Titans Asia May 2021

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GCF DESK

MANAGING DIRECTOR Tushar Sahoo CEO Ronak Samantaray

Unveiling

TITANS ASIA

Today, as Global CIO Forum, is indeed a proud moment for us as we launch the inaugural edition of Titans Asia.

The Titans, carrying forward its success story of 5 years in the GCC, is establishing a firm foot in the Asia market in 2021 with this issue. The magazine has been testified as the Go-To-Platform for IT Heads and solution providers alike to understand the CIO's outlook for their company and how investment in IT looks like from multiple verticals PoV. The magazine also features how a CIO works in tandem with cross-departments and leads a diverse team to successfully create a digital organization.

Global CIO Forum has been actively conducting bespoke events and accolade winning conferences and summits in Asia for the last 4 years, hence the time is ripe to launch and introduce The Titans. Hence, GEC Media Group brings to you ‘The Titans’- ASIA - a quarterly supplement that would put spotlight on the path breaking CIOs in the Asian Continent. If we go back in time, the CIOs used to take and transform their decisions based on the available or suitable technologies.

But the current market, that is ripe with innovative technologies and advancements, has been providing a symbiotic platform for the tech providers and their partners to combine the best of their capabilities and take it to the enterprises.

The current scenario of technology is smart enough that technological systems and processes can be designed and customised according to the requirements of the enterprise CIOs. The ever changing and challenging role of CIOs has been defining the way business is done in modern enterprises. Many key studies have predicted that CIOs would soon take over the CFOs, as their role is pivotal in cost optimization by boosting the operations as well as averting and warning potential threats to an organization with the best technologies in place.

In this issue, we have covered CIOs from key Asian Countries and tried to showcase how CIOs are culturally divided yet united in vision— Vision for Digitization.

Hope you enjoy the inaugural issue.

ANUSHREE DIXIT GLOBAL HEAD, CONTENT AND STRATEGIC ALLIANCES anushree@gecmediagroup.com

PRESIDENT Malavika Shanker malavika@gecmediagroup.com 65 91053660 GLOBAL HEAD, CONTENT AND STRATEGIC ALLIANCES Anushree Dixit anushree@gecmediagroup.com GROUP SALES HEAD Richa S richa@gecmediagroup.com 056 215 1157 DESIGNER Ajay Arya ASSISTANT DESIGNER Rahul Arya DESIGNED BY

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THEME OF UNITE

BOTS TEAM BUILDING

BODY

SOUL

OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES MONTHLY ALL-ROUND WELLNESS AND COMMUNITY BUILDING INITIATIVE FOR THE CIOS. STATE-OF-THE-ART LOCATIONS| ULTRA-MODERN ACTIVITIES| HANDS-ON EXPERIENCES | LIFE-CHANGING TAKEAWAYS

FITNESS

WELLNESS

NUTRITION

ENGAGE

CONTENT The Asiatic

Titans

LEADERS' CORNER PG/52

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

08 MANJU JALALI, VP Digital Manufacturing IMIT GLOBALFOUNDRIES

10 ANAND SINHA, Chief Information Officer & Director – IT OCS Group India

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SURESH SUBRAMANIAM, General Manager / CIO Yusen Logistics (SAO Region) Co. Ltd.

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NIRUPAM DAS, Director – Global Digital Ecosystem Liberty Mutual

TITANS ASIA

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Lean, Mean & Clean via transformation to better customer experience by having the freedom of leveraging the services.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

M. UMAPATHY SIVAN,

Group Chief Information Officer (Group CIO), Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM)

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

Customer experience is one of our main focus in the next three to five years. It is all about improving our services while optimising cost. With that in mind, we will work towards automating most of our processes especially with the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA). Also, as Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and Machine Learning improve, we expect to see a rise in adoption of these technologies in helping us to be more efficient. These technologies adoption will also enable us to introduce more flexible product offerings where customers can “pick & choose” and “pay per use” according to what they need instead of packages that are automatically bundled. By having A.I. handling our network / traffic, we will be able to give the best speeds and suggest to customers for upgrades or downgrades based on their usage. This will translate

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We had our “cold hard truths” session to reflect our positioning and the areas that we need to focus on and improve, before coming up with 3 years roadmap for the new TM. This will be our blueprint in enabling the business and unlocking key values to fit our unique role as the enabler of Digital Malaysia’s aspirations. The “Value Programmes” will be supported by multiple technology enablement projects ranging from RPA, consolidation of systems, Business Support Systems (BSS)/Operations Support Systems (OSS)/Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) transformations, to setting up single data lake for cognitive enablement and to engaging customers on a personalised level via analytics and A.I.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

All my working experience involve working in a culturally diverse team. I have worked for multiple Multinational Companies (MNCs) and Government Linked Companies (GLCs) and being in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, it is normal for us to be part of a culturally diverse and inclusive team.

TEAM BUILDING PILLARS

1 2

Promote two-way communication and encourage each member to speak-up and provide ideas.

Consider each employee's ideas as valuable; no such thing as a stupid idea.

3

Be open. Always alert and aware of unspoken feeling. We need to be open with employees and respond effectively to non-verbal feedback.

4

Build strong teamwork. Encourage trust and cooperation among team members.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Acknowledge every member’s strength and work on their weaknesses to deliver results.

Encourage team members to share information.

Emphasise the importance of each team member's contribution and demonstrate how their jobs operate and link together, to ensure we could move the entire team closer to the goal.

Coach and nurture. Provide opportunities to team members to demonstrate problem-solving skills.

Let the team work on creative solutions together.

Encourage listening and brainstorming. Encourage intellectual debate because it inspires creativity. This will spur the team for better results.

Respect and Care. Regardless of positions, it is important to exercise respect and care among team members.

Clear communication. Be objective and precise.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

Our biggest contribution is that we are driving the vision of implementing a Lean, Mean & Clean organisation via transformation activities. This influence the implementation of automation via RPA and consolidating our IT delivery capabilities.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

leaders on their own, making beneficial contributions in their fields has been satisfying.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

A.I. & Autonomous Operation. The Enterprise IT will move to data driven organisation which will focus on hyper personalisation and automations. Traditional platforms like ERP and BSS will need to evolve to support these needs.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/SHE IMBIBE?

We had our “cold hard truths” session to reflect our position

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

The CIO of tomorrow will need the encompass the qualities of: 1. Inspiring the organisation to become ‘outcome based & drive for result’ 2. Strategic Alignment to enable the future of Digital business platform and process for the organisation 3. Intellectual horsepower to drive economical autonomous operation of Dev/ Ops to No/Ops 4. Visioning a cognitive Enterprise IT system to provide hyper personalisation & automations.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Nurturing talent, watching them grow and letting them go to expand their future career. However, to watch them become great

Dos: Inspire and enable the workforce to drive for results Don’ts: Distorted communication to workforce

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Business Agility is Key WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

It’s all about digital technologies and platform solutions. The technologies that will shape our world in the next few years are 1.

Artificial Intelligence & machine learning, IOT & edge computing, 5G, extended reality and blockchains. Cloud platforms will enable them and give the required agility and scale. Underpinning these technologies is ensuring intrinsic security across every layer

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Our plan is to seize the opportunities of technological innovation and accelerate on digital transformation for both enterprise and manufacturing domains. Through this transformation we want to improve productivity, drive efficiency, standardise processes and create enriched employee and customer experience. We want to upskill talent and establish strategic partnership with business to scale enterprise wide.

Modernisation will enable us to implement capabilities with speed and agility, deliver significant business values while reducing the overall IT spend

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

The fundamentals of building a strong and loyal team are based on a foundation of trust. I firmly believe in creating a safe space for my employees where they can openly share ideas, debate and discuss alternatives and work as a team to choose what is best for the organisation. Creating that inclusive environment is absolutely essential to nurture talent and build strong teams. I believe in empowering my team, challenging them to try new and innovative ideas without fear of failure. This helps to build a team that is highly motivated and engaged

MANJU JALALI,

VP Digital Manufacturing IMIT GLOBALFOUNDRIES

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

Our company is global with manufacturing sites spread across three continents. Naturally one gets to work in an organisation which is rich in cultural diversity and these differences are an asset to the company. As part of IT leadership team, I always had the privilege to work with culturally diverse teams. The benefits are obvious, whether it is executing large global projects or managing operations. We have the opportunity to leverage on unique perspectives where ideas are debated, evaluated and incubated. A diverse team contributes immensely to creativity and innovation something so important for IT to transform business and enable growth

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

I firmly believe that for an IT function to be successful, close partnership with business stakeholders is essential. It’s one of the most strategic ways to ensure IT and business together are focusing on the right priorities and delivering positive business outcomes and values. In today’s fast-paced environment, speed and scale are of essence, so close collaboration across business functions & IT harnesses the strengths and skills of the organisation on priorities that enable grown and innovation. We use the concept of two in a box in our projects, where accountability lies with business owner and IT to ensure we meet the commitments and deliver the intended value in time

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

What has always fuelled my passions is taking on challenges and delivering results. With COVID19, one of the very few silver linings were the speed with which organisations were moving towards digital transformation. It is no different in GF. We are in the midst of transforming both our enterprise systems and manufacturing into digital factory. It’s exciting seeing the tangible results of your vision turning into reality. What depletes me is resistance to change. It slows down things, however as a leader your ability to influence and drive adoption is what sets you apart as a leader

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

One of my most significant contributions recently has been driving

the digital transformation for the organisation. The fact that we had embarked on this journey right before COVID19 pandemic played a significant role in us transitioning the company fairly quickly from working 100% onsite to majority of employees working remotely and enabling solutions that allowed us to manage operations with minimal impact to productivity. Continuing on this journey we are now elevating the game to digitally transform our manufacturing towards a smart factory which is automated, connected, intelligent, secure and interoperable

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO?

What result did it yield? One of the most difficult decisions that I had to make as a leader in the organisation was to move from local point solutions and organisation to global IT organisation, global solutions and convergence to standard solutions globally. It incurred a major organisational change and as with any change there were challenges. However the benefits were imminent. With a solid business case we were able to motivate and positively influence our team and stakeholders. Very soon we had the whole team marching together enthusiastically driving positive change for the organisation

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

To succeed in this new world, business agility is absolutely essential. We must not only be ready to embrace the change but pivot quickly. Let me reference Gandhi Ji’s quote that I firmly believe in “Be the change you wish to see in the world”

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DX— Culture is key, Executive support is critical!

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

In the context of the global pandemic, responsibility of FM companies in keeping people and assets safe is now more than ever.

Several FM companies have come up with digital innovations that can help in COVID risk mitigation within a workplace. And as more clients scout for mechanized FM solutions, facility managers are presented with a great opportunity to deliver reliable services than ever before and grow at a faster rate in the next 3-5 years.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

From a facilities management company perspective, we see automation and mechanization enhance the operations and maintenance of all assets at a facility in the next few years. Facility managers are constantly finding the right combination of creative and technological tools that will best fit the needs for their systems.

Drones and robotic cleaning systems are now being used to disinfect and sanitize the office premises. FM companies are also using robotics solutions that converts an ordinary floor scrubber machine into a next gen robot through modern AI based autonomous navigation systems integrating smart navigating features thereby resulting in increasing productivity and improved efficiency compared to traditional cleaning methods. Sensor fusion technologies like gyroscope- for measuring orientations, motion, vibration, and accelerometer- for rotation, acceleration and vibration are also placed in various facilities for motion-capture.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Build the Connection Between the Team Members, Clear Roles & objectives Flawless communication, Think for Individual development, Delegation of tasks and responsibilities , Communicate clear goals , Be Human , Be honest and friendly to an acceptable extent and at last Teambuilding exercises and encouragement for collaboration.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

Leading Digital Transformation & Change

ANAND SINHA,

Chief Information Officer & Director – IT OCS Group India

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

management The major challenges for ‘digital transformation’ are changing company culture, cooperation between functions and team, resources & lack of data to justify digital transformation. Culture is Key and Executive support is critical for digital transformation to start and success. Digital transformation carries expectations that its impact can be measured at both customer and business levels. Digital Transformation doesn’t mean Digital Investment only it means thinking ‘Digital’. While the word “digital” is part of “digital transformation”, the essence of digital transformation comes down to people and how their digital behaviors differ from that of the traditional customers before them.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

As one of the leaders in the facilities management space, we embraced technology for ensuring social distancing using IoT and AI. Contact-free access, attendance trackers and automatically generated digital passes for visitors are some of the ways adopted by companies to minimise human intervention. Additionally, technologies like access control systems, automated thermal cameras for temperature screening, face mask detection using AI, room sensors to track human activity, mass compliance systems were also being widely used to ensure safety and security at the workplace.

OCS is leveraging digital platforms, automation of Feedback, Audit , Checklist & Tasks, management, automation in energy management, customer experience analytics and transformational predictive maintenance services to offer an integrated solution to clients.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

Deferment/Rejection of Project without any Clear Business objective and plan. Technology jobs which are done hastily will never deliver and help you achieve your business objective.

Digital transformation comes down to people and every people is a change agent and change agents must make the case to earn executive support, and that takes journey mapping to data “ what’s best for customer is best for use”.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

A good digital transformation strategy aims to create significant value for any facility. For FM companies, going digital and using

real time data can help the property management team avoid risks but also make informed decisions in the field of staff allocation. It also allows energy saving, predictive maintenance and hence shows the building manager as a reliable and proactive business partner. For clients, embracing technology not only improves efficiency and optimizes cost; but is also key for them to stay ahead in the fight against ever-more sophisticated criminal activity.

The key on using digital solutions in a facility is to analyse how it can influence the business environment, changing a businesses’ agility to react, and significantly modifying its entire value proposition and overall operations.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

The role of a CIO is changing from a technology expert to business strategist. Today, CIOs collaborate with other C-level colleagues to develop business strategies and value. Taking the analogy of a binocular, just as its two lenses form a single vision, Business and IT serve as the two lenses for a CIO. It is expected of the CIO that they should look at Business and IT from a single vision.

On an IT side, the challenge is about generating business outcomes. Hence, unless and until there is some business outcome, there is no sense in adopting the technology. Today the technology initiative or transformation is all about business outcomes and creating business value. We all are devoting most of the time to business strategist activities to help drive innovation, create new business models, and grow revenue opportunities.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Do Innovation , Stay Safe and Healthy DON'T micromanage

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Smart Agri Towards Intelligent Farming WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The leading digital technologies around data analytics and augmented workforces will have the most impact on enterprise and operational systems.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Within the next 3 years, our focus in the Hijo Group is to fully roll out Smart Agri solutions, to fully implement Industry 4.0, and to broaden e-Commerce traction.

Land is a finite resource. So we are aiming to optimize yield and quality through intelligent farming that uses science-based protocols and data-driven decisions. We are also building smart green houses that are fully automated and integrated.

We are constructing a state-of-the-art, fully integrated superfoods factory. Among the key components to fully realize the benefits of factory automation is the integration of operations tech-

nology with enterprise systems.

With the Hijo Group’s diversified business portfolio, which in itself is an ecosystem, it makes perfect sense to build customer traction and loyalty by way of an e-Commerce platform. We are also working with local communities and helping them build capabilities to be able to compete in the greater marketplace. Towards that end, our e-Commerce platform will expand to become an e-marketplace that will provide a platform for small farmers and businesses who share our values.

We are motivated by our commitment to put people, place, and planet, alongside profits. Hence, our direction towards fully implementing Smart Agri, Industry 4.0, and e-Commerce will provide sustainable livelihoods and communities for our stakeholders. After all, the success of our people and the communities where we belong will ensure continued success of Hijo.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Diversity in the organization makes for diverse and innovative ideas. Diversity is not only about race, ethnicity, gender, and religion. It also includes age and experience. I hire new graduates, those with little experience, and those who are shifting careers.

Having a full complement of highly experienced and highly skilled team members

ALEX USTARIS,

CIO, CTO and Head of Shared Services Center Hijo Group of Companies

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

does not guarantee success. When people learn together through experimentation and by learning from mistakes, as well as through careful planning and execution, the team becomes stronger, more resilient, and highly motivated.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

The most challenging experience was one I had several years ago when I took a global lead role in a multinational initiative involving IT and various departments.

My challenges back then of having to manage a huge project team, composed of people from various countries, included facilitating virtual meetings with heated arguments and adapting to local cultures during after-office hours dinners and karaokes. It was great fun!

wards digitalization in the past 6 years. But there has been little success.

From day 1, I have advocated putting Digital Transformation at the forefront of our growth drivers. We’ve been able to fully align Digital Transformation strategy with key business priorities and directions. I also credit our success to strong executive support, purposeful change management efforts, and a highly motivated and capable IT team.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

The hardest part of the CIO role, as in any other job, I guess, is letting go of people. I have had to do that in most of the organizations that I’ve joined, even several times in some of them. They say that is just an objective decision to make. But we are talking about people who have families.

Many of them are friends too. At the end of the day, I’m also human like them.

From an objective standpoint, letting go of some headcount will be for the greater good of the company and the remaining employees. That has always been the result in all the organizations where I had to resort to such drastic measures.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Apart from being the CIO and CTO, another hat I’m wearing is that of the Head of Shared Services. I manage most of the business support departments. I really must make inter-department collaboration work.

Having shared values and a common vision is the key to collaboration. As a leader, you also must lead by example in making use of collaboration tools and methods. Apart from being the leading advocate for Microsoft Teams, I also set the cadence for regular virtual and physical meetings.

One-on-one conversation, be it online, phone calls, or face-toface, is one of the best ways to build relationships. There can never be effective collaborations if relationships based on trust and confidence are absent.

I have the best job in the world! Where else can you find an office in the middle of a forest, a beach and a banana plantation? The physical environment itself is energizing that it positively impacts everyone.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

Digital Transformation has been my most significant contribution to the Hijo Group.

Before I joined Hijo last year, they have been trying to move to-

IoT, Data Analytics, and Intelligent Automation powered by AI/ML will dominate enterprise IT in the next few years. They are also part of Hijo’s Digital Transformation direction. More and more IoT will make Edge Computing and Data Analytics grow exponentially. All these will provide power for Intelligent Automation in field operations, front office, and back office.

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Intelligent Rate Control Improving stability of Bandwidth

Self Healing Useful in extreme noisy area

Connect to more |

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Eradicating Legacies for a New Dawn in Logistics WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The Logistics industry is growing, undergoing some big transformation and will continue to do so. The need and complexities that exist in the Logistics differs from Customer to Customer and so does the needs for various Industry verticals. The Logistics provider needs to manage effectively.

In addition to the above, with Cross Border Ecommerce picking up all over, the need for automated warehouses, speed of order fulfilment, delivery across borders and the associated IT & visibility solutions to make all this happen, are going to be the key.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

End to End Supply chain solutions running 24*7 un-interruptedly without any downtime.

We are investing heavily on moving towards Cloud technology, Integrated IT Solutions, Disaster Recovery for all our Core systems and heavily invest in IT Security related.

Over the next few years, we will further invest towards Advanced automation tools and techniques. Augmented Reality, Use of Machine Learning, Robotics, Data Warehousing, seamless integration with customers and other partners are some of the key areas which come in mind instantly.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

For the regional IT team, we have split the teams to work from multiple locations.

IT Teams work currently from Singapore, Bangkok and India offices.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

We have a culturally diverse team, at present as well, within Regional IT. We have Singaporeans, Thai, Japanese, Phillipinos and Indians working within the same team.

In addition to the above, we work & inter-

SURESH SUBRAMANIAM,

General Manager / CIO Yusen Logistics (SAO Region) Co. Ltd.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

act with 16 countries in the region to add to the cultural diversity.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

Due to IT teams supporting various Business and Operations, IT teams have to work very closely with other departments.

For most of the regional or projects at countries, we have Business process teams as well as Logistics teams as part of the projects. This helps foster collaboration across departments.

Internally, we do have regular Team bonding events, meet up together for CSR activities, outings etc, which adds to the Collaboration and bonding.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

Most of the regional IT team members are hand picked by me and it is a real pleasure to work with such a closely bonded team over many years. The daily challenges to find innovative IT solutions and to keep all the IT solutions up and running 24*7 continues to energise me.

Respectful Company culture along with very supportive Management teams and Peers with whom we work very closely, energises me further.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

In the past, the company was having many Legacy systems and each country had various different solutions, locally hosted.

Over the last 5 to 6 years or so, we have now managed to eliminate many of these old Legacy solutions. Business and Operations now use standard regional central hosted solutions, over Cloud.

To Plan the above Investments carefully & transform the above to make this journey happen along with our IT team, is one of our biggest wins, I could say. The business & our customers do see many benefits to use such standard solutions, which are seamlessly integrated via our common Regional EDI hub.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

multi-country model.

This shift required some big restructuring in the organisation making it a tough call to make.

Ultimately, this resulted in better savings, increased productivity and better support.

As the teams are working from different countries now, business is never worried of lack of IT support even if a specific country has a bank holiday.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Some of the key technologies which will dominate, will be Cloud, 5G, IOT, AI, Cyber Security areas and maybe Blockchain too.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes, many companies are now ensuring that their CIOs are in Board positions. As IT related Investments can be considerable & are a big enabler to support their future business growth.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/ SHE IMBIBE?

A person who is business savvy, has the relevant IT Experience, sound communication skills, has a strategic vision as a leader, ability to build a good team, collaborates across Cultural boundaries and invests carefully and thoughtfully in the “right” technologies to support the business, could be the ideal ‘CIO of tomorrow’.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Do - Improve upon my cooking skills and also learn baking cuisines.

One of my biggest challenges which ultimately has become a big achievement now was to change from Regional IT team based out of a single country model to being based and working out of a

Don’t – Don’t spend too much time watching TV or be on Social Media.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Accelerating Highly Agile and Innovation Culture WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

Retail banking industry driving towards customer centric approach with fast moving economic condition require Product innovation and agile delivery with relevancy to customer as part of their offering over virtual. Customer demands self-quick onboarding, real-time kyc and account opening with card issuance. Quick loan approval with immediate cash disbursement with automated underwriting. Helping them on goal-based saving, understand their financial control via PFM capabilities such as saving and spending behaviour. Easy access to money via Digital payment ecosystem players which does not restrict the digital and physical cash movement. Mobile and social media is the key channel for servicing and financial service delivery. No Ops or minimal ops processes with higher degree of decision making with data analytics and AI.

Role and Team Building HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

We have chosen the self-motivated, young and tech professional hand-picked by the CTO to build Agile team who can take risk and run extra mile.We build single squad scrum team to start

the in-house R&D and innovation team with multi-functional skill set. Later it has been scaled to multi-squad scrum team.

We have positioned Singapore as HQ with Product, Design and architecture team, Setup our offshore R&D delivery center in Chennai, India and our local bank operation in Manila, Philippines.

In the beginning, its difficult attract talent who has attitude towards building legendry next generation bank, we did handpicked good techno-functional agile team.

After the initial establishment then it not that difficult to scale the team.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

We have handpicked self-motivated individuals from Singapore, india, Philippines, Indonesia, US and Ukraine. During COVID-19 the team completely worked from 8 different countries remotely. We didn’t find the cultural difference much since we believe in common goal and bind with common values such as Team work, reliability, honest, street-smart and Fun work culture.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

We believe in cross functional team culture. We engage all the team members as part decision making and introduce tops as servant leaders and enable bottom-up digital execution.

ARIVUVEL RAMU,

20 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

Chief Technology Officer (CTO), TONIK Digital Bank Inc, (TONIK)

BUSINESS

FORWARD

TOP GLOBAL CIOs Year 2021 Rolling out Innovation Lending products, instant card issuance, payment eco systems Extended cybersecurity implementation and Data lake Development

Year 2 Advanced Data lake, Advanced CRM, Automated Operation Support and AI based operations, CDD/KYC along with revolving credit line products.

Leadership

Year 3

Remittance and credit card issuance along with Open Banking.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

• Regulatory and VC: Worked closely with like-minded people and regulator and got the first digital banking license.

• Digital Team: Setup the Digital bank IT team from the ground-up and build Highly agile and innovation culture.

• Complex Fast Program Management: Setup and rollout the neo bank as a green field implementation in less than 11 months. (Jan 2020-Nov 2020).

Yes, slowly the board recognise the importance of CIO’s uplifting from Mancom to Board is critical for Digital business growth.

Since Digital banking is all about tech game. Not anymore traditional business.

Importance of digital savvy is understood by most of the board level members. But it takes slow adaptation over SEA region since most of the traditional board runs with family business.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/SHE IMBIBE?

• Scoping the MVP (Minimum viable product) for the pilot launch to meet the market to get the first move advantage, there is an lot to internal buy-in from other tower leaders.

• Working with 62+ projects and run & complete with in 11 months.

These two spot on us in the right mix on public to launch our bank on said date.

Futuristic WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

• AI/ML • Data Lake: • Open Banking

• Servant leader with Agile mindset • Digital Savvy with customer centric • Business acumen

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

DO: Continue to rollout customer centric technology along with minimum ops strategy DON’T: Continue not to engage and not to spend more marketing cost which can be solved via digital social marketing space and limited head-count via semi/full automations.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

TRAN VIET HOAN,

CIO | Independent IT Thought Leader | Keynote Speaker | CEO, Asian Dragon

Leading by knowledge Growing by change WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

n Technology-led business: through digital transformation and digital acceleration, business can transform into new business models to move ahead of competitors and gain competitiveness. n Total Experience Focus: Customer Experience (CX); User Experience (UX) and Employee Experience (EX) n Location-Free Operations: The business can operate and run everywhere is the trend the industry heading to. d. Intelligent Enterprise: Companies after deploying their IT & Digital systems efficiently will transform to the next milestone of an Intelligent enterprise whereas they can operate their business, make decision and interactive with their customers smartly.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

n Improve Customer Experience is always first to drive change and improve profit

22 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

n Deploy and enhance Customer Experience through CDP-Customer Data Platform, CX, Omni Channel n Enhance Operational efficiency through the BPM (Business Process Management Automation); implementing digital solutions for the operations n Maximize Data Usage and utilize these powerful resources and turn them into dollars n Intelligent Growth and Intelligent Enterprise n Deploy more Automation/ RPA: to save resources and maximize the digital advantages of unlimited capacity for time and space transactions.

HOW DO YOU COLLABORATE, ENGAGE AND BUY-IN FROM YOUR DIVERSE GROUPS OF STAKEHOLDERS?

n WIIFM: Follow “What’s In It For Me?” philosophy. Focus on the benefits and the technology of each stakeholder group and draw the ROI for them. n Assign Key user for each department so they can be a bridge between IT and business. n Focus on quick-wins and aligned with the long term IT strategy and Execution Roadmap for a sustainable long term Growth.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

n Focus on Key members: We should build key members and these are the critical roles in the organization. Percentage of key members follows iceberg rule (20/80).

These members will normally function 80% of the division’s workload without any problem. n Skill matrix: should be measured for

HOW DO YOU COLLABORATE, ENGAGE AND BUY-IN FROM YOUR DIVERSE GROUPS OF STAKEHOLDERS?

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

n External: Help companies to transform their businesses through the appropriate digital transformation roadmap. This has given the business with great impact in the sense that customers can use the customer portal online to upload their documents for claims and many other stuff which normally hard to process for remote areas. And thanks to this, the sale revenue is much higher as they get buy-in into the system and fast response from their customers. n Internal: We have deployed Business Process Management with paperless office, enhancing total experience for our Customer Experience and Employee Experience and maximizing our data so we can agilely act on any response.

Assign Key user for each department so they can be a bridge between IT and business.

Focus on quick-wins and aligned with the long term IT strategy and Execution Roadmap for a sustainable long term Growth.

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

WIIFM: Follow What’s In It For Me?” philosophy.

Focus on the benefits and the technology of each stakeholder group and draw the ROI for them.

both hard-skills (tech) and soft-skills. c. Proper training and succession plan.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

While I was the CIO for a top 5 hypermarket in the world from Europe 21 years ago, I managed an IT team comprises of different nationalities from Germany, Romania, Hungary, France and of course Vietnamese. Team from Vietnam used to be CIOs/IT Directors from other big MNCs with diversified domains of expertise.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

The most energetic thing that brings me to the current role is my expertise as I can bring more digital transformations to companies and I can know where is the pain points of an organization so to add values to—thanks to my diversified business knowledge on FinTech, MedTech (Technology in Medical/ healthcare); AgTech (Technology in Agriculture), FMCG, Retail, Life Insurance, CyberSecurity, … On the other side, many big organizations normally have their high “bureaucracy” and this is obviously a drawback for the organizations to grow. This is more or less with the organization culture so you have to cope with that and fine-tune the way to move around for your technology deployment.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

n Cloud computing: will be dominant as agility and adaptability. b. Artificial Intelligent, Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics: to transform a business to an “Intelligent Enterprise”. n IoT and Edge Technologies: are for automation and digitization in the areas of smart cities, connected vehicles, MedTech and AgTech.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

n DO: 1. Digital transformation & acceleration 2. Investing more on Cloud 3.

Data Utilizing 4. Enhancing Total Experience 5. Strengthening cybersecurity n DON’T: 1. Neglect digital transformation 2. Cut IT budget, especially Cybersecurity 3. Ignore customer experience

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Connect.Contribute.

Collaborate.Perform WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

Every industry’s (IT, Logistics, Supply Chain etc) current mission/ focus is on productivity & efficiency in each business processes, Ontime delivery & customer focus, Visibility & Transparency. To achieve this mission, technology is the only choice, each industry realizes it now. Technology heading towards more into digitalization and data analytics which can be met by using Blockchain, IOT, AI, Robotic, Analytics, Machine Language and CLOUD, this will be key technologies areas for next 3 to 5 years.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

As a CIO, since we are already into CLOUD (all mission critical applications are in CLOUD) and automation and digitalization, which is my ongoing items in budget for next 2 to 3 years, apart from that AI and Analytics added for this year and Blockchain is in my next

one to be added and this will continue for next 2 to 3 years.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Building teams start with right choice of team members, define their roles and assign responsibilities, review & support them to perform. As a leader I provide big picture of what is coming in and created an environment for teams to perform – To connect, contribute, collaborate and perform. Mostly spent time in building team events or activities for them to be more collaborate and connect. This is the way I get team my team to perform and motivated.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

I am leading culturally diversified team for about 15+ years as of now across globe.

It is difficult to lead culturally diversified team if leader does not \team members way of working, style of communication and connect. Each one got different way of performing, as a leader I create a platform for them to perform and enjoy their work, that makes them to get motivated and perform at peak.

THIRUMAL RAJ C

CIO, Elite Digital Logistics

24 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

To support collaboration across departments, I provide a big picture and its visibility to all at the beginning itself during kick-off meeting or opening meeting itself to them and this will make members across department to commit and motivate. Setup a collaborative team with IT Leads to head them and drive the team, that will make the team to understand the strength and weakness of each cross functional processes, this will make the solution vulnerable and combined ownership.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

My current role is to provide solutions for current & future business needs in automated and optimized way, that make me to learn more and leads for me to know more on what is happening in current technology sector and business domain. I don’t find anything depletes me in my current role, since I involve and interact myself with business and Top management CXO level team, more that gives me visibility of future.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

Many significant contributions to the organization as a CIO, the key ones are i. Moving all critical business applications to CLOUD, which helped us to manage this Pandemic across globe and managed customer and business well, which added more business and new customers on board ii. Build “Control Tower” an end to end visibility and Analytics portal in Supply Chain and Logistics business sector processes, which makes our customer’s aware of progress and visibility at all times, that makes customer happy.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

Most difficult decision to move mission critical systems to CLOUD and making Board of Directors including CFO to understand it and get their buy in. Result, managed Pandemic and new normal very well with out losing any KPI and customer.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Technology has been developing at a speed of light or even more than that. More and more of human tasks are automated, I think the following technologies will rule next 3 to 5 years of technology world. n Artificial Intelligence (AI). n Communication Technologies like 5G n Blockchain – happening past will continue to drive n Cloud – People got a benefit and advantages of Cloud as of now and will continue more as the way it grow as of now n Data Analytics and Robot

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes, CIOS are already in board positions, this will continue since now a days CIOs are not only technical, but business & customer focused.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/SHE IMBIBE?

“CIO of tomorrow”- Who is the one who already transformed from IT service/technical role to more strategic business role, understands business well and focus towards customer. CIOs key skills to align IT projects with business goals and lead innovation and organizational change.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Do – Business with technology innovation, be with business. Don’t look back.

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A Leading Edge in Education WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The only industry that hasn’t slowed down due to the pandemic rather gained boost & also helped in uplifting other industries and overcome this Pandemic to great extend globally is IT industry.

From accommodating immediate demand for remote working and collaboration solutions to bring in emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning etc within no time to action as helped majority of businesses move digitally & innovatively as the need of the hour. Looking forward three to five years down the line, we can truly sense the world will be to much extend Automated and Digital & Technology will play a Key Role not only to run the Outdoors businesses but also have a major role to play within every house making the life ruled by Internet of Things commanded by the directions of their masters.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Talking specifically about my Organization “Amity Education Group” we have been fortunate enough to have Digital Technol-

ogy already in place well before time. We have within no time been able to get our Education Modules, Classes, Attendance, Exams, Digital Library, Virtual Labs, Workforce Management etc online to Digital Mode. Looking forward 5G, Machine Learning, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence are our priorities for deployment wherein we are working in research with not only IT Companies but also involving out Students, Research Faculties etc to Explore, Innovate & Create solutions out of the box thinking differently.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

As mentioned in the previous question, teams are not limited only to Technology People working in IT domain, rather the teams are formed at various levels wherein Center of Excellence and Research Departments are working on it to ensure Digitization & Automation across all domains.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

As we have wide Global presence & people across countries come, share and work under different capacities, I have been fortu-

NIKHIL KUMAR NIGAM,

Associate Director - Technologies Amity Education Group

26 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

nate to work, learn and drive desired outputs. Having people coming from various cultures & geographies help you to look with a different perspective that gives you a leading edge.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

I truly believe Technology has a role to play in every domain or department and brainstorming with their stakeholders help you to understand the deliverables of technology as per their need.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

Energizes, the vision and mission of the Founder that motivates and encourages you to work openly, whole heartedly to bring the best of technology to bring revolution in the field of Technology.

When it comes to depletes, is still the lack of zeal to research and innovate when it comes to skilled manpower when it comes to look in the outer world as mostly want to get solutions implemented as available.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

When the Lockdown was declared in March 2020 due to COVID-19 Pandemic and the world was on a standstill, every education industry had a question how to carry on with their education system. As we have been already on to online mode since more than a decade and have been continuously upgrading ourselves, we had a bigger advantage to getting on to 100 percent online mode without even a single day delay. We have been already practicing Online Learning or eLearning through MS Team, Zoom, Live Webcasting the event with our own In House developed Solution, Video Conferencing through Skype, Zoom and Go to Webinars, Online Visitor Management System, LMS, In House Developed Intranet and many more solutions for Academic & Administrative Management. Now getting this to 100 percent online mode that too with BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and maintain it in Hybrid Model with employees being in different Geographical Locations, Different Devices and multiple platforms and Operating Systems and different set of Internet Connectivity’s was a Challenging as well as a learning that was most enriching experience that came with a success.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT

YIELD?

To agree & accept that we will be successfully delivering Education at every doorstep to the students by going Digital irrespective of the Geographical Location, Internet Connectivity / Speed, Device they are using that will be a Big Challenge to overcome. We faced challenges and successfully overcome with more than desired results. This made us overcome the fear, else would not have been thought about in coming years.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

No Doubt, Artifical Intelligence, Machine Learning & Robotics are going to be the future.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes they are, and indeed they need to, as instead of just delivering the technology they need to contribute towards Business Strategies and Business Outcomes.

11. WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/SHE IMBIBE?

The key attributes of the CIO of tomorrow are understanding, focusing & delivering being a Key Member of the Board Room & uphold exceptional Leadership Skills as everyone is going through most difficult times of lives and carry motivation, support & empathy to ensure rise and success of all.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Learn from the Past, Don’t Carry it & Redesign a Better Future.

MAY 2021 THE

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28 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

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TEJAS SHAH

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30 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

Breaking Barriers

Through Collaboration WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

n n n n n

Business needs quick results and analysis of trends and customer behaviour.

Lots of AI and ML requirement, Bots and Automation will be most required tools for all business aspects.

Cloud and End point security will be the key aspects for Technology Digital transformation will be the key

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Future plans would depend on the Business needs and requirement. We all need to move along with market trends and latest technologies that gives benefits to Business Teams.

Most of the organizational plan is to provide Omni channel experience to the end customer. Internal and external customer satisfaction should be end objective for technology team

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Always keep the Team motivated n Give confidence and provide them ownership of all tasks and problems. n Should listen and resolve all types of Team issues including professional and personal. n Set the Timelines and measure the Plan regularly. n

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

in team meetings and share expectations about working style. Essential points is Trust your team, break the language barriers and give liberty in their work.

I feel that diverse team will bring wide range of ideas and innovative perspectives to work. The best way is to discuss differences

Regular Communication is the only factor to keep the departments in sync. Conduct regular technology and info sec trainings and awareness programmes. Technology like Enterprise chat, Video Call/Conference call will help to keep the connections intact across various departments.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

I feel that the most energetic part in current role is to keep learning and updating on new technology aspects. Networking with fellow industry leaders and colleagues and to know the latest trends and happenings in the industry keeps me going.

One of the factor that depletes me is to make understand the end user/customer that there are lots of efforts put by Technology team to ensure that systems/application is up and running.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Opening New Doors to Digital Ports WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The focus in the next three to five years will be on digital transformation to optimise the productivity, reduce costs and look at new approaches to managing container ports. The digital and technological evolution has shifted the focus to doing things more efficiently by being faster, safer, cheaper. Technologies ranging from cloud computing, big data, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and mobile/mobility to the Internet of Things and more recent emerging technological realities.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

The following are the areas in digital evolutions and technologies, ranging from cloud computing, big data, advanced analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and mobile/mobility to the Internet of Things and more recent emerging technological realities in the next 5 years. In detail as below: a. Port Digitalization - SCADA, Asset Digitalization, Data Lake and Data Analytics and Autonomous Prime Mover. b. Terminal Productivity and Capacity – Terminal Operating System, Billing Engine, Operations Tools and Smart Apps, LTE 4G

NILESH TIMBADIA,

Chief Information Officer Port of Tanjung Pelepas

32 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

coverages and port expansion. c. Mobility and Apps - PTP Connect, Ticketing Management, Soft Phone, Help Desk and Centralize Mobile Apps including Incentive Apps d. Business Supporting System - Access Control and CCTV, TAR Block Chain, Communication Devices (Tetra and Vehicle Mounted Terminal), Document Management, Labour Management and Marine Resource Management. e. Compliance and Cyber Security - Business Continuity Plan, ISMS Compliance and Cybersecurity Penetration Test Improvement

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

I build my team through trust, honesty, empowerment and empathy. I am firm but I empower my teams to make decisions and sometimes even the wrong decisions as long as it is not going to damage the finances or reputation of the organization. People need to build their confidence and learn to stop escalating upwards because they are fearful of consequences of their decisions.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

Malaysia is a culturally diverse country and Port of Tanjung Pelepas is a reflection of the diversity. We are the first port to start recruiting females in traditionally male roles like marine pilot, rubbertyred gentry crane operators as well as prime mover operators.

It has been generally easier in IT where hiring different races and gender is a norm. Being a port with an international partner, we also have a diverse management team with representation from different countries and cultures. I currently lead a team that has representation of all cultures as well as mix gender and respect and trust is how we lead a culturally diverse culture.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

I introduced and implemented IT Business Partners amongst my team where these are the team members who sit with the business to understand the business needs and the technology that can help the different divisions. I also sit in the Senior Management Team and have the same voice. Listening but also knowing your stuff and what is best for the company helps gain the respect and encourages collaborations across divisions.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

What energizes me is my spiritual life, my trust in God Almighty,

my firm believe in myself, my family who are always there for me and seeing my team members making decisions.

What depletes me is politics and distrust.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

I think anything that makes data easy to access and analyse will remain and dominate – these includes blockchain, IoTs, RPA, AI and Analytics.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes, but they will no longer be CIO and the CIO role needs to evolve to include Transformation, Digitalization and Technology. A traditional CIO role usually does not justify enough clout and significance for a Board position which usually include Finance and Operations.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/ SHE IMBIBE?

As per my previous answer, the CIO of tomorrow will no longer be CIO but evolve to include Transformation, Digitalization and Technology. A CIO of tomorrow needs to be able to see trends through technology and help the business earn revenue through these trends. The CIO of tomorrow needs to be a communicator and influencer that will be able to paint a picture of something which most traditional management or Boards cannot see yet.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Despite the Covid pandemic and travel restrictions, DO network as much as you can even if it is virtually. DON’T do nothing and remain status quo in your technology roadmap.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

From Analog to Digital WHEREWHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

As consumers are shopping online more than ever, e-commerce platforms will continue to transform, grow and emerge as a focal point for businesses to enhance digitalization. The goal will be to create and enhance platforms to help better manage data, and drive value through this data.

I see that the industry will move away from “product selling” towards more “digital solutions selling,” which in turn will provide greater business intelligence to companies, and a more digitally connected experience to our consumers, with a variety of solutions. At Avery Dennison, as a global materials science company, specialising in the design and manufacture of a wide variety of labelling and functional materials, we are seeing this trend in play, and are committed to bringing our expertise and global scale to deliver innovative, sustainable and intelligent solutions to our customers worldwide.

WHAT IS YOUR ONE-YEAR, OR THREE-YEAR PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

At Avery Dennison, we believe in well-crafted planning and data evaluation for decision making, so we created a robust framework to drive our digital journey. We are working to build four levels in our focus areas: • Level 1 - Modernize our foundation to build strength, scalability and enable digitalisation to the next level • Level 2 - Transform the four digital experiences (customer, product, employee and factory) to be future ready in how we work with emerging technologies • Level 3 – Create a cohesive strategy to drive a more digital and data-driven approach • Level 4- Develop innovative digital solutions to achieve better business outcomes

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

I strive to build a digital learning culture that helps foster future-ready teams. We are proud to launch iCore, an IoT platform which will enable our digital and data-driven journey and help get our employees trained on new and emerging technologies. We con-

SANJAY AGRAWAL,

VP Information Technology, Avery Dimension

34 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs tinually focus on advancing our own learning, sharing that knowledge with our internal partners, and enhancing our creativity and design thinking.

The safety and well-being of our employees is a priority, and we invest in many company-wide initiatives to help foster a valuesbased culture. This includes programs in the areas of diversity and inclusion, innovation, sustainability, and developing technology skills to enable our future growth.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

Avery Dennison’s culture is highly inclusive and collaborative. As enablers of digital transformation, we have created a partnership framework with assigned digital partners in each department who are responsible for building cohesiveness and efficiency in our processes and planning work.

The success of our digital journey is enabled through the five priorities of our IT strategy, focused on profitable growth, digital fluency and capabilities, productivity, sustainability and development, which helps connect the IT organization globally. We also focus on building seamless communications between various departments which further helps us to achieve business outcomes.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

In less than 18 months, we successfully completed a very complex technology upgrade, without any business impact and with minimum downtime. As our business is a “just-in-time business,” it is critical to manage system availability to avoid any disruption to our entire business ecosystem. Another important example that showcases digital transformation is the launch of our first cloudbased platform, iCore, which was launched in a record time of six months. Apart from this, we recently launched one of Avery Dennison’s key e-commerce platforms, called our Team Sports websites for one of our growing businesses that manufactures external embellishments, labelled letters and art work for large organizations in the sports category.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A TECHNOLOGY AND DIGITAL LEADER? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

Transformation excites and energizes me. I remember a situation during an upgrade when I was in Hyderabad with our teams. We were in the last leg of the major upgrade activity, and a technical issue came to light that forced us to think and rethink our next

36 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

action. We had hit a major roadblock. The whole upgrade was on the brink of failure.

One of the technical experts came up with the probable solution that I had to take the call to go with it or stall. It was a tough call, as a failure meant losing the hard work of two years. The data was there, and the need was to take a calculated risk; it could go either way, so after deliberation, we made the decision to go with the probable solution.

Ultimately, we achieved a positive outcome.

There were cheers in the room, and I learned that in a moment, a leader can be tested to the limit to make quick critical decisions.

One’s expertise, mindset, risk appetite and experience do the heavy lifting.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Cloud computing, data science and IoT are the technologies that will certainly dominate in the future. The world is moving from the traditional ERP to Microservices. The key focus will be on how we manage and use our current data to drive business and IT decision-making. AI, machine learning, big data and blockchain are proving to be transformative technologies.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Due to the pandemic, the digital health of an organization is centre stage, hence timely strategy and action are prerequisites for success. Due to this digitalization and technology focus, CIOs are being called on to give their expert advice. Personally, I would love to hold such an advisory role in the future.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Do : Take a vacation and take care of the family and well-being.

Don’t : Don't get hung up on the complexity of the legacy systems.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Eyes on the

Future WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

I believe that the focus of every industry today and for quite a few years in the future is going to be customer, customer and customer….with special focus on HIM, enhancing Product, Services Experience and two making HIM a brand advocate for the business will be the priority Thus all industries, irrespective of their nature are going to leverage technical advantage and enhance their brand recall by embedding technical chunks (a.k.a choco-chips) to enhance product flavour & at the same time may be get real time inputs from their

KINGS …….

This will also mean data download to the customers and at the same time from them….with a mere objective to create KINGS’ & QUEENS’ affinity for their brands which is a function of a balance between ask and fulfilment More and more businesses’ deliveries will be planned to be made in a ziffy to satiate customers’ love for digital & thirst for more…. as taking the world by a swarm is going to be the need of every business Newer and newer tools will evolve to impart transparency, to study patterns, to suggest alternatives, to explore un-chartered territories, to be lighter on infraweights and to support agility…..anytime in the future….

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

My management is into the business of

VIKAS GUPTA

Chief Information Officer, Hiranandani Energy

MAY 2021 THE

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

asset construction and thereby facilitate gas transmission to our customers. Whereas the physical part of asset laying can’t be virtualised, the tech-edge can surely be embedded to enable roundthe-clock surveillance of the entire facility and bring out exceptions proactively to ensure task completion ahead of time and with ‘ZERO’ defects With baby-steps already taken to transition to the Cloud, the thrust will now be on transition of control room operations to the cloud and simultaneously support with Self-Healing Analytics in real time to provide complete automation. Over next many months we will also be on the look-out for other newer-age technologies which can substantiate better management, safer operations and complete customer satisfaction

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

At work we have a fairly open culture and I keep myself accessible at all times through all channels. Discord and other social media collaboration tools are preferred medium of communication than traditional snail-mails or others….

‘Alt 4-30 CTC’ is the coffee table exchanges, that I engage my team with, for 30 minutes at 4pm on atleast 2 days of a week, to discuss issues that may have gone un-noticed Unwinding is yet another technique to reach to teams’ inner core.

Off Work we do quite a few things… n Up for grab are a few half-days each month to invest and learn through various seminars and events where they can unwind to create their own groups n Make them a part of a few national sponsored events along with myself to facilitate their grooming n Week-end breaks with all family members in groups to create bonding at off-site getaways All these are like investment in insurance…they keep up team’s liveliness besides creating a sense of belongingness…

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

n I could create a sense of belongingness for all IT projects with the business, which means that now business ensures that they loop in tech guys from the time they begin their first interaction and this actually eases quite a few decision making. n We created systems which are a 3rd Eye, a Ubiquitous One, to the business on the ground for the Project Controls Office to remotely monitor and execute commands n The 3rd Eye has Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

40 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

based Analytical Capabilities which enables what-if, extrapolation, backward working and forward planning to mention a few n Adopting Cloud for entire Operations and moving all critical business applications there n Opting for new age security and deploying tools such that any authorised stakeholder is virtually connected with office at all times from the decent comfort of their homes.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

Adoption of the Cloud and that of the Zero Trust Architecture were the toughest decisions that were made by me; although these were, fortunately, implemented about a year before the onset of the pandemic.

The best thing was on 16th March 2020 at 4:30 pm, when my senior leadership team met in the board room to discuss the impending lockdown in India and about our readiness to work from home, I could stand almost instantly and declare that we were ready for both from tomorrow……and yet the best part was that from start of the business hours on 18th March 2020, we were on Work-from-home!!!.......

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Do – Take care of yourself because only if you stay healthy can you create tech-bliss. Secondly stay in touch with the basics so that sub-conscious mind keeps its concentration on finding solutions of weed out inefficiencies…

Don’t – Don’t lose sight of the distant future which is beyond these pandemic times although these times themselves need thorough Business Continuity Planning…

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Future is ‘Insured’ with Agile Growth Mindset WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

I believe the insurance industry will go for more personalisation based on an individual’s unique needs. Post Covid, there will be more awareness of insurance and hence there will be a demand for insurance to cover different personal and commercial needs. Companies who make use of data and can streamline their processes digitally will have an advantage.

I also see a lot of consolidation happening with the smaller players selling their stakes to bigger players in the industry.

NIRUPAM DAS,

Director – Global Digital Ecosystem Liberty Mutual

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

Replace legacy core systems with a modern API cloud-based core system which provides the flexibility in setting up new products and ease of pricing.

Business will be partner and together we need to learn how to take risks and adopt an agile mindset of learning and evolving with the changing market dynamics.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Its important to have a vision and identify team members who align with the vision. Train the team and empower the team with an agile growth mindset. In the meantime, as a leader I continue to build a safe work environment where creativity thrives.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

Its important to take all viewpoints into consideration as we make decisions. Aligning with the leadership across departments and ensuring that we align on the right priorities based on what our end customer needs. This is a continuous exercise.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

Ability to work with a team which spans across the world. I think not able to meet the team in person is something which makes things challenging for me.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

I see an inter-connected work connected through APIs. I see a lot of use of cloud technologies and increased focus on security.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes I do. Security is a high concern for all companies and digitalisation is a must.

CIOs are experts who can help drive the future strategy and provide the execution brains to help the CEO achieve his goals.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/ SHE IMBIBE?

Understands business, loves technology and knows how to build great teams.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Use the time effectively and reskill Avoid the covid negativity

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

Digitalise a significant part of the business and building a channel where our customers can purchase insurance online. Internally improving efficiency through use of RPA and workflow tools has helped us serve our customers better.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

Working with legacy technology stack and migrating to a modern stack. This was a difficult decision as this impacted team members who specialise in a certain stack. The decision helped us to be better prepared for our future.

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‘Outcome’ Based Transformation

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The world has become unpredictable, so has the industries. If I would have said in 2019 that a company will globally work from home 100%, everyone would have giggled at me, but it’s a reality in 2020 & probably beyond. But, what I see is the industry is becoming more agile towards change. We have adopted a mindset to focus on outcomes rather than how we used to be. We are getting more friendlier to the changes which would add more value to the situation. From an industry perspective, the future days are going to be “OUT”

SAJITH CHAKKINGAL,

Head of Global Technology Services TMF Group

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

- the world would be more Outcome based which will go through a lot of Unpredicted changes which will Transform everything what & the way we do today.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

The mission is not a large or big statement. It’s about creating a core technology that meets TMF’s requirement today and is scalable enough for tomorrow. With that, the demand for ‘current and tomorrow’ is… anytime, anywhere, any device with wide access making all of these useable and making it more effective. Looking at technologies that are cross-functioning, having the same set of objectives that we can achieve, rather than looking at more and more technology acquisitions.

My mantra is - move away from technology, look at a service with more business focus and use various technologies to deliver that service more cost-effectively and scalable.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

A best performing team is when they have TTT. The teams are motivated when they have a Target to achieve, Trust in their leaders, colleagues & company and when operated with full Transparency.

Team is key for our success. I like to build my team with people who can do what we want to achieve, rather than what they have done.

Not that I am ignorant about the values or the learnings from what they had, but the building a best team involves leaders who can bring in experience, learnings from failures and have something to do or achieve from all of what they had. I do believe that there is a leader in everyone, irrespective of the hierarchy in the team, so its all about taking it out using the TTT model.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

The challenges we must manage to overcome the crisis & keep the business operating. We do have a clear transformation roadmap, which keeps our team motivated. More than everything, when you have a team to support and overcome those challenges, keeps me with full energy and happiness. Personally, when I don’t see challenges ahead, I don’t get excited, but that’s not the case anyways since long time.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A HEAD OF TECHNOLOGY?

WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

One of the recent technical hurdle we had around was the VPN technology we use.

We decided to move away from our traditional VPN to an alternate one in just few hours. The yield was very simple, the entire company globally could work remotely within 2 -3 weeks of time.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

To name a few - automation & robotics technologies, enablement technologies like cloud, blockchain, data management, artificial intelligence, technologies which enables presence – like remote working, virtual presence, security technologies like zero trust, endpoint security. But again, its not about the technology, anything which could delivery a good value proposition for the business & sustenance will take the charge going forward.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

My view honestly would be that it would really depend on the company and the nature of business. But if you ask me if there will be a technology consideration / representation in the board, that would be a perfect ‘Yes’. Technology as an enabler was looked to be a support function and the whole world now know it is much beyond that. So certainly, it becomes very wise for any company to reserve a seat for the digital / technology on its board.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Don’t try to predict things and getting prepared.

Do let it come, then plan it well and face it.

MAY 2021 THE

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Harnessing Customer Data for Increased Content Value WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

I believe that the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the structural challenges and trends that have long faced the media and entertainment (M&E) industry. M&E companies need to reconsider their policies in order to understand the current interests and behaviour patterns of the consumer both to attract and retain customers. In the near future when 5G is launched, it promises to drive even greater convergence among video, games, and music with its faster speed and lower latency. While the convergence of content and distribution channels has been apparent for some time, one of the prime examples is the decision by several studios to release first-run movies directly to streaming video services. Box-office revenues have been declining for years as consumers watch more films from home on streaming video services. Newly established digital movie-viewing trends (and success stories) have raised new questions around movie releases, particularly with studios experimenting with releasing films exclusively to certain direct-to-consumer streaming services. Another trending remix opportunity is the online “watch party”—groups of people viewing movies and other video content together on their favourite social media platforms. So to sum it up I would say that I see a major shift towards digitalization.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

We are ensuring a steady stream of highquality content., this means finding innovative ways to quickly and safely return to the production of that content. It’s also imperative that we continue to build capabilities to harness customer data to deliver highly relevant content recommendations and targeted advertising. The dynamic advertising technologies, brands can serve each customer with individualized ads based on their data and profile. Armed with better and more actionable customer data, we can offer personalized video content, music, games, and podcasts as well.

By providing relevant recommendation for a song or game. Consumer will get value from the interaction; they are more likely to stick around. To provide a high level of value, we are working toward strong integration and a seamless user experience among all the content and services

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

Business today is all about speed, agility, and innovation. Over the years of build-

HARMIT SINGH MALHOTRA,

Chief Technology Officer Enter10 Television

46 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

ing IT teams. I strongly believe focus on quality over quantity. The core people even though they are few, should have a combination of core competence, business acumen, and right communication skills and attitude that makes the difference. Successful organizations develop a cohesive environment.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

Managing diversity is about valuing individuals and respecting what each individual brings to the team. I also had the opportunity to lead a culturally diverse team in which we not only got different ideas from each other but we also learnt and appreciated the cultural values of each other. Employees who feel appreciated are more likely to contribute more and care about a company's success.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

In order for smooth functioning of the organisation it is very essential that all departments are in sync with each other. Hence to ensure no communication gap Is there we organise meetings, create groups and keep each other in loop during E-mails.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

The thrill to create and execute truly energizes me.

Stagnation in work depletes me I believe that every day is an opportunity to learn something new and therefore we should keep working on new ideas and implementing the best available technology to benefit the organisation.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

During the First wave of the COVID and being a part of the essential service, We came up with the solution in which we can make sure employees coming to office are safe for which we setup the COVID Dashboard as per the ICMR guidelines. Employees were required to fill his health status before coming to office..

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

goes down. In the past there was a time when I had to cut down the manpower and no doubt it greatly affected my conscience.

For the company it was beneficial but personally I did help as many I could to get a job.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

Technology has changed the world as we knew it and is going to do so for the foreseeable future. We are witnessing a distinct change in application infrastructure with more and more organizations moving to cloud native applications. Cloud computing , AI and ML are the future for enterprise IT as it helps understand the usage and also helps in increasing the efficiency.

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

Yes, definitely I do believe CIOs will soon take board positions as CIOs are like the backbone of any organisation. You might not see them regularly but if their department collapses the entire structure of the organisation collapses.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/ SHE IMBIBE?

The CIO of tomorrow should essentially have the wit and decision-making ability.

He should be thorough with the current technological advancements and apply the same in his organisation. He should understand the business module.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

With big position comes big responsibility the same captain who rejoices the success of the ship also takes the blame if the ship

Do be flexible in planning as you never know when you might need an alternative.

Don’t be rigid.

MAY 2021 THE

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THANK YOU TO

THE VALUABLE CONTRIBUTORS OF FITS ASIA 2021'

MANOJ SAXENA

JAMIL KHAN

Chairman of RosettaNet Singapore GS1

NICOLE TRETWER

Head of Logistics Services, APAC, SWAROVSKI

EVP Logistics, Lazada

JULIANA CHUA

SANTOSH NAIR

Regional Head of IT End User & IT Partner Management, Siemens

DATO’ SRI SYED ZAINAL ABIDIN SYED MOHAMED TAHIR

Vice President, GeTS

Group Managing Director, DNeX

ASHOKRAJ, VADIVELU

Head, Digital Transformation, Essilor

NG CHEE KEONG

CEO, Intelizest

SAKET GORE

CEO - Asia Pacific at The Himalaya Drug Company Pte Ltd

ANIL MENON

Head IT, Lulu Group

SANJAY AGRAWAL

VP Information Technology, Avery Dennison

MILLIE GILLON

Global Head of Customer Experience, Senior Managing Director at Standard Chartered Bank

VENKATESH MAHADEVAN Chief Information Officer, Dubai Investments

AMIT BHATIA

Chief Information Officer, Jaquar Group

EDDIE NG

VP Group Cargo Solutions & Platform Development, PSA International

VINAY AWASTHI

World Wide Head of Print Supply Chain, HP

SADIQ ROWTHER Former-CIO Levis Strauss

SAKET SARDA

Senior Vice President (APAC) , C2FO

MALAVIKA SHANKER President, GEC Media Group

),

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

Winning Trust

HOW DO YOU COLLABORATE, ENGAGE AND BUY-IN FROM YOUR DIVERSE GROUPS OF STAKEHOLDERS?

WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

The 4th industrial revolution is here. The world is about to change the implementation of AI system into the mix can serve as a real turning point.

Understand common challenges, define user syndromes, take the necessary judgement call and get buy in with support.

HOW DO YOU BUILD YOUR TEAMS?

My team is made up of people who have positive approach to work, who are friendly, energetic, and do not stick to routine operation work

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

It was when I was doing program management for NIB bank, working with Indians, Vietnam and English people along with local multi-cultural team of Punjabis ,Sindhi etc.

HOW DO YOU SUPPORT COLLABORATION ACROSS DEPARTMENTS?

I give a free hand to team players to discuss everything on the table while docu-

MUHAMMAD QASIM BHAM,

Group Head of IT, Soorty enterprises

MAY 2021 THE

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Yearly Plan

TOP GLOBAL CIOs

YR 3

YR 2 Mix with machine automation and position sensing to optimize the process and its output.

Prepare for new challenges in the industry

YR 1 Started AI application building for textile industry.

menting and taking ownership of what you decide.

WHAT ENERGIZES YOU IN YOUR CURRENT ROLE AND WHAT DEPLETES YOU?

n Coming up with creative ideas to improve something, or make something new. n Analysing complex data in order to draw clear and simple conclusions

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

I convinced and brought together all stakeholders of the group to go for a new ERP system with industry 4 as the driver.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

n The most difficult decision was to come to a decision on the new technologies and approach that we will implement and do it with the consent of all the stakeholders, while winning their trust. n Results can’t be seen immediately nor they might yield the desired result in a limited time but at the end it PLEASED.

50 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

n AI, automated sensors etc

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

n Yes, but all that glitters is not gold. One needs to have a strategic thinker.

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/ SHE IMBIBE?

n The person who foresees next two years will the CIO of tomorrow.

One Do and DON’T for 2021 n Trust and Follow the nature, the primary support factor. n Don’t ignore any form of data while analysing.

LEADERS' CORNER

We Thank you for all your advice and support for the growth of network in Asia.

WHAT INSIGHTS CAN YOU SHARE FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING WITH MULTIPLE CONSORTIUMS, AND THE GO FORWARD TREND ?

MANOJ SAXENA

Chairman of RosettaNet Singapore, GS1 digital standards consortium & Advisory Board member of Global CIO Forum

In our recent 360 global C-suite research jointly organised by Global CIO forum and RosettaNet Singapore GS1, it was interesting to note that 96% c-suite leaders responded that they are seeing a huge increase in the IT spend and investments to transform the landscape in 2021 and beyond. The research data outcomes are being worked on as we speak by technology thought-leaders and consortiums globally through round-table discussions. Many initiatives have been completed and many more are planned. n Events & Summits like FITS Asia 2021 with customer experience theme that was a great success. More planned on Business Transformation(BTX), also on Sustainability, Green and circular economy to raise awareness for safer environment for future generations. n Industry programs - Fintech trade finance pilots across APAC , Working with the logistics institute of Asia (TIL), NUS Singapore for logistics digital twin & space-asa-service. Working with IMDA Singapore on Trade Trust with blockchain as a trusted service on Industry 4.0 standards. n C-suite advisory : a Mix and Match of Start-up, Fintech with MNC’s for co-innovation and partnership.

SADIQ ROWTHER

SVP & CIO - APAC, The Adecco Group.

WHAT MORE CAN LEADERS DO TO ENHANCE THEIR LEARNING AND HAVE A GREATER IMPACT ?

Leaders learn significantly by expanding on ideas and experiences with peer group or networks that are working closely and in constant touch. Mutually sharing, brainstorming of ideas, the concept of ask-listen and learn is a powerful tool in today’s leadership development. 3 areas where I have learnt the most : 1) Mentoring helps to fully learn / understand and work with a very diverse set of people - Especially reverse mentoring that helps to connect with all levels in the organization while keeping an ear to the ground.

2) Being in the company of like-minded CIOs or technology leaders, networks that allow the exchange of ideas, experiment with new thinking and technology concepts are real life learning platforms 3) Leaders who move across industries best learn when they attach themselves to business team & have the maximum impact when they can have an in-depth understanding of how technology can impact business growth.

52 THE TITANS ASIA MAY 2021

LEADERS' CORNER

RAMESH MUNAMARTY

SANTOSH NAIR

Head of Strategy & Technology, India and Global Head of Infrastructure & Operations, Cognizant

Regional Head, IT User Engagement and Partner Management, APAC & MEA, Siemens

WHAT IS ONE AREA THAT LEADERS MUST FOCUS ON SO AS TO ENHANCE WELL-BEING OF THEIR TEAMS?

HOW DO YOU DEFINE LEADERSHIP? WHAT DO YOU SEE AS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TRAIT FOR TODAY’S LEADER?

A key area of focus for successful leaders is being empathetic and creating conditions for everyone to thrive in. One of the positive aspects of the work from home model is that it has helped leaders to get closer to the employees on a personal level and become more empathetic of the family situation. Demonstrating empathy in the workplace, improves human interaction and can lead to more effective communication. It helps in making better predictions, improved employee morale and loyalty, and generating positive business outcomes. Empathy needs to move beyond being a key leadership attribute to becoming a mainstream narrative and an element of organizational culture.

Leadership is all about creating the right environment to nurture a diverse group of people to grow and blossom in their own ways beyond their own capabilities to deliver outcomes for personal and team success.

In these days of constant change, and with headwinds due to uncertain and unanticipated events the environment has been compromised and so one specific aspect, in my opinion, that leaders need to do is to focus on the matters of heart in an authentic and credible way. Engage, listen and support the needs of the team members as they juggle personal and professional challenges. This should pave the way for a trusted and open relationship that reaps rewards beyond expectations.

Personally I believe in the power of E3 engage, enable and empower to lead successfully.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

From technology-centric to customer-centric WHERE DO YOU SEE THE INDUSTRY HEADING IN THE NEXT THREE TO FIVE YEARS?

I project that the innovation business is poised to reach $5 trillion out of 2021. In the event that this number holds, it would speak to 4.2% development, flagging a re-visitation of the pattern line that the business was on before the pandemic. Looking much further into the future, IDC anticipates that the example should keep, assessing a 5% accumulate yearly development rate (AGR) for the business through 2024.

Automation & AI dominating the workplace with vast majority of low level workloads offloaded to machines & algorithms dictating mid level managerial work. Businesses will choose to retain high performers with ability to cross function and possess diverse set of skills and formulate teams to work on ad-hoc basis rather than traditional top down reporting.

WHAT IS YOUR 1 YEAR, OR 3 YEARS PLAN FOR YOUR COMPANY’S IT DEPARTMENT? HOW DO YOU PLAN TO TAKE THE BUSINESS FORWARD WITH TECHNOLOGY?

• Transforming our business from technology centric to customer centric.

• Adapting Open-source technologies for OPEx reduction along with TCO. • Introduction of Robotics Process Automations, Industrial Automation and Digital Customer experience solutions

HOW DO YOU COLLABORATE, ENGAGE AND BUY-IN FROM YOUR DIVERSE GROUPS OF STAKEHOLDERS?

• Using internal collaboration suit developed in-house • Sharing competitive analysis inform of business growth using technology • Extending critical stats like Customer experience enhancement, OPEx Reductions and Automations introduced within group with help of Technology.

CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT A TIME YOU LEAD A CULTURALLY DIVERSE TEAM?

I have worked in culturally diverse populations, and I am accustomed to the challenges that come with being on top of issues related to culture, race, religion, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.

One of the reasons that I love working as a lead in this environment is that I get the opportunity to grow and learn as I observe.

I achieve this growth by keeping an open mind and remaining up to date on conversations that are happening amongst various populations and groups.

WHICH WAS YOUR MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION IN YOUR CURRENT COMPANY AND HOW DID IT IMPACT OR INFLUENCE THE BUSINESS?

• Consolidation of IT for 16+ group companies working in different sectors. i. Enhanced Governance ii. Major Reduction in OPEx

SYED AUN M. BUKHARI,

Group CIO + CEO, Spars Pvt. Ltd. + Apollo Telecom Pvt. Ltd.

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TOP GLOBAL CIOs

How do you build your teams?

• Big picture vision • Clear objectives • Clear roles • Flawless communication • Cooperation • Individual development within the team

• Delegate tasks and responsibilities • Communicate clear goals • Be honest and friendly to an acceptable extent

• Team-building exercises.

• Improve cooperation among team members.

• Encourage them to collaborate

• Some questions to ask yourself:

• Social events • Outdoor adventures

Establish a Connection with Each Team Member Invite Contributions And Collaborations

iii. Smart investment of CAPEx

• What did they change?

• What did they learn?

• What’s working well?

• What aspects of teamwork need improvement?

they should prepare as if they are going to testify before Parliament and if CIO,s start grabbing this opportunity then yes I see the CIOs taking up board positions.

WHAT WAS THE MOST DIFFICULT DECISION THAT YOU HAD TO MAKE AS A CIO? WHAT RESULT DID IT YIELD?

With the introduction of business automation and last year’s pandemic situation the downsizing of IT resources was the most difficult decision for me to take. Although for business this decision brought positive impact in form of profit enhancement but I still feel bad on downsizing decision.

WHICH TECHNOLOGY/IES DO YOU THINK WILL DOMINATE ENTERPRISE IT IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS?

• BLOCKCHAIN • 5G • THE INTERNET OF THINGS • ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) • AUTOMATION

DO YOU SEE MORE CIOS TAKING UP BOARD POSITIONS?

• Indoor activities

• What has the team achieved so far?

WHO IS THE ‘CIO OF TOMORROW’ AND WHAT QUALITIES WILL HE/SHE IMBIBE?

Be that as it may, the CIO of tomorrow may come from any foundation, since it's less about what you discover and more about how you learn. Besides, the vital ascribes of the CIO of tomorrow are business insight for guaranteeing a solid business-IT arrangement, a predisposition for speed and readiness as they recast their organizations as advanced organizations, and a capacity to impact at board level.

ONE DO AND DON’T FOR 2021

Presenting to the board of directors is an opportunity for CIOs to shine. When CIOs get the opportunity to present to the board,

DO: Focusing on operational agility more than ever before.

Don’t: Lack of agility

MAY 2021 THE

TITANS ASIA 55

2021 ROADSHOW AUGUST-NOVEMBER, 2021 36 COUNTRIES 4000 C-LEVEL EXECS 300+ SESSIONS 200+ EXHIBITORS

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