company: Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys is an advanced all-in-one DLP solution for Windows, macOS, and Linux, that puts an end to unintentional data leaks, protects from malicious data theft and offers seamless control of portable storage devices.
21 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Louis Tetu Channel Manager, Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys Founder & CEO, Project Lifesaver International Managing Director APAC & EMEA, Park Place Technologies CEO &CoveoChairman, Website: https://www.endpointprotector.com/ Website: https://www.parkplacetechnologies.com/ Website: https://www.coveo.com/en Website: https://projectlifesaver.org/
Headquarters: Florida, US About the Company: Project Lifesaver is a 501 (C)(3) community-based, public safety, a non-profit organisation that provides law enforcement, fire/rescue, and caregivers with a program designed to protect and, when necessary, quickly locate individuals with cognitive disorders who are prone to the life-threatening behaviour of wandering.
Ian Shearer
Filip Cotfas Gene Saunders
Headquarters: Ohio, USA About the Company: Park Place Technologies optimises data centre and networking Uptime and performance worldwide via a comprehensive portfolio of IT services and products.
Headquarters: New York, USA About the Company: SurveySensum’s AI-Enabled Customer Experience Management Platform enables businesses to create efficient, innovative, and interactive surveys, send it across multiple channels to gather valuable customer feedback with a better response rate and turn these into actionable business insights.
Martin-Immanuel Bittner Rajiv Lamba
Headquarters: California, USA About the Company: Pinpoint's turnkey platform allows insurers to compliantly leverage unmatched risk selection at the very beginning of the customer journey.
Scott Ham Tim Zheng Co-Founder and CEO, Arctoris Founder & SurveySensumCEO, PinpointCEO,Predictive CEO & Apollo.ioFounder, Website: https://www.arctoris.com/ Website: https://pinpointpredictive.com/ Website: https://apollo.io/ Website: https://www.surveysensum.com/
Headquarters: Oxford, United Kingdom About the Company: Arctoris combines its unique automation platform, Ulysses, with advanced computational approaches and a world-class team of seasoned drug hunters to guide and rapidly progress its wholly owned and partnered drug discovery programs in oncology and neurology.
22 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Headquarters: California, USA About the Company: Apollo is an all-in-one sales intelligence platform with tools to help you prospect, engage, and drive more revenue.
23 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Want to Sell or find Investor for Business?your
IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022
F rom starting his own IT consulting firm at the age of 24 to leading teams towards winning awards as an Agile Coach to founding his own AI/ML-driven company, Bernard Boodeea’s (Founder & CEO, Life Intelligence Group) professional journey is a testament to his passion, commitment, aspiration, and hard work.
BERNARD BOODEEA
A Disruptive Leader Giving New Dimensions to Success & Well-being
FOUNDER & CEO, LIFE INTELLIGENCE GROUP
24 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Taking the First Step Towards Entrepreneurship Bernard is a Scaled Agile Program Consultant who has an extensive experience in training leaders, change agents, consultants, and team members to drive a Lean-Agile transformation at an enterprise scale. During one of his sessions, Bernard's students wanted to apply the mindset of agile transformation to their personal lives. However, when the students were told to use the same tools they practice at work in a day-to-day context, they found it timeconsuming and complex. Bernard noted their issues and dug deep to find out that 20% of people who have goals stick to them for more than a month, but only 8% achieve their goals.
Most start-ups focus on solving one problem in people's lives. However, Life Intelligence Group is taking a big risk in building a platform that addresses a mindset change impacting multiple parts of their lives
25 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Bernard Boodeea, Founder & CEO, Life Intelligence Group
“Thisthemselves.iswhere I decided to refresh Lifetime PA with the latest technology, which is now TaskSpur and Ari under the Life Intelligence Group umbrella,” adds the spirited Agile Programmer, Bernard. In 2018, Life Intelligence Group was established with a mission to provide an Artificial Intelligence Assistant that will learn and understand users to motivate them to stay on track in life, save time and money, and reduce stress. How does TaskSpur & Ari help clients Improve Personal Success? Life Intelligence Group uses the power of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to help individuals, teams, and businesses optimize their capacity for success and wellness. Users get a secure platform, TaskSpur, where they can add their goals
In 2012, Bernard was going through a turbulent phase on the personal front while immigrating to Australia. “To help me stay on track, I built a tool called Lifetime PA (Lifetime Personal Assistant) to take care of my personal life, a new career in Australia, finances impacted by the relocation, and both mental and physical health,” says Bernard. The aim of this tool was to help him cope with all these challenges and have a personal assistant to maintain his focus using the Agile mindset. After showing this tool to his students, Bernard received boosting feedback from them, who showed a preference for using it in their personal lives
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What makes Life Intelligence Group unique in the AI-ML Market?
27 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 and tasks and have an Intelligent Assistant, Ari to help them go through their day. Below expound TaskSpur & Ari work.
"Most start-ups focus on solving one problem in people's lives. However, Life Intelligence Group is taking a big risk in building a platform that addresses a mindset change impacting multiple parts of their lives,” says Founder & CEO. Right now, Life Intelligence Group’s biggest challenge is to make people understand how technology can simplify their lives and amplify their productivity. On an optimistic note, Bernard and his team are up Today, with over 20 years of building
TaskSpur: It is an easy-to-use goal management app that combines Agile practices and a unique AI solution for a personalized user experience. Users get to create a goal or task in less than 1 minute and plan their entire day in 5 mins. In this way, clients can achieve goals and strike a delicate balance in all aspects of life: personal, work, health, and finance. Moreover, TaskSpur has an inbuilt text and voice-activated AI designed to help users build the habit of getting things done everyAri:day.Itis a unique AI tool with ML designed to collect data to continuously improve the user experience and be the ultimate digital assistant. Currently housed within TaskSpur, Ari can also be licensed and customized for clients’ businesses providing ML & AI integration, military-grade data security with de-identified user data, and enhanced customer experience on users’ mobile or web app.
performingmasteredleadingapplicationsworld-firstandprojects,Bernardhastheartofbuildinghigh-teams
Celebrating the Milestones Bernard has garnered praise and recognition throughout his professional journey in the software development industry. To name some of his personal achievements, Bernard completed his MBA Degree Program in Entrepreneurship, followed by the Entrepreneurship Acceleration Program, and Newchip Accelerator Program. Furthermore, Life Intelligence Group has created a buzz in the marketplace with its disruptive AI-based applications, viz
Lessons Learned from the Past
“It always takes time to adapt and stick to new habits, but the outcome is rewarding. This is where I believe we are unique,” Bernard continues.
28 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 for this challenge of making people change their mindset to focus on what is important in their lives and make technology work for them.
As an Agile Coach, Bernard believes that anyone can be trained, except each individual has a different pattern and pace of learning. “But if you are an entrepreneur, this can destroy your business as funding is limited, and you cannot afford to delay releases.” At the end of the day, leaders must be able to distinguish between loyal and job-hopping employees. It is also imperative to have a team that will stick with the company during its good and bad times. Therefore, one of the most crucial takeaway lessons that Bernard has learned is to 'hire slow and fireToday,fast.’ with over 20 years of building world-first applications and leading projects, Bernard has mastered the art of building highperforming teams. As the Founder & CEO of Life Intelligence Group, he is technically proficient in guiding, helping, and motivating his employees to create unique products.
“If you are a B2C product, then make sure that you collect enough data to understand your users' behavior and not quickly categorize the user,” asserts Bernard. Furthermore, he also recommends aspirants to have a strategy for abnormal behaviors and to avoid skewing their data until they understand the abnormality.
29 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 TaskSpur® and Ari. In December 2021, Corporate Vision awarded Ari the Most Innovative Artificial Intelligence Engine, while TaskSpur won the Best Success Planning Solution award. This year, Life Intelligence Group reached the milepost of 500 active users and also successfully implemented the first version of its rewards program.
In addition, as the Founder & CEO of Life Intelligence Group, Bernard’s longterm vision is to provide the users with a place they trust and their first go-to place to get guidance and recommendation to stay productive in life.
Presently, Bernard and his team are aiming toward some exciting goals for Life Intelligence Group. Some of them include implementing goal templates to help their users plan their life milestones easily and quicker, providing relevant products and services to their users based on their goals, personalizing Ari to provide a better onboarding experience, agile mindset training, and smarter guidance, and implementing their token and blockchain technology to reward their users and collect meaningful data. Moreover, the Life Intelligence Group team led by Bernard is also looking at raising funds to focus 100% on their vision and mission with TaskSpur and Ari for the users. In June 2022, Life Intelligence Group plans to launch its calendar and shop module MVP.
To strike a healthy work-life balance, Bernard takes time from his busy schedule to exercise and plan future strategies for his company. “I love to DJ during the weekends, read books, play soccer & basketball, and travel to catch up with my family members,” says Bernard. But, he doesn’t mind working round the clock for 365 days as he really enjoys work and is passionate about his projects.
A Sneak-Peak into the Life of a CEO Bernard’s typical day at work is jampacked with work reviews, team updates, communications, and meetings with prospective customers, advisors, and partners. He also has TaskSpur and Ari to help him navigate the tasks as per priority.
A Piece of Advice Bernard opines that AI is still a growing technology, so aspiring entrepreneurs need to be passionate and patient while implementing AI into their products. There might be a possibility that their algorithms may not work in one go. One needs clean data to provide an excellent and trustworthy AI experience for successful implementation. Moreover, new venturers must devise a big data strategy to translate their stored data relevant to their service & product offerings.
Current Projects & Future Goals
Dmitry Belianin, Chief Commercial Officer, Parimatch International IN MY VIEW
D mitry Belianin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Parimatch International. Experienced marketing strategist and leader in the sports betting industry, Dmitry has over 13 years of experience in both marketing and gaming. He has a proven record in building global teams, growing profits, and implementing highgrowth marketing, digital, and product development strategies within the biggest gaming companies. The pandemic forced everyone to figure out distractions to best fight off boredom. Many kept themselves happily occupied by playing games. In fact, the explosion in online, virtual and digital gaming was enabled by the worldwide lockdowns and hastened by the speed at which technology was advancing. Today, gaming is less about that ‘game’ on your screen and more about the player experience, in which individual skills join up with storytelling, visuals and sound to present a bundle of sensory delights.
30 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 WATCH OUT FOR THESE 5 IN 2022: TECH
TRANSFORMINGTRENDSIGAMING
Incidentally, each of the AR and VR gaming markets is expected to grow at 18.5% CAGR between 2021 and 2026, and according to one forecast, the overall worth of both markets could reach upwards of US$25 billion by 2026.
Dmitry Belianin is the Chief Marketing Officer at Parimatch International. Experienced marketing strategist and leader in the sports betting industry, Dmitry has over 13 years of experience in both marketing and gaming. He has a proven record in building global teams, growing profits, and implementing high-growth marketing, digital, and product development strategies within the biggest gaming companies.
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Overall, iGaming is one of the world’s biggest and most lucrative domains, and not just in the entertainment space. So, what’s the limit? Can artificial intelligence, for instance, help anticipate and analyse player behaviour, giving gaming companies insight into what they can do to enhance a gamer’s experience? Well, it is already happening. This is not the snakesand-ladders board game of our childhood, or even the Nokia snake game (remember that?) of the Noughties. This is a whole new Here,world!then, are five tech trends that are transforming the iGaming industry: Casino overdrive: Playing for higher stakes Always wanted to experience the buzz of playing with chips in Monaco? Well, now you can, via the magic of virtual reality. Then, there are online casinos fighting for customers and virtual real estate, as live and video streaming grab ever more eyeballs. You can catch live action from the tables but also play remotely, connected real-time to a dealer. This latter iGaming trend scores high because it offers a genuine casino experience, one that facilitates a more authentic rapport between player andButdealer.more than offering gamblers extra chances to indulge, technology is making waves in other ways. For instance, artificial intelligence is proving very handy in the running of casinos, especially when it comes to keeping watch on suspicious behaviour; through constant tracking, AI and facial recognition can help prevent fraudulent activity on the tables. Meanwhile, crypto-casinos promise quicker
Additionally, as more users embrace high-speed 5G, it is being predicted that the cloud-gaming ecosystem will expand by almost 30% in the next three Alongside,years.iGaming is upping the immersive experience for players by taking inspiration from video games. So, prepare yourself for a ride featuring a higher quality of visuals, enhanced interaction, added role-playing elements and themes, and more gameplay loops. Some of these games, in fact, have an arcade-like vibe about them, including Aviator by Spribe, a social multiplayer game inspired by the universe of video games. The esports windfall Esports is like the next coming of video games but promises the emotions of ‘real’ sport— including leagues, tournaments, salaried professionals, prize money and live crowds. Only difference being, you’re right in the heart of the action. eSports generated more
There’s also the Internet of Things (IoT), which assists gambling companies to be more creative in their use of data. Besides, the industry can use IoT to customise experiences that tie in with each player’s preferences, link slot machines with individual gaming servers, and use big data for real-time communication with gamblers (data that is also helpful for casinos and game developers).
Reality of the AR and VR kind
We have been hearing of AR and VR for some time but it’s only now that these encounters of the computer-assisted and interactive kind have gone mainstream. Apply them to the world of gaming—even to eSports—and you get to thrill in an experience like none other. VR gaming got a headstart over AR gaming and is gradually shedding its niche tag; its Eureka moment was the launch of Oculus Rift in 2013, while recent years have seen the likes of Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto take off. AR gaming hit gold in a shorter span of time after the stunning success of Pokémon Go in 2016, though it has struggled to follow that up. However, as the tech becomes more affordable and accessible, both VR and AR gaming stand on the cusp of somethingAugmentedspecial.reality games, incidentally, superimpose a digital ambience on the user’s real-time environment, while virtual reality games plunge the user into an alternative environment via headsets. And with the price of headsets falling, the feeling is that VR gaming’s time has arrived. Incidentally, each of the AR and VR gaming markets is expected to grow at 18.5% CAGR between 2021 and 2026, and according to one forecast, the overall worth of both markets could reach upwards of US$25 billion by 2026. Videos on the Cloud This is as convenient as it gets. Instead of users having to constantly update their consoles or computers, spending money trying to stay ‘in the game’ and stay in touch with the latest releases, all they need is a single device to play. Because, games today can be accessed via remote cloud servers or streams—no more downloading of heavy games onto your PC or console. All the big players in video gaming are offering their games through a cloud-based subscription service.
33 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 payouts, more robust security, and anonymity, powered by blockchain tech.
Users aren’t constrained by time or space, and they can access an amazing variety of games, from straight-up simple to packed with strategy and enough complexity to keep your grey cells preoccupied
Conclusion Among non-tech trends, expect to see big leagues like those in the US (as well as media companies) embrace iGaming as they look to capture a generous slice of the industry pie. Yet, iGaming players too are expanding, by buying tech companies to get their hands on the software, or entering new markets flush with dollars, to better access licences and local regulation knowledge. This is a fast-moving industry where the action is comparable to that in a game—you just can’t take your eyes off it.
34 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 than US$1 billion in revenue in 2021, chiefly through media rights and sponsorship, and will touch US$2 billion as 2023 comes around. To stick with the ‘real’ sport comparison, some 73 million viewed the League of Legends World Championship in 2021, proving that eSports has become a spectator sport just like any other. Further, eSports offers an increasing number of opportunities to gamble, and players can now punt on games like FIFA and Dota 2, across consoles, personal computers and mobile platforms. Gaming (and gambling) on the go
The sky’s the limit for mobile gaming as smartphone technology gets ever more cuttingedge. Users aren’t constrained by time or space, and they can access an amazing variety of games, from straight-up simple to packed with strategy and enough complexity to keep your grey cells preoccupied. Multiplayer mobile games too have been gaining in popularity, and growth in this segment is unlikely to let up. While the trend might have been driven by the rise of eSports and the insanely viral PUBG Mobile, the format has tasted success on the back of the competitive environment (and the sense of achievement) it offers its participants. Meanwhile, across markets, and aided by the convenience and speed of 5G, over 50% of users are placing bets using their mobile devices; in some markets, that figure is closer to 90%. So, don’t be surprised to see the big tech companies jumping in to boost access for mobile betting apps.
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Powerful protection designed for PC gamers NORTONLIFELOCK.COM
"My first goal is always to create and deliver an outstanding product, and a close second is taking care of the people around me,” shares Brian. Troubleshooting issues is also his forte. At Vocodia, you will often find Brian at the center, offering solutions to issues raised by employees or customers. Likewise, team Vocodia means the world to him, so he goes above and beyond to give them what they need, and in return, they support and drive success for the company.
BRIAN PODOLAK
Leading AIConversationaltheRevolution
Brian further explains that since Vocodia is operating in a new territory, he often connects and fosters healthy relationships with industry peers to find out how they've overcome hurdles, implemented new ideas, and executed
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Brian is now considered as one of the top Conversational AI Experts worldwide.
CEO & CO-FOUNDER, VOCODIA
F rom beginning a career as an engineer to transitioning into the world of ITbased marketing to achieving $70 million for an online medical services company to leading a conversational AI product-based company, Brian Podolak (CEO & Co-Founder, Vocodia) has carved out a niche for himself in the tech industry.
IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022
37 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Brian Podolak CEO & Co-Founder, Vocodia We’re helping lower costs and increase efficiency, which means increased overall ROI and getting customers used to the idea that AI/ML is a net benefit and non-threatening
Coming to the concept behind Vocodia’s establishment, Brian and Jimmy Sposato decided to work on their idea of creating a sales team on conversational AI, which they had been toying with for the past 5 years. Pandemic allowed them to bring it to reality. The founding duo soon started building Vocodia’s first prototypes, and to their surprise, it worked.
DISA: The Future of Sales & Customer Service Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, Vocodia is set to disrupt the contact center industry with a next-generation conversational AI. DISA, which stands for "Digital Intelligent Sales Agents," is an AI/ ML-powered software that addresses the salient pain points of a call center manager, such as compliance, training, labor costs, customer experience, and the endless need for rapid scalability.
A Journey Filled with Lessons & Learnings
38 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 their goals in their organizations. Therefore, team members, clients, and colleagues consider him a visionary, compassionate, and energetic leader.
Brian has a background in electronic and mechanical engineering with a sound knowledge of hardware and software. Brian was so fast at solving issues that the employer had to pay him more for extra working hours when he started working. That’s amazing, right? As the days progressed, he also observed how the pricing was dynamic regarding what the company charged and what customers paid. This fuelled his intention to start his own business and led him to the IT-based marketing space, where he operated call centers for medium and large enterprise companies with the same dynamic speed-to-market that he discovered earlier on. Later, Brian was given the responsibility of growing a market for an online pharmacy so people could purchase their medications online and have them delivered at home. Reminiscing those days, Brian remarks, “We went from zero to 50 million in revenue in less than a year but lost the business as we were a decade ahead of everyone else, and I was unprepared for all the other areas of running a business.” Experiences such as these gave Brian life-long lessons on understanding real-life capabilities, which he continues to learn from even today.
Conversational Al Giving a Competitive Edge What makes Vocodia unique and remarkable is its conversational AI technology. Sharing a funny anecdote about AI/ML-powered voice bot, Brian reveals, “When we first tell people what we do, they’ll usually say, “Oh yeah, I get these calls all the time.” Our answer to that is, “No, you don’t.” When people experience our conversational AI and then realize they’ve been talking to a bot, it blows their minds every time.”
Furthermore, this technology has the power to take over an entire sales department of a large organization but is currently being used for routine customer service and medical intake. Brian says, “We’re helping lower costs and increase efficiency, which means increased overall ROI and getting customers used to the idea that AI/ML is a net benefit and non-threatening.”
This is not all. Vocodia’s digital intelligent sales agents can be programmed and deployed within a few days. The solution is fully scalable and equivalent to one sales or service agent costing less than eight dollars per hour. It is just like hiring sales and customer service people at rock-bottom minimum wages but getting the expert skills of seasoned professionals instead.
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
What makes Vocodia unique and remarkable is conversationalitsAItechnology
A Typical Day at Work Brian is someone who thrives under pressure and stress. He is focused, full of energy, and determined to make things work irrespective of adversities on any given day at work.
40 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Current Work & Future Plans in Progress
Prioritizing tasks and sticking to schedules also keep him one step ahead.
"Jimmy and team Vocodia have moved mountains to build our software, and that's why we got it functional before anyone else. None of this would have been possible if we had not had a clear goal: build software that can sell like a real person," he further explains.
“Creating and stabilizing software that’s never existed, working with clients and understanding their needs—lawyers, leaders, industry experts, planning, financing, building teams, and candidates’ acquisition—it all keeps me jam-packed," says Brian. He further credits his partner, Jimmy, and the team with whom he openly discusses and deliberates on Vocodia’s future goals.
Taking a cue from his personal experience, Brian recommends aspiring leaders looking forward to venturing into the AI-ML industry to clarify their goals and pursue them with laser-sharp focus, just like him. Moreover, he feels that a steely determination to achieve goals and objectives is also vital.
Perseverance is the Key to Success Vocodia has exceeded Brian's expectations at all levels in terms of revenue and growth.
In today's tech-driven world, many companies are transitioning their business models away from selling technology as an asset and toward technology as a service. In a similar vein, Brian is figuring out the best possible transition for Vocodia. Team Vocodia is currently working on newer projects for their clients, bringing sales and onboarding, and developing unique applications for their technology.“Inthecoming years, our goal is to become the conversational authority across the board, leveraged by the efficiency of AI. If the job function relies on conversation, Vocodia wants to be first in line to fulfill the need. Down the road, when consumers have AI to conduct their routine affairs, we want Vocodia to be the technology that smoothes out and automates human needs fulfillment across the board," explains Brian.
I
FOUNDER AND CEO OF PROJECT LIFESAVER INTERNATIONAL
n today’s fast-paced world, key components to help locate individuals exhibiting cognitive conditions that could lead to harm are the awareness of surrounding locations like streets, buildings, landmarks, time, the ability to harness the power of emerging technologies, essential resources, and disaster relief sites. Having all these elements at one’s disposal is critical to public safety personnel and the disaster relief workforce to keep lifethreatening behavior at bay and minimize property loss. Today, public safety communities have the unique opportunity to completely revamp their communication technologies and operational capabilities with several advancing technologies and the expansion of broadband wireless networks. Apart from ensuring the perfect combination of the elements mentioned above, for this project to successfully work, safety personnel and disaster relief workforces need to stop looking at it as a business and attempt to heavily capitalize on it.
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Keeping this in mind, Gene Saunders came to the aid by founding Project Lifesaver International. What sets this organization apart
IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022
Making Individuals with Cognitive Conditions Feel Safer GENE SAUNDERS
43 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Gene Saunders, Founder and CEO, Project Lifesaver International Project Lifesaver consistently works to develop new, smarter ways to get our job done using computer technology and the development of new electronic tracking equipment
ABOUT GENE SAUNDERS, FOUNDER AND CEO, PROJECT LIFESAVER INTERNATIONAL
Gene Saunders served 33 years with the Chesapeake Police Department serving in Patrol, Vice, Narcotics, Detectives, and Training. He even co-founded the Special Weapons and Tactics team in 1974 and served as a tactical commander and commander for 23 years with over 800 operations. Gene went on to retire in 2001 as a Captain. He then served in National Guard and State Defense Force in Infantry, Airborne, and Ranger Units in leadership and command positions. He also served in the US Air Force Aux. (Civil Air Patrol) as a Senior Squadron (Ranger) commander and 5 years as Commandant of the Middle East Region Staff College. He founded Project Lifesaver International in 1999 and has overseen its growth ever since.
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Gene Saunders, Founder, and CEO of Project Lifesaver International, founded the organization in 1999 to protect and locate individuals that may wander and get lost due to various cognitive conditions such as Alzheimer’s, dementia, autism, and Down syndrome. The organization is equipped to train public safety agencies across the country on search and rescue procedures, techniques, and equipment. The organization has grown to a membership of over 1,700 agencies in the US and Canada and is responsible for more than 3900 individuals being located and returning home quickly and safely.
“I believe the biggest trends are in the use of technology to boost productivity and the remote working situation. Project Lifesaver consistently works to develop new, smarter ways to get our job done using computer technology and the development of new electronic tracking equipment. We have also started using more positions in the organizations working from home or remote stations,” informs Gene. He tells us that Innovative SAR Methods and Community Policing Courses are the other two components belonging to the organization’s three-pronged strategic approach to battling humans suffering from
Improving Quality of Life despite Cognitive Disorders
“It has been so successful that several forprofit companies have tried to take over the organization unsuccessfully,” reveals Gene Saunders, Founder, and CEO of Project Lifesaver International. Enabling Efficient Rescue of Eloped Persons
The organization has a dedicated team whose job is to stay ahead of the evolving technology curve. The team is continually invested in research and development to ensure the program utilizes the latest and most effective technologies. This tremendously helps prevent wandering and the recovery of a client in the event of elopement/emergency.
45 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 from all the other options in the market, you ask? Simply put, Project Lifesaver International functions as a non-profit organization that does not perceive wandering protection and prevention as a market. The organization was established with a strong focus on providing vulnerable groups and their caregivers the support and security required.
A simple man that began working toward protecting and, if required locating individuals with cognitive conditions, Gene started his career as a motel desk clerk that moved on to become a Credit Manager, Police Officer to finally establish Project Lifesaver and watch it grow over the past 23 years. “I like to think of myself as a leader, as I am the Founder and CEO. I believe I bring the passion for the mission and allow staff to try innovative ideas
Better Trained Workforce Equals
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
Safer Individuals
Furthermore, the completion of training is required for certification. Gene adds, “As a police officer and commander of the unit charged with search and rescue, we saw more searches were for Alzheimer’s patients that wandered and became lost. These searches often involved large amounts of manpower and time and were often unsuccessful. I decided to combine radio tracking with persons that may wander to help locate them faster with that in mind. The idea caught on with several public safety agencies, and it has grown into Project Lifesaver.” Over time, he has successfully leveraged advancing technologies to recover individuals that may be lost or in the way of harm due to certain cognitive conditions. In essence, the leading search and rescue program operated by public safety communities all over the globe has been strategically designed for ‘at risk’ individuals who are susceptible to the life-threatening behavior of wandering unsupervised. The primary mission of Project Lifesaver is to provide timely responses to save lives and reduce potential injury for adults and children that may possess the tendency to wander off on their own due to certain cognitive conditions. “Project Lifesaver was the first organization to address the problem of wandering and has become the Gold Standard in the field in which others who try to emulate the program are measured,” proudly proclaims Gene. The Man Behind the Scenes and His Journey
cognitive conditions. When first responders onboard one of the Community Policing Courses, they are provided with a basic understanding of cognitive conditions, the necessary tools needed to respond to an elopement, and are taught to assess and effectively manage the safe and comfortable return of an eloped client. Also included during training is the use of the PLS Database, which is a useful resource that is extended to the member agencies at no cost.
Project Lifesaver was the first organization to address the problem of wandering and has become the Gold Standard in the field in which others who try to emulate the program are measured to further our mission,” says Gene as he inspires others to help create a safer environment and propel the company mission to newer heights. He continually strives to ensure public safety and, as such, has dedicated every hour of his day to do so. “My workday is 24 hours a day. I am always available to our agencies for questions and/or problems. I unplug by spending time with my wife and traveling when I can,” reveals Gene.
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When quizzed on any advice he may want to share with the audience as the interview comes to a near end, he says, “Hire and develop good people and look out for them. One should keep their guard up when dealing with other organizations and have alternate plans if Overneeded.”twodecades dedicated toward this space, Project Lifesaver still believes it has massive potential to grow and become something bigger than all of us in the years to come. Project Lifesaver will continue to expand its organization by developing new technology, improved service to its members, and a constant flow of information to them. An exciting advancement being made by the team is that they are currently working on developing new technology with drones and home monitoring via Bluetooth. Project Lifesaver is here to help us witness a revolutionary change.
48 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 How Blockchain Disrupts Real Estate? Waqas Nakwa, Chief Executive Officer, AqarChain.io EXPERT OPINION
1. Facilitates Hassle-free Transactions: When it comes to making transactions, traditional real estate methods are still lacking accuracy, consuming significant time, and causing verification expenses. With the novel blockchainbased model, transactions can be streamlined to reduce cost and transfer quickly.
Blockchain Transforming Real Estate How Blockchain Technology Disrupts the Real EstateBlockchainIndustry?technology may address a list of potential challenges in the real estate industry and overcome them with ease. Let’s discuss them!
ryptocurrencies, over the past few years, were hard to imagine! But they have now made a robust impact on payments, transfers, and foreign exchangethanks to the transformative force, Blockchain.
C
Waqas Nakwa is the Chief Executive Officer of Aqar Chain - The first Decentralized Real Estate NFT marketplace. Waqas Nakwa is the brain behind the inception of AqarChain. He has been one of the key players in elevating the company to its present position, due to his vision, foresight and business acumen. Here at AqarChain, Waqas leads the team in corporate strategic planning and overall execution but his main focus continues to be on the growth strategies of the Company. Given his vast experience in the corporate world and blockchain industry, Waqas is instrumental in injecting a high level of professionalism, processes and systems at Aqar Chain.
Although blockchain technology has significantly disrupted many financial sectors, it’s not easy to find any other that’s untouched. And the real estate industry is not an exception! Did you know? Nearly 25 percent of land registration leads to errors, frauds, and misinformation!
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2. Enhanced Transparency: As blockchain is a decentralized platform, the stored information is accessible to all peers, thereby offering transparent data devoid of any unauthorized alterations.
From property purchasing to title management, blockchain technology has been helping to transform different aspects of real estate. It operates through decentralized peer-to-peer platforms that protect against the spread of corrupted information and other frauds.
3. Eliminates Middlemen: More intermediaries mean more costs and substantial consumption of
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 both time and money. Blockchain tech cuts off the intermediaries from the process and saves a lot on commissions, fees, and time throughout the entire process. 4. Low Cost: From inspection costs and loans to taxes and registration fees, blockchain eliminates such unnecessary expenses by automating these processes while offering a decentralized ledger. Areas of Real Estate Being Impacted by Blockchain Here are several areas in real estate that can be benefitted from adopting blockchain. • Evaluation of Financial Process • Finding the Right Property • Management of Property • Payment Process and Finances • Investment in Real Estate Final Thoughts There’s no denying that this emerging technology has the capability to disrupt a range of sectors, including real estate. Anything that has the potential to improve transparency, enhance transactions, trim down the cost, and saving time should be embraced by companies, irrespective of their sizes. From property purchasing to title management, blockchain technology has been helping to transform different aspects of real estate
IINDUSTRYAI-MLLEADERSINSPIRINGIN–2022
CEO & CHAIRMAN, COVEO
A s the digital transformation wave washes over us, AI is one of the advancing technologies at the very pinnacle of this transformation. The emergence of AI technology enabling services propels next-gen AI-powered search with more relevant and personalized results. This translates to achieving business goals, superior customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and optimized conversion rates.
52 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Providing Better AI Accessibility to Businesses of Every Size LOUIS TÊTU
Louis Têtu, CEO and Chairman of Coveo, has made significant advancements in this domain. His dedication has helped Coveo become one of the leading companies doing AI research in commerce, service and workplace applications. “We make search, data, and AI more accessible, so every business, not just tech giants, can provide relevance at scale with the power of AI,” elucidates Louis. Securing the Company Foundation Before joining as CEO in 2008, he was an early investor of Coveo. As he joined forces with the organization, his first step was to revisit the
53 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Louis Têtu CEO & Chairman, Coveo We have been immersed in AI for more than a decade and have had the unique advantage of working with some of the largest data stacks of global enterprises
54 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 business plan. He then began architecting a multitenant cloud offering. Having gained a complete market understanding, he firmly believed that subscription models would overtake perpetual licenses. He also saw the movement toward AI. In July 2019, announced the acquisition of Tooso, an AI-based digital commerce engines company specializing in Additionally,e-commerce.inOctober 2021, Coveo acquired Qubit, an AI-powered personalization
55 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 technology for merchandising teams, thus displaying the organization’s commitment to digital commerce. “Large world-leading technology companies are using Coveo to power relevance, but we aren’t stopping there. We have partnered with these organizations, including SAP, Salesforce, Adobe, and many more, to expand our innovative capabilities,” informs Louis. He explains how he and his team believe AI is at the epicenter of all digital experiences, which is critical in the experience economy. Coveo believes that technology is only part of the solution, so the organization helps cultivate a collaborative environment between each Coveo values work-life balance and possessessimultaneouslytransparencypromoteswhileacknowledgingthesuccessofothers.AsofJune2022,thecompanyover750employees
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 other, their partners, and customers to provide the best experiences. This approach brings Louis pride in his customer success team as much as his R&D team, which is a department that constitutes 40 percent of the workforce.
“We have been immersed in AI for more than a decade and have had the unique advantage of
57 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 working with some of the largest data stacks of global enterprises. This allowed us to mature very quickly. To do what we do at scale requires maturity,” opines Louis. Encouraging Novel Ideas
“The notion of risks with experimentation is really important. It’s a constant reminder of why we hire people to tell leadership what to do versus telling employees what to do. I firmly believe that as a leader, it is not my job to tell them what to think - but to think about what people tell me. And make no mistakethis is a constant challenge. I like to think one of the most important things a leader can do is 'decant the truth'; fostering an environment of unfiltered conversations,” adds Louis.
Delving deeper into the thought process behind this approach, Louis explains how he feels Coveo must foster a culture of innovation, keeping two things in mind; creating an environment that encourages collaborative and high-velocity ideation and iteration and keeping the innovation highly connected to customers through their technologically-driven devices. Coveo aims to create a collaborative environment where obstacles to communication and politics are eliminated so that the workforce can direct their focus on finding the truth, as opposed to fighting over who is right. Louis believes that hierarchies can create obstacles to creativity and innovation. So, instead, he helped Coveo generate an environment whereby everyone could contribute, submit ideas, and challenge the status quo.
Incepted in 2005 by Laurent Simoneau, Richard Tessier, and Marc Sanfaçon, Coveo today commands quite the market presence. In 2017, Coveo opened doors to its Montreal office with 25 employees. Since then, well over a hundred new employees have joined the Montreal office, which has expanded onto additional floors of the historic Gare Windsor building. Coveo has also opened offices in Quebec City, San Francisco, New York, and London. As of June 2022, the company possesses over 750 in house and remote employees around the world. The company attributes a core part of its success to its employees and, as such, believes that the workforce's wellness should be prioritized. Coveo values work-life balance and promotes transparency while simultaneously acknowledging the success of others. “We believe it’s ok to fail, but fail fast and adjust. This helps to stimulate innovation and research. In my experience, employees shine brightest when they share common goals and
58 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 beliefs beyond a paycheck. At the end of the day, when you have great people engaged in a common purpose, and you respect everyone in the same way, your innovation and success rates will follow,” says Louis. He also reveals how Coveo has stitched investing in its community and local causes into the very fabric of the organization’s values and beliefs. Coveo is part of the One Percent Pledge where one percent of the company’s profit, time, product, and equity is dedicated to helping vulnerable communities access knowledge and education. Louis adds, “This commitment has been an important way to attract talented people, customers, and partners who have the same desire to build a better world. And that’s helping us build a stronger business and a brighter future.”
People First, Success Follows Louis’ journey as a leader, he reveals, has been a fruitful experience. And while he has been fortunate in his 33-year-long career to hit all the major business milestones like IPOS, financing, and growth, the shared experiences with his colleagues and employees have been most memorable. “We have a purpose and a great group of colleagues, all of which make a great culture and destination for people who want to be a part of that. With over three decades in business, my typical day revolves around thinking about how to create more value for all our stakeholders. I feel a responsibility to the wellness of our people while ensuring complete customer delight and, finally, our shareholders, in that order. It’s people first. You can’t do well if your people aren't well,” proclaims Louis. Today, Louis and his team are making significant advancements in this domain. “It is also important that everyone has a chance to recharge themselves. For myself, my family and I spend time together at our lake house in Quebec,” he reveals. Louis envisions continuing to revolutionize this sector by leveraging his skills, team of professionals, and comprehensive suite of innovative solutions and services.
Raghavendra Goud Vaggu has been the General Manager of Cytiva South Asia since 2019, when it was known as GE Healthcare Life Sciences. In this role, he leads the commercial operation and business development in South Asia which covers India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Prior to that, he took various leadership positions in sales, strategy, and commercial. He is an executive leader in bioindustry for more than 23 years, with full spectrum experience in research, engineering, and commercial operation. His career journey started as an application scientist in Promega, USA, post that he joined GE Healthcare in 2007 as Sales Manager.
LEADER’S INSIGHTS I ndia is ranked third in Asia and one of the world's top 12 biotech destinations.
Raghavendra Goud Vaggu, General Manager, Cytiva South Asia
WEB 4.0 AND SUSTAINABILITY
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HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO TAKE THE INDIAN BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY TO A GLOBAL LEVEL
Post-Covid, the Indian biotech industry is expected to grow significantly due to increased vaccine acceptance among the billion-plus population and, most importantly, increased awareness of health issues and vaccine benefits. When the pandemic hit India in 2020, the Indian biotech industry stepped up to the plate and worked tirelessly to find vaccines for Covid 19 and its deadly variants. This has fueled the industry's expansion, which is expected to reach $150 billion by FY25. To achieve the goal of becoming world leaders in biotech solutions, the industry must pursue a sustainable growth strategy aided by technology.
61 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Machine learning algorithms can assist biotech companies in significantly reducing the time it takes to develop a new medicine
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022
The current scenario Biotech is divided into five major segments: biopharmaceuticals, bioservic es, bioagriculture, bioindustrial, and bioinformatics, all of which contribute to the Bioeconomy. India's biotech nology industry currently has more than 3500 biotech start-ups and is ex pected to grow to 10,000 by 2024-25. Vaccines and recombinant therapeu tics are currently driving India's bio technology industry growth. India ac counts for less than 5% of the global market and aims to achieve a $ 150 billion bio-economy in the next five years compared to a global estimate of $725 billion by 2025. This will account for about 21% of the global market share.
The world is facing a number of major environmental, economic, and social challenges that must be addressed properly if future generations are to live in a safe, healthy, and prosperous environment. The solutions we come up with will alter how we live and work, and if we make the right decisions, these changes will be for the better.
The bio-tech sector is already making a significant contribution to sustainable development, and it will continue to do so in the future: higherquality, renewable raw materials will be produced in a sustainable manner, and food security and a healthy environment will be maintained.
Sustainable growth is the key
Furthermore, the number of commercial biotechnology products grows everyGlobalyear. food security, improved nutrition and public health, cleaner and more efficient industrial processing and a significant contribution to the effort to mitigate climate change can all be achieved by developing all sectors of the bioeconomy together. Because they are all interdependent, the various sectors must be properly linked for maximum benefit. Not only will concerted action create strong individual sectors, but it will also be necessary to build strong and effective links in order to create a bioeconomy web. Because of this interconnectedness, all sectors must be equally strong; a single weak link could significantly reduce the web's overall effectiveness and limit competitiveness.
Clinical trials, for example, rely heavily on this data, which is collected throughout the
All these technologies will aid the biotech industry to grow further.
Scope of building technology for the medical industry with web 4.0 There has been a lot of talk about web 4.0 recently, as well as its future predictions.
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Agriculture and other natural resources are central to the economies of many developing countries. As a result, biotechnology offers one-of-a-kind opportunities for long-term industrial development. The application of appropriate technology in processing and manufacturing will improve not only production efficiency and product quality, but also trade and international development cooperation.
Augmented Reality, AI and Big Datathe main components of web 4.0- will undoubtedly play a key role in the next stage of web technologies. Web 4.0 services will be autonomous, proactive, content-exploring, self-learning, collaborative, and contentgenerating agents based on fully matured semantic and reasoning technologies, as well as artificial intelligence. They will support adaptive content presentation via an intelligent agent that will make use of the Web database.
Cytvia, a global life science company, has begun to remove unnecessary plastic packaging from its supply chain as part of its sustainable growth strategy, among other improvements. By streamlining shipments to customers, the company expects to save about 25 tonnes of plastic per year while also lowering its CO2 footprint. In addition, the company is working in Sweden on a water conservationBiotechnologyproject. has revolutionized industrial and agricultural practices in recent years by increasing the quantity and quality of products.
Currently, body sensors that monitor health parameters and provide essential information about the patient's health are helping the healthcare and biotech industries collect patient data through emerging technologies.
Large biopharma corporations have recently sought partnerships with the local biopharmaceutical industry in developing economies in order to perform manufacturing in these countries through local contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs). This strategy is likely to help these countries develop a biosimilar industry as well as drug development services.
There are numerous new opportunities emerging, ranging from evaluating potential study objectives to using predictive analytics in clinical trials to using data to create more efficient systems and innovative services that fully empower and deliver value to core stakeholders.Thedigitization and sustainable growth of the healthcare and biotech industries open up new revenue and cost-cutting channels, such as on-demand healthcare and smartphone apps. New technologies are also transforming R&D and operations, paving the way for disruptive solutions that give patients more control over their health. Together, sustainable processes and the technologies of Web 4. will undoubtedly propel the Indian biotechnology industry to new heights. The digitization and sustainable growth of the healthcare and biotech industries open up new revenue and cost-cutting channels, such as ondemand healthcare and smartphone apps
64 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 procedure. The use of web 4.0 to automate the sensor data collection process could significantly improve the clinical trial's chances of success.
The use of Big Data can also help to reduce the risk of medication errors. Disparities between patient data and medication prescriptions can be detected using software that thoroughly analyses patient records. This can help prevent a lot of problems that come from taking the wrong medications. Many startups have recognised the technology's potential and have begun developing AI-based healthcare and biotech solutions.
In conclusion
Furthermore, according to some studies, AI can cut drug discovery time by four years and costs by 60% when compared to the industry average. Machine learning algorithms can assist biotech companies in significantly reducing the time it takes to develop a new medicine. Healthcare and biotech industries are already investing large sums of money to find AI solutions. Initiatives by some brands Cytiva and Brooks Life Sciences have teamed up to create a unified digital platform that can track cellular products and raw materials digitally throughout the cell therapy workflow, including the cryogenic cold chain. To enhance its technology portfolio, the company has also acquired GoSilico, whose simulation software is used to create digital twins of downstream processing. In comparison to traditional methods such as one factor at a time –which can take up to 13 weeks – or design of experiments – which can take up to four weeks – simulation can reveal how process parameters affect attributes in a fraction of the time. The end result is a scalable and reliable solution in less than a week, a reduction in experiment materials, and, most importantly, more confident decision-making.
Martin-Immanuel Bittner MD DPhil
FRSA set out to bridge the gap between the technology and healthcare/ life sciences domain through the inception of Arctoris, the company he co-founded and leads as Chief Executive Officer. Arctoris is a biotech company headquartered in Oxford and Boston, and was established to redesign drug discovery from the ground up. An industry where bringing a single new drug to market takes 10 years, costs over 2 billion dollars, and only succeeds in less than 5 percent of programs has to change. Technology can play a vital
Leveraging to Bring About a in the Biotechnology Industry BITTNER
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O
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Paradigm Shift
and Pharmaceuticals
ver the last few years, new technologies have emerged in the healthcare sector, aiming to improve patient care, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Artificial Intelligence (AI) in particular is a key enabling technology for the transition of the healthcare sector into the digital age. The utilization of AI can lead to positive outcomes across the entire healthcare value chain – including the vital biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industry, source of new drugs, and new treatments for patients worldwide.
CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, ARCTORIS
AI
MARTIN-IMMANUEL
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Martin-Immanuel Bittner Co-Founder and CEO, Arctoris
The vision for Arctoris is nothing less but a complete reimagination of how we approach drug discovery, and the role of data in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Arctoris is a pioneer in data-driven drug discovery, moving from decisions made based on poor quality, incomplete datasets to machine learning-derived insights built on high quality data generated at scale.
Inception Martin speaks about the path that led him to co-found Arctoris. He completed medical school in Germany and began his residency in oncology before deciding to pursue a DPhil (PhD) in cancer drug discovery at the University of Oxford. Martin’s primary motivation was to gain experience in wet lab research to complement his clinical
68 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 role in transforming the way we approach drug discovery as a whole. That is why Martin and his team at Arctoris developed a novel research platform, Ulysses, that combines wet lab automation and machine learning to generate better drugs within shorter“Whiletimeframes.doingour
PhDs at Oxford, my co-founder and I experienced first-hand that drug discovery is slow, expensive, and error-prone. The space has not kept pace with the innovation that has happened in all other industries, which over the course of the last twenty or thirty years have been completely transformed by the use of technology. Our goal therefore was clear: redesign drug discovery, to enable more and better drugs to reach patients faster, by leveraging technology. We built a robotic biomedical laboratory that performs experiments in full automation, generating superior quality data at scale, which are then fed into our machine learning models for small molecule drug discovery in oncology and neurodegeneration in particular. Our core thesis is that better data in turn enables better decision-making, and therefore better drugs,” Martin explains.
Over the past five years, under Martin’s leadership, Arctoris has built an exceptional team of scientists and engineers, developed a truly learning,technologydisruptivecombiningroboticsandmachineandprogressedarangeofdrugdiscoveryprogramsinoncologyandneurodegeneration
69 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 research work and prepare for a role as clinician-scientist in translational medical research. However, things changed, as at Oxford Martin engaged not only with a worldclass scientific environment, but also interacted with a diverse set of highly driven and motivated clinicians and researchers who demonstrated that there are other career paths in addition to the traditional clinical route which lead to sustained positive impact for patients. He tells us, "Over the course of my doctorate, I learned a lot about what drives me: having a meaningful, positive impact on other people's lives. Looking beyond the academic and clinical path, I found that entrepreneurship gives me the chance to do that atDuringscale."his time in the lab, Martin observed how his colleagues, highly skilled PhD students, and postdocs, spent the majority of their time manually performing highly repetitive experiments, while only generating small amounts of data and unable to dedicate sufficient time to read the literature, develop hypotheses, write publications, and so on. He believed that scientists should be empowered to instead
focus on original scientific thought and augment their work using technology.
“The vision for the company is to completely change how we approach drug discovery and biomedical research – enabling scientists to be in the driver seat, while using robotics to generate vast amounts of structured, annotated, and AI-ready data, and machine learning to learn from this data. As an industry, we have to move from decisions made based on poor quality, incomplete datasets to machine learning-derived insights, built on unbiased, highquality data generated in real-time,” Martin adds. By now, Martin leads an international team across several continents, being responsible for the company’s overall strategy as well as its business development and investor relations.
Milestones Over the past five years, Arctoris has grown from an idea to a fully operational drug discovery company. Starting from a prototype robotic system for key experiments, Arctoris has now automated hundreds of experimental processes covering the full breadth of biomedical research in cell biology, molecular biology, and biochemistry/ biophysics. With its Ulysses platform, Arctoris generates the high-quality data that powers both its internal drug discovery
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71 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 pipeline in oncology and neurodegeneration as well as programs and projects they run in partnership with other biotech and pharma companies. Even throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Arctoris continued to grow rapidly – while demonstrating that robotics not only leads to improved data quality and speed of experimental execution, but also to increased resilience. Despite global supply chain disruptions and lockdowns, Arctoris remained fully operational, continuing its internal research as well as supporting its partners in their research efforts.
Under Martin’s leadership, by now, Arctoris has grown to a team of 40 exceptional drug discovery scientists, robotics and machine learning engineers, as well as business development and support staff. Together, these Arctorians continuously expand the Ulysses platform, comprising robotics and machine learning for accelerated small molecule drug discovery. In addition to the company’s own drug discovery programs, Martin has also forged partnerships with leading biotech and pharma companies as well as large tech corporations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, generating significant revenue streams.
“The milestones we have achieved to-date relate to the core areas of any business – building a world-class team, developing a sustainable competitive advantage, winning partners and collaborators, and raising the funding needed to accomplish all of it. We are particularly proud of the unique machine learning angle we pursue in synergy with our automated wet lab operations, the quality of the team we have recruited, and the partnerships and collaborations we have built to date,” saysOneMartin.example is the company's research collaboration with IBM, focused on closed-loop drug discovery research, where automation is applied not only for biological and biochemical testing but also for chemical synthesis and connected with machine learning models capable of analyzing the resulting profiling data, as well as models designing the most efficient synthesis routes. Values Arctoris pursues its ambitious plans for future growth with the backing of world-class team members, advisors, and investors. “We will continue to scale our platform, both on the automation and the machine learning side,” explains Martin. Three major focus areas for Arctoris for the next 24 months include expansion of the company’s technological platform, significant growth in its US presence, and the progression of its drug discovery programs toward the clinic. He adds, "However, our most important asset is and remains our team – mission-driven and united by firm values. As Arctorians, we have an unparalleled commitment and ambition to pursue excellence, challenging the status quo and always aiming to do better together, while operating with integrity and trust amongst a strong team”. Pioneers in the data-driven drug discovery space, Martin and his team are dedicated to bringing more and better drugs and treatments to patients faster, using their unique platform and approach.
72 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 AI Low-code/No-code Platform Trends to Watch Sagar Patidar, CEO, Primathon EXPERT OPINION
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Sagar Patidar, the Founder and Director of Primathon, comes from a small village in Madhya Pradesh. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi in 2015. He is the first formally educated and academically qualified engineer from this entire agriculturally oriented family. He was in 5th grade when he left home and has been staying away from his family for more than 16 years now. He is an alumnus of JNV, Kota, and IIT Delhi. After experimenting with his interests and almost quitting his final year at IIT, he finally saw the light and rose as an entrepreneur and founded Primathon.
T echnology frequently involves a systematic path. It is initially used by a small group of scientists, then it is expanded to engineers who can navigate technical jargon, and finally it is made user-friendly enough that almost anyone can use Low-code/no-codeit.
platforms enable nontechnologists or businesses to build AI systems from scratch, making AI more accessible to a broader range of businesses. Appsmith, Retool, Bubble, Webflow, and Appian are just a few examples of Low-code/no-code platforms.
It offers a development environment for creating application software via a graphical user interface rather than traditional hand-coded computer programming. Low-code development platforms eliminate the need for traditional hand coding, allowing for faster delivery of business applications. A common advantage is that a broader range of people, not just those with formal programming skills, can contribute to the application's development.
Graphical user interfaces can also be made appealing, and the interface can be reused for multiple purposes.
There are several trends to keep an eye on, ranging from core system development to online process portals for digitising customers. Let's take a look at a few of them. Customer Portals on the Internet Many businesses want to provide a consistent customer experience and add new revenue streams through web portals, but they are unable to do so because traditional web portals are slow, consume more resources, and are expensive. Low code eliminates these roadblocks and enables developers to quickly create such portals.
Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence IoT apps are difficult to develop since they process a large amount of data from beginning to endpoint devices such as sensors, communications devices, automobiles, and mobile phones. Developers may easily create mobile applications that turn large amounts of data into context-aware visuals for end users with low code. Applications can be constructed without much experience using minimal code and intelligent systems. Developers can take advantage of AI's capability by combining it with low-code programming to create superior pictures and visual analysis. Low-code is bringing in a completely new AI democratised technology. These tools can be used by both amateur and professional AI builders to increase AI production. To improve software development, businesses and organisations must devote more resources to developing AI models with professionals and finding better ways to implement Low Code with AI.
When it comes to microservices, Low-code development can help companies speed up the development of microservice applications. Companies can leverage APIs to rework large apps into low-code microservices, starting with low-risk and high-impact functions.
People without strong programming expertise are increasingly designing applications for business purposes. No, code is gaining popularity as a "citizen development" method for developing small apps.
Business-critical software
People without strong programming expertise are increasingly designing applications for business purposes. No, code is gaining popularity as a "citizen development" method for developing small apps
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You can create lightweight mobile apps with no code that may be fully customised. The app can be integrated with a web-based interface, which allows you to access all of the web browser's features without having to install any software. HTML, CSS, and JavaScript can be used to create the apps.
Throughout the application development lifecycle, Low Code uses a collaborative and quick approach to ensure that business and IT teams collaborate to lower the risk of project failure and deliver important business applications on time. Cloud-based and multicloud portable apps developed on low code platforms are easy to scale, highly secure, and maximise uptime through essential resilience.
Apps for mobile devices
A new kind of "builder" with no code
RAJIV LAMBA
FOUNDER & CEO, SURVEYSENSUM
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A Visionary Leader Disrupting the Market Research Landscape
A Journey Down the Memory Lane Rajiv began his professional voyage with Insight Asia in 2004, a market research agency in Indonesia, followed by Mindshare and Nielsen. He further elaborates, stating, “With my desire to learn and do more, I joined Kadence Indonesia in 2011 and grew the company 5X in 5 years as a Managing Director along with my friend.” Having worked with numerous companies, Rajiv identified critical market gaps waiting to be tapped upon. The first big trend he witnessed was the need to understand the subconscious mind of the
“ C hange is the only constant, and you have to constantly be learning new things and innovate for the better,” quotes Mr. Rajiv Lamba, the Founder & CEO of SurveySensum. Rajiv is a technopreneur with over 25 years of industry experience and strongly believes in staying relevant with the times, driving innovation, transforming the market research landscape, and, most importantly, creating leaders of tomorrow. Undoubtedly, Rajiv is setting an example as an inspirational leader on all fronts.
77 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Rajiv Lamba, Founder & CEO, SurveySensum What makes SurveySensum unique is the ability to let brands draw actionable consumer insights from feedback data in real-time at a much more affordable cost than other platforms
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The COVID-19 pandemic put forward unprecedented challenges in front of leaders and organizations. The main challenge for
experiences,truth"truecanSurveySensumlikecapturethe"moment-of-ofcustomermakingitmorereliable
In 2018, Neurosensum was established, and within 6 months of its launch, the company became profitable. “The same year, I also saw the need to make research accessible A platform and affordable to the small and mid-size enterprises and added one more brand in our portfolio called SurveySensum in 2019,” states Rajiv.
79 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 consumers, and the second was the capital constraint of enterprises when it came to opting for consultancy services. Taking cues from these two limitations, the creative wheels in Rajiv’s mind started turning and led him to bring neuroscience concepts to Indonesia.
A Unique AI-enabled CEM Platform SurveySensum is a fast, affordable, and dynamic feedback management platform where people can build and share their own surveys and get insights in real-time for quicker business decisions. To date, SurveySensum has rendered services to automotive, insurance, banking, multifinance, and other sectors to help them move from traditional market research to online methodologies, saving them time, resources, and total survey costs.
“But what makes SurveySensum unique is the ability to let brands draw actionable consumer insights from feedback data in realtime at a much more affordable cost than other platforms,” asserts Rajiv. Another advantage that SurveySensum offers its tech-friendly clients is the omnichannel experience. Enterprises can share surveys and connect with their customers via email, WhatsApp, SMS, QR Code, social media, etc., throughout the customer journey in contrast to traditional consulting, which is primarily uni-channel. Furthermore, a platform like SurveySensum can capture the true "moment-of-truth" of customer experiences, making it more reliable.
Pandemic Proved to be a Productivity Driver
“I would say that the pandemic proved to be a big productivity driver. As the world moved online, we also became more active on social media, ran campaigns, and even accelerated by conducting webinars. This helped us grow and improve our profitability significantly,” mentions
Taking Lessons from the Past Mistakes
SurveySensum was to keep its SEA spread team motivated and together. Agile methodologies such as Scrum and CRM systems were adopted and implemented to work in a hybrid mode.
No true journey is complete without pitfalls and challenges. What makes it valuable are the lessons learned over time. When SurveySensum was at the developmental stage, Rajiv and his team paid much attention to other products built by market competitors. To make matters worse, they ended up targeting an incorrect customer base in the marketplace. These crucial mistakes resulted in Rajiv and his team recreating the correct Minimum Viable Product (MVP) from the ground up.
Likewise,Rajiv.special
Even though it took some time to make these additions and get used to the system, the final outcome was rewarding for the entire team of SurveySensum. Rajiv says that such unexpected challenges enabled him to build a more muscular and leaner structure in the organization. Before the pandemic, sales were conducted in person; however, the arrival of COVID-19 changed the traditional scenario and led to digital avenues.
A Piece of Advice for the Aspirants
focus was given to employee engagement at SurveySensum during turbulent times. Employees were engaged and motivated through virtual meets, online gaming sessions, and other activities. As the Founder & CEO of SurveySensum, Rajiv says that feeding and sustaining these happy hormones has helped his team members minimize stress and feel more engaged at work.
Shedding light on some of the lessons he learned over the years, Rajiv asserts, “My first piece of advice would be to always understand your market deeply, know their pain points, how
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“So, my biggest learnings have been on: personas, size, whom do you want to sell, and where is your MVP centered at? Altogether, introducing the product as early as possible is the key,” remarks Rajiv.
Presently, Rajiv and his team plan to expand SurveySensum in international markets, especially the USA. “We are putting a lot of our efforts into inbound marketing; right from SEO to website optimization, content creation, and marketing, we are going all in to understand the target market, generate more leads from the US and build an effective marketing and sales strategy,” asserts Rajiv. Moreover, they are also looking forward to establishing offices in India and Malaysia.
“I challenged the status quo and created job opportunities for almost more than 2000 people throughout Indonesia and inspired many more to become future leaders,” shares Rajiv with pride. Today, 7 of his former team members are successfully running their own businesses and carrying Rajiv’s torch of creating more job avenues for others.
81 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 big the market is, talk to your target persona, and then create an MVP. It’s important to put something out there in the market with the MVP before investing thousands of hours and dollars and then innovate and progress as you grow.” In addition to that, Rajiv’s second advice is to never take away the sight of profitability. For any successful organization, it is important to have a business model where a product makes its own money and is more self-sustainable.
Rajiv begins his day early by practicing Pranayama, followed by meditation and exercise. According to him, morning hours are the most productive, so he makes the most out of it. At work, he prioritizes his tasks, sits with the team, discusses strategies, and makes overall plans. Just like his time at the office is busy, Rajiv’s traveling schedule is also centered around communicating with clients & team members. “On weekends, I love to spend time with my family and friends. In my free time, I also enjoy watching and playing sports like cricket and tennis, reading books, and listening to podcasts,” reveals Rajiv. Rajiv takes a breather to relax, analyze the situation at hand, and live in the present moment during stressful situations. “I derive great motivation from the Holy book, Bhagavad Gita, which has taught me how important goals are, but what's more important is doing good deeds every day,” adds Rajiv. These are his personal mantras of staying positive & calm, living in the moment, and giving his best.
Eyeing New Markets for Expansion
A Day in the Life of a Leader
Career Highs Giving
Lasting Memories Over the years, Rajiv has been bestowed with numerous awards and recognitions. He was recognized as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ at the Indonesia IT Leadership Awards and chosen amongst the ‘Top 30 Entrepreneur of the Year’ category by Silicon Review. But as a leader, Rajiv’s proudest moment was successfully growing Kadence Indonesia five-folds during his 5 years of tenure as its Managing Director. Rajiv was also ecstatic about how Kadence’s brand was expanded in Vietnam and the Middle East and later sold to Cross Marketing Group Japan with 72X returns to the initial investors.
Harnessing the Power of Deep Learning to Advance the Insurance Industry
SCOTT HAM CEO, PINPOINT PREDICTIVE I
Scott Ham, CEO of Pinpoint Predictive, is taking massive strides in a new approach to risk selection. The company has designed and developed the first behavioral risk scores in the insurance industry powered by deep learning and explainable behavioral economics, and the only one deployed at the outset of the customer journey. “Our specialization, talent and intellectual property provide our clients
nfluenced by cutting-edge technological advancements and the need to optimize profitability without impacting customer experience, the insurance industry is at the cusp of a dynamic transformation. Several advancing technologies like ML, Big Data, and Deep Learning are poised to become the revolutionary force needed in the insurance industry. Since the insurance market is based on predicting risk, advances in data and analytics, coupled with the development of powerful deep learning, can be utilized to attain actionable insights. In a nutshell, the whole insurance production process possesses the potential to significantly improve while simultaneously improving customer experience with the help of emerging technologies.
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83 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Scott Ham CEO, Pinpoint Predictive Formulating and deploying an effective strategy and being able to identify the difference we are making is key to our success. My team is amazing in many respects, and I want to provide support and get out of the way
CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 with a significant competitive advantage, in particularly impactful areas (risk selection and loss ratios), exceptionally quickly and at a critically important time for the P&C industry,” reveals Scott.
Promoting Superior Customer Experience “Tomorrow’s winners are acting right now. We offer the fastest and greatest time to value in the Property and Casualty ecosystem. We can say this because we use massive processing power to offer results and insights within days we have an easy to use ROI Calculator, and help top insurers reveal nine figures in savings,” elucidates Scott. Scott believes the industry can operate much more profitably, and improve rates and coverage availability for individuals, if it genuinely knows its customers and their
85 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 behavioral propensities. This also enables carriers to focus their resources on acquiring and retaining their desired segments and improve the customer experience. Scott was always intrigued with insurance getting closer to the customer/consumer. He joined Pinpoint as he was impressed with the platform and modeling capabilities, both of which allow insurers to quantify unpriceable risks and use the proprietary scoring to significantly impact loss ratios. “I took the job because I felt like Pinpoint could make a real difference to the industry,” adds Scott.
Pinpoint's services and offerings remain unrivaled in this domain. The strategically unique combination of proprietary data, deep learning, automation, explainability, identity resolution and psychometrics, and the ability to connecting these aspects to actuarial distributions, is groundbreaking. Further, being able to provide clients with a unique predictive score for an individual before they even walk through the carrier’s door is powerful. Pinpoint brings this unmatched risk selection to the beginning of the consumer journey leading to increased customer satisfaction.
throughaneconomicsbehavioralresultinginauniquepredictivescoreforindividualbeforetheyevenwalkthecarrier’s
Pinpoint's services and remainofferingsunrivaled as a pioneer in this domain. The novel combination of proprietary data, deep learning, and door is powerful
Forging Powerful Leaders Scott credits a large part of this success to his highly skilled teams. Ensuring they are fully equipped to meet and exceed the requirements of every customer is of top priority for Scott. He explains, “Formulating and deploying an effective strategy and being able to identify the difference we are making is key to our success. My team is amazing in many respects, and I want to provide support and get out of the way.”
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A Trailblazing Career Scott began his career as a lawyer with the vision of running a business in the future. He stepped into the insurance industry as a lawyer focused on employment and M&A work for Aegon USA (the company later transitioned its brand name to Transamerica). Scott excelled in all his job roles and was recognized for all the efforts he put into his work as he rose to the C-level executive rank. Through promotion, Scott progressed to General Counsel of one of Transamerica’s divisions. He took the dive when an opportunity arose to become CEO of Transamerica’s Life & Protection business. Scott knew he was the right fit and possessed the capability to empower the organization to achieve its set business goals. He maintained the CEO position for approximately six years. Scott then transitioned to McKinsey & Co, which allowed him to help more carriers and the industry as a whole. He then led the development and marketing team of an internal InsurTech organization providing a digital quoting system for small commercial insurance. By then, Scott was very immersed in the InsurTech community, which is where he ran into the founder of Pinpoint –Avi Tuschman. “I have had a passion for entrepreneurship as long as I can remember and was able to utilize that passion in bringing change at very large organizations,” says Scott. Achieving Contentment Scott’s professional growth parallels his personal growth, achieving an outstanding work-life balance. He starts his day at 5 am by reading a daily message, followed by exercising, and then he moves on to the computer. Despite the onset of the pandemic forcing businesses to go remote to survive, Pinpoint was already well prepared challenge. Scott tells us, “The remote lifestyle has been difficult as I believe we are better if we are together and colliding at work. The Pinpoint team has been amazing during the pandemic, and we have developed what I believe is a great culture.” To this, he adds his secret to the work-life balance he has achieved, “The best decisions are made with a calm and cool posture. I love what I am doing and do not feel any pressure. If you do what you love and make the right decisions, there is little to trouble one’s mind.”
Scott has spent his years not just carving a niche for himself in this domain but is also involved in shaping leaders this market needs. When quizzed on his dedication to helping individuals hone their skills and expand their knowledge, Scott responded, “Why? In measuring leaders' success, I look to how many leaders they have produced and helped succeed. Without the ability and desire to develop people to be the best version of themselves, one cannot be a true leader.”
Having made crucial progress in this sector, Scott envisages continuing to bring about positive change and help Pinpoint capitalize on the significant potential this sector has to offer. Scott aims to help Pinpoint become the industry standard in recognizing the true uniqueness of individuals and being able to treat them accordingly.
Gearing Up for the Future
88 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 What’s the Future of Conversational AI? Praful Krishna, Chief Product Officer, Haptik EXPERT OPINION
The Conversational Commerce market would exponentially grow from $4.8 billion in 2020 to $13.9 billion by 2025. In the real world, Conversational Commerce refers to all local neighborhood retail stores where shopkeepers greet customers, answer their queries, ask what they require, and accordingly recommend relevant products per their expectations. These retailers also guide customers on how to receive the best value on
The prevalence of Conversational AI in today’s scenario
89 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Praful comes with 20+ years of businessestheasexcitedsignificantlyeconomy,andalumnus&consultantwasBeforeinhelpingCEOpreviouslyinvestingdigitizing,experiencecross-functionalindeveloping,marketing,andinAIandNLP-drivenproductsatstartupsandFortune500s.HewasFounder&atCoseer,acompanydatascienceteamsenterpriseswithintelligentprocessautomationtools.enteringtheworldofAIandProducts,heatahedgefundandawithMcKinseyCompany.HeisanofIITBombayandHarvardBusinessSchoolcurrentlylivesinSanFrancisco.HismissionforHaptikistodrivethetransitionofbusinessesfromwebtotheconversationresultinginimprovedcustomerexperience.HeisaboutbuildingHaptikthemostcompellingconversationalAIplatformof21stcentury,byenablingtowinlifelongcustomers.
C
onversational Artificial Intelligence is a type of artificial intelligence that refers to computer programs/technologies like chatbots or virtual agents with which users can interact. These chatbots communicate with humans by recognizing their texts and speeches, understanding their intent, deciphering multiple languages, and finally responding smartly by mimicking human conversation. The journey of chatbots dates back to 1966 with the introduction of the first-ever chatbot ELIZA. The concept garnered immense popularity in the 1990s with the rise of new-age technologies like artificial intelligence. It is AI that allows chatbots to understand complex questions and respond accordingly.
Conversational AI has spread across almost every sector and transformed how humans and machines interact with each other and perform tasks. Modern chatbots function outstandingly in a specialized manner as long as users revolve around specific topics. Conversational AI has also gained prominence in Conversational Commerce or Marketing. What does Conversational Commerce stand for?
Leveraging the potentiality of WhatsApp in India to receive an end-to-end shopping experience Today, Conversational Commerce is incomplete without the most popular messaging and video calling app WhatsApp. According to a report by the Government, WhatsApp recorded 530 million subscribers in 2021. Simultaneously, the Indian online shoppers’ estimates put their number below 300 million. When retailers unleash the power of WhatsApp in Conversational Commerce, they can offer unparalleled engagement, a seamless customer experience, and an extended reach. As a powerful platform, WhatsApp enables big or small businesses to effectively reach their customers via its business APIs, Click-ToConverse ads, and other purpose-built features.
WhatsApp chatbots have become an integral part of every brand’s digital transformation journey, as it offers unmatched ease and convenience to customers while shopping. Voice Assistants- another critical retail channel in Conversational Commerce Voice Commerce has gained phenomenal popularity in artificial intelligence technology with the ever-increasing demand for the adoption of smart speakers and contactless shopping experiences. As the present generation of users is highly inclined toward their smartphone’s voice assistants, retailers are steadily adopting the same. Such tremendous demand phenomenally supports the growth and development of Voice Assistants in e-commerce. Alongside Voice Assistants, a multilingual conversational AI solution has become the need of the hour in today’s fast-paced world. Unleashing the power of Multilingual Voice Interfaces
Bottomline Conversational Commerce does wonders for businesses by enabling them to reach, engage, and delight customers. On the way forward, several factors, including extended reach driven by language and form factors, cutting-edge technology, and exclusive venues like Metaverse, should drive unprecedented growth and success in the Conversational AI domain with a bright future.
WhatsApp commerce has emerged as the growth engine of millions of small and largescale businesses. It is strategically designed to help brands meet their customers’ expectations and deliver personalized and delightful shopping experiences to all their WhatsApp customers.
A multilingual conversational AI solution allows retailers to tap regional markets and create exceptional brand awareness among potential customers. Due to these factors, more brands are steadily deploying Conversational AI into their core operations.
Multilingual chatbots are an extraordinary asset to businesses, as India is a linguistically diverse country. The nation majorly has non-English speakers outnumbering English language speakers. Companies can effortlessly solve customer queries and deliver a superior customer experience by leveraging multilingual chatbots.
90 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 their merchandise, offer them attractive discounts & offers, and always request to revisit their stores. So, the experience of Conversational Commerce is immensely personal and affirmative, with abundant information.
SlimYoo slimyoo.com istockphoto.com/DanielBendjy
A rtificial Intelligence (AI) has always been prevalent for decades now. Neural networks has been an interesting field of Engineering courses as part of machine learning (ML) and AI for quite long. However, there has been a clear shift towards more and more adoption and making it real in the last decade. So much so that today we don’t even realize we are conversing with a virtual assistant many times and not with a real human! And going forward we may see ourselves interacting with fellow humans who are digital – not just in the metaverse but maybe even in the real world. With this advent there comes this question that will AI powered robots overpower humans? Will humankind be driven towards
Ramesh Alluri Reddy, is an industry veteran having held senior leadership roles with Wipro and Cognizant prior to joining Adecco. He comes with over 21 years of experience in Technology thought leadership, expertise in growing independent Business Units, running P&L, sales leadership, delivery management & operations management. His career is spread across multiple regions & geographies in various global roles held in the US, Japan, UK, European Union, Australia and UAE. He has led large teams of consulting and outsourcing professionals focused on providing technology transformation, infrastructure, and cloud services to deliver business value and drive productivity and digital improvements for many Indian clients.
HOW NEW AGE AI HAS CREATED A NEED FOR SKILLED WORKFORCE
LEADER’S INSIGHTS
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A.R. Ramesh, Director- Managed Services & Professional Staffing, Adecco India
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While the proliferation has been a little deeper in a few industries, it is true that AI has practically impacted every industry!
5. Telecommunications – AI led 5G revolution, intelligent networks
1. Data and data platform modernization Data is the crux and an AI will only be as effective as the underlying data. Also, data today has to be collected from various sources including machines and it is no longer only the structured text or numbers. There is a plethora of machine generated data including by IOT (internet of things) which is unstructured. Moreover, the sources of data include audio AI has created a huge shift in demand across multiple areas and has propelled the demand scenario towards more skilled and technologically advanced labour
6. Business process outsourcing – AI led customer support with virtual agents. Yes, that is just a small sample of how AI has impacted humans in their daily lives already. And in reality, this has unleashed a real set of opportunities for skilled labour across disciplines of technology. Here’s how:
extinction and will the Hollywood movieTerminator become a reality! I firmly believe to the contrary AI will only help humans propel their intelligence further and ensure we evolve even more. In this article we will see what opportunities AI has created for the skilled workforce this far. Also, a sneak peek into what the future probably has in store.
2. Retail and Manufacturing – Online experience stores across fashion, apparel, eyewear, virtual 3D retail stores, AI led digital shopping experiences, AI led 3D designs and printing and many more.
3. Travel and hospitality – Virtual tours, Digital experiences including 3D projected menu, route optimization for maps are a few
While the proliferation has been a little deeper in a few industries, it is true that AI has practically impacted every industry! Let us take a look at a few use cases where AI has revolutionized the way we live and the related industries that it has disrupted.
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1. Finance – AI led custom financial planning, Custom insurance recommendations, Virtual banking with digital agents are a few to name.
4. Media and entertainment – online gaming, AI powered audio/movie portfolio creation and suggestions, Virtual AI led music lessons etc.
2. AI is heavily used to do various types of analytics and the fulcrum for the same revolves around data science and statistics. This has created a huge need for skilled analytics personnel who have a strong domain exposure in the respective industry. Not only that but there is a huge need for skilled statisticians as well.3.Most of today’s industries operate on the cloud. And the AI engines make intelligent automation possible here. Hence a huge demand for the cloud and infrastructure skills has arisen. And the current varieties across large players like Microsoft, Amazon and Google ensure various flavours across and this calls for specialization across the various OEMs.
AI in more ways than one has announced a wake-up call to one and all to upskill and excel or perish.
4. The world is currently moving towards a more plug and play approach towards software engineering. Hence the need for various skills around containers and microservices.
8. And then there is blockchain, crypto, metaverse and more! As can be seen above, AI has created a huge shift in demand across multiple areas and has propelled the demand scenario towards more skilled and technologically advanced labour. This will mean that India needs to have more engineers who are skilled on all the above and more. I foresee the regular lowend requirements around customer service and other support areas to be completely automated. In fact in many places it is already a reality. So, the labour market will see a shift from these generic support skills to more and more advanced skill labour.
95 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 and video as well and the AI engine gathers the requisite intelligence from across. Today due to the various data sensitivity issues the new age AI also uses synthetic data – that is not real data but data that is close to real but masked/generated for training the AI and ML programs. This has created a huge requirement for data engineers.
5. User experience is paramount in today’s world. So, there is a huge thrust on UI/UX to interact with the customers. All the AI programs including chatbots, virtual assistants etc. are augmented with a unique user experience. Hence the skills for UI/UX are in great demand as well.6.Not just the above – today’s expectation is that software engineers understand the whole landscape of all the above – this means that there are many requirements that revolve around full stack engineers – be it on Java or .NET.7.Apart from this, the hardware part including IOT and other edge devices/ embedded systems are an absolute must and we can see this in all walks of life – be it our smartphones, TVs, washing machines, intelligent AC’s, dishwashers etc. AI works on the data and user interaction on all these devices. The skills that are required around this are around IOT, semiconductors, embedded engineers etc.
Drones doing delivery, driverless cars displacing drivers, virtual assistants replacing customer service agents etc. are already in vogue. It is time for the current generation to look deeply into how they can upskill and become more relevant in today’s world.
F inding the right information to make critical business decisions is difficult. It requires understanding your own business, your competitors, and the market you both operate in—then synthesizing and making sense of it all to make a wellinformed decision. This requires time and keen analytical skills, with each decision building on the quality of the prior one. Technology is supposed to help, but doesn’t always do the trick.
Raj Neervannan, Co-Founder & CTO, AlphaSense Technology India
Raj Neervannan is the CTO and co-founder of AlphaSense, a ground-breaking AIbased market intelligence search engine used by over 2,000 investment firms and corporations globally. A visionary technologist and entrepreneur of multiple venturebacked firms, Raj has previously led the development of financial software products used across numerous Fortune 500 companies. Mr. Neervannan splits his time between offices in the U.S. and India.
96 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 MAKING SMARTER, FASTER DECISIONS: BREAKTHROUGH INSIGHTS POWERED BY AI
It’s no wonder this is the case. Most of the information on the internet takes the form of unstructured information—everything from transcripts to exclusive content to gated reports. This content is hard to search through
LEADER’S INSIGHTS
97 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 Analysts, strategists, and other decisionmakers using conventional search and these other products end up wasting time, thus missing out on missioncritical information found elsewhere
Novel AI-based search technology applies natural language processing, search proximity, company tagging, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and knowledge extraction, and its understanding of the nature of documents to optimize research for professional users
98 CXO OUTLOOK August 2022 with conventional web search engines, which were primarily designed for traditional web content and to capture advertising dollars rather than relevant business information. Similarly, other traditional enterprise search solutions don’t quite work either—they have a hard time filtering the signal from the noise and often fail to expand on the intent, as they lack the contextual and semantic understanding to do so. Analysts, strategists, and other decisionmakers using conventional search and these other products end up wasting time, thus missing out on mission-critical information foundMoreover,elsewhere.in our post-print world, many kinds of useful digital content show up in disparate, even surprising places, such as trade journals, press releases, event transcripts, expert call transcripts, company presentations, and analyst reports. The breadth of these sources can be daunting to any knowledge professional.
Business users often have a nuanced understanding of a topic that traditional search engines may not be able to capture. For example, let’s say that you wanted to learn more about driverless cars. When searching the phrase “autonomous vehicles”, traditional search engines may only surface articles that use the exact literal keyword. Often, searches have different synonyms, like “self-driving” or “driverless” or “cars” or “trucks.” Search engines that don’t focus on the human semantics of the search miss out on crucialHence,data.it is critical for search query to surface results that include that specific term, as well as all the synonyms and other realworld examples that people associate it with.
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Sophisticated augmented intelligence platforms, driven by AI and expert insights, empower businesses to create order from chaos, making sense of complicated, unstructured information. For instance, unlike traditional search engines that point readers to entire pages, advanced tools like AlphaSense extracts relevant snippets, giving readers more context without the need to scan the entire document. This way, users glean the right information more efficiently than they would with conventional web search or with business intelligence tools with less-developed tech and design. What makes it special is the platform understands user query intent and guides users to the right answers, extracting insights that allow them to make smarter decisions with confidence and speed.
Novel AI-based search technology applies natural language processing, search proximity, company tagging, sentiment analysis, topic modeling, and knowledge extraction, and its understanding of the nature of documents to optimize research for professional users. The research process, as it is generally conducted now with traditional search engines, can block your ability to swiftly analyze a topic, market, company, or Certainly,theme.getting the right information can be like finding a needle in a haystack. And at the end of the day, information is just a means to an end—to enable people and businesses to succeed. To thrive in today’s information vortex businesses must embrace the next generation of intelligence platforms for all their relevant information needs.
Between these two major pitfalls of information in the digital age—lack of structure, and overwhelming breadth of sources— knowledge professionals are bound to miss vital information critical to their decision. And the compounded effect of analyst after analyst missing critical insights and committing poor or delayed decisions is extremely detrimental to a company’s bottom line. This is why contextual, competitive intelligence tools are so important. They allow users to wade through waves of information for smarter, faster, and more confident decision-making. This gives companies an advantage against competitors by preventing costly mistakes, ensuring better outcomes, and enabling more accurate future planning.
