The top management is increasingly looking up to the CIO to drive growth in the current situation. However, the pandemic has dramatically and permanently changed the way IT departments provide services to their organizations. As with any other event on this scale, there are lessons to be learned.Top technology leaders from the BFSI industry talk about the way ahead for IT & Business leaders and how they should adapt to the new world order to stay relevant for their organizations.
Dheemant Thacker, CDO of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank avers Learn, Unlearn, Relearn is the only way ahead.
“While the technology space is constantly evolving, and rapidly so, there is also frequent disruption brought in by various fintechs and startups. There is no templated approach to technology anymore. ‘Agility’ is the need of the hour across technology platforms as well as the team’s mind-set”, said Thacker.
Sankaranarayanan R, Chief Technology, and Data Officer, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited believes one must keep a hawk-eye on the new technologies and how those can be leveraged for the respective businesses.
“The advantage today is one can experiment without having to spend a lot of time and money. Creating an environment to innovate quickly and larger collaboration with new tech stack companies is going to be a game-changer for any technology/business leader”, he said.
According to Sachin Dutta, Chief Operating Officer, Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance, while the digital revolution has seen a steady rise and increased uptake in the last few years; there has been a rapid acceleration in adoption driven by dynamic and changing environments due to COVID.
“Digital is much more than just an add on service, but the entire value proposition chain or an ecosystem in itself, which is transforming the way companies offer products & services and engage with customers,” Dutta maintained.
Anand Pejawar, President-Operations, IT & International Business, SBI Life Insurance believes that In a world driven by change, only technology can help companies retain their leadership positions. As new technologies come and go, we need to adopt the right technologies and make it work for the organization. We need thought processes as well as system disruption.
“The last year, especially, has thrown many such scenarios at us and pushed us to find ways to innovate and deliver better than before. Continuous process improvements aided by innovative technological solutions are the key to staying ahead in the game. At SBI Life, harnessing the power of technology in all our processes has been the focus for many years now. This enabled us to transition smoothly to the ‘new normal’ and continue business as usual”, Pejawar added.
Lines blurring between tech and biz leaders
Some leaders opine that the lines separating tech leaders from the business leaders are blurring. According to Mohit Kapoor, Group CTO, Mahindra Group it is very important for tech leaders to know about the business and the business leaders need to be a lot more aware of the power of digital and data. “I am happy to see that at Mahindra Group, all of the CEOs and business leaders are very tech savvy”.
Sourabh Chatterjee, President (P&L Head) and CIO at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance also believes that digital and tech have now become a centre stage for every industry.
“The role of a CIO is not just limited to problem solving at scale but also managing the P&L. I have always had this in my mind that if I’m spending X amount of money, that X should result in getting 5X or 10X value into the company. Now that kind of mindset in silos will not happen if I am only managing a cost/profit center role. I see even traditional industries–along with other industries–where IT departments also become profit centres in the future. The role of tech leader is also becoming the focal point for the organisation’s business models and strategies”, said Chatterjee.
