CXO Outlook – February 2023 – The 10 Most Inspiring Business Leaders – 2023

Most Inspiring Business Leaders - 2023

Head of Advisory Board

Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D

Managing Editor

Sarath Shyam

Consultant Editors

Dr. John Andrews

Anuja Mulmule

Emma James

Andrew Scott

Amrin Ahmed

Naomi Wilson

Stanly Lui

Steve Hope

Sabrina Samson

Keith Alexander

Editorial Enquiry: admin@cxooutlook.com

Creative Consultants

Charlie Jameson

Manjunath R

Louis Bernard

Ajay Das

Rohith Poojary

Shirley David

Branding & Marketing Partnerships

Jennifer Anderson

Monica Davis

Suchita Sethy

Siva Kumar

Jessica Edword

Rachel Roy

Priyanka Pandewar

Anna Elza

Stephen Donnell

Cathy Chen

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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.

Mastering the Art of Leadership

The debate about whether leaders are born or made never gets too old. Like Dr. Daniel Goleman, who first brought the term “emotional intelligence,” once said, identifying individuals with the “right stuff” to be leaders is more art than science. After all, the personal styles of superb leaders vary: some leaders are subdued and analytical; others shout their manifestos from the mountaintops. However, business leaders need more than analytical skills to succeed in the post-pandemic era. A leader is not just a leader anymore. They must be a strategic executor, tech-savvy humanists, traditioned innovators, globallyminded localists, and the list goes on.

In this issue of CXO Outlook, we introduce a group of outstanding business leaders who are humble heroes balancing their vision with execution. Carlos Santos, featured on the cover, is an award-winning entrepreneur and a financial instruments specialist. He is currently the CEO and Chairman of Ethos Group, where he runs the Group in 72 countries and eight global offices and is directly involved in two business areas of the company: financial trading and project financing. Similarly, we have featured stories of Aditya K Mehta(President & CFO, Orion Group), Ivan J. Dsouza (CEO, Bioviser Inc.), Michael Whitehead (Managing Partner,

Carpe Diem Global Partners®), and Siva G Subramanian (Associate Vice President - Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU, Searce Inc). They have succeeded in this new era of value creation by working alongside people with different backgrounds and ways of thinking.

We have also onboarded experts like Annemarie Cross (Founder, Industry Thought Leader Academy & Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast Network), Alvian Zulkhaizar (Data and AI Specialist, IBM Indonesia), Paolo Sironi (Global Research Leader Banking and Financial Markets, IBM Institute for Business Value), Shona Hirons (Global Corporate Burnout Expert & Director, Mindset in Motion Ltd), Sime Curkovic (Supply Chain Professor, Western Michigan University) and Victoria Tomlinson (Founder & Chief Executive, Next-Up) to share their views and insights with our audience. Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam

Leading with Purpose, Passion, and Perseverance

CEO and Chairman, Ethos Group

A

Having a Laser Focus on Development and

60

Helping Clients Assess Their Technology Needs & Leadership Imperatives

Aditya K Mehta, Senior President & CFO, Orion Group

Siva G Subramanian, Associate Vice President - Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU, Searce Inc

Ivan J. Dsouza, CEO, Bioviser Inc

Sustainability

Michael Whitehead, Managing Partner, Carpe Diem Global Partners

Can We Teach Our Students to Also Become Master of Technology Rather Than Just Giant Color-Coded Spreadsheets?

Technology Adoption and the Pandemic Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for Businesses and Individuals Paolo Sironi, Global Research Leader Banking and Financial Markets, IBM Institute for Business Value

How to Digitalize Offer-Driven Banking on Demand-Driven Technology

Alvian Zulkhaizar, Data and AI Specialist, IBM Indonesia

Sime Curkovic, Supply Chain Professor, Western Michigan University

The Skills Crisis – Are You Sitting On The Answer?

Victoria Tomlinson, Founder & Chief Executive, Next-Up

The 50+ generation have suddenly become interesting to employers, government and policy think tanks. Just when the country has a skills crisis, thousands of people aged 50 to 64 have decided to leave work forever.

Here I want to look at why they are leaving, how to stop the outward flow – and how to attract them back.

I was 63 when I started this second business – relevant as you will see! At that stage I was meeting increasing numbers of the 50+ generation who had left corporate life (they didn’t see themselves as ‘retired’) and were completely lost. I realised there was a mental health issue here, a massive waste of skills and talent and a crisis that no-one was talking about.

Victoria Tomlinson is founder and chief executive of Next-Up, which runs workshops and has an online platform to help employee’s pre-retirement. The key is helping 50+ employees with ideas – what do people ‘do’ at this stage of life – and then building new skills and connections to make it all work. They do this with hundreds of video interviews with their peers, sharing insights and their tips. The aim is to find purpose and achieve the work/life balance everyone wants. Victoria was a director of EY, on the London leadership team and then ran an award-winning communications/digital business for 30+ years. A TEDx speaker and BBC Expert Woman, she was chair and is now board member of WILD Digital, increasing the diversity in technology, and was chair of an advisory board for University of Leeds and on the board of Northern Ballet. She hopes to be a role model showing that you can become a tech entrepreneur – or whatever you want – at the age of 67 and more!

The current debate about how many days people should go into the office seems to focus on younger employees but there is real frustration about ‘presenteeism’ from this experienced group of employees

And all this was a few years before the pandemic – which has accelerated things but was not the fundamental cause.

What I saw – and wider research confirmed – was that people had had enough of ‘work’ which felt increasingly pressured and meaningless. But they had not had enough of work in terms of using their skills and being useful and relevant. The trouble was they were struggling to find a way to use those skills.

In one piece of research, 75% of employees aged 50+ said their skills were not recognised or used.

Just stop and think about that for a minute. Three quarters of your experienced employees say their skills aren’t recognised or used. No wonder there is a productivity issue in this country. Other research says they won’t make a fuss and do anything about it because they think they will lose their job altogether. Numerous

Unless you make an effort to understand how this generation is feeling, you won’t know what is happening until they have left. Leaving you with an even bigger skills gap

reports say they experience ageism; and growing numbers are frustrated at the inflexibility of their jobs. Many have caring responsibilities of both grandchildren and their own parents.

How do you stop this trend? First off, age needs to be included in your diversity focus –this will ensure you analyse data by age and understand the issues of this generation.

You will discover there has been almost no investment in their training – so it is no wonder

their tech skills could be better – and that benefits are skewed towards younger members of the workforce. One HR director said they had a lot around childcare and even fertility treatment, but only ‘impotency and menopause support’ for the older generations.

The 50+ generation wants work flexibility as much as millennials. The current debate about how many days people should go into the office seems to focus on younger employees but there is real frustration about ‘presenteeism’ from this experienced group of employees.

As 50+ employees leave the workforce, they are saying they no longer need a salary to have enough money to live on. When you take money away as a motivator for work, you become much more demanding about the work you do?

And this means leadership and HR teams have to go through a mindset – the assumptions about money are threaded through how jobs are designed at work. It is inherent in the lockstep approach to incremental pay increases and how you reward work generally.

If money is not a motivator, what is? This generation wants their work to be purposeful, as much if not more than millennials do. They want flexibility – maybe to work on projects where they are really using their experience but are not bogged down in meetings and general admin. At this stage of life, many have had enough of managing people – there isn’t status in running large teams, just stress and hassle.

They want to feel valued – who doesn’t? – and they want to use all that experience that they have built up. I recently heard a teacher say, “I couldn’t face another 35-year old head teacher holding a well-meaning session on the importance of story-telling to engage young

children. What do they think I have been doing all these years?”

This is a generation that tends not to complain, they just get on with it. So unless you make an effort to understand how this generation is feeling, you won’t know what is happening until they have left. Leaving you with an even bigger skills gap.

Last year I organised an event for former partners of professional firms to share their personal retirement experience with HR directors. At the end, one HR director said, “Thank you for sharing this so honestly. I am shocked – I had absolutely no idea how hard retirement is. I realise I have made many assumptions – in fact, I have not really thought about it much at all.”

The very word ‘retirement’ fills large numbers of people with dread – and this is the opportunity for employers.

We are just piloting an online platform to help all employees think about and plan for their retirement – not the financials, but the

emotional impact and that great unanswered question, ‘what am I going to do?’. Just before Christmas we held an online information session for one corporate. 400 employees booked on to the call, but we were told they would not all turn up.

No, 750 employees joined the call! Clearly this is a topic exercising a lot of employee minds and is a way in to start designing work that works for this generation.

By discussing what they want for the long term, the employer can then help individuals to plan towards this – maybe working part-time and flexibly so they stay working for maybe two, five, ten years more than just leaving. Stone dead. It has to be easier to fill skills gaps with existing employees rather than recruiting from a very tight labour market?

If you make your workplace somewhere the 50+ generation wants to be, you could solve the skills gap and productivity issues in one go. Of all the challenges facing employers at the moment, this one may be the easiest to solve.

If you make your workplace somewhere the 50+ generation wants to be, you could solve the skills gap and productivity issues in one go. Of all the challenges facing employers at the moment, this one may be the easiest to solve

Carlos Santos

and Chairman, Ethos Group

Leading with Purpose, Passion, and Perseverance

CEO

Carlos Santos is an award-winning entrepreneur and a financial instruments specialist. He is currently the CEO and Chairman of Ethos Group, where he runs the Group in 72 countries and eight global offices and is directly involved in two business areas of the company: financial trading and project financing. Before Ethos, Mr. Santos worked at the Banco de Portugal (BdP), holding positions in the Monetary and Financial Statistics Department and the Centralization of Credit Responsibilities Sections of the Statistics Department. To date, he continues to teach at the ISEG as the visiting Lecturer and Professor of Economics.

Through the course of his remarkable academic and professional trajectory, Mr. Santos has been a recipient of numerous prestigious awards such as the Men Leaders to Look Upto Award (2021), the Africa Dubai Honours Award for Excellence and Leadership Prowess (2021), and the Ernst & Young Award: Best Economist (2016), and Banco de Portugal Award (2015).

Early Lessons that Helped Shape into a Successful Entrepreneur

Mr. Santos was not the most active or brightest student during his school years. Like every other child, all he wanted to do was play. School teachers complained about

him, but his parents felt that time would change him, and he would become more settled and focused with age. The pressure of others growing and becoming more mature faster than Mr. Santos did not worry them. This indeed turned out to be true. As time passed, Mr. Santos began developing into a bright student and, at university, an amazing one. “This helped me learn an important lesson in business; everything takes time to become mature. Businesses and companies, like people, need time to grow and time to become mature. We cannot become desperate when this takes more time than others,” states Mr. Santos.

Mr. Santos earned a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s degree in finance, and certifications in banking accounting and international taxation, with his most recent specialization in financial instruments. He calls the university experience pivotal because it gave him the foundation of knowledge that allows him, as a business leader, to navigate

different markets and industries and be comfortable guiding any negotiation within his business even now. He adds, “I feel that I learned how to overcome problems that I face, and I will be able to fight them as if it was the exam I took more than one decade ago.”

Ethos Group’s Inception Story: From Humble Beginnings to Phenomenal Success

It all began when Mr. Santos was studying and teaching at the ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management. At the same time, one of his current partners was also a professor at the University with whom he shared a great rapport. One day, Mr. Santos was in the office, preparing for exams, and his colleague, who later became his business partner, saw him working on some of the numbers he was achieving with experimental trading using the algorithm. His colleague was spellbound and wanted to know more. After Mr. Santos showed him how the

Ethos, under Mr. Santos’ leadership, has successfully delivered 87 financing transactions in 72 countries over the last decade and is now aiming towards solidifying its position in North and Central America and South America, continue making footprints in Africa and Europe, and strongly beginning to explore the South of Asia

algorithm worked to a much deeper level, his colleague was confident that, together with Mr. Santos, they could generate large profits. Backed with a strong network with access to the biggest investment firms in the USA and Europe, he told Mr. Santos that he would organize meetings in New York with some investment companies to see if they would like to operate the algorithm. In no time, Mr. Santos traveled to the USA to show what he had developed.

In the first meeting with one of the biggest investment firms in the world, the client team was immediately interested after seeing the track record of the achieved results. Without missing a beat, they made a proposal to acquire the algorithm. Here, we are talking about millions of dollars that neither Mr. Santos nor his colleague had seen in their lives, which is not the case now, but it was the biggest deal for them then. They say one of the major components in any entrepreneurial journey is negotiating for your business, which is precisely what Mr. Santos did. He refused to sell the algorithm, but here’s the thing; he was ready to lease the same. Soon, Mr. Santos and his colleague began leasing the algorithm with a royalty structure that was a percentage of the Assets Under Management (AUM) they held plus a portion of the profits.

In 2012, after returning to Portugal, Mr. Santos and his partners incorporated the company with a team of three in a small room with a sofa and one desk. When they started to make profits from trading, they understood that their returns were short-term, volatile, and a result of high-

One factor that sets Ethos Group apart from its competitors is its model, a rare combination of financial trading, backing, and supporting project financing

frequency trading. Mr. Santos and his partners soon started thinking about optimizing their asset allocation to guarantee that the portfolio of assets was efficient and maximized in a Pareto logic. They then realized they needed to invest in a different industry from the financial market. They understood that Project Financing could bring them a long and fixed return to hedge and rebalance their asset allocation in trading. This was why Mr. Santos and his partners began to offer project financing.

Presently, Ethos Asset Management Inc. provides debt financing with uniquely favorable terms designed to allow select companies with impactful projects to invest in themselves and fuel their future success. Ethos, under Mr. Santos’ leadership, has successfully delivered 87 financing transactions in 72 countries over the last decade and is now aiming towards solidifying its position in North and Central America and South America, continue making footprints in Africa and Europe, and strongly beginning to explore the South of Asia.

A Notch above the Rest

One factor that sets Ethos Group apart from its competitors is its model, a rare combination of financial trading, backing, and supporting project financing. Moreover, the collateral structure allows the company to analyze the risks of projects from a different prism than normal investors and also to invest in projects differently from its competitors.

Apart from this, Ethos believes the most impactful projects have both profit and purpose. Because when the right project finds

the right model of financing and support, the positive impact can be felt far and wide - in return on investment, the jobs created, and communities transformed.

Innovation is in Ethos’ DNA & Culture Innovation is what led to the genesis of Ethos’ creation and model. The company has created a unique model called project financing by joining/merging financial trading and project financing, which is more competitive than the average on the market. At the same time, its algorithm of trading is unique and an innovative technology where it trades with two major differentiations of the market.

“We use a structure of collateral that is unique using financial guarantees and instruments, not only to secure investments but to trigger returns to us,” mentions Mr. Santos. “These three prisms form the basis of Ethos’ model, and the three joined together are the perfect definition of innovation.”

Moreover, Ethos created the Philanthropic Financing Facility, a unique win-win situation with a finance potentially being converted into a grant. This guarantees that clients develop the community benefits they promise, and Ethos has an inevitable return of its capital while making a valuable grant impacting local communities. This proves that Ethos’ culture has always focused on being ambitious and courageous to embrace this endogenous process of changing and adapting through innovation.

A Well-Balanced Working Environment

For Mr. Santos, it is very important to understand the goals of his team members,

what makes them wake up every day, and what makes them fight, apart from the obvious financial gains. “I need to understand the goals of my team members because this guarantees that they are aligned with the goals of Ethos,” shares Mr. Santos. “When we explain the goals of Ethos and our targets, we always try to see if each individual of our team is aligned with them and feels engaged and ‘owns’ our goals.” This is mandatory to be able to have a motivated team.

And there is more. Every week, in fact, every day, Mr. Santos obliges the Ethos team to provide feedback on what they have developed and compare that to their established goals. In addition, Mr. Santos considers providing constructive criticism as important as positive feedback. This becomes a basis for establishing reward systems and incentives that makes team members feel more embraced by the company.

In terms of upskilling employees, the Ethos Group provides opportunities for its people to develop themselves via more information, travel, and presence across the globe in its offices and with the company’s stakeholders. Most importantly, the flexible working environment of Ethos allows employees to strike the right work-life balance.

Addressing Exogenous & Endogenous Challenges

From clients deciding to stop leasing the algorithm and passing the trading risk to the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic to the war in Ukraine, external crises such as these affected the banking system. Having a foresight since the company’s inception and considering the world events, Mr. Santos and his partners were

always a step ahead. They were trying to find a collateral structure that would not rely on credit lines, with their banks needing to be triggered by SBLCs or for Pledges. This gave rise to the birth of Worldwide Pledge in 2020, a structure totally independent of the need for credit limits to the Ethos Group or its clients.

For Mr. Santos, the endogenous challenges, mainly the human resources, are considered more possible to work with and overcome. However, keeping the best talent engaged and aligned with the company’s objectives and goals is difficult. “This is mandatory in a new ecosystem where changes happen every day, and if we are not ready to attract and maintain the best, it’s easy to lose our direction,” shares Mr. Santos. “To prevent this from happening, we must guarantee that everybody, independent of culture and language and jurisdiction, can understand Ethos the same way we do.”

Despite these challenges, what truly makes Mr. Santos an inspiring and successful business leader is his ability to rise like a phoenix from the ashes and refuse to give up. This quality is evident from every step, every

move, and every decision that Mr. Santos has made and continues to take in his life.

Career Highlights

Three groups of years define Ethos Group’s story, which in turn, defines three critical moments that allowed Mr. Santos and his team to adjust to the environment of the times. Between 2012 and 2014, investors and investment funds sought out IHNCAM Advisory to rent Ethos Group’s trading algorithm by placing the plugin into their brokerage accounts. With the profits they generated, they paid Ethos Group a percentage value. They assumed the volatility risks of trading operations. Between 2015 and 2017, investors issued Capital Investment and Management Agreements to IHNCAM Advisory, allowing the resources to remain in Ethos Group’s hands. Since 2018, IHNC has evolved into Ethos Asset Management, which trades exclusively with its accumulated resources. Hence, these three moments are critical to Ethos Group’s source of wealth accumulation. Likewise, making his first USD 1 million is extra special for Mr.

Mr. Santos and his team are now working on some exciting & impactful projects on Energy, Infrastructure, and Agribusiness centered in North and Central America, South America, Africa, and Europe

Santos, not only because of his age but how he did it.

Apart from this, Mr. Santos considers the development of Ethos Group’s Philanthropic Financing Facility as another remarkable milestone. Similarly, Ethos Group marking its footprint in USA, Turkey, and Brazil is monumental. Being able to open two massive regions of the globe, especially during the pandemic, that now is in the top 5 and top 3 of markets makes Mr. Santos incredibly proud.

A Day in the Life of a Leader

Mr. Santos devotes 20 hours every day, 7 days per week to sometimes even working 24/7. He believes that if entrepreneurs and leaders need to turn a business into a successful one, they must live it all day. They need to think about the business all day, every single moment. It is only such dedication that opens the door and creates great opportunities, and when they appear, this type of approach allows them to be able to secure and take the opportunities.

If Mr. Santos is not traveling, which he does almost year-round, he begins working around 8/8:30 am till 2.00 am of the following day with back-to-back in-person and online meetings with clients, banks, traders, and associates, responding to multiple emails, and attending calls. When he is in Europe at the office in Istanbul, Lisbon, or London, he usually uses the early morning hours to answer as many emails as possible and devote afternoons to more calls and meetings.

With things returning to normal post-pandemic, the team at Ethos Group is organizing quality tours in each of the 5 continents where they can train Ethos Group’ s associates and be closer to them

With great responsibilities comes decision-making, and when it does, Mr. Santos prefers to sleep on the subject to make a better decision the next day, preferably in the early hours of the day. When it comes to staying calm under pressure, Mr. Santos reminds himself that before he went into the world, the world existed, and after he dies, it will continue to exist. With that spirit, he tries to reduce the importance that some subjects appear to have. “This is important to remember every day because this allows me to allocate some time to handle it and time to understand that even a bad decision will not necessarily be the end but only a bad decision,” mentions Mr. Santos. Likewise, his mantra to relax and unwind from work is gazing at the sea & ocean, exploring nature, enjoying different cuisines, taking a leisurely walk, listening to classical music, attending a concert, and traveling.

Working Towards Revitalizing & Reinventing Ethos Brand

Mr. Santos and his team are working on some exciting & impactful projects on Energy, Infrastructure, and Agribusiness centered in North and Central America, South America, Africa, and Europe. On this topic, Africa has amazing projects like the Macusa Port in Mozambique or the Beef Industry in Zimbabwe that Mr. Santos and his team are very honored to be involved in. Such projects impact thousands of people directly and indirectly, potentially millions in the country and surrounding areas. These are the projects that Ethos aims to be involved in and wishes every day to be able to fuel the future.

Furthermore, Mr. Santos is leading efforts toward working on the group's restructuring to optimize and be aligned with the regulations and legislation of each country. For the medium term, Mr. Santos plans on automating and digitalizing all the onboarding processes of Ethos’ project financing structure. “One of my current great goals is turning this business from a variety of net working capital to negative. This is a great challenge because it is an industry and structural issue turning the business into a negative variation of net working capital. Although this is being achieved month by month, we need to now make it sustainable and a recurrent reality,” shares Mr. Santos.

Aiming to Make 2023 the Best & Historic Year

With things returning to normal postpandemic, the team at Ethos Group is organizing quality tours in each of the 5 continents where they can train Ethos Group’s associates and be closer to them. This proximity will allow the team to pass more accurate information and guarantee that all their communication in the market in each jurisdiction is consistent, resulting in the delivery of higher quality projects and achieving ambitious monthly targets.

“Last year was extraordinary, and we exceeded our highest expectations right at the eleventh hour,” states Mr. Santos. “But we are sure that now, more than ever, we are capable and strong enough to achieve extraordinary results.”

Technology Adoption and the Pandemic Economy: Opportunities and Challenges for Businesses and Individuals

Alvian Zulkhaizar, Data and AI Specialist, IBM Indonesia

Technology adoption has always had a significant impact on the economy, and this is especially true in the current climate. As businesses and individuals continue to embrace new technologies, they create opportunities for growth and innovation that can drive economic development. However, the process of adopting new technologies is not without its challenges. In this article, we will explore some of the current issues impacting technology adoption and how these challenges can create new opportunities for those willing to embrace them.

One of the major issues facing technology adoption today is the digital divide. This refers to the gap between those who have access to the latest technologies and those who do not. This divide can be seen in both developed and

developing countries, and it often has significant implications for economic growth and social development. In order to bridge this gap and ensure that everyone has access to the benefits of technology, it is important for governments and businesses to invest in infrastructure and education initiatives that can help to bring more people online.

Another issue that has a major impact on technology adoption is the cost of implementing new technologies. For small businesses and start-ups, the upfront costs of adopting new technologies can be prohibitively high. This can make it difficult for these organizations to compete with larger, more established businesses that have the resources to invest in new technologies. To address this issue, governments and businesses can work together

Alvian Zulkhaizar is Data and AI Specialist at IBM Indonesia. As a data and AI specialist, his primary focus is on utilizing advanced technologies to extract valuable insights and knowledge from data. He has a strong background in both computer science and statistics, which allows him to approach data analysis and machine learning with a unique blend of technical and analytical skills. In his current role, he is responsible for leading the data and AI efforts for a major healthcare organization. This includes working closely with crossfunctional teams to understand their data needs and identify opportunities for using AI to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. He also leads a team of data scientists and engineers, providing guidance and mentorship as they work to develop and deploy cutting-edge AI solutions. In addition to his work in the healthcare industry, he is also active in the broader data and AI community.

To bridge this gap and ensure that everyone has access to the benefits of technology, it is important for governments and businesses to invest in infrastructure and education initiatives that can help to bring more people online

to create incentives and support programs that help small businesses and start-ups afford the costs of adopting new technologies.

In addition to these issues, there are also concerns about the potential risks and uncertainties associated with technology adoption. These risks can include data security breaches, cybersecurity threats, and the potential for job displacement as automation and artificial intelligence become more prevalent. While it is important to address these concerns and mitigate these risks, it is also important to recognize that technology adoption can bring significant benefits and opportunities. For example, the use of automation and AI can help businesses to become more efficient and productive, ultimately leading to economic growth.

Covid19 Pandemic also play significant role and give big impact on the way we are adopting technology and the way we work. All of this come as big challenge and as well as big opportunity for us to face it. One of the biggest challenges in technology adoption related to the new way of working and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic has been the need to quickly implement new tools and technologies for remote work and collaboration. This has required businesses to invest in new software and hardware, as well as to provide training and support for employees to ensure that they are able to effectively work from home.

The impact of this challenge on the economy has been significant. Many businesses have had to invest significant resources in order to enable their employees to work remotely, which has put a strain on their budgets and bottom lines. In addition, the shift to remote work has also led to disruptions in supply chains and other business operations, which has had a negative impact on economic growth.

Despite these challenges, however, the shift to remote work has also created new opportunities for businesses. For example, the use of remote work technologies has enabled businesses to reach a wider pool of talent and to tap into new markets. In addition, the use of remote work has also led to increased productivity and efficiency for many businesses, which can ultimately drive economic growth.

employees to work from home. This has opened up new avenues for businesses to find and hire the best talent, regardless of their location.

In addition, the use of technology has also enabled businesses to tap into new markets and reach new customers. With the use of e-commerce and other online platforms, businesses can now sell their products and services to a global market, rather than being limited to a local or regional customer base.

Finally, the use of technology has also led to increased productivity and efficiency for many businesses. By automating certain tasks and processes, businesses can free up their employees to focus on more value-added activities, ultimately leading to increased competitiveness and economic growth. As with any major shift, there can be a natural tendency for some people to resist the adoption of new technologies. This resistance can be fuelled by a variety of factors, including fear of the unknown, concerns about job security, and a lack of understanding about how the technology works. In order to overcome this resistance, it is important for businesses and governments to engage with stakeholders and build a shared understanding of the benefits and potential risks of technology adoption.

From an executive point of view, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented many challenges and uncertainties. However, it has also created new opportunities for businesses that are willing to embrace them.

One of the biggest opportunities that has arisen as a result of the pandemic is the ability for businesses to reach a wider pool of talent. With the sudden shift to remote work, businesses have had to quickly implement new technologies and tools to enable their

In conclusion, technology adoption is a complex and multifaceted process that has a significant impact on the economy. While there are many challenges that must be overcome in order to fully embrace new technologies, there are also numerous opportunities for growth and innovation that can result from their adoption. By addressing issues such as the digital divide, the cost of implementation, and cultural resistance to change, we can create a more inclusive and sustainable economic future that is driven by technology.

The use of remote work has led to increased productivity and efficiency for many businesses, which can ultimately drive economic growth

MOST INSPIRING BUSINESS LEADERS

Website: https://orion-group.net/

Headquarters: Dhaka, Bangladesh

About the Company: ORION is a market leader in Pharmaceuticals, Cosmetics & Toiletries, Infrastructure Development, Real Estate & Construction, Power, Hightech Agro Products, Hospitality, Textiles & Garments, and Aviation Management sectors.

Website: https://www.ethosasset.com/

Headquarters: California, USA

About the Company: Ethos Asset Management INC is an independent company based in the USA and participates in a group of seven investment companies located in the USA, Portugal, Madrid, Dublin, London, Turkey, and Zurich, with global outreach in project financing.

President & CFO, Orion Group

CEO and Chairman, Ethos Group

Aditya K Mehta

Carlos Santos

Website: https://www.seecole.app/

Headquarters: Florida, USA

About the Company: seeCOLe (see Clinical data On Lens) is an award-winning augmented reality health app that enables clinicians to navigate & document in the electronic health record hands-free using voice commands.

Website: https://www.leadnedge.com.au/

Headquarters: Queensland, Australia

About the Company: Established in 2012, LEAD N EDGE has been engaging with leaders in business by teaching the behaviors that create success.

Website: https://bioviser.com/

Headquarters: Massachusetts, USA

About the Company: BIOVISER is a healthcare technology startup providing services in the fields of RWE, Pharmacovigilance, HEOR, Biostatistics, Medical Affairs, Regulatory Affairs, and Space Analytics.

Website: https://www.teachactive.org/

Headquarters: Chester, United Kingdom

About the Company: Teach Active is a multi-award winning resource that provides schools and teachers with lesson plans and resources designed to deliver the Maths and English.

CEO, Bioviser Inc.

EHR consultant and Creator of seeCOLe

Co-Founder and Director, Teach Active

Executive Business Coach and Founder, LEAD N EDGE Consulting

Ivan J. Dsouza

Carl Osborne

Jon Smedley

Greg Pritchard

Website: https://carpediempartners.com/

Headquarters: California, USA

About the Company: Carpe Diem Global Partners is a Leadership Advisory Firm organized around three pillars, delivering a range of leadership services to the Board and C-suite.

Website: https://www.mymee.com/

Headquarters: New York, USA

About the Company: Mymee is a leader in personalized health and nutrition for people with mild to severe symptoms of autoimmune diseases and long COVID.

Website: https://danishendurance.com/

Headquarters: Hedensted Kommune, Denmark

About the Company: Danish Endurance is a global endurance & outdoor brand born of the idea that physical and mental balance builds personal endurance and greater happiness.

Associate Vice President - Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU, Searce Inc

Website: https://www.searce.com/

Headquarters: Texas, USA

About the Company: Searce provides deep technical consulting, hands-on implementation, and 24*7 cloud care support, enabling the digital transformation of organizations with the best infrastructure, platform, industry solutions, and expertise.

CEO, Danish Endurance

Managing Partner, Carpe Diem Global Partners

Founder & CEO, Mymee

Nicolaj Due

Michael Whitehead

Siva G Subramanian

Mette Dyhrberg

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BUSINESS LEADERS 2023

Aditya K Mehta A LEADER WHO ONCE WAS AN UNDERDOG

SENIOR PRESIDENT & CFO, ORION GROUP

Orion Group is one of the largest and most diversified business groups in Bangladesh. Employing over 18000 people, Orion’s business portfolio ranges from Pharma & Healthcare, Infrastructure Development to Power Generation & Energy to Textiles to Consumer Durables. Managing Orion’s vast financial actions is its Senior President & CFO, Aditya K Mehta, an industry leader with over 20 years of experience in the corporate

and financial services sectors, having accomplished outstanding professional achievements in sales and finance with the TVS Group, Citibank, and Cargill. “Joining Orion as the Group’s CFO has helped broad base my profile portfolio and provide insights into a privately held corporate business group outside India,” says Mr. Mehta.

Mr. Mehta joined Orion in 2021 when the world was still fighting the pandemic. Like many other business groups worldwide,

ADITYA K MEHTA

SENIOR

PRESIDENT & CFO, ORION GROUP

Orion had had its fair share of challenges. Mr. Mehta recounts, “It is an exemplary achievement of the Group that we managed to implement the country’s largest renewable energy plant by the end of 2021, and it has been supplying uninterrupted electric power to the Bangladesh Grid since then.” For this crucial project in Bangladesh’s green energy roadmap, Mr. Mehta arranged the major portion of the bridge financing - USD 100 million!

The Underdog Story

Born in Chandigarh but raised in Kolkata, Mr. Mehta did his schooling at St. Xaviers Collegiate School and La Martiniere for Boys, two of the premier day schools in India. He was elected House Captain and School Captain in Xaviers. But Mr. Mehta’s school life was not too perfect as it looked. He underwent depression early in high school after not being elected the Prefect in the LaMarts. However, Mr. Mehta was not someone who would give up too soon. “I was determined to do my B.E. & MBA and got selected one of the top management institutes in the country via the all-India CAT exam. I can proudly say that, throughout my academic and professional journey, I have always been selected on merit. No donations, no back door entries, no sucking up to bosses - only on pure merit,” Mr. Mehta proudly states.

Mr. Mehta has always been the underdog. He was never the favorite to stand first in class or win any prize because he needed to be more brilliant and naturally gifted. He says, “I have been sincere and transparent in my approach towards life and work. Yet I used to be among the top 5 students in the

Mr. Mehta is a distinguished Life Member of Leaders Excellence at Harvard Square and has recently completed an exclusive CFO program in IIM-Calcutta with an “Excellent” grade

class of 50 at the end of the year.” Mr. Mehta was a versatile doer, representing his class and school in sports, quizzes, elocution, and debate contests. At the same time, he had the uncanny ability to surprise people since most didn’t expect him to win or to do well.

In February 2022, Mr. Mehta was honored with the “Man of Excellence Award 2021-22” by the prestigious Indian Achievers’ Forum. In March 2022, he won another prestigious award for CFO

of the Year 2021-22. He was conferred the “Man of Excellence Award at the National Summit on Atmnirbhar Bharat: Vision New India in July. He was felicitated, in August 2022, among the “Most Admired Global Indians” by a leading luxury and lifestyle magazine. He is a distinguished Life Member of Leaders Excellence at Harvard Square and has recently completed an exclusive CFO program in IIM-Calcutta with an “Excellent” grade. And, the success continues for Mr. Mehta.

“If you want to see the rainbow, you gotta put with the rain. This has been my mantra for growth, development, and success in corporate life."

- Aditya K Mehta

From Sales to Finance: The Making of a Versatile Leader

Mr. Mehta started his professional journey when he was recruited by TVS straight out of campus as a Management Trainee, where he sold the company’s computer peripherals to the dealer, distributor, and institutional channels in Mumbai Metropolitan Region. In 2005, he joined Citibank and has been in the financial services sector since. Mr. Mehta then moved to Cargill and was its Senior Director of their Trade & Capital Markets (TCM) business, covering Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Mauritius, Nepal, and Sri Lanka when he left the company to join Orion. “During COVID in 202021, I felt I had outgrown my role as Senior Director in South Asia. The fact that I was in a niche business like Cargill’s TCM for more than a decade didn’t help matters further,” shares Mr. Mehta.

However, when Mr. Mehta joined Orion in an entirely different profile from his earlier roles, he was advised to unlearn. He says, “I was proud and possessive of my Citi banking stint. But Cargill is not a bank; its Trade & Structured Finance business is way more innovative and nimbler footed. This resistance to changing my approach and unlearning the past didn’t help me. I performed better when I started going with the flow and stopped resisting the unlearning.”

At Orion, Mr. Mehta and his team have started tracking “revenues generated out of innovation” as one of the key metrics in the organization. He shares, “We are on the verge of becoming the first business group in Bangladesh to implement SAP across our

power and energy portfolio. This will help us to streamline our processes more efficiently and effectively. I want this unique capability to become a strategically valuable resource for Orion in the near future.”

Beyond the Work

Holding the top financial position in a large private conglomerate means that Mr. Mehta is hardly away from work. His typical working day involves at least a couple of official meetings with his team or overseas calls, discussions with the promoters, and keeping track of various regulatory requirements in the Group. Mr. Mehta unplugs from work by trying to spend quality time with his family, going for leisure walks, and listening to Mohammed Rafi songs. For young professionals to stay focused and productive, Mr. Mehta shares, “John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Similarly, to stay focused and productive daily, ask not what your company can do for you – ask what you can do for your company.”

Mr. Mehta believes in the idea that life itself has no meaning, as it depends on us what meaning we want to derive from it, and for that, we need to attach purposes at different stages in life. “If you want to see the rainbow, you gotta put with the rain. This has been my mantra for growth, development, and success in corporate life. I see my father still working at 76, and that inspires me to keep going and never stop - the passion for contributing, in whichever way, to my profession,” concludes Mr. Mehta.

How to Start a Podcast that Builds Visibility, Generates Leads, and Positions Your Business as THE Choice vs Just a Choice with Your Dream Customer

Annemarie Cross, Founder, Industry Thought Leader Academy & Ambitious Entrepreneur Podcast Network

According to recent statistics, as of January 2023, there are 5 million podcasts globally with over 70 million podcast episodes and a global listenership of 464.7 million. The popularity of podcasting has certainly been increasing over the last fifteen years since I launched my first podcast.

Are you thinking of starting a podcast in 2023 to help you build visibility of your business?

Like many other businesses who want to start a podcast, you may be wondering: “Where do I start?” as well as, “What microphone should I get?” which are two of the most common questions I get asked.

Dubbed ‘The Podcasting Queen,’ Business Coach, Annemarie Cross is an award-winning podcast host and is recognized as a pioneer in the podcasting space having started her first co-hosted podcast in 2008. Her podcasts have been syndicated on both National and International Radio and listed among the top podcasts for Entrepreneurs and small business worldwide. Recognized as one of the Top 20 Business Coaches in Melbourne - Australia, Annemarie works with consultants and coaches around the world who feel like the world’s best kept secret go from invisible to influential trusted authority with a distinguishable and uncopiable brand and message. As well as a robust podcast strategy so they're able to nurture listeners into leads from their first episode, while also position themselves as THE choice vs A choice with their dream clients.

Many businesses mistakenly believe that getting the best microphone is going to make all the difference in producing a successful podcast. It won’t

Let me share with you, my response. While launching a podcast is relatively simple, launching a podcast that enables you to build your reach with your dream customer, build your reputation as an influential trusted authority so you become THE choice vs A choice, as well as build your revenue by nurturing listeners into leads is another matter altogether.

So, if 2023 is the year you want to launch a podcast (or relaunch your podcast because your current podcast isn’t generating the results you’d hoped for), here are 5 tips to ensure your podcast can become an integral component in your marketing, relationship-building, and lead-generation strategy.

1. The BEST strategy: Start with the end in mind

The objectives of your business will help you to determine the best strategy for your podcast. Here are some of the things you’ll want to consider as you plan out your strategy for optimal results:

Is your main objective to build visibility, awareness, and a relationship with a cold audience – people who have not heard about you, yet? If so, along with building rapport with your audience, the content you share on your podcast will also need to validate your expertise, along with why you (as THE choice) and why now – what's the urgency your ideal client needs to know about?

Or perhaps you’ll be using a podcast to strengthen your relationship with existing clients by showcasing case studies and the value of additional services they can take advantage of? Therefore, increasing client spend and/ or retention, while minimizing the likelihood of your client being poached by a competitor

When it comes to a business-related podcast, your ideal client is unlike a listener of mainstream radio, who is there for entertainment vs education and/or empowerment

because they weren’t aware of the additional services you offered?

Will you publish an ongoing podcast or perhaps an ‘evergreen’ series that your marketing department can continue to leverage into micro-content, better suits your goals?

These are just a few of the things you’ll want to consider to ensure the BEST strategy for your podcast so you can achieve your goals.

2. Message BEFORE Microphone

Many businesses mistakenly believe that getting the best microphone is going to make all the difference in producing a successful podcast.

It won’t.

So, if you’re hoping to tap into the increasing global podcast listenership because your current marketing (i.e., your message) isn’t working, then starting a podcast isn’t the answer...Yet.

Your podcast will only amplify your existing ‘ineffective’ message to more people.

You can’t edit and mix compelling content that converts listeners into leads from an ineffective message, even if it was recorded on the best microphone.

First and foremost, focus on creating a message that works – THEN create a podcast to help you amplify that message.

#MessageBEFOREMicrophone

3. Don’t compare podcasting to mainstream radio

When it comes to a business-related podcast, your ideal client is unlike a listener of mainstream radio, who is there for entertainment vs education and/or empowerment.

Your ideal client (i.e., listener) is interested in that specific topic – they’ve chosen to listen, because they’re seeking to learn something

specific about the topic you’re speaking about in your episode.

Also, while people come for the topic, they will return for the host – YOU, when you create a unique listener experience that resonates with your audience. This will enable you to begin building a highly targeted, highly engaged audience of your ideal clients, which you can continue to nurture into leads.

Learn compelling communication techniques so that you’re able to engage, educate, and entice those people who are ready to take that next step to do so.

There’s something powerful about spending time sharing your heartfelt message with someone as you continue to build that all important ‘know, like, and trust’.

Also, as adults we can be skeptical when it comes to learning new information. We often bring our own biases, concerns, and (unhelpful) beliefs to the conversation, so it can take time to build trust with you as you (and your guests) continue to share information on your podcast.

Learning compelling communication techniques, which includes weaving in your personal story and valuable insights to build rapport and ‘know, like, and trust’ will enable you to continue to nurture your listener strategically along the customer journey.

4. Focus on building a niched audience vs a large audience

Businesses often get fixated on downloads and subscribers. However, it’s important to focus on building a highly-niched audience who are engaging and responding to the content and community you’re building, rather than having tens of thousands of downloads by an audience who does nothing.

Hone your message to a niched audience and speak to that niche consistently.

When you do and you speak into the challenges, he/she faces, along with the desired outcomes he/she longs for, as well as sharing invaluable insights on how they can begin to achieve their goals, you create a binge-worthy podcast and will fast become a go-to resource.

A clear message, shared consistently over time, builds the momentum you need to nurture listeners into leads from your podcast.

But it starts with one, clear, highly-niched message that speaks to a highly-niched audience.

5. Create an irresistible, unique, and uncopiable listener experience

Are you concerned about starting a podcast because there are thousands of podcasts speaking about a similar topic already?

Don’t be.

Rather, focus on creating a unique, uncopiable, and irresistible listener experience that resonates with your ideal customer. Remember, people come for the topic, BUT

they’ll return for the host. That’s YOU because of your unique and uncopiable story, journey, lessons learned, and challenges overcome that has developed a level of expertise, which no one else can copy.

Add to that, your unique characteristics and communication style and how you bring the information to life, your style, and your approach – that’s what resonates with your ideal client and why he/she can’t wait to subscribe, and binge listen to every episode.

Take some time to reflect on some of your unique characteristics and mannerisms and bring this out intentionally and purposefully in each episode to create that unique, uncopiable, and irresistible listener experience.

Define it, then BE it - on every single episode.

Next steps

Want to ensure you have all of the right pillars in place to launch a podcast that’ll help you build visibility, generate leads, and position you as THE choice vs just A choice with your dream customer?

A clear message, shared consistently over time, builds the momentum you need to nurture listeners into leads from your podcast

Ivan J. Dsouza

CEO, Bioviser Inc

HAVING A LASER FOCUS ON DEVELOPMENT AND SUSTAINABILITY

From a young age, Ivan J. Dsouza inspired to lead and he knew he would require grit, perseverance, and a positive attitude to achieve his goals. Knowing that any significant journey requires one to make a start somewhere, at the age of 18, he embarked on a career that took him to his highest potential, now serving as the CEO of Bioviser Inc, a pharmaceutical consulting firm. He started his professional path for market research and event companies, developing business and organizational skills during his college years. Though

he experienced a considerable amount of failures in idea and execution, it never left him disappointed. He took it as an opportunity to perfect his craft, push himself further, and get involved in a makeshift setup to advise and inspire individuals for project management, business consultation, and market research.

Ivan J. Dsouza, now the CEO of a global consulting firm, has mastered the art of successfully juggling different tasks, which would not have been possible without the initial attempts made. “To be a successful business leader, I feel, it is vital to go through

IVAN J. DSOUZA CEO, BIOVISER INC

the process of trying, failing, learning, and ultimately succeeding. Also, I must add that my entrepreneurial journey would have been incomplete without the continuous support and trust I received from my wife and business partner,” he explains. Ivan has a master’s degree in clinical research and a postgraduate diploma in pharmaceutical management, doing everything a youngster typically thinks and does. But, the one thing he believes he has discovered in and preserved from his youth is the enthusiasm for trying, learning, and retrying. “I truly believe the more you explore and experiment in your younger days, the more risk-averse you learn to be in your later years. Businesses, as we all know, cannot be established without risks, and risks cannot be taken by those who have not experienced the joy of learning through exploration, failure, and determination to triumph despite several unsuccessful attempts,” he shares.

Creating his own path

Like countless teenagers, Ivan dreamed of a purpose-driven life by making a difference. However, the road ahead was not very clear. So, like any player, he dribbled the professional ball enough to arrive at the point where everything became clear and easy. “In my opinion, one cannot know what he/she may be until one goes through the grind. I started as a clinical research associate and monitored all trial phases in pharma and CROs for the first four years. Next, I supported functional services for BPOs and medical communication agencies and these roles molded me into a business development professional. When my consulting capabilities merged with the medical and clinical research realm, mental lightbulbs lit up and illuminated the path meant for me,” he opines.

As a highly focused person, Ivan believes in reorienting himself to the

Dale Bullett, Client Partner, UK and EU, Bioviser

Haruyoshi Ogata, President, Japan and Oceania, Bioviser

rapid transformations that occur within the pharmaceutical industry, ensuring that his team is aligned with the vision and determination of Bioviser Inc to fruitfully maintain the delicate balance between client and patient success, conscientiously filtering organizational values to every team member, and strategizing to ensure collective victory. Work stresses are part of the dream everyone at Bioviser works together to fulfill, so Ivan views it as a fundamental component of the whole.

Following COVID, Ivan tried to keep everything as simple and fluid as possible and focus on priorities such as health, family, and business, thus being able to make time to go on three vacations in one year, pursue a hobby, meet with friends, and follow other interests. “I believe, if I can do this, any team member can do it too. In addition, I avoid checking emails/communications after

8 pm unless something urgent arises. Most of my client/internal meetings are planned between 9 am and 1 pm,” he shares. Ivan believes the days of motivating teams with rewards and recognition are past us and that today’s times require each to focus on quality work, learning, and leading happy and successful lives.

Thriving under pressure

Ivan feels that the biggest challenge any CEO faces is direction. It is a huge responsibility, and he realizes that the all-important question of whether one is steering the wheel in the right direction never ceases to chase the CEO. This includes making a sound decision by factoring in the niche area and reduced competition from companies offering similar services or identifying and filling gaps in that sense. Ivan says, “The best way to know and trust the direction, I believe, is to keep

As a highly focused person, Ivan believes in reorienting himself to the rapid transformations that occur within the pharmaceutical industry, ensuring that his team is aligned with the vision and determination of Bioviser Inc to fruitfully maintain the delicate balance between client and patient success, conscientiously filtering organizational values to every team member, and strategizing to ensure collective victory

pushing against doubts and discovering your true potential in due time. Another important challenge is to bring together dedicated individuals with multiple talents and skills to support the company’s goal of delivering best-in-class services worldwide.”

In his opinion, leaders must pave the way conscientiously, gracefully, patiently, and resolutely for the workforce to follow. He also feels there is a need to show trust and allow freedom to those who help build a successful setup. In addition, he understands that it is vital to empower the team to take ownership of their decisions and determine corrective measures when necessary. “It is my belief that when a leader shares a part of his responsibility with the team, he makes everyone accountable for how a business shapes itself in the short and long run,” says Ivan.

Guiding Bioviser Inc

Bioviser’s USP lies in maintaining a delicate balance between client success and positive patient outcomes. Additionally, the services they offer, their commitment to maintaining global standards, the manner in which they conduct business, and their corporate culture makes them unique. All these are driven through the highly skilled and integrated teams at Bioviser, offering specific expertise and experience to create quality output that is

innovative and unmatched. “Our key strengths are agility, process-driven execution, and capability to manage demand variability while offering cost efficiencies to our clients,” he adds.

Similar to other setups, Bioviser’s journey has been a challenging one. Bioviser offered pharmacovigilance support to clients in need in the company's initial days. They performed a pivot by expanding the core services based on market needs and extending their reach to pharma and the overall health science sector. Additionally, Bioviser began offering space research services to challenge themselves and become significant contributors to future scientific progress of the type that cannot be easily imagined at this time. The company focused on growing its global footprints through regional teams in various countries, increasing team strength to accommodate specialized skill sets, and becoming a consulting solution provider.

“Our overall purpose is simple: all efforts should be invested in collective success. Our personal and organizational tenets are rooted in trust, transparency, meaningful approach, adaptability, and readiness and zest to solve any problem coming our way. Integrity is at the core of everything we do as an organization,” explains Ivan. Bioviser’s services are built around the customer,

Ivan strives to make Bioviser spread its wings worldwide by strengthening its presence in the USA and Japan and expanding to markets in the EU and Oceania

respecting individuals for what they stand for and considering human connections above business deals. The company is determined to add value by protecting data, determining highly effective solutions, and providing high-quality services, striving to maintain a balance between those they serve and those who help to satisfactorily serve.

Bioviser’s company culture requires every member to be client- and patient-centric as they believe benefits can be maximized by playing a crucial, diligent, and objective role between clients and the patients who must ultimately gain from the joint efforts made by Bioviser and its clients. “We maintain a modular and flat organizational structure, offer a workfrom-anywhere policy, drive efficiencies through highly skilled and qualified people, stay true to the organizational tenets, and do not over-engineer processes or overcomplicate technologies,” shares Ivan.

The way forward

Ivan strives to make Bioviser spread its wings worldwide by strengthening its presence in the USA and Japan and expanding to markets in the EU and Oceania. His goal is to make the best-in-class services globally accessible and have a competent team to deliver these services.

In the face of adversity, Bioviser has been increasingly flexible in understanding and adapting to the changing face of business since 2020. The company’s business model will continue to ensure effective virtual business meetings, efficient operations via a remote working setup, and successful stories of client understanding and satisfaction. “I doubt that things will go back to being how they used to be, and I am confident that Bioviser will continue finding ways for proficient, reliable conduits to be constructed in the eye of any storm,” opines Ivan.

Keerti Bhagwat, President, UK and EU, Bioviser

Simon Davis, Client Partner, Oceania, Bioviser

How to Digitalize Offer-Driven Banking on Demand-Driven Technology

Paolo Sironi, Global Research Leader Banking and Financial Markets, IBM Institute for Business Value

Today it is clear: digital platforms are "eating the world", transforming the experiences of consumption of goods and services, and the ways of socializing. Did you take an Uber to go to work? You booked it on a digital platform. During a coffee break, did you read about my latest literature on LinkedIn? You found it on a social media platform. Was it delivered to your doorsteps by Amazon Prime in less than 24 hours? You ordered it on an e-commerce platform.

The advent of “platform economies” is a tsunami for the traditional business culture. Sustainable business performance is no longer based on linear relationships between product manufacturers, distribution channels, and consumers with the logic of incremental production of costs and value. Instead, the main

economic levers lie in the ability of new business models to engage users continuously, and usher in a new era of “hyper-personalisation” and “hyper-contextualisation”.

Client centricity is about motivations, not products

This corresponds to a business shift from “product centricity” to “client centricity”. And clients’ motivation is core to a successful digital business because digital platforms require users to interact and self-direct on virtual venues, apps, and websites. Platforms have to match the interest of individuals and entities which did not previously know each other; they have to consume products and services based on their capability to understand the value offered in the intermediation process. This is never easy,

Paolo Sironi is the global research leader in banking and financial markets at IBM, the Institute for Business Value. He is a former start-up entrepreneur and quantitative risk manager in investment banking. Paolo is the author of literature about finance, banking, and digital innovation. His latest bestseller “Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies” explores how platform theory, born outside of financial services, will make its way inside banking and financial markets to radically transform the way firms do business. For more information, thePSironi.com.

Platforms have to match the interest of individuals and entities which did not previously know each other; they have to consume products and services based on their capability to understand the value offered in the intermediation process

also on e-commerce platforms, and requires data and analytics to support client choices. It is even more complex in financial services, as the real product bought is financial uncertainty. If we order a Gucci bag on Amazon but the color doesn’t really fit, we can always return

it and be refunded. Instead, if we invest in a risky financial product and we lose money after a few days, we cannot revert our choice. This is the reason why financial decisions are hard for many to make, and they largely depend on human relationships to be finalized.

Whatever the industry we are in, only a deeper understanding of ultimate human motivations to act and consume allows innovators to master digital engagement, in which human intervention is minimized, and launch positive network effects

Whatever the industry we are in, only a deeper understanding of ultimate human motivations to act and consume allows innovators to master digital engagement, in which human intervention is minimized, and launch positive network effects. In the rush to innovate, this foundational element of platform theory applied to financial services is often disregarded by start-up entrepreneurs. Instead, it plays a critical role, especially in banking and insurance given the nature of the intermediation. Most financial products are “sold” more than “bought”, as the industry is largely offer-driven. Instead, mobile technology is more a technology of the “demand”: we go on Amazon to buy a book on fintech, not generically to learn what is happening. How can financial services become digital, putting an “offer-driven” industry on a “demand-driven” technology?

It’s marketing stupid! Or maybe not. In this regard, I want to share a personal experience. I was working in investment banking in the 1990s, supporting my brother part-time to launch an online marketplace called Intrade. We wanted to sell over the internet the best of Italian products and design: fashion, furniture, food, and travel. Buying design furniture on Amazon might be common practice today, but it did not seem so normal back in the 1990s. How to onboard distant producers instead of next-door businesses? How to simplify payments and make them trustworthy? How to ship goods safely and cheaply? How to onboard final consumers? All the key questions were on the table. Notwithstanding entrepreneurial enthusiasm, the marketplace never took off. Mistakes were clearly made, and too many faulty assumptions were taken about consumer

habits. However, there is a major lesson learned that is worth sharing: we did not crack the code to build user trust and motivate consumers to interact. Instead, this is what Jeff Bezos understood, and explained some years later in a press interview. Jeff Bezos came to recognise that trust was the root of the problem, hence Amazon found the solution. He understood what kept many internet users inactive and motivated them to trust e-commerce.

Amazon was born in Seattle as a niche marketplace to sell academic books, soon evolving into a fully-fledged online store. Already selling to computer geeks is not the same as selling novels to the general public. Professional communities tend to know exactly what they want to read. Instead, the general public might need more support to choose a book. The difference is about buyers’ confidence with regard to the perceived value of what they purchase, trusting that the book’s content would match their reading expectations. Jeff Bezos once recalled how often publishers used to complain that Amazon users could openly share negative reviews on the webpages. They insisted that only positive reviews had to be published. “It’s marketing, stupid!”. Or not? Publishers misunderstood the nature of Amazon, which was not a distribution channel of books on the internet.

Are fintech and neo-banks distribution channels of financial products on digital?

Similarly, we can ask ourselves if fintech startups and neo-banks are distribution channels of financial products on digital. Rather, Amazon’s role was, first and foremost, to provide advice to its users about the best book to buy. Advice

was needed because readers were not used to buying books online, could not touch the product and read sample pages, could not speak to a bookstore manager, and get guidance. Publishing positive and negative reviews

was the necessary mechanism to build trust. Bezos understood that motivating users to trust the value of their purchases was the first and foremost challenge for Amazon to turn visitors into consumers. If the motivational element was missing or not would be a make-or-break feature. If client motivations are not properly addressed, no marketing techniques will be truly effective. Meaning, clients will onboard but will not generate transactions. This is particularly true in financial services, as a regulated industry. Therefore, posting negative reviews was the transparency-based mechanism to generate trust in the Amazon platform, turning users from window shoppers to active contributors of value-based interactions. Only after user motivation was resolved, analytics could be used to reinforced and expand the user experience. Clearly, reviews must not be fake and kept free from potential abuse.

Transparency is a competitive advantage

Financial market transparency is the core governance principle of financial services platforms striving for higher business value. It generates trust to reveal value for clients. Fintech and digital banks need to understand this foundational element, linking platform theory and financial services practice. They will learn how to engineer the shift of core monetization elements from product / transaction fees to fees for accessing the platform, centred on advice and conscious consumption. When it comes to banking, data-enabling clients transparently to self-direct consciously precedes data-driven banking techniques – which also matter - to build successful digital offers.

If client motivations are not properly addressed, no marketing techniques will be truly effective. Meaning, clients will onboard but will not generate transactions

Michael Whitehead

Managing Partner, Carpe Diem Global Partners

HELPING CLIENTS ASSESS THEIR TECHNOLOGY NEEDS & LEADERSHIP IMPERATIVES

Recognized as a global business strategist and technologist, Michael Whitehead serves as the Managing Partner at Carpe Diem Global Partners. He brings to his position a history of success in operational leadership and technology consulting within healthcare, life sciences, consumer products, and diverse global manufacturing industries. Before joining Carpe Diem Global Partners, Michael held several executive leadership positions in some of the world’s most recognized firms, like Siemens, Cap Gemini, McCormick and Company, and Johnson & Johnson, for over 25 years.

A strategic, operational, and fiscal pragmatist by description, Michael is, first and foremost, a business leader with a proven record of excellence in transforming technology functions into businesses, driving partnerships, and delivering on defined strategic outcomes and goals. “My entire career has been one dedicated and committed to operational excellence aligned to strategic outcomes with the highest level of integrity, and that hasn’t changed,” shares Michael Whitehead. “My goal within Carpe Diem remains one focused on those same principals in everything we do for our clients, while partnering and advising them, on leadership imperatives, within a highly

MICHAEL WHITEHEAD MANAGING PARTNER, CARPE DIEM GLOBAL PARTNERS

volatile global labour market.” Being a trusted advisor in this critical space is not position we as a firm take lightly. Our deep operational acumen in all our partners, and extensive global experience in this industry, combined make us a powerful force in partnering with our clients to help them solve their unique business challenges through the application of innovative and aligned talent strategies.

Early Lessons that Helped Shape into a Successful Business Leader

Reminiscing his childhood days, Michael recalls his dad often asking him, “How are you better today than yesterday?” This simple,

yet powerful mindset, continues to be a strong focus for him. He further adds, “Treat people with dignity and respect, be honest, tell it like it is, think and listen first before speaking, are all elements that have served me well over the years, along with always improving and moving forward, not worrying about what you can’t control but seeking to control and improve what you can.”

Carpe Diem: On a Mission to Disrupt the Talent Industry

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Carpe Diem Global Partners is where leadership advisory drives personal aspiration and

Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Carpe Diem Global Partners is a consultancy intent on reimagining the conventional approach to executive search

excellence. We are a bespoke consultancy focused on Talent Advisory Services across Talent Management, Leadership Development and Organizational Advisory Services. The firm works closely with Boards, Chief Executives and Senior-Level Executives, advising Public, Private and Investor-backed companies on leadership imperatives. We champion personalization to achieve the

remarkable. Our mission is to reimagine how Leadership Advisory is experienced for Clients, Leaders/Candidates, and our Colleagues. We will deliver greater value by bringing to each client engagement; partners with deep operating experience, the intellectual curiosity and wisdom to solve complex leadership initiatives, a low ego, agile, client facing, collaborative culture, and a ‘skin in the game’ set of accountabilities.

Furthermore, Carpe Diem Global Partners is a firm comprised exclusively of leaders with decades of successful operating experience; CEO’s, CMO’s, CHRO’s, CRO’s and CTO’s. Integrating deep operating experience across Leadership Advisory Services ensures a powerful combination of wisdom, pedigree, and practicality, showing up every day at a client’s doorstep. The deep insight this enables allows our team to understand what the client needs which at times differs from that what they say they want! Our ability to advise, and counsel clients on their most complex challenges while delivering on human capital strategies in a transparent, efficient process designed around our clients’ specific needs is why clients return to and retain us.

What Sets Carpe Diem Global Partners Apart from Other Market Competitors?

“Solving for complexity, remaining accountable, with transparency and genuine collaboration, combined with speed through the process, while retaining the quality and values of what differentiates us in the market remain a daily focus for us as a global firm,” reveals Michael.

Likewise, Carpe Diem Global Partners’ commitment to excellence is evident right from the first interaction with their clients and candidates. Every aspect of the team’s work is focused on gaining deep insights in understanding what the clients need to solve their issues and challenges or deliver on the opportunities they are facing. Having a committed team, none with a recruiting

background, allows for peer discussions and debate with our clients leading to a far richer articulation of the job the client needs solved while facilitating greater insight into the relevant candidate profiles and or specific development areas.

Onwards & Upwards

Carpe Diem Global Partners continues to exceed the market, with strong demand across a broad spectrum of firms from Fortune 10’s to start-ups. Time and again, clients approach the firm and, more importantly, return to its services because they value the speed, quality, and excellence of delivery, matched by a partnership and realism that our team brings to each engagement. “Our strong, unique personalization approach ensures that each search is unique and tailored to the necessities of

the client,” mentions Michael. Expansion of our services with a suite of solutions designed around the development of talent in areas such as market mapping, executive acquisition, assessments and benchmarking, psychometric testing, accelerated onboarding, retention programs, succession planning, team development, executive coaching, 360 feedback, high potential planning and development, 9-box talent review, board development, DE&I, culture building, change management, transformation, strategic planning, and advisory for strategic initiatives all leverage the strengths of our operational partners Our clients know this, which is why we are

generally their first call. Developing leadership to excel in all aspects is smart business, and smart businesses know that!

Leading Smart Business with Smarter Technology

Instead of using legacy technology along with its costly overhead structures, Carpe Diem Global Partners has invested in a smarter technology stack designed to optimize time and drive value throughout all aspects of the work while enabling transparency and realtime visibility. One of our founding principles is transparency, and as such all clients have direct access to the firm’s technology whenever they want, can check the team’s progress, and engage with them in real-time.

Fostering a Positive Work Culture

Transparency, trust, accountability, collaboration, empowerment, open and frank communications, and fostering a culture where all members are expected to have the ability and safety to challenge the process are evident

in everything we do. Moreover, Michael considers recognizing others, celebrating success, and acknowledging the effort and dedication of others are all important while continuously raising the bar. As an established, global firm, Carpe Diem’s internal processes are well defined, structured, and mature but are always open for optimization and rationalization.

Marching Ahead Despite Challenges

As a leadership advisory firm, Carpe Diem Global Partners has to navigate through several market fluctuations and a constantly shifting industry landscape from time to time. Irrespective of these challenges, the firm’s core principles of accountability, transparency, and genuine collaboration act as a guiding light and keeps the team deeply grounded, focused, and centred toward its mission.

Rejoicing the Milestones

For Michael, having had the privilege to work alongside exceptionally talented individuals

As a leadership advisory firm, Carpe Diem Global Partners has to navigate through several market fluctuations and a constantly shifting industry landscape from time to time

worldwide is a significant milestone in his career as a business leader. Being able to help shape their journey, see them realize their aspirations, and help them succeed in what’s essential to them remains a highlight for him.

On the personal front, Michael considers seeing his children grow and become exceptional individuals in all they do as one of the most significant accomplishments he is extremely proud of.

Fuel for Thought

From a seasoned leader’s perspective, Michael shares that hiring talent without developing them has always seemed intuitively strange

to him. When companies invest upfront in their new hires, their productivity is accelerated, perceptions and barriers are broken down, and clarity of engagement and purpose is achieved. If talent is a firm’s greatest resource or asset, then nurturing that resource from the beginning of its time with the firm would seem to make perfect sense!

Future Plans

Moving forward, Carpe Diem Global Partners will remain open to new opportunities, challenge the status quo, and ensure to execute and deliver above its clients' and candidates’ expectations.

5 Top Tips for Getting Back into 'Work Mode' After the Festive Break

Shona Hirons, Global Corporate Burnout Expert & Director, Mindset in Motion Ltd

You've had a couple of weeks off. This probably means you're out of your normal routine.

If you're dreading that first week or two back in the office, give these 5 top tips a try and see how quickly it makes a difference to how you feel.

1.Own Your Morning - This is particularly important if you work from home. Even if it's cloudy outside, the best way to start your day is to get outside into natural daylight. Treat this as your 'fake commute'. It also gets you into the mindset of leaving the house to come back to the

Instead, think of it as an 'Achievement List' and focus on the tasks that absolutely must-be done, what could be delegated, and what could wait?

Shona Hirons is an award-winning global Resilience and Burnout Coach. A breakdown from work-related stress, which led to a life-changing accident, requiring major facial reconstructive surgery and brain damage, gave her a big wake-up call. During her recovery, she went on a journey of self-discovery to rebuild her resilience, consider her values, and achieve all the things she was told she couldn't do. Shona has developed strategies to boost her resilience, and now helps others to do the same. She is the CEO of Mindset in Motion, and a leader in corporate wellbeing, working with corporate clients in over 55 countries. Her mission: To improve the well-being of people and businesses throughout the world.

office. Science journalist, Linda Geddes speaks a lot about the importance of having natural light in your workspace, and getting out for a walk in the day. Just a 20–30-minute walk in the morning can help your body to wake up, raise your energy and help you to be more creative.

2. Cut down the To-do list - If you're heading into your first week back with a tolist as long as your shopping list, you are likely to end up running around with your hair on fire, which will have a negative impact on your mood and performance. It is also likely to impact your sleep.

Instead, think of it as an 'Achievement List' and focus on the tasks that absolutely must-be done, what could be delegated, and what could wait? My top tip is to include 5 must-do work related tasks and 5 must-do tasks for yourself and schedule them into your calendar. You can add in more if you achieve the first lot.

If you ever have those days where you feel like you haven’t stopped, but can’t think of what you’ve actually achieved, by calling your to-do list an Achievement List, you are more likely to appreciate all the work you've completed.

3. Take your breaks - I bang on about this all the time, but Scientific data, provided by Microsoft https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/ work-trend-index/brain-research proves that taking just short breaks between meetings can have a huge benefit to how you focus, how productive you are and how this affects your mood. You may not think you have time to take a break, because you're so 'busy', but not taking breaks will slow you down, so if you're going to change one thing about the way you work this

You may not think you have time to take a break, because you're so 'busy', but not taking breaks will slow you down, so if you're going to change one thing about the way you work this year, slow down in order to speed up

year, slow down in order to speed up. When you take these short breaks, make sure they are breaks away from the work that you were doing.

For example, if you have been staring at a computer screen for hours, come away and do something else, preferably that involves moving and having some fun. Whilst boiling the kettle, you could set your timer for 3 minutes and do a total body workout. Do 12 wall presses, 12 squats and 12 crunches, and repeat. On the next break, you could add in 3 different exercises. Believe me, your heart rate will go up and you will feel so much more energised going back into your work.

4. Set yourself healthy boundaries –One of the most damaging things we can do to ourselves is to have unhealthy boundaries. If you’re a people pleaser, you’re most likely to be a ‘yes’ person, but if you take on too much, this is likely to be to your detriment and ends up doing you no favours in the long run. Learn how to say ‘no’ to things that don’t align with your values. If you do want to help, but don’t have the capacity right now, make this clear and find a solution to prioritise what is most important. You will feel much lighter for it.

If you’re always wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day, or working into your social time, be strict with these boundaries and regain that work/life balance

Be clear on your start and finish times for work each day. If you’re always wishing there were more than 24 hours in a day, or working into your social time, be strict with these boundaries and regain that work/life balance. You won’t get to your last day on earth and wish you’d worked more hours.

5. Baby steps – Don’t try and do everything all at once. If you set yourself goals or resolutions for January, such as starting a new diet, doing Veganuary, Dry

January, joining the gym, or restricting the time you spend on your phone, the likelihood is that you’ll give up within a matter of weeks.

Start with just a couple of changes that you can change now. Develop the habit and then start to introduce new ones. Soon, they will become part of your lifestyle.

If you struggle to do this yourself, invest in a good Coach who can give you that kick up the backside, motivate you and hold you accountable.

BUSINESS LEADERS

2023

Siva G Subramanian

UNLOCKING THE VALUE FROM DATA TO HELP RETHINK PROCESSES, SURFACE NEW OPPORTUNITIES, & EMPOWER TEAMS

Siva G Subramanian is the Associate Vice President - Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU at Searce Inc. He has over 18 years of experience in Data Management, Data Ingestion, Data Consumption, Data Analytics, and anything on ''Data''. As a seasoned technology and business leader with global experience, Siva has built and led organizations that successfully address complex business challenges and drive growth through innovation and strong execution. He is also a sought-after industry speaker, a mentor to professionals across the globe, and an author of numerous IT blogs.

In his current role, Siva is responsible for Searce Inc’s strategic use of data so that the enterprise can perform more efficiently, boost productivity, better engage with customers, employees, and other stakeholders, improve existing revenue streams, create new ones, and develop new business opportunities.

Life Experiences that Shaped into a Remarkable Leader

Since childhood, Siva has been a bright student, blessed with intellectual curiosity. At home, a strong foundation was laid by his parents, who played a vital role in his value-based upbringing.

ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT - GLOBAL HEAD OF DATA & ANALYTICS SBU, SEARCE INC

SIVA G SUBRAMANIAN ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENTGLOBAL HEAD OF DATA & ANALYTICS SBU, SEARCE INC

The moral values inculcated by them continue to help him even today in making rightful decisions in any crucial situation.

For higher education, Siva pursued his Bachelor of Engineering (ECE) degree from Madras University, an international MBA (IT) from Russian Ulyanovsk State University, a Ph.D. in CS & IT from the University of Swahili, Republic of Panama, and a D.Sc. in CS & IT from Azteca University, Canada. In 2004, Siva began his career at STPI, Coimbatore, and the world became his oyster. He went on lead global IT teams, transformed businesses using technology, and drove outstanding results for clients.

As a progressive leader, Siva has had the opportunity to learn from successes and failures, understand the importance of collaboration, and develop a greater understanding of people's complexities and motivations. He also had to adjust to different situations and take on roles in which he had to make decisions with imperfect information. These experiences have helped shape his leadership style and allowed him to be flexible and think critically while remaining focused on the team and the larger objectives. Ultimately, Siva’s life experiences have provided him with the tools and confidence to take risks, challenge the status quo, and push the boundaries of possibility.

Searce Inc: Driving Intelligent Business Outcomes

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Searce is a modern technology consulting firm empowering clients to futurify their businesses, leveraging cloud, AI & analytics. The company serves diverse industries such as tech start-ups & digital natives, financial services & insurance, travel, transportation & logistics, retail, CPG &

E-commerce, healthcare, pharma & life sciences, manufacturing, and education.

Additionally, various other practices like infra, app modernization, applied AI, location Intelligence at Searce Inc, and developing solutions for 3000+ customers globally are considered to be among the best in the market. As a result, Searce Inc continues to deliver topnotch performance year after year.

Doing Things Differently

As the Associate Vice President - Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU at Searce, a role he’s held since 2022, Siva created a new practice for Strategic Business Unit to focus on the various Global Data & Analytics engagements. He began by establishing practice teams operating in main regions like AMER, EMEA, & APAC for handling technical pre-sales activities and identifying & supporting new opportunities in

14 different locations globally. He then set up a delivery team to focus on the operational activities of developing data-driven solutions and new data products. The main goal has been improving customer experience and providing innovative tech solutions to clients.

Moreover, Siva has guided his team in handling other ongoing initiatives with Google & AWS Cloud Providers, Partner Tools, Searce Accelerator Solutions, etc. He has also been leading efforts towards making Searce a premier & expertise partner of Google & AWS Cloud in Data & Analytics.

Facilitating a Culture of Innovation

At Searce, one of the first steps Siva took to facilitate innovation was to change its Data & Analytics practice culture from focusing on shortterm goals to placing a higher value on long-term results. He also created an environment where

As a progressive leader, Siva has had the opportunity to learn from successes and failures, understand the importance of collaboration, and develop a greater understanding of people's complexities and motivations

everyone was encouraged to think outside the box and take risks to find creative solutions to problems. Moreover, employee collaboration was encouraged, along with rewards presented to those who took the initiative. These changes helped to create a culture of innovation at Searce and also led to the development of several new products and services.

How to Get Maximum ROI from Technology Investments?

According to Siva, it is important to create a proper plan of the desired outcomes before investing in any technology. Leaders must ensure that the vision aligns with the company’s business objectives. They must also analyze the organization’s needs to determine the technologies necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. This will help to identify the right balance between cost and ROI.

Furthermore, it is important to evaluate the available options to select the best technology solution. This should include comparing features, costs, and potential ROI, followed by monitoring the performance to ensure that it achieves the desired results. This will help ensure that the organization gets the maximum ROI from the technology investments.

CDO Challenges & Strategies to Overcome them

A Chief Data Officer of an organization faces a number of varied challenges ranging from developing data-driven solutions, providing effective data governance strategies, and managing data-related compliance risks, to establishing and managing data-driven initiatives that drive business value for the customers.

From a seasoned CDO’s perspective, Siva shares that a CDO needs to first develop a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s data, including its volume, quality, and integrity. The leaders should

Siva recommends that aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs let their teams take ownership, be willing to take risks and embrace the change, and empower them by delegating the tasks and responsibilities

then create a data governance strategy that outlines the roles and responsibilities for managing, using, and securing data within the organization. This strategy should include policies and procedures for data access, use, storage, and sharing. It should also involve the development of an appropriate

data architecture to ensure data is being used most efficiently and effectively.

Once the data governance strategy is in place, the CDO should focus on developing initiatives to drive value from the data. This could involve setting specific objectives for data-driven projects,

such as increasing customer retention, operational efficiency, and improving decision-making. The CDO should also ensure that the organization has the appropriate data analytics tools and resources to support these initiatives.

Celebrating Milestones

Siva considers completing his master's and his double doctorate degrees a significant milestone that helped him further develop his skills and knowledge. Another achievement that Siva is proud of is his successful completion of over 80 technical, project/business management, operations, hybrid clouds (Google, AWS & Azure), networking, AI/ ML, and Data certifications. Likewise, becoming the Global Head of Data & Analytics Practice at Searce Inc is extra special to Siva.

A Day in the Life of a Leader

Siva's typical day begins by going through the emails and checking for any urgent task that needs to be addressed. He then prioritizes his tasks and sets goals for the day. After that, most of his day is spent guiding teams for several pre-sales, project delivery & partner solutions activities. He attends customer, Partner, and Google/AWS meetings and takes care of Hiring & Onboarding the team for his practice. This is followed by a short break for lunch. He then finishes off his day by completing any impending tasks that he had started that day.

To handle pressure and stay calm all day, Siva finds taking a few regular breaks throughout the day helpful. “This helps me to step away from the task at hand and give myself a few moments to breathe, refocus, and reset,” mentions Siva. His idea to unplug from work involves taking a walk, stretching, meditating, reading a book, or doing something creative. He also makes sure

to set aside time for self-care, such as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising.

Entrepreneurial Hacks to Stay Focused & Productive

Over the years, Siva has developed some important habits that help him stay focused and productive in his busy schedule. Prioritizing tasks at the beginning of the day and taking regular breaks in between help him to remain focused and energized. He also focuses on the process by breaking down his goals into smaller achievable milestones, which improves productivity & also helps him to successfully reach the final end goal. Avoiding gadgets like social media, unimportant calls, and texts during work hours is another useful hack he followed.

Pearls of Wisdom for the Aspiring Leaders

“I strongly believe in “Lead by Example” philosophy, rather than preaching on how to be a perfect role model,” mentions Siva. He demonstrates the values of a true leader and the ethics and behavior he expects from his team. Moreover, he is always open to receiving feedback and new ideas from the team members and encourages them to communicate and collaborate, fostering team spirit.

Siva recommends that aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs let their teams take ownership, be willing to take risks and embrace the change, and empower them by delegating the tasks and responsibilities. Having a proper vision and objectives that match the organizational needs is also imperative. Leaders must also help upgrade their teams to adapt to new technologies. Likewise, recognizing their hard work by acknowledging their efforts and celebrating the minor success of team members goes a long way.

Can We Teach Our Students to Also Become Master of Technology Rather Than Just

Giant

Color-Coded Spreadsheets?

Sime Curkovic, Supply Chain Professor, Western Michigan University

Our students are going into a job market inundated with outdated processes. Manual and labor-intensive operations will force them to spend hours every week doing repetitive tasks that could be automated for much greater efficiency and accuracy, allowing them

to focus on more fulfilling work. The majority of their time will be spent gathering data, while much less will be spent analyzing and providing insights to support strategic decision-making.

For example, during these inflationary times, it is time for business faculty to start teaching

Procurement organizations need processes and “tools” to mitigate and negotiate on these price increase requests in a strategic, data-driven manner (and academics need to do a better job of teaching it)

Sime Curkovic is a Professor of Supply Chain Management at Western Michigan University. He received his undergraduate degree in Management Systems from GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now known as Kettering University). He received his Ph.D. degree from Michigan State University. Dr. Curkovic has taught several courses in sourcing, operations, logistics, and multinational management. His research interests include environmentally responsible manufacturing, total quality management, supply chain management, and integrated global strategic sourcing. Dr. Curkovic’s publications have appeared and/ or are under review in the International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, the IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, the Decision Sciences Journal, the Journal of Operations Management, International Journal of Production Research, and the Journal of Quality Management. Dr. Curkovic’s previous work experiences were with General Motors in the Midwest, Mexico, and Germany. Dr. Curkovic is a born U.S. citizen, and his name is of Croatian descent.

the lost art of Price Analysis and Strategic Cost Management (in very different ways). I have asked a lot of business managers how they “prepare” to negotiate price increase requests from their suppliers. In particular, I was curious about how and where they get their data from (i.e., Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), Commodity Exchange (COMEX), London Metals Exchange (LME), New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), etc.). Many said their suppliers provide that information. I am not convinced that using data from your suppliers is a form of “Preparation” for the negotiation process.

Surprised by price increases? As much as 70% of current contracts have price increase provisions! In the WMU supply chain management program we teach our students to track commodity forward price curves. We now look at raw material market data from multiple sources, visualize and analyze historical pricing scenarios, and simulate planned purchases and what-if scenarios against forward price curves.

How do we better prepare our business students to be job ready day one? Procurement organizations need processes and “tools” to mitigate and negotiate on these price increase requests in a strategic, data-driven manner (and

It is 2023 now and we need to move further along. You could make a strong case that using antiquated business tools was a major source of supply chain disruptions the last few years

academics need to do a better job of teaching it). Traditionally, we have worked very hard to help our students develop very sophisticated data analytics skill sets to manage these very large and complicated forms of information.

Employers place a premium on these business analytics skill sets and would include:

1. Advanced Excel (power query & pivot) & macros;

2. Data visualization (Tableau, Power BI & python w/ seaborn & matplotlib);

3. Data mining/RapidMiner, machine learning & data science;

4. Python & Jupyter notebook (data analytics & statistical libraries such as pandas, numpy);

5. Relational data models (Excel data model);

6. Graphic & statistical libraries (Seaborn, Matplotlib, Pandas, & Plotly).

See our Business Analytics minor at: https://wmich.edu/infosystems/academics/ analytics

However, I would recommend complimenting the above skill sets with bringing in some cloudbased software and technology that gets us beyond manually updating and coding giant colored Excel spreadsheets. For example, I have been collaborating with N-Alpha and they have a cloud platform called materialx that I am bringing into the classroom (https:// n-alpha.com/solutions/decision-support/). It gets us away from manually updating spreadsheets. Further, these technology software companies tend to be very supportive in helping faculty and students as these students will eventually become the future business professionals that actually use the technology (win-win-win, right?). And the technology is out there!

We will soon have some white papers from our WMU SCM program based on the following price analysis & strategic cost management research. Some of our alumni are already testing and / or implementing these cloud-based services that allows procurement organizations, finance, and all other organizations that are exposed to raw material pricing changes, to stay on top of market pricing from multiple sources and proactively assess its impact on future raw material purchases.

These technologies are also now serving as the basis for addressing price indexing implementations (formulas, alerts, etc.). It can all be done automatically and updated daily, saving hours from manually updating spreadsheets. These tools are quick and easy to use to prepare for price negotiations with suppliers, and often returns its investment (which is minimal to begin with) rapidly. These technologies also allow organizations to replace multiple spreadsheets and email threads with one tool that tracks pricing, facilitates collaborative decisions, revisiting past decisions and what led to them, and capturing organizational knowledge.

I have asked many of my former students what are the most prevalent technologies used in your supply chain and business role. The two most common answers are Excel spreadsheets and email. It is 2023 now and we need to move further along. You could make a strong case that using antiquated business tools was a major source of supply chain disruptions the last few years.

My former students keep telling me they are the "Excel Spreadsheet" generation. Excel works and they have very advanced spreadsheet skills. They also tell me that it gives them a competitive advantage in the workplace (i.e.,

people depend on their monthly report outs per se and very important people read them). The older managers have very weak Excel skills and even the younger graduates coming in have to play catch up to the people that are in their 30s and 40s (that have very advanced Excel skills). My former students also feel very comfortable with Excel. Many of these spreadsheets are their own creation and they find it empowering. In general, it works, it works well, it gets the job done, they feel comfortable with this version of technology while most others do not feel comfortable with it, the technology itself is cheap, and it gives them job security. Some said it took years to build up these spreadsheets, and now they are up and running. However, as I teach my current students, there are alternatives rooted in technology that will allow you to do things better, faster, and cheaper.

Final Thought

In talking with a colleague, we both agreed that many hiring managers do not have a full understanding of the Artificial Intelligence

(AI) skill sets associated with our graduating students. Our business students told us many times that their hiring managers valued only the traditional Excel capabilities (i.e., lookup functions, pivot tables, etc. – however, that is NOT AI). Managers also greatly overlook the opportunities from other analytical solutions (skill sets that our students have). This makes it a bit difficult to sell the analytical techniques taught in classes that go beyond our Advances Excel and Predictive Analytics courses. For example, our data mining class is essentially a machine learning class for business, which is the core of AI. The course is designed to solve the problems that Excel falls short on. Hopefully we do a better job of training our students to “sell” the AI skills and managers become more open to embracing the benefits (which might require a culture change).

Embracing and trying new technologies requires leadership that is willing to try new things. Otherwise, we keep using spreadsheets and email to manage very large and complicated data sets.

Embracing and trying new technologies requires leadership that is willing to try new things. Otherwise, we keep using spreadsheets and email to manage very large and complicated data sets