TECHNOLOGY PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN DRIVING BUSINESS GROWTH IN PRESENT TIMES

Software AG offers a range of software solutions to help organizations with their digital transformation initiatives

WHAT ARE THE CORE BUSINESS AND ACTIVITIES OF YOUR ORGANIZATION?

At the core of our business philosophy at Software AG, we turn data into value for our customers. The objective is to support our customers to integrate their systems, applications, and data silos as well as their IT sensors or any data that originates from unorthodox sources. Our goal is to help our customers unleash their true potential by changing the way they conduct their business to improve efficiency and profitability.

HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTERIZE THE KEY ENABLERS POSITIVELY INFLUENCING YOUR BUSINESS IN THE REGIONAL ENVIRONMENT?

In the broad spectrum, the most potent enabler is the leadership in the government for our region, there is a content pressure to drive change using technology. We have witnessed this in the last few years, a major transformation in the areas of smart cities, the adoption of blockchain, and most recently the push to adopt ChatGPT in services. With responsibility towards achieving ESG goals, UAE is hosting COP28 later this year as the climate envoy to the world. This also encourages and motivates businesses to replace traditional practices with more sustainable ones using technologies that can bring about this change.

DO YOU BELIEVE THERE HAS BEEN AN INCREASE IN AWARENESS OF DIVERSITY AND ITS POSITIVE ROLE IN THE WORKPLACE?

Cultural diversity is a way of life in UAE and with the leadership’s focus on diversity, inclusion, and tolerance, not only do companies follow this fully, but as individuals and residents, everyone amalgamates well within this diverse population spread across the length and breadth of the country.

On the other hand, even within gender diversity, we have witnessed many leadership roles and conventional male roles and leadership titles being held by women in the last decade and more. For eg: the UAE ministerial cabinet today boasts of nine women ministers in charge of important mantles for the country. Personally, speaking too, in the realm of technology, when I first entered the industry in 2013, there were no senior IT executives in the industry while presently, there are numerous Women in Tech who have carved a niche for themselves in various technologically lead roles in an industry predominantly known to be male-dominated. Therefore, I believe, not only the awareness of this has increased, but the actual numbers are quite heartening and growing rapidly within the mainframe of the business community. This diversity is what we live and cherish in the UAE.

WHAT IS, IN YOUR OPINION, THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN DRIVING BUSINESS GROWTH?

Technology plays a major role in driving business growth in present times through ways of enabling companies in optimizing growth opportunities through improved efficiencies. More importantly, reaching new customers by penetrating deeper into the market and driving growth through those new customers to increase market share in today’s cutthroat economy is possible only through technology.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGIES IN STRENGTHENING URBAN RESILIENCE WHICH IS IMPACTED BY SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS?

HOW CAN DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SIMPLIFY URBAN PLANNING AND PROCESSES?

The short answer to this is – Smart Cities. The industry has been talking about and implementing this in the last few years and we have seen a massive leap since the onset of the pandemic when mobility was restricted. Simply put, a smart city is utilizing various networks or sensors, devices, and data analysis tools that collect and analyse data, and this data is used for informed decision-making across various aspects of the city. From traffic, transportation, public safety, energy usage, air quality, waste management, or other generic citizen services where data is collected to improve these services for residents of a city or country by assisting urban planning. The goal of smart cities is to create a more liveable and sustainable urban environment for all constituents.

WHAT IS THE BEST ADVICE FOR COMPANIES TO TACKLE URBAN CARBON EMISSIONS?

Action, before it is too late, should be the motto for all companies to control and reduce carbon emissions. We all have only one planet and we need to be responsible for how we leave it for the coming generations. We, therefore, need to be responsible for our actions as individuals, companies, organisations, cities, countries, and the world as one unit to combat this problem. Every action will make a positive impact on curbing this. Furthermore, technologies today are making it easier to monitor and reduce carbon emissions for enterprises. For instance, at Software AG, ARIS for Sustainability is a tool offered complimentary to all customers with a pulse on their ESG goals. Software AG has pledged its contribution to the UNDP charter and sustainability is a key outcome of digital transformation initiatives for our customers in addition to business ones.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE THE BUSINESS OR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY OF YOUR ORGANIZATION?

We practice what we preach to our customers. Being a tech and software company, we are always optimizing and evolving using technology in the way were service our customers, internal processes, and our overall business operations. It is imperative to depict and showcase our success to ensure that our customers believe in our methodologies and this is vital and non-negotiable for everyone at Software AG. With our strong leadership in Sanjay Brahmawar, he introduced a major transformational program called HELIX which is reaping remarkable results and learnings on benefits in businesses using technology.

DESCRIBE ANY ONGOING, COMPLETED, OR PLANNED DIGITAL OR BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION INITIATIVES. A major department of the Abu

Dhabi government we worked with recently, had five legacy systems for over 15 years. With our involvement, we identified new ways of doing business and replaced those 5 legacy systems with a single new one –reducing a considerable load on cost and processes. This stateof-the-art new system not only supports them internally for their requirements but also facilitates connections with all their partners who are key business links to serve their customers.

WHAT WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR COMPANY IN 2022 AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

With our recent acquisition of Streamsets – a data integration tool that complements our hugely popular webMethods integration tool from Software AG’s product stack; we collaborated with a major Abu Dhabi government for a first-of-its-kind hybrid project implementation between both these solutions of Software AG. Through this, we have created added capabilities that benefit our customer’s digital transformation endeavors.

WHAT IS YOUR ORGANIZATION’S PLAN FOR 2023? HOW DO YOU INTEND TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO ADVANCE THE BUSINESS?

Growth in all its parlances. Growth for our customers and partners, growth for cities they operate in, and countries they belong to along with a conscious positive impact on the environment. This in turn will automatically result in growth for Software AG too. We have huge ambitions for everyone in our ecosystem and we hope to have a profitable and fulfilling partnership with all of them. n