Podcasts about HCL Technologies

Shloka Nath, Chief Executive Officer of the India Climate Collaborative (ICC), offers an in-depth look at the launch of the HCL ClimaForce Fund, a new initiative designed to bridge the critical gap between promising climate innovations and wide-scale adoption. The fund marks a notable evolution in Indian philanthropy, particularly in the climate mitigation space — an area that has historically received limited domestic funding. Until now, Indian philanthropic capital has largely been directed toward adaptation strategies, focusing on helping communities withstand the impacts of climate change. The HCL ClimaForce Fund, by contrast, shifts the focus to emissions reduction, enabling India to not only respond to climate change but lead on the development and deployment of climate solutions. At the heart of the initiative is a groundbreaking partnership between ICC and HCL, with visionary leadership from Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson of HCL Technologies. The fund targets three high-impact sectors: sustainable buildings, cooling, and freight — all of which are major contributors to India's future emissions profile and simultaneously ripe for innovation. India's building stock, for instance, is expected to double by 2040, and nearly 70% of the buildings that will exist in 2050 have yet to be constructed. Cooling demand is also set to triple by mid-century, while freight continues to be a critical area of economic and environmental concern. These sectors present a rare window to influence the direction of India's development — and by extension, its climate trajectory. The fund is designed to address what is often referred to as the “valley of death” — the stage where early-stage innovations struggle to gain traction due to a lack of commercial viability, limited data on effectiveness, and high perceived risk. By supporting pilot projects, demonstration initiatives, and capacity-building efforts, the HCL ClimaForce Fund provides the early, high-risk capital that most private investors are unwilling to commit. In doing so, it lays the groundwork for private sector investment and accelerates the scaling of climate solutions that are both affordable and suited to India's socio-economic realities. What distinguishes this effort is not just its technical sophistication, but its collaborative ethos. The India Climate Collaborative brings together a wide network of stakeholders — from policymakers and research institutions to real estate developers, logistics companies, and civil society actors. Rather than operating in silos, the fund is embedded in a broader ecosystem that understands both the scientific imperatives of climate action and the structural and behavioral shifts needed to enable adoption. It also signals a new model of philanthropy in the Global South: one that is strategic, catalytic, and deeply rooted in local leadership and priorities. The fund's structure and strategic focus reflect years of development, trust-building, and alignment between ICC and HCL. According to Nath, success will be measured not only in terms of the specific innovations supported, but in the broader transformation of India's climate finance ecosystem. By de-risking innovation, creating proof points, and fostering cross-sector collaboration, the HCL ClimaForce Fund has the potential to drive system-level change — not just in India, but across the Global South, where similar barriers to climate innovation persist. As India races toward 2030, Nath emphasizes the need to integrate climate action into the country's core development agenda. The ClimaForce Fund is one part of that larger vision: a pathway to scale homegrown, climate-smart solutions that can help define a new model of sustainable development. In her view, leadership today is less about having all the answers and more about enabling others to act — through trust, humility, and a shared commitment to transformative change. Thank you for downloading this episode of the Do One Better Podcast. Visit our Knowledge Hub at Lidji.org for information on 300 case studies and interviews with remarkable leaders in philanthropy, sustainability and social entrepreneurship.    

Get featured on the show by leaving us a Voice Mail: https://bit.ly/MIPVM FULL SHOW NOTES https://www.microsoftinnovationpodcast.com/677Pavan Mani Deep Yaragani, a first-time Microsoft MVP from Singapore, shares his journey from blogging about Power Platform technologies to earning MVP recognition in 2024. His story reveals how finding your specialty and consistently creating high-quality technical content can lead to community recognition and MVP status.TAKEAWAYS• Started career at HCL Technologies as a Dynamics 365 professional directly after college• Currently works as assistant lead engineer and manager in healthcare, focusing on model-driven Power Apps and Power BI• Earned Microsoft's "Top 10 Bloggers" recognition for several consecutive months• Blogs primarily about new Power Platform features, testing them in trial and preview accounts• Recently organized an online AI boot camp in Singapore with 30-35 participants• Recommends finding a niche skill where you can contribute consistently for 1-2 years• Was nominated for MVP by Golokan Mishtan from Singapore• Credits the 90-day mentoring challenge as boosting his MVP journeyOTHER RESOURCES:

Today, as part of the women's special series in March, 2025, my guest is Veena Rao, SVP & Global Head, Corporate Lending at Finastra with over 25 years' of experience in financial services and banking technology.In this conversation Veena sharesHer early influences and being adaptableHer education and career pathHer philosophy re career growthInsights from her leadership journeyHow to handle work-life integration aspectsOn Global experience and being sensitive to cultural nuancesHow she stays resilient and some personal practices that have been effective for herAnd some tips for aspiring women professionalsVeena is the SVP & Global Head, Corporate Lending at Finastra with over 25 years' of experience in financial services and banking technology. Veena started her career with India's leading private sector bank, ICICI Bank, working in diverse areas like project finance, corporate banking, forex treasury and relationship banking. She managed Presales for FLEXCUBE at i-flex solutions (Oracle) followed by a stint in HCL Technologies to launch the product incubation unit for banking. In her current role at Finastra, Veena holds end to end accountability for the Corporate Lending business across product, engineering, services and support. She is passionate about nurturing innovation at the grassroots focusing on ideas that create positive impact for Finastra's customers . She is also a mentor in Finastra's D&I program, and an active speaker at various conferences on digital transformation and open banking.linkedin.com/in/veena-rao-profile

 Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Wednesday, January 22, 2025. This is Nelson John, let's get started. The Reserve Bank of India is making strides towards making the rupee and international currency by allowing non-residents to open rupee accounts in the overseas branches of authorized Indian banks. This move, part of a broader effort to encourage cross-border transactions in the rupee, follows the RBI's consultation with the central government and builds on recommendations from a 2022 RBI committee aimed at integrating the rupee into the global financial system more effectively. Now, non-residents can manage both current and capital transactions with Indian residents through these accounts and also use them to invest in rupee assets, Gopika Gopakumar reports. For example, a non-resident Indian in the U.S. can hold rupees received from exports to India and use them for various payments, including imports back into India. This flexibility could significantly streamline the management of trade finances. However, bankers are cautiously optimistic, noting that the rupee's non-convertible nature might slow its adoption for international transactions. The Union Budget for FY26 is expected to significantly increase financial support for startups and small businesses, which are crucial to India's economy, accounting for nearly one-third of its GDP. The government plans to bolster working capital, trade finance, and growth funding through favourable terms under various schemes managed by the Department of Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade and the Ministry of MSMEs. These sectors are particularly important as they employ over 247 million people amidst India's ongoing job-creation challenges. Expected initiatives include more robust financial backing under existing DPIIT and MSME schemes.  India's top IT firms are charting different courses in their AI journeys. Companies such as Infosys and Tech Mahindra are crafting small AI models that are perfect for specific, cost-sensitive tasks. These smaller models use less data, making them quicker and cheaper to operate. For instance, Infosys has created distinct models for industries such as banking and cybersecurity by combining their rich internal data with some carefully selected external datasets. Meanwhile, other players such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, and HCL Technologies are choosing to expand on existing, broad-scope AI tools known as large language models (LLMs). Jas Bardia writes that this highlights a fundamental choice in AI development between specialisation and scalability. Smaller models offer precise solutions at lower costs, while larger models deliver extensive capabilities but come with higher operational expenses and risks.At Prayagraj's Maha Kumbh Mela, a grand spiritual gathering attracting over 400 million visitors this year, businesses are seizing the opportunity to cater to the massive influx. The festival, held once every 12 years, not only promises spiritual fulfilment but has also turned into a bustling economic hub. According to Sprout Research, the event is expected to generate financial transactions worth around $30 billion. Amidst this, social media influencers are earning significant sums by promoting everything from local businesses to spiritual activities. They look to capture the festival's essence through videos and posts, and charge up to ₹30,000 for a single post. Local tour operators are also capitalizing on the event, offering packages that include holy dips with sadhus for anywhere from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh. Even large corporations and banks such as the Reserve Bank of India and Bank of Baroda are using the event to promote digital privacy, cybersecurity and digital payments. Advertising has spiked, with costs for promotional spaces significantly higher than in previous years. Read Devina Sengupta's detailed report on India's unique mela economy from the grounds of the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. India's bullet train network is set to expand, with the government planning to create new high-speed rail corridors across the country. According to railway minister Ashwini Vaishaw, this expansion will harness indigenous technology developed in collaboration with Japanese experts, building on the experience gained from the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project. The National High Speed Rail Corporation Ltd has already identified seven additional corridors, with detailed project reports for most of them submitted or scheduled for completion soon. This initiative aims to connect major cities via a golden quadrilateral of bullet trains, enhancing connectivity and reducing travel times significantly. The government is also focusing on increasing the indigenization of high-speed rail technology to reduce costs and promote local manufacturing. There are also plans to upgrade the domestically produced Vande Bharat trains to higher speeds to complement the bullet train services.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, December 23, 2024. This is Nelson John, let's get started.Many investors have burnt their hands during the bull run of 2024. Take for example the Nifty India Defence Index, which saw a stunning 60% return this year. However, one of its main stocks is prone to volatility: Cochin Shipyard has dropped 30% in the past six months. Abhishek Mukherjee writes that sectors like pharmaceuticals and manufacturing have thrived due to post-COVID dynamics and strategic shifts, but many investors have fallen prey to herd behavior and overinflated narratives. Thus when experienced investors book their profits, sharp corrections occur — leading to widespread portfolio losses. Indians are borrowing more money against their gold, and the Reserve Bank of India is worried. Regular defaults are leading to increased collateral auctions to recover these loans. Anshika Kayastha writes that Muthoot Finance and Manappuram Finance reported significant auction amounts in recent quarters. This reflects a shift towards standardized auctioning policies in compliance with new regulations. The RBI has tightened its rules: there are now limits on cash disbursements for gold loans and requiring a review of lending practices. When companies apply for any incentive scheme by the central government, they are supposed to invest some money to receive further subsidies. However, about 12 companies will be excluded from the government's production-linked incentive scheme for failing to meet these norms. Manas Pimpalkhare and Rituraj Baruah report that these companies include state-owned Bharat Heavy Electricals or BHEL, and Kia Motors India. Kia had expressed intent to withdraw from the scheme as its manufacturing plans have not materialised. The PLI-Auto scheme had an estimated outlay of 26,000 crore rupees over five years, but only 500 crore has been claimed so far.After a long bout of lean hirings, the IT sector is looking better. Accenture's recent hiring of 49,000 employees globally over six months indicates a positive growth outlook moving forward. Jas Bardia writes that this would bode well for Indian IT companies like TCS, Infosys, and HCL Technologies as well. While growth for Indian IT companies has been slow, analysts suggest that recovery may be on the horizon. This recovery will be aided by a potential increase in demand following interest rate cuts and decision-making in the US under the upcoming Trump administrationEveryone in India's startup ecosystem is looking for the next big bet. Shelley Singh writes that deep tech might be it. This field is rooted in science and engineering and addresses major global challenges. It covers sectors such as space tech, biotech, and climate tech, and focuses on long-term goals. However, challenges such as the need for a supportive ecosystem involving academia, government, and investors remain abundant. Moreover, deep tech firms need strong intellectual property and scalable business models as well. 

In this mini episode, Erik is treating us to a keynote on transformational leadership. He breaks down the four key qualities every transformational leader must embody: Individualized Consideration, Inspirational Motivation, Idealized Influence, and Intellectual Stimulation. Erik also shares a powerful case study of Vinit Nair and his leadership transformation at HCL Technologies, where his visionary approach led to massive revenue growth and market cap increase.Erik covers:Psychological safety as a critical foundation for innovation and creativity.How inspirational motivation is used to create a compelling, shared vision.Idealized influence and why leaders must model the behavior they expect from others.The case study of Vinit Nair and his approach to leadership that empowers employees to drive organizational change.The concept of Blue Ocean Drops—small, focused initiatives that accumulate to create big, sustainable results.Erik's insights remind us that transformation starts from within. As a leader, you must evolve first to inspire growth and change in others. This mini episode is a powerful lesson in how leadership evolution leads to organizational success. Hello! Please like and subscribe to our channel and leave us a comment! We love hearing from our listeners and we thank you for being apart of our community! Socials:Instagram: @theexpansivepodcastX: @theexpansivepodLinkedin: The Expansive PodcastTik Tok: theexpansivepodcast

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, October 3, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started. We might be on the verge of world war three, as Iran's recent airstrikes on Israel underscore Tehran's readiness to confront any perceived threat. Shweta Singh explains why the situation could escalate, and how the US is involved in the mess. Shweta also explains the implications of this development on India, including how it could affect trade, and helps you understand the complex geopolitical dynamics at play. In a move to slash legal costs, the Indian government is setting the stage for a new national litigation policy, targeting cases where government entities end up suing each other. With this step, the law ministry aims to curb the financial drain caused by such disputes, particularly among public sector undertakings, Dhirendra Kumar reports. The initiative targets disputes like tender disagreements between PSUs, which not only incur substantial legal costs but also burden the judiciary. With over 50 million pending cases nationwide, such disputes exacerbate the backlog and strain on the legal system. The policy aims to streamline processes and reduce unnecessary legal confrontations.  If you qualify as ultra-rich, chances are you're tired of five-star hotels. Varuni Khosla writes that super-rich travellers are increasingly drawn to boutique resorts, which offer an intimate and luxurious experience accompanied by meals by high-profile chefs. These resorts are typically in remote locations and cater to the demand for unique and personalised vacations. Affluent millennials are spending more than 25,000 rupees a night to stay at such resorts. Google's in a bit of a spot in India. The tech giant has decided to settle an antitrust case after the Competition Commission of India flagged its deals with smart TV makers as a no-go under the competition laws. This is a big deal because it's the first time a company is testing India's new settlement process, writes Gireesh Chandra Prasad. Introduced last year, the process could get Google a 15% reduction on the penalty. The CCI initiated the probe in 2021, based on allegations that Google violated competition laws in the Android TV market, specifically through its restrictive agreements with smart TV manufacturers. These agreements allegedly limited the manufacturers' ability to use or develop alternative Android systems.Indian IT services are gearing up for their September quarter results, with Infosys expected to lead in revenue growth among the top five firms. Analyst forecasts suggest Infosys could achieve revenue growth exceeding 3%, driven by the ramp-up of previously secured deals and the integration of the newly acquired In-tech, Jas Bardia reports. TCS is also expected to grow, though at a more modest 1.5% to 2.4%, supported by its substantial 4G network deployment deal with BSNL. As for the others, HCL Technologies could see growth of up to 1.9%, while Wipro's projections indicate a slight increase or even a minor decline in revenue. TCS will release its results on the 10th, followed by other major firms. Show notes: Mint Primer | Iran strikes Israel: What next?Government's new litigation policy to target costly PSU disputesBoutique resorts with celebrity chefs: For the uber-rich bored with luxury staysGoogle offers to settle anti-trust case in smart TV probeInfosys to lead Indian IT pack this festive season

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Monday, September 30, 2024. My name is Nelson John. Let's get started.WhatsApp groups are full of people pretending to be legitimate advisors offering stock market advice. These groups promise unrealistic returns and insider information, and have caught the attention of market regulators. Stockbrokers are also raising alarms to such practices. The scams have not only duped investors, but also posed significant reputation risks to the impersonated firms. Dipti Sharma, Neha Joshi, and Shayan Ghosh bring you the details of how the authorities are fighting back to regain the public's trust.The subsidies provided by the Indian government keep dwindling. Now, the focus has shifted towards incentivising players to set up their manufacturing facilities in India. Alisha Sachdev reports that from next April, manufacturers will be required to locally source even the smallest components, otherwise known as child parts. The new phased manufacturing plan also outlines detailed processes for each component to ensure that key steps are performed domestically.Accenture's recent earnings report has sparked optimism within the 260 billion dollar Indian IT sector. Accenture has forecasted a better financial year moving head, especially in the Generative AI-related space. Shelley Singh writes that the Indian IT sector is using Accenture's report as a bellwether and hoping for better revenues moving forward. In particular, there are hopes that banking and the financial sector at large are likely to also spend more towards IT.In November 2010, then-Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Chennai to invite Tamil Nadu textile entrepreneurs to set up spinning units in Gujarat. In a state where cotton was plentiful, and power was reliable, this invitation meant big savings on transport and energy. Despite his compelling argument, Tamil Nadu's textile industry, with its robust workforce and deep-rooted infrastructure, chose to stay put. Over a decade later, the textile industry in Tamil Nadu faces even greater challenges, from heavy reliance on migrant labour to increased operational costs. N Madhavan examines how this has prompted some units to consider relocation to states like Madhya Pradesh and Odisha for better proximity to labour and lower wages. Despite Tamil Nadu resolving its power issues, the textile sector's future in the state remains uncertain due to these compounded challenges.IBM and Accenture are making significant strides in the generative AI sector. IBM has reported over $2 billion in GenAI bookings and sales, with Accenture close behind at $3 billion for the fiscal year. Both companies attribute much of their success to their robust consulting services, a strategy not fully embraced by India's top IT firms like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HCL Technologies, which do not report their AI or consulting revenues separately. This approach isn't just about leveraging AI technology; it's integral to their business development strategies. Jas Bardia reports on how both firms are proactive in integrating AI into their client engagement processes, often starting with proof of concepts at early sales stages. Stockbrokers raise alarm against fake WhatsApp groupsIndia's local sourcing rules for EV subsidies to tighten Will Accenture's gain have a ripple effect on Indian IT? Why texpreneurs are unable to capitalize on the shift from China & BangladeshLessons for Indian IT services firms as Accenture, IBM lead GenAI charge

In this insightful episode of the Zinnov Podcast Business Resilience Series, Pari Natarajan, CEO of Zinnov, and Vijay Guntur, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and Head - Ecosystems & Practices at HCL Technologies, explore the transformative impact of AI on the engineering landscape. The conversation delves into how AI is reshaping various sectors and driving innovation across industries. Key highlights: • The importance of ecosystem partnerships in the AI era • Real-world use cases of AI in e-commerce, healthcare, and software engineering • Innovative approaches to talent development and the future of AI literacy This episode offers valuable insights for tech leaders, innovators, and anyone interested in understanding how AI is revolutionizing engineering and business processes. Discover how companies are navigating the AI revolution, simplifying complexity for customers, and preparing the workforce of tomorrow.

This marks 300 episodes of the Software People Stories. The journey has been very enriching. But more of that, in a few weeks, when we complete six years of the podcast.In addition, the guest today is a person who has been a mentor to me and whose qualities technically and as a leader, I admire.I continue my conversation with Gunaseelan Narayanan, known as Guna. Guna is an executive coach with a long career in IT before that.In this conversation, he talks aboutTransition from Project Leader to Delivery Excellence Leader, initial challenges with management style to embracing new technologies and effectively leading high-performing engineering teams.He also emphasizes the difference in project timelines between internal R&D and global customerThe importance of empathy, communication, and tailored processes in effectively aligning different divisions or lines of business within an organization, especially in a complex matrix organizational structure.How his career  was marked by diverse opportunities across different sectors , each offering valuable learning experiences and professional development.His journey into coaching and leadership development, emphasizing the shift from directive management to coaching and the importance of continuous learning and adaptation in his career.His Career Advice,  and explanation of ethics in TechnologyGuna has over three decades of experience in the Information Technology industry. Currently he is an Executive Coach, helping senior executives enhance their leadership capabilities.He started his career as a software engineer in R&D department of Hindustan Computers Limited in 1979. He held various technical and managerial roles in HCL R&D and HCL-HP R&D before transitioning to HCL Technologies. In HCL Technologies he was in key delivery and business leadership roles including head of Engineering and R&D Services Line of Business and head of Delivery Excellence.Guna holds M.Tech. degree in Computer Science and B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, both from IIT Madras. He is a certified Executive Coach from Coaching Foundation India. https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunaseelan-narayanan-13246b23/

This is a special episode for me, personally.This marks 300 episodes of the Software People Stories. The journey has been very enriching. But more of that, in a few weeks, when we complete six years of the podcast.In addition, the guest today is a person who has been a mentor to me and whose qualities technically and as a leader, I admire.I am in conversation with Gunaseelan Narayanan, known as Guna. Guna is an executive coach with a long career in IT before that.In this conversation, he talks aboutTwo phases of his careerStarting with FORTRAN programming and transitioning into microprocessorsHis career at HCL - the only company he was associated with throughout his careerShifting to creating user focused solutions and telecom areasGaining experience with multi-national partnershipsGuna has over three decades of experience in the Information Technology industry. Currently he is an Executive Coach, helping senior executives enhance their leadership capabilities. He started his career as a software engineer in R&D department of Hindustan Computers Limited in 1979. He held various technical and managerial roles in HCL R&D and HCL-HP R&D before transitioning to HCL Technologies. In HCL Technologies he was in key delivery and business leadership roles including head of Engineering and R&D Services Line of Business and head of Delivery Excellence.Guna holds M.Tech. degree in Computer Science and B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering, both from IIT Madras. He is a certified Executive Coach from Coaching Foundation India https://www.linkedin.com/in/gunaseelan-narayanan-13246b23/

I'm Mark Reed Edwards. Welcome back to Confessions of a Marketer. This week, we have Ben Afia, who describes himself as a consultant, speaker, and author who's had his fill of cold corporate organizations treating their employees and customers like robots. So his mission is to make businesses more human. And to that end, he has a new book out called The Human Business: How to Love Your Customers So They Love You Back (https://benafia.com/book). I've known Ben probably for about 15 years. We've worked together and he's been on this podcast a number of times. Transcript Ben, it's great to have you back. Ben Afia: Thank you very much for having me on, Mark. It's a pleasure. Mark Reed-Edwards: For those people out in the audience who don't know you, could you just sketch out your career history and how you came to write this book that I'm holding in my hands? Ben Afia: So I started specializing in language at Boots, the chemist in the UK. In that role, I was working in brand strategy. And looking in particular at the voice of the brand and managing copywriting across the business. But I got made redundant about 20 years ago, decided it was time to go solo with a new baby on the way and about to move house, it was the perfect time to start a business. And so it turned out to be so my Boots colleagues went off to various places and encouraged me into companies like Eon, Barclays, Legal and General, and so my freelance career went from there. And I started as a copywriter specializing in brand tone of voice. But clients very quickly were asking me to extend that. So we were looking at the language and this is the language that people might be using in the marketing team, writing communications, but also the language in customer service and throughout the business, indeed. And so we were asked to train people in writing skills, but also in spoken empathy skills. So when the contact center people are on the phone with customers, they are speaking and then confirming things in writing. So that started to extend the work that we were doing. And very quickly, I realized that really what we were doing was change. So I started looking, this is probably 15, 16 years ago when we first worked together, probably thinking about how do we help this change to stick? How do we get the right behaviors throughout an organization? And for me, the change really stems from the brand, from the brand strategy, your vision, purpose, values, behaviors. It's all an extension of the behavior on the front line. So that all of these things join up. And I ended up realizing that really I was working on three things. I was looking at the culture or the employee experience. I was looking at the brand or the brand strategy. And I was also looking at the customer experience. So that's what I ended up trying to pull together in my book because I just needed to organize that thinking in a way that might make sense to the companies that I was working with. And the insight that had come to me was that. Unless you align your culture and your brand, you can't possibly give the experience to customers that you hope. Or that they hope to receive because you end up promising through your marketing, things that you can't deliver through your service. And the only way to join those up is to align culture and brand. Mark Reed-Edwards: And there's nothing more disappointing than to see some kind of marketing campaign that says, you know, our store is a great place to visit. And you go there and there's a disconnect between what you see in their marketing and what you experience. And so what you do is you kind of connect those two. Ben Afia: Totally. A few years ago, I was running a workshop. I had 40 customer service people and the company, who will remain nameless for the moment, had just launched their new brand strategy. So they had a new strapline, a new campaign, and this had gone public. So I had 40 people in customer service in this workshop. And I said, what do you think of your exciting new strategy? 40 faces just looked at me blankly. Nobody bothered to brief them. And this is the disconnect I'm talking about. You know, if you're going to send messages out to your customers, the first people they're going to talk to in your stores, in customer service, they need to know all about it. They need to be briefed. They need to be trained. They need to be ready to deliver that service, to deliver that promise. Mark Reed-Edwards: Many companies think of the brand as just a visual thing, right? So, we redesigned the website, we have a new logo. And maybe a new strap line or something, and maybe some new brand language, but that's kind of where it ends. And it's a top down procedure. I know when you and I worked together, I think about 15 years ago, that project, the verbal identity, tone of voice, rose out of us doing a revamp of the way the company looked. And it became really evident that we needed to not just put a lick of paint on things, but to actually reengineer the way we talk to employees, the way employees talk to customers and partners and so forth. And that's when we called you in and it was maybe the most effective part of the brand revamp that we did because we had to go and enlist people. When you ask people to talk differently, to use different language, you have to train them and you have to engage with them. And that's what we ended up doing. And I think maybe that's why that brand was more successful than it would have been otherwise. Ben Afia: I think that's right because what happens when you ask people to talk differently or write differently is you're actually encouraging different behavior. Because really the speech is only a reflection of the underlying behavior. So the way I think about this is, and the way that I encourage change now is by recruiting a team of champions from throughout the business. So for example, I worked with Aldermore Bank in the UK, the mortgage business. They felt that they were delivering good service and their brokers and their customers were saying so, but they were getting complaints when they confirmed things in writing. And so by recruiting a team of champions, somebody representing every team in the customer journey, we were able to hear from the whole organization and sense and make the connections throughout the customer journey. So from every touch point, every point of contact a customer experiences with the company, we can affect those and we can connect them up and align them. And what very quickly happens when you recruit this team of champions is they make connections and it reveals for them that there are problems in the process, that things aren't quite lining up in the process. But of course this gives them the opportunity to fix it. So this is what I mean by changing behavior. It's the behavior of the organization, the systems and the processes. It's about redesigning them. So that rather than just trying to rewrite letters, which is, I suppose, what you might perceive a rebrand to do. In fact, what we're doing is we're changing the systems, the processes, and therefore the culture. So to me, brand is absolutely, brand is the organization. I think Seth Godin said, "Marketing is everything a customer experiences." Well, a customer experience is everything that you do. So we are all responsible for marketing. We are all responsible for the brand it runs throughout our organization. It's as much the responsibility of the legal team as the branding team. Operations, compliance, you know, whoever, are all making decisions that affect things that customers experience. So all of those people, we have to involve them. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah, I mean the back end, how you sign up customers, how you sign up partners, the language you use in your contracts there are obviously some bits of language that you have to use. But you can make your contracts a bit more friendly. You can make the experience for the partner portal more friendly and have it match the experience you say people have with your company rather than just having what you say and what you do be separate things. It's integrating that brand because you know, as you say, the customer, or the partner, or, you know, the person off the street who just comes on your website, experiences the entire thing. They don't just experience your About Us page. You know? Ben Afia: No. And actually I was speaking to the chief exec of Aldermore Bank, who is now at Nationwide in the UK, last week. And he said that really it's about making the connection between the business's strategy and the frontline. And that's the thing that I think a lot of executive teams struggle to do. How do you help people on the frontline to understand the direction and adopt the values and behaviors that you're hoping to encourage? And there's often a big gap. Sometimes you can go to some of the big consultancies and they give you PowerPoint decks of strategy and cultural frameworks. But they don't help you to implement it. They don't help you to drive it through the business and help everyone absorb and feel ownership for that behavior. So that's where I really focus: taking the strategy and translating that into things that people on the front line will understand, and therefore the messages will get out to customers and you get that consistency between strategy and execution to use a bit more jargon. Mark Reed-Edwards: It's a real thing. That's, that's what's so amazing about it. You know, when you train or when you enlist those frontline workers, even earlier in the process, you know, to get their opinion on certain things, it pays dividends. It's not wasted effort. But it can be hard to do. So I kind of want to go through the three parts of your book. And it's broken up into create your employee experience, build a better brand strategy, and energize your customer experience. Before we get into that, did you structure this in kind of a linear fashion? So you need to create your employee experience, and then once you've done that, you can build a better brand strategy and then energize your customer experience? Or can this happen in any order? And then we can dig into the three parts. Ben Afia: Yeah, it's a great question. And the model took a lot of thought actually, and months and months toing and froing. And I remember discussing it with a strategist friend of mine who said, "It's in the wrong order. Surely you start with the customer." And he's right, of course, we do start with the customer. So where might the symptoms show up? Where might the problems occur that this might be a solution to? Well, it will tend to be in customer service. So it will be at the last stage, the last section of the book and the model because your symptoms might be you're getting complaints or escalated complaints to the chief exec are on the rise. It might be that your sales are falling. It might be that your customer attention is dropping or your loyalty measures. So it's going to be at the customer end that you're feeling the pain because those things ultimately have an impact on your cost base and your profitability. So that's when you're going to feel the pain. And often a company will go, "Clearly we need to sort out our customer letters." And they'll see that as a customer letter project. I absolutely believe in starting where the pain is because I find, you know, this can be quite an involved process. It can take some time and it needs some commitment of time, money and leadership. So we need to build the business case internally in order to be able to. You know, get permission to do this work. So I tend to start where there's pain and work to solve that, to have a, to find some quick wins, you know, fairly rapidly, but the reason the model is laid out in that, in, in that order is because the source of knowledge, the source of intelligence within the organization is your people. I genuinely believe that most answers are already within your people. So if we start with the cultural, the employee experience, we are doing what I think of as exploring times that we've been at our best in the past. And this is an approach called "appreciative inquiry" that I've been using for probably the last 10, 12 years. And when we explore these stories of times we've been at our best --and we do this in interviews, in workshops--we find that people have a huge amount in common. It's fantastic team building, but it also gives us brilliant stories that give us evidence for how the organization is at its best. And from these stories, we then have a sense of the values, the behaviors, the things that we valued in common from these best past experiences, and that gives us a fantastic platform to make any change that we need. So I use this exploration to develop all elements of brand strategy because it gives us evidence. It gives us truth from within the organization. But if we're looking to refresh. Anything around the customer experience. So the letters, the emails, the web pages --anything around the customer journey, again, if we start from what we like at our best, then whatever we create at the customer experience end is going to be authentic. It's going to match the organization's ability to deliver. This is coming back to this point about making the promise and being able to deliver on it. So that's the reason these are in the order. Start with understanding what you're like at your best. That's your culture. Express that in your brand, and then you get onto the experience and making that human connection with customers. Mark Reed-Edwards: There was a CEO of HCL Technologies back in 2010, published a book called "Employees First, Customers Second, turning conventional management upside down." His name was Vineet Nair. And it was kind of a startling idea to put your employees first, but it worked very well for them. And it seems like that's what you're doing here. So let's look at part one of your book, Create Your Employee Experience, and you divided it into six parts. Can you just briefly go through how that works? Ben Afia: Absolutely. So we've got I guess within employee experience, we've got five elements. So your heartbeat, alignment, values and behaviors and engagement. So what I mean by heartbeat is feeling the beating heart of the organization. So this is the process I've just described: understanding what you're like at your best, getting people telling these stories of times that they've been at their best at work. Through this, you hear things that give you really genuine language that you can then use to develop your values, your behaviors. Quite often, I mean, in businesses, I'm sure your listeners will recognize, you know, when you see values posters on the walls and these really generic corporate words, you know, they're just on the walls, aren't they? They're not the actual behavior that's going on through the organization. So for me, for this, stuff to work, you need to get to something really genuine and different. And that's what the heartbeat is about. It's feeling the pulse of the organization. And when people tell you those stories, you get really human language coming through and that language gives us clues as to the sorts of words that we can use for our values and behaviors. And that makes it a down to earth, practical, authentic framework. The second step is alignment, and that's about aligning leadership. So when I start a project now, rather than say, starting in operations or marketing to look at a specific problem, I try and encourage the organization to align the people director, brand director, and operations director from the start and then take the message to the wider leadership, because we are absolutely talking about the culture throughout the organization. So the whole of the exec team needs to be involved and your leadership team. The next stages are turning those stories of times we've been at our best into values that feel really authentic. And then a behavior framework, and this is very different from a competency framework, which should be banished now, I think competency is about measuring people for progression. Whereas for me, behavior is about encouraging the behavior that we want to see that stems from our values. So the values and the behaviors are kind of the guiding lights, if you like. And of course, every organization has values. Sometimes they have behavior frameworks. Certainly the larger organizations I work with tend to, but quite often the values feel a bit flat. And so these stories of times we've been into our best are brilliant for bringing these to life and giving more color to them. And what that does for people on the frontline is it helps them to connect with them. And to feel that they're true, because in my experience, training people, you know, people won't change behavior unless they believe that this is the reality that they live within. And then the last stage is engaging the rest of the organization. And again, appreciative inquiry helps us to do that, to reach out throughout the organization. And as you were saying a moment ago, getting everybody on board and engaged in the change. For me, it's about encouraging people across the organization to feel like they're in partnership in creating the kind of organization that they love to work with, love to work for, and to be a part of that process. So that's the first step employee experience. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah, and the way you describe it, it provides a perfect kind of launching point or foundation for the second part, which is Build a Better Brand Strategy, because you've enlisted the employees. And they're, they're then invested in it. They're part of it. They're not just told, "Oh, here's the new brand." Ben Afia: Totally. We talked about brand being deep throughout the organization. My view is very strongly that brand is everybody's responsibility. We all own brand. We all are part of the brand. We all contribute to the brand, even though we may not have the job title. So if we start from within, from the employee experience that then yet mobilizes the organization. So then when you create your brand strategy, which I guess is the marketing jargon, isn't it for, I guess, a series of decisions about: Who are we trying to speak to? That's our audience. Why do we exist in the world? What do we set out to do? That's our purpose. How do we want people to think of us when we're not in the room? That's positioning. How do we express that? So that's our personality or identity. And then only at the end of that comes voice, the tone of voice of that expression, and this is, I suppose, a slightly different take on brand strategy. All the big agencies have got their fancy models, haven't they? I can remember when I was at Boots, actually, we had a brand funnel and the brand funnel had pillars and I was. I'm still to this day, I mean, this is over 20 years... Mark Reed-Edwards: Mixded metaphors, huh? Ben Afia: Yeah. If you're going to use a model, you know, if you're gonna use something visual to help people grasp an idea, don't mix those metaphors. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah. Ben Afia: And there were just so many words that seemed almost disconnected in a way. So this is why these stories at times were our best, are so important because that gives us the language to tie all of these things together. So the audience bit is about understanding who we're trying to speak to and we need insights. You know, classical marketing is to gather insight on the market and create a product or service to fulfill a need that we've identified. But if we do that alone, often we end up ignoring the culture that has to deliver. That products or service. So that's why we start from within for me. And then the other elements slot into place as you need them. So I suppose there's three sections to the model and these 15 segments, actually, each of them has a chapter in the book and they are all projects that clients have asked me to do for them at some time in the past. So this is all based on work that I've done for clients. But no one company needs all of these 15 things. They might need one thing or they might need three or four. So the idea behind the model is that we can pick and choose. We could acknowledge the things that already exist within the organization. You know, I mentioned values in the last bit. Most organizations have values. Sometimes they want to refresh them. So we might need, we might be able to leave the values alone for now, or we might want to refresh them, check that they still resonate and create stories to bring them to life. So there's nuance to this. It's not saying you have to do all these 15 things by any means. And, and quite often, if your pain is in the customer experience end and it's your touch points, it's your customer letters, for example, you might go, "Well, actually under the brand strategy section, the place to focus is the tone of voice. You know, if we've got our positioning nailed and we've got our personality down, it might just need expressing in tone of voice. So we just pick the bits that we need. Mark Reed-Edwards: So let's talk about customer experience. You create the employee experience, you build a better brand strategy, and you've got a foundation for the customer experience. I love, I don't know whether you intended it to be funny, but the journey, "What are you putting your customers through?" kind of made me chuckle. You know, because sometimes the journey that, that companies put their customers through is, is not, it may be intentionally, but usually unintentionally painful. There's something in that journey. And I think we referenced it earlier, you know, maybe it's the contract, maybe it's the portal you have to sign up for and you don't get the email or the email that you get back is unclear. There are a lot of bumps in the journey that Often arise because, well, you know, one group builds the portal and another group writes the copy and then there's someone else who comes in and does the visual and they're not talking to each other or the technology is outdated and, you know, they feel like they're stuck with it. There's all kinds of reasons that that happened. But nonetheless, it affects that customer journey and it's the first item under "Energize your Customer Experience." So can you tell me about that? Ben Afia: It's something that larger companies tend to spend quite a lot of time and effort working on because they are quite complex. But as companies are, you know, startups to scale ups, it can be a bit more patchy. Because as organizations grow, they tend to become inwardly focused. We tend to focus on the problems and the issues that we're solving internally, and you end up getting this level of conversation that's quite inwardly focused. And this is normal. I think this is just human. And in fact, when, when I was growing my business 10 years ago and I had five employees and 20 freelancers, we spent a lot of time talking about how we were working internally as a team and we could have been spending more time focusing on our customers. So every organization goes through this. It's something to do with growth. And so for me, the journey is about understanding what's going on for your customers and then matching their expectations, their needs. And that can be really difficult because within the organization, we're inwardly focused, but we're also technical experts. We know our subject matter and we have what Steven Pinker calls "the curse of knowledge." I think he uses the analogy of a brick wall. So when we start in our professions and we're at the basics, let's say we've just left university or, you know, we start as a junior marketing role and learning the basics of marketing . The lower bricks of a brick wall are those fundamental areas of knowledge. And then as we become more experienced, we lay more layers of bricks and this, this wall goes higher and higher and higher and higher. And as we become more and more expert, our focus is on the top rows of bricks of knowledge. And we lose sight of the bricks at the bottom. We're no longer conscious of them. They're propping up our expertise, but we're not conscious of that level of knowledge. The thing is that our customers are at that lower level of knowledge and we're at this higher level. And so the language and the framing that we use in, within the organization is at an expert level, but our customers experience it at a non expert level. So for me, it's a level of translation. It's: how do we look at this journey from the perspective of customers so that we experience it through their eyes? And that's really quite challenging actually. It's quite difficult. I'm just starting work with a startup and they're growing rapidly and they haven't gone through this journey mapping process yet. And this is going to be my first job. I'm joining as head of CX and the first task is to map the current journey that customers go through to understand how customers are feeling at the moment, at each point, at each touch point, and then the second part of this, this journey. Section of my model, empathy is about defining how we want customers to feel at each point. So you can map the journey and then say how we would like customers to feel only when you've decided how you want customers to feel. And I also talk in the book about we want, you know, what do we want them to think and what do we want them to do? But to me, those things are quite obvious. It's the empathy part. How do we want people to feel that in business we so often miss out on? And because of this internal focus, we just lose sight of how customers could be feeling and how they really are. So we map the journey, we work at how we want them to feel. The third stage is then to refresh all our touch points. So we can look at the advertising, all of the marketing material, the website, all the FAQs, the signup, the letters, the emails, so the whole process. In a complex business, you have lots and lots of communications, especially in a service business. And which is where a lot of my experiences is in. But refreshing all of those touch points is crucial for (A.) making customers happy, (B.) encouraging them to come back and buy more from us , (C.) to refer their friends. And this is how we grow a business, isn't it? We win customers, we keep them coming back and we get them to refer their friends. So this is where the benefits come through and lead to profitability. And then the last two stages are training and coaching, which is about how we then embed that within the organization. So for me, it's about training people in the written skills, in the spoken skills, in other skills that lead to customer experience. But the coaching one is maybe unusual. And for me, this is about developing a coaching culture. So most organizations in their customer service will have a QA or quality assurance framework, and that'll be quite legalistic in its tone. And this is how you're measuring people on those calls. And that can be quite debilitating actually, because the language can be quite fierce. So for me, I'm trying to encourage a coaching style where rather than pure measurement, we are trying to encourage people and encourage the right behavior and free themselves to be more themselves at work, to give more of themselves, to the business and the companies, to help them feel safe, encouraged, supported, and to thrive. And only that way, and you see how we come full circle from the employee experience, only that way, do you have happy people who can do more and that gives you happy customers who buy more. Mark Reed-Edwards: It makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? I mean, it just seems logical to me. There's one word that you used, and it's, it's the heading for one of the, one of the parts in here is empathy. And that has to be genuine. Ben Afia: Absolutely, I think you can only deliver this through your staff, through your people and people who don't feel genuinely cared for, can't care for your customers. So you're absolutely right. You can't show empathy unless you feel it. And you're not feeling if you're shut down, if you're in flight and fight response, if you're feeling threatened all the time and measured against legalistic frameworks. So it's about creating an environment where people thrive and pass that thriving on to customers. I mean, it's a cliche. But Apple, I think, are the masters of this. When you go into an Apple store or when you're on customer, onto customer service on the phone it sometimes feels like you're the only person in the world. Mark Reed-Edwards: Hmm. Ben Afia: So that person in that moment, and how often does that happen in customer experience? It's, it's incredibly rare. But I remember the chief exec of Timpson's, which is a chain of key cutters and cobblers in the UK, which has quite a strong ethical stance and recruits a lot of people out of prisons because they believe in giving people a second chance. And I can't quite remember the whole interview, but one thing that struck me was that the staff's happiness was absolutely paramount because, and it's the manager's job to make sure that the store managers are happy, because if they're not happy, customers aren't going to be happy. And it sounds counterintuitive. You know, if you talk to a chief finance officer about staff happiness, they might look at you with bemusement. But Timpsons was saying that the stores led by the happiest people deliver in the most profit. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah. Ben Afia: And that just seems astonishing to me. Mark Reed-Edwards: Well, but it makes sense. You get a feel for a store or a business. I had an executive I worked with now 30 something years ago and he made a startling statement, he said, we should all have fun. And I thought, really, you know, you're supposed to have fun at work? But he was right, you know, why would you want to go into work unless you were having fun, unless you were enjoying what you were doing, the people you worked with and the work you did and that it has meaning, having a genuine smile on your face. And I remember that John Lennon quote, attributed to him, that sincerity is important--once you've got that faked, you're all set. You really can't fake it. You can't really fake empathy. You can't really fake elements of your brand because the truth will be known when the customers experience you. Ben Afia: Absolutely. I've been looking for some services just recently, some coaching services. And I've been looking at companies that have been suggested to me. And in this particular space, there are companies where they don't give you the names of any human beings in the organization. So this is an organization that's offering coaching, but they're not giving you the faces and the names of human beings. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah. Ben Afia: I then found another organization and all of the staff have got photos and bios on the website. And there are videos, you can hear them talk. I was like, I'm buying from this company. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah. Well, they've got a face. They've got names. They've got a personality, right? And I've experienced the same things with some clients . When you go to their website and it's a people business, a consulting business. And you don't see any names or photos of people, you just see, here's what we do, like it or lump it, you know. You need some personality in this world because that's what can distinguish you. Ben Afia: Maybe I'm just skeptical, but when I see websites like that with, with no humans, I'm immediately thinking the shareholders are just grooming that business for sale. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah, right. Yeah. Ben Afia: They're all, they're all commercial and no heart. And why would I buy from a company like that? Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah, yeah. Ben Afia: It makes no sense. Mark Reed-Edwards: But the funny thing is that put some names and faces on there and you're going to sell the business probably for a higher multiple. Ben Afia: Exactly. Totally. Mark Reed-Edwards: Well, Ben, this was great. Can people go to Amazon and get this book, or benafia.com, what's the best way to pick it up? Ben Afia: Yeah. So on my website, yeah, benafia.com/book (https://benafia.com/book) is where you find the book and you can get a free chapter to get a sense for it. And on Amazon, if you just Google Ben Afia, and Afia is A-F-I-A, my name should come up. It's in the UK, in the US, across the world, and it's available now in paperback and Kindle. I still have to upload the hardback. Mark Reed-Edwards: Yeah, wonderful. Well, Ben, thanks so much for joining me. This has been a great discussion. Ben Afia: Thanks for having me on. Always a pleasure, Mark. Mark Reed-Edwards: We'll see you on the next Confessions of a Marketer.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint, your weekday newscast that  brings you five major stories from the world of business. It's Thursday, May 9, 2024, and I'm Nelson John. Let's dive in:Indian benchmark market indices remained largely muted for the second straight day on Wednesday. BSE's Sensex ended in the red, falling 0.06 percent, settling below its previous close. NSE's Nifty 50, on the other hand, closed largely flat, dropping 45 points.The biggest spectacle of Indian cricket is in full swing. The Indian Premier League started early last month and is nearing its final leg as 10 teams battle it out for the coveted trophy, which comes with a prize money of ₹20 crore. The tournament—usually the biggest TV event every year—exhibits a peculiar trend among its fan base. According to a recent study by marketing analytics firm Crisp and agency Kadence, nearly half of IPL viewers don't consistently support a specific team. However, there are some favourites. The survey, which looked into brand-recognition dynamics and involved about 20,000 people, shows that there's a strong emotional connection that goes beyond just victories. Take Chennai Super Kings, for example; a lot of their appeal comes from the 'Dhoni effect.' Despite not topping the table like they do every year, CSK has emerged as one of the fan favourites. Nearly a third of those surveyed from 13 Indian cities said they prefer the team over others. Mint's Varuni Khosla reports on the survey, which revealed that more than 86 percent of the fans prefer one of four teams. These teams are CSK, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Kolkata Knight Riders. Varuni also looks at how the league's brand value hasn't budged an inch as ad rates remain on par with the previous year.Since you are listening to this podcast, it is fair to assume that you get your information from podcasts. Now, imagine listening to a podcast run by the government. The consumer affairs ministry is taking creative steps to combat consumer fraud with the launch of a new podcast. Aimed at educating digitally literate consumers about fraudulent practices, the podcast will utilize storytelling to share real experiences of fraud victims and how their issues were resolved. Mint's Dhirendra Kumar reports on the initiative being developed by the Central Consumer Protection Authority. The podcast is set to air episodes every Sunday across various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.The government is mulling over a proposal to eliminate import duty on business jets, aligning it with the zero-duty policy on commercial jets. Mint's aviation correspondent Anu Sharma, along with Gireesh Chandra Prasad, reports on the change advocated by the civil aviation ministry. The tax changes aim to stimulate growth in the private charters industry, which has stagnated over the last decade and a half with only 100-120 operators. The current tax, a modest 2.5%, has been in place for nearly fifteen years under a sunset clause, set to expire at the end of March 2024. The rationale behind this move is to level the playing field between the commercial and private aviation sectors. As of December, India had 381 aircraft and helicopters registered under non-scheduled operations, serving not just large conglomerates like Reliance and Tata but also offering more flexible travel options without fixed schedules, unlike commercial airlines. However, any decision on this duty removal will likely wait until the formation of a new government, as indicated by finance ministry officials.Demand for enterprise 5G services in India's $254-billion IT industry might be lower than expected this year. Big players like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Wipro, and Tech Mahindra are bracing for slower growth, particularly from telecom clients, who contribute over 10% of their yearly revenue. In FY24, revenue from telecom clients dipped by almost 3% to $8.25 billion. Tech Mahindra took a hard hit, losing 12.1% in annual telecom revenue. Analysts predict a further 3-5% decline in telecom revenue for these firms in FY25. Mint's IT reporter Shouvik Das reports on this downturn, which could mean a loss of over $400 million in revenue.Amid general elections, the Centre has lifted the ban on onion exports, bringing relief to farmers. Last year, onion exports were banned to stabilize retail prices amid low production. Maharashtra's farmers protested the ban, demanding a reversal. The recent lift, just before the western state goes to polls, comes with a minimum export price and a 40% duty, citing improved supplies and stable domestic prices. But can the decision be reversed? Current retail prices are 56% higher than this time last year, making exports viable. However, if prices surge due to exports or crop losses, the decision might be overturned. Hopes rest on a promising monsoon to boost local supplies. So, are export restrictions common? Does such a move have other implications as well? Mint's Sayantan Bera tackles these questions in today's Mint Primer.We'd love to hear your feedback on this podcast. Let us know by writing to us at feedback@livemint.com. You may send us feedback, tips or anything that you feel we should be covering from your vantage point in the world of business and finance.

In this episode of Market Minutes, Lovisha Darad discusses about what are the top factors to watch out on April 26 trade. Corporate earnings season will continue to grab limelight as Bajaj Finserv, SBI Life, Maruti Suzuki, and HCL Technologies are slated to report Q4 results. Apart from that, all eyes will be on market trends as US bond yields hit 5-month high. Also, Sonam Srivastava of Wright Research on Voice of the Day segment. Market Minutes is a morning podcast that puts the spotlight on hot stocks, key data points, and developing trends.

"In the evolution of employee recognition, we've transitioned from annual bonuses to dynamic R&R programs. Today, it's not just about monetary rewards; organizations celebrate well-being with unique incentives like cars, vacations, and gift coupons. Quality and quantity both earn appreciation, marking a shift towards holistic acknowledgement in the workplace."In this episode of The Shape of Work podcast, we're excited to host Akshansh Bhardwaj, an HR Partner in Analytics at IndusInd Bank. With key roles at Pine Labs, iTV Network, and HCL Technologies, Akshansh, holding a Biotechnology degree from Manipal Academy of Higher Education and an MHROD in Human Resources Development, offers a unique perspective on the intersection of biotechnology and HR. Join us for a captivating conversation exploring the dynamic career landscape and the evolving nature of work with our distinguished guest.In this episode, Akshansh Bhardwaj, HR Partner in Analytics, offers insightful perspectives on the evolution of employee rewards and recognition, emphasizing the shift from traditional bonuses to well-being-centric programs. He discusses the significance of adapting to technological changes, particularly in predictive analytics. The conversation concludes with a focus on future workplace challenges and opportunities. A must-listen for HR enthusiasts and those interested in evolving workplace trends.  Episode HighlightThe transition from yearly bonuses to dynamic R&R programsEmbrace performance points and tokenizationEnhancing satisfaction through personalized reward programsFocus on role orientation and meaningful experiencesAnticipation of evolving workplace trendsFollowAkshansh on LinkedinProduced by: Priya BhattPodcast Host: Riddhi AgarwalAbout Springworks:Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organisation building tools and products to simplify recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:SpringVerify— B2B verification platformEngageWith— employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company cultureTrivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-buildingSpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, and

Mayur Gupta grew up in India, got his degree in computer science, and started his career as an engineer in 2000 at HCL Technologies. Since then, Mayur has had quite a diverse and impressive career path. He has held key marketing leadership roles at SapientNitro, Kimberly Clark, Healthgrades, Spotify, Freshly, and most recently, Gannett, part of the USA Today Network. Throughout the years, Mayur has also developed a role as an investor and board director for various organizations. Today, his role as a marketer and his role as an investor play into each other and make him better at both. Mayur started getting into crypto in 2016, and in 2022, he was brought on as the Chief Marketing Officer at Kraken. In this episode, Alan and Mayur discuss his career path, his investor activity, his board directorship, and the throughlines he has seen having worked across different verticals and scales. They also talk about what marketing crypto looks like, what he is trying to achieve, and how he measures effectiveness. Alan asks how the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried and the downfall of FTX have impacted the crypto market and the role Mayur's marketing team plays in educating the next wave of adopters with a focus on substance and real-world use cases. Kraken is a crypto exchange that has been in business for over 12 years, making it one of the longest-standing and largest exchanges in the world. In the first few years, they focused on their first consumer segment, professional traders. About 4 years ago, they diversified into their second and third consumer segments: retail consumers and institutional clients. Recently, their focus has been on continually diversifying with new ventures like NFTs while staying focused on the broader mission: driving and accelerating the adoption of crypto to bring financial inclusion and freedom to the world. The first 10 years of Kraken's growth were based on word of mouth, signaling a great market fit. Mayur tells us Kraken's next phase is going to be driven by branding and performance, with 2024 being all about scale and getting on the Formula 1 race track. In this episode, you'll learn:Why and how is Kraken shifting its marketing strategy and segment focus?The role of marketing for crypto in the wake of FTX and SBFThe importance of increasing your velocity of decision-makingUnderstanding that brand is performance and performance is brand Key Highlights: [02:10] Marketing through the lens of an investor and board director[05:00] Mayur's path to Kraken[09:25] What is Kraken, and who do they serve?[11:25] Growth Marketing for Kraken[12:50] Marketing across different verticals and scales[15:35] Livestages and business models impacting marketing[19:25] Where is Kraken with their marketing strategy today?[21:45] Marketing to the entire world[23:55] Measurement, attributions, and making the case for marketing[28:15] Making decisions with 70% information and 30% belief[29:10] The FTX and SBF impact on the category[33:50] Buddhism is the backbone of Mayur's life.[36:40] Advice to his younger self[38:40] The need to prove marketing's relevance[40:10] AI, measurement, and the crossover between marketing and brand[41:55] The biggest challenges facing marketers today Looking for more?Visit our website for links to the resources mentioned in this episode and ways to connect with the guest! Become a member today and listen ad-free, visit https://plus.acast.com/s/marketingtoday. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of Market Minutes, Lovisha Darad talks about IT bellweather Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) kickstarting India Inc's second quarterly results on a soft note, which will be followed by results of other IT players Infosys and HCL Technologies on October 12. On the macro front, investors will keenly track India and US September consumer inflation print on October 12. Also, catch Sandeep Tandon of Quant Mutual Fund on Voice of the Day segment. Market Minutes is a morning podcast that puts the spotlight on hot stocks, key data points, and developing trends.

Season 15, Episode 1: Spring is springing in Melbourne, domestic cricket has begun, and you know what that means. A new season of The Final Word. Just in time for a fresh World Cup. Australia's warm-ups continue to derail in India, Shubman Gill is set to break records, David Warner is now a right-hander, Dasun Shanaka is sacked as Sri Lanka captain, India's women win a medal at storied Pingfeng, and HCL Technologies are back on the inscrutable case. Plenty happening around the world as September winds to a close. Your Nerd Pledge number this week: 3.80 - Matthew Nutley Support the show with a Nerd Pledge at patreon.com/thefinalword Sign up to learn about all the Lord's Taverners projects at bit.ly/tavssignup Find previous episodes at finalwordcricket.com Title track by Urthboy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, financial journalist Govindraj Ethiraj talks to Vineet Nayar, former CEO of HCL Technologies and Founder of Sampark Foundation. Vineet Nayar is recognised as one of the world's foremost voices on human potential management and workplace transformation, thanks to his ground-breaking Employees First, Customers Second philosophy. Vineet's implementation of EFCS at HCL Technologies, where he was appointed CEO from 2007-2013, was a noted phenomenon in the business world; Fortune described the company as the “world's most modern management”. His book on the same subject, titled 'Employees First, Customers Second', has sold 100,000+ copies worldwide and is a Harvard Business Press bestseller. Under Vineet's leadership, the innovative management practices at HCL Technologies were taught as case studies at the Harvard and London Business School.For the last 5 years, Vineet has applied his time and energy on solving India's quality education challenge, through the application of his EFCS philosophy.In this conversation you will learn about the state of the IT industry, why India is losing talent in IT, the potential of the sector, his management philosophy, stories from HCL, the Sampark Foundation and more.TCR: Weekend Edition with Vineet Nayar on YoutubeFor more of our coverage check out thecore.inSubscribe to our NewsletterFollow us on:Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Linkedin | Youtube | Telegram

"Recruiting is a two-way street. While it's our responsibility as recruiters to support and assist hiring managers, they also play a crucial role. They have firsthand knowledge of the team's needs, and it's important to collaborate with them, ensuring a mutual understanding and joint effort towards finding the right fit."What does the future of work look like, and how can we best collaborate with hiring managers to meet talent needs? Join us in this episode of The Shape Of Work, as we chat with Veerat Marwah, the talent acquisition partner at IBM, who sheds light on these pressing questions and shares valuable insights from their own journey in the ever-evolving workplace. Veerat has an overall work experience of more than twelve years. He has worked at various organisations such as Pink City Expressway, Hindustan Construction, Pratibha Industries, HCL Technologies, etc. He did his B.Tech from Giani Zail Singh College of Engineering and Technology.In our conversation with Veerat, we dive into the importance of not judging people, and how offering a helping hand can set someone on the right path in their career. Discover why understanding and compassion are crucial when engaging in recruitment processes, and how you can be the human in HR when hiring.Episode HighlightsHow to collaborate with other hiring managers?Key learnings learned over the yearsThe difference between theory and practical knowledgeAdvice to the budding listenersFollow Veerat on LinkedinProduced by: Priya BhattPodcast Host: Aparajeeta BoroAbout Springworks:Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organisation building tools and products to simplify recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:SpringVerify— B2B verification platformEngageWith— employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company cultureTrivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-buildingSpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, andSpringRecruit — a forever-free applicant tracking system.Springworks prides itself on being an organisation focused on employee well-being and workplace culture, leading to a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor for the 200+ employee strength company.

In today's episode of the Life Leadership Podcast, I am speaking to Raj Singh Raj Singh is an accomplished leader in strategy and digital transformation space, board member and chair with over 35 years of global industry experience covering all three continents, spanning 22 countries. He champions digital transformation and corporate governance in the boardrooms to keep boards relevant and fit for purpose in the digital economy. The majority of his experience is in the private sector with the latter eight years developing growth strategy, putting corporate governance frameworks, delivering organisational change and digital transformation strategy to the board of a $2 billion private equity group, Finnish Ministry of Interior, Justice Minister of New Zealand and National Police Chiefs Council, UK. Raj is a member of the Board of Governors of University of Hertfordshire, a supervisory board member of Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership and was Chairman of Institute of Directors, Berkshire till October 2021. He is a member of Justice and Emergency Services Committee of techUK and was instrumental in shaping the India UK tech forum. He also provides strategic transformation advice to the Institute of Directors and techUK. Raj has held executive management positions for multinational organisations like Oracle, Infor Group, HCL Technologies, Hexaware Technologies and Godrej. He is a fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and Institute of Directors. In today's episode Raj shares on – From Corporate career to entrepreneur: Unlearning & shifting your point of reference A Powerful Distinction: Connection v Networking Cultivating relationships, being curious & impacting the lives of others! Why your values are non-negotiable & candour can be critical Living life on YOUR terms: ‘My work is my hobby!' You can connect with Raj on LinkedIn at - https://www.linkedin.com/in/raj-singh-112a345/ The Life Leadership Podcast – with Leila Singh, is all things Coaching, Career & Personal Branding! This podcast is for ambitious career professionals, especially aspiring executives, working in the technology industry, wanting to uncover your real potential, create new possibilities and accelerate your career - to BE DO & HAVE more, whilst redefining your success, in work, relationships, health and much more. Life Leadership: Creating a life and career of choice, fulfilment and new possibilities! As well as discussing common coaching topics and challenges that my clients overcome, I will also explore aspects of career advancement and personal branding in the workplace.  And of course, continue to interview high-achieving leaders and execs in the tech space, who have carved out a successful career in their field, overcome challenges, and are openly willing to share their career journey, learnings and insights with you. Please SUBSCRIBE to this podcast, leave a REVIEW and SHARE with those that may benefit from this content. If you would like to learn more about working with me, Direct Message me on LinkedIn or email me at ⁠hello@leilasingh.com⁠ Connect directly with me here - ⁠www.linkedin.com/in/leila-singh/⁠ Register here to receive your copy of The mi-brand Personal Brand Playbook - ⁠www.leilasingh.com/go/playbook⁠ And check out - >>> This article by https://BestPodcasts.co.uk, who curated a list of the Best Career Podcasts of 2023, offering unique and actionable insights to help you achieve your career goals - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.bestpodcasts.co.uk/best-career-podcasts/⁠⁠⁠ with our podcast ‘Life Leadership' featuring in the Top 5! >>> https://blog.Feedspot.com whose editorial team extensively researched and curated a list of the Top 15 Life Leadership Podcasts across all platforms, featuring 'Life Leadership' in the Top 3! ⁠⁠⁠15 Best Life Leadership Podcasts You Must Follow in 2023 (feedspot.com)⁠

In this Tech Talks Daily podcast episode, I'm joined by  Kalyan Kumar, the Global Chief Technology Officer at HCL Technologies & Chief Product Officer at HCL Software in London. We discuss the impact of technology trends on businesses over the next year. One of the main topics of the conversation was the role of cloud infrastructure in the quantum revolution. According to Kalyan, by 2030, businesses will no longer be talking about which cloud services to use but how the cloud can deliver on business priorities so they can be ready for the quantum era.  The quantum market is predicted to reach $1 trillion by 2035, and businesses must level up their cloud infrastructure to take advantage of this next generation of computing. However, only those businesses that have nailed the cloud and made it instinctual to them will benefit from the full potential of quantum. Another topic discussed was the move toward carbon neutrality in the tech sector. HCL Technologies has committed to becoming net zero by 2040, reflecting the increasing pressure from customers for organizations to become greener. KK believes that the tech industry, one of the planet's biggest producers of carbon, will focus on developing new approaches for trapping and removing carbon dioxide from the air. This will lead to a significant focus on carbon sequestration in the next decade in enterprise IT. Kalyan Kumar's insights provide a glimpse into the future of technology and how it will impact businesses. Cloud infrastructure will be a crucial aspect of the quantum revolution, and organizations must level up their cloud infrastructure to take advantage of this next generation of computing.  In addition, businesses must also consider their environmental impact and focus on achieving carbon neutrality to meet the growing demand for a more sustainable future. Only by embracing these changes will businesses be able to thrive in the coming years.

“If I'm talking about recruitment and if I don't have any kind of technology-enabled for the purpose, then the job will become tedious and monotonous. So, try to leverage technology as a part of your mandatory requirement."The newest instalment of the Shape of Work podcast throws light on how millennials and Gen Z should prepare for future HR roles.  Our guest for this episode is Manoj K Prasad, Vice President of Digital Transformation, Capability Development, and Change Management at Reliance Industries Limited.Manoj obtained his M.Phil and MBA in HRM, and began his career in a government organization. He qualified for civil services and worked for the ministry for nearly eight years before transitioning to tech companies such as Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, and ITC.Episode highlightsHow should millennials and Gen Z prepare for the future HR rolesWhat are the challenges that come with transforming the workforce towards technology-driven roles?Key learnings for HR professionals when adapting to the current changes in the industryFollow Manoj on LinkedinProduced by: Priya BhattPodcast Host: Aparajeeta BoroAbout Springworks:Springworks is a fully-distributed HR technology organisation building tools and products to simplify recruitment, onboarding, employee engagement, and retention. The product stack from Springworks includes:SpringVerify— B2B verification platformEngageWith— employee recognition and rewards platform that enriches company cultureTrivia — a suite of real-time, fun, and interactive games platforms for remote/hybrid team-buildingSpringRole — verified professional-profile platform backed by blockchain, andSpringRecruit — a forever-free applicant tracking system.Springworks prides itself on being an organisation focused on employee well-being and workplace culture, leading to a 4.8 rating on Glassdoor for the 200+ employee strength company.

Bloomberg Intelligence Technology Analysts Anurag Rana and Tamlin Bason host HCLTech's Global CTO and Chief Product Officer for HCLSoftware, Kalyan Kumar (“KK”) to discuss the current landscape of offshore services, the enterprise multi-cloud transformation, and the automation evolution within the industry. Listen in to this information packed episode as we delve into HCLTech's relationship with hyperscalers, examine the interoperability of the metaverse, and dive into HCLSoftware's differentiation among peers.

In this episode, we speak to Jill Kouri, the CMO of HCLTech, a global technology company, home to 219,000+ people across 54 countries, delivering industry-leading capabilities centered around digital, engineering and cloud, powered by a broad portfolio of technology services and products.  HCLTech works with clients across all major verticals, providing industry solutions for Financial Services, Manufacturing, Life Sciences and Healthcare, Technology and Services, Telecom and Media, Retail and CPG, and Public Services. Consolidated revenues as of 12 months ending September 2022 totaled $12.1 billionWe speak to Jill about her journey to the CMO role, starting from a career in PR and communications. Jill shares the process and strategy behind the recent rebranding of HCLTech (formerly known as HCL Technologies) and their brand campaign, “supercharging progress.”Learn more about Jill KouriLearn more about HCLTechFollow Peter Mahoney on Twitter and LinkedInLearn more about PlannuhJoin The Next CMO CommunityRecommend a guest for The Next CMO podcastProduced by PodForte

The water we drink and use to wash and irrigate our crops is precious, and becoming ever more so due to climate change.The World Economic Forum's UpLink platform wants to hear from you if you have innovative ideas on how to tackle the problem.On this episode, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of HCL Technologies which is backing the search for innovations, joins UpLink's Emanuela Orsini to discuss the issue.We also hear from entrepreneur Friso Klapwijk, whose company Wavin has created smart roofs to capture rainwater in cities. Guests: Emanuela Orsini, UpLink Digital Content Specialist at the World Economic Forum Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Technologies Friso Klapwijk, Global Director of Urban Climate Resilience, Wavin The Global Freshwater Challenge on UpLink:  Learn more about our innovators and other innovation challenges on UpLink:  Check out all our podcasts on :     Join the  Episode transcript:

The water we drink and use to wash and irrigate our crops is precious, and becoming ever more so due to climate change.The World Economic Forum's UpLink platform wants to hear from you if you have innovative ideas on how to tackle the problem.On this episode, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairperson of HCL Technologies which is backing the search for innovations, joins UpLink's Emanuela Orsini to discuss the issue.We also hear from entrepreneur Friso Klapwijk, whose company Wavin has created smart roofs to capture rainwater in cities. Guests: Emanuela Orsini, UpLink Digital Content Specialist at the World Economic Forum Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCL Technologies Friso Klapwijk, Global Director of Urban Climate Resilience, Wavin The Global Freshwater Challenge on UpLink: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o0000173B6sAAE/global-freshwater-challenge Learn more about our innovators and other innovation challenges on UpLink: https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/ Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts: Meet the Leader  WEF Book Club Podcast Agenda Dialogues Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club Episode transcript: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/11/uplink-freshwater-hcl-radio-davos-cop27  

Consumer inflation accelerated to five-month high in September to touch 7.41%. And at 8.6%, the inflation in food items was at a 22-month high last month. So as the retail inflation stayed above the upper limit of 2-6% band for the third straight quarter, all eyes are on RBI now. We ask what can the central bank do to calm the prices Imported inflation due to the war is also adding fuel to already high retail prices. The effect of war and global slowdown has reached Indian shores too. It has also derailed India's start-up juggernaut. The country had added a record 44 unicorns in 2021. And in the July-September quarter, just two start-ups made it to the coveted unicorn list. Venture funding data from two separate sources indicates that Indian start-ups are in the middle of a harsh funding winter. While the global situation is not good, the slowdown is more pronounced in India.  Despite a bleak global background, top IT giants including TCS, HCL Technologies and Infosys have wrapped up their September quarter earnings that broadly came in line with the Street's expectations. So, what do the Q2 results indicate for the IT sector amid growing fears of recession?  Pandemic disrupted economic activities across the world, throwing shocking growth numbers. India's GDP growth too fell in the negative zone in 2020. But, next year, when there was a slight rebound in economic activities, the growth numbers again threw a surprise. But the sudden jump in GDP growth was due to the previous year's low base. This episodeb of the podcast tells more about it. 

After IT companies, financial institutions will be next in line to announce their September quarter results. Starting with HDFC Bank on October 15, Axis, ICICI and IndusInd Bank will report their results next week.  SBI and other public sector banks will follow suit. Going by analysts' estimates, banking and financial services sector could be the best performing sector for a second straight quarter, as credit growth remains robust and bond yields cooled off. Pankaj Agarwal, Analyst (Banking & Financial Services), Ambit Institutional Equities says loan growth was 16% YoY at the end of Q2. Margins expansion likely due to rate differential between lending and borrowing rates. Bond yields flat YoY; better treasury income seen. Lower provisions likely on benign asset quality. Independent market analyst Ambareesh Baliga believes aggregate net profit for the sector may surge around 40% over previous year. Baliga says credit growth, margin expansion to drive numbers. Expect overall Operating Profit growth of 21% YoY; PAT 40%; NII 17%. Large private banks to perform better.  Meanwhile, Bloomberg's consensus estimate pegs net profit growth of the 16 listed banks at 23.4% YoY and 20% sequentially.  Net interest income, meanwhile, is expected to have risen 10% YoY and roughly 10.8% sequentially. That said, the pressure to mobilise deposits amid shrinking liquidity could put pressure on profitability and margins going ahead. Pankaj Agarwal, Analyst (Banking & Financial Services), Ambit Institutional Equities says banks' strategy around deposit growth to be watched. Deposit growth is 9% vs loan growth of 16%. The gap was bridged using excess liquidity during the pandemic period. Margin compression, slow loan growth ahead likely. As regards today, Q2 results of HCL Technologies and Wipro will be on investors' radar. Retail inflation data for September, Tracxn Technologies' IPO, oil prices and other global cues will sway the markets.

IT major TCS will kick-off India Inc's earnings season for the second quarter of this fiscal year on October 10. A slew of IT companies like Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Infosys, will follow the suit. In the previous quarter of this fiscal, corporate earnings saw double-digits growth, driven by banks, NBFCs, oil & producers, and FMCG companies.   A Business Standard analysis showed that the combined net profit of nearly 3,000 listed companies had increased 22.4 per cent year-on-year to 2.2 trillion rupees. However, higher material, and energy costs dented margins in Q1FY23. Ebitda margin for the entire sample was down nearly 410 basis points YoY to 22.5 per cent. In Q2, however, bottom-line growth is likely to suffer due to higher operational costs, and inventory losses. Top-line growth, meanwhile, may stay in double-digits. Among sectors, top tier IT firms are likely to post sequential revenue growth of up to 5 per cent, in constant currency terms, amid demand concerns. Financials, and automobile companies, on the flipside, could outperform in Q2FY23. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services says financials and autos to post strong Q2. Within autos, PVs and CVs to lead recovery. Low demand to hurt IT. Capital goods, telecom will post good Q2, he says.  Moreover, analysts foresee metals, IT, and oil and gas to underperform in the quarter under review. This, they say, could downgrade Nifty EPS for FY23 by up to 3 per cent. Ambareesh Baliga, Independent Market Analyst says, double-digit top-line growth likely on aggregate basis. Auto, FMCG, BFSI to perform well, he says. Metals, IT, Oil & Gas to underperform. Nifty EPS downgrade likely for FY23. Today investors will closely watch out India's Services PMI data for September. Besides, global cues, rupee movement, FII flows, and crude prices will continue to dictate markets on Thursday.

A news from one of the world's leading financial centres has a strong sense of déjà vu about it. The free fall in the stock of Credit Suisse and a string of departures from the top signal that there is something seriously wrong with the Switzerland's second largest bank. Its newly-appointed CEO Ulrich Koerner too has conceded that the firm was facing a critical moment and needed an overhaul. And just like Lehman Brothers in 2008, the financial cost of potential collapse of Credit Suisse would be huge.  The ongoing global upheaval has played out differently for India. While it is getting cheap oil from Russia, the supply of natural gas has become a bit of an issue. And ahead of winter, Europe is making desperate attempts to purchase natural gas from sources other than Russia, putting Asia in a tight spot. What does it mean for India?  Let us move on to financial markets now. Beginning next week, India Inc. will start delivering July to September quarter results for this fiscal year. Starting from index heavyweight, TCS, HCL Technologies, Wipro, and Infosys will later join the league. Our next report delves into what investors should expect from the Q2 earnings season, and the markets' trajectory thereon. Sebi recently levied about ₹6 lakh fine on three individuals for violating the insider trading norms in the shares of PVR Ltd. It is not for the first time that the markets regulator has acted tough against insider trading. But what exactly is insider trading? This podcast explains it in detail.

Wipro recently axed 300 employees after it found that they were also working for its rivals. The decision was announced by the firm's executive chairman, Rishad Premji, a vocal critic of moonlighting. As remote working became the norm due to the Covid-19 pandemic, employees found it easier to take up more than one job at a time without the knowledge of their companies -- a practice known as moonlighting. Of late, it has become a concern for the Indian IT industry. The co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, Kris Gopalakrishnan, also joined the debate recently, saying that working for more than one company at the same time would come in the way of building trust. His remarks were aimed particularly at the new generation of techies. Earlier in September, Infosys sent an email to employees titled ‘No Double Lives'. The country's second-largest IT services firm said that dual employment was not permitted in line with the employee handbook and code of conduct. However, the email from Infosys also made a distinction that may prove to be important in settling the moonlighting debate in the future. It said that the company's consent was paramount with regard to moonlighting. The letter added that consent may be given, subject to terms and conditions, and may also be withdrawn at any time. Effectively, this leaves the possibility open that at least some employees could hold two jobs simultaneously without it being considered moonlighting. In fact, companies are reportedly turning to experts and digital tools, which forensic accountants say can easily track moonlighters. Arpinder Singh, global markets and India leader, forensic and integrity services, EY, told Business Standard that EY was working with several firms to gauge the extent of moonlighting among their staff.   Even as they tackle this problem, there's evidence that the plans for the Great Return, or resuming work from the office, are not progressing smoothly for all IT firms. While IT companies have been at the forefront when it comes to hybrid and flexible work, they have now taken the lead in rolling back remote work plans. IT firms have had to keep up with the changing dynamics of the job market, where, till recently, workers had been quitting their jobs, seeking either higher pay, better benefits or more control over their lives. While Indian IT firms say that a hybrid workforce is the new normal, client needs have made a return to the office and work sites necessary. Also, a return to the office first is necessary for their hybrid policies to kick in. At Tata Consultancy Services, 20 per cent of its employees are back to office. TCS has said that it will continue to drive the return-to-office model because having a permanent hybrid work environment will first involve getting back to a normal working environment. That is why TCS recently asked around 80 per cent of its staff to return to the office. Perhaps the industry's frustration with stubborn employees was best reflected when RPG group chairman Harsh Goenka recently warned IT workers of a mediocre career trajectory if they dug in their heels and worked from home. These challenges couldn't have come at a worse time. The performance of top-tier IT firms in the first quarter of the current financial year shows that they are still far away from getting a grip on managing attrition. In fact, talent retention challenges have eroded both their margins and any gains they may have made thanks to the depreciating rupee. Despite higher pay and other retention policies, attrition continued to zoom. Attrition at Infosys rose to 28.4 per cent. TCS saw a much higher rise in attrition at 19.7 per cent. Attrition at HCL Technologies for the quarter was up at 23.8 per cent. In fact, Wipro was the only company that reported a drop in attrition at 23.3 per cent. The IT industry will be worried that the current talent crisis may delay its efforts to move up the value chain by delinking headcount and reve

In this podcast episode, Colin Breakwell from HCL Technologies joins Angela Harvey from SAP to discuss how HCL utilized SAP Mobile Cards to capture real-time data from shop workers and simplify the user experience. The pair touch on real-time data collection and how this on-the-go solution allows for HCL to minimize delays, subsequently increasing efficiency and improving the quality of data. At the core of all of this is the SAP BTP. Layering above the SAP BTP keeps the core clean and ensures efficiency so that HCL can rapidly deliver innovation to customers. Speakers: Angela Harvey - VP, Product Marketing & Solution Management, SAP Process Automation, SAP Colin Breakwell Associate Vice President, Global SAP Product Development Lead, HCL Link to the iMRO page on the HCL website: https://bit.ly/3AC9udi Link to the iMRO/iSAM apps on the SAP store: https://bit.ly/3A64FaA

Co-founder and former chief technology officer of cloud company Confluent, Neha Narkhede's journey from Pune to the Silicon Valley, and from a software engineer to Forbes' list was quite phenomenal. And why she is in the news now. With a net worth estimated at 13,380 crore rupees, Narkhede has been ranked eighth in the Leading Wealthy Women 2021 list compiled by Hurun. She can now count herself among the likes of HCL Technologies chairperson Roshni Nadar Malhotra, who topped the Hurun list for the second year in a row, Falguni Nayar, the promoter of FSN E-Commerce, and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon. Narkhede was raised in Pune, Maharashtra. By way of her own account to the press, we know the source of her inspiration in her formative years. So it is no surprise then that she decided to break into the male-dominated tech sector. Narkhede first went to the University of Pune and received her Bachelor of Science in Engineering from SCTR'S Pune Institute of Computer Technology college. In 2006, she left India to get her master's in computer science from Georgia Tech. After graduating in 2007, she started a job at Oracle.   After Oracle, Narkhede worked as a software engineer at LinkedIn, where she was involved in the development of Apache Kafka, an open-source messaging system designed to handle the networking site's large data input. This would prove to be a pivotal point in her coming entrepreneurial life.   It was in 2014 that she and two LinkedIn colleagues left the company to found Confluent.   Now, let us know about the company. Headquartered in Mountain View, in California in the United States, Confluent offers organisations an Apache Kafka-based streaming platform that enables them to easily access data in the form of real-time streams.

Dianne Miller works as the Global Practice Manager of Digital Transformation and Change Management at HCL Technologies. In this episode we discuss how to ensure that everyone in the organization knows we are in this together, how to best respond to change, and much more.

In order for the ecosystem to function at its best it needs to include not one, but multiple partners. The best way to do that is to work with partners who are willing to share the risk, innovate, and stay flexible for future technologies. Suresh Kumar Tulluri, Vice President & Global Head - Ecosystem Business Unit at HCL Technologies, talks in this episode about how to bring the customer along for that journey and the need to stay prepared to move not only forward, but occasionally sideways as well. Join us as we discuss: Roadmap innovation Investing in tech ISVs, Red Hat, VMware Private networks to verticals, HCL, CSP, Intel, and more Here are some additional episodes featuring other ecosystem leaders that might interest you: #121 Aligning Ecosystem Strategy with Your Customer as the North Star with Lara Caimi, Chief Partner Officer, ServiceNow  #122 There's No Easy Button For Partnering with Nicole Napiltonia, VP Of Alliances and OEM Sales, at Barracuda  #106 The Secrets to Managing Alliances Like Microsoft with David Totten, Chief Technology Officer, US Partner Ecosystem at Microsoft  #97 Why Quality Always Beats Quantity in Software Ecosystems with Tom Roberts, Senior Vice President at the Global Partner Organization over at SAP.  Links & Resources Learn more about how WorkSpan helps customers accelerate their ecosystem flywheel through Co-selling, Co-innovating, Co-investing, and Co-marketing. Subscribe to the Ecosystem Aces Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcast.  Join the WorkSpan Community to engage with other partner ecosystem leaders on best practices, news, events, jobs, and other tips to advance your career in partnering. Find insightful articles on how to lead and get the most out of your partner ecosystem on the WorkSpan blog. Download the Best Practices Guide for Ecosystem Business Management  Download the Ultimate Guide for Partner Incentives and Market Development Funds   To contact the host, Chip Rodgers, with topic ideas, suggest a guest, or join the conversation about modern partnering, he can be reached on Twitter, LinkedIn, or send Chip an email at: chip@workspan.com   This episode of Ecosystem Aces is sponsored by WorkSpan.  WorkSpan is the #1 ecosystem business management platform. We give CROs a digital platform to turbocharge indirect revenue with their partner teams at higher win rates and lower costs. We connect your partners on a live network with cross-company business applications to build, market, and sell together. We power the top 10 business ecosystems in the technology and communications industry today, managing over $50 billion in the joint pipeline.

Asia's richest man celebrated his birthday a bit differently this year. To mark his 60th birthday, Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani and his family, whose net worth is estimated at $98.1 billion by Forbes, have pledged to donate Rs 60,000 crore or $7.7 billion to a series of social causes. The donation will be managed by the Adani Foundation, which is led by his wife Priti Adani.  With this Adani joins the ranks of billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffett, who have committed large parts of their wealth for philanthropy. Philanthropist Azim Premji said this should set an example that entrepreneurs can try to live Mahatma Gandhi's principle of Trusteeship of Wealth at the peak of their business success. Indeed, the average age of giving in India is dipping every year and stands at 66 now. In FY21, Premji donated $1.3 billion or Rs 9,713 crore to charity. His foundation has an endowment estimated at $21 billion. The family of HCL Technologies founder Shiv Nadar was the second biggest donor according to a 2021 Hurun India report. Adani's pledge is almost half of what Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates donated to their foundation in 2021, while the former couple's total donations are valued at $74.6 billion.  Jamsetji Tata, who set up Tata Trusts, is the most generous individual of the last century, with total donations of over $102 billion at current value. Private giving in India stems from four sources -- foreign, corporate, retail and families. CSR, family philanthropy and retail giving account for approximately 84% of overall private giving, with foreign contributions making up the rest, according to the India Philanthropy Report 2022 by Dasra and Bain & Company. Family philanthropy overall forms about one-third of total private giving and is expected to grow at a robust 13% per year until FY26, driven by increasing wealth and a rise in the number of technology entrepreneurs. Family philanthropy has fewer constraints than other sources, enabling a broader impact on the social sector. These donors have a greater ability to innovate, influence public policy, build institutional capacity, and experiment with new forms of funding. They can also go far beyond grant-making as most funders come with extensive and technical knowledge in their respective fields, and have deep networks across functions and industries. But family philanthropy has its biases. Of the three major sources of private giving, CSR is the most widely distributed across sectors, while family giving is majorly concentrated in education and healthcare even as India lags in several other sectors. India also lags on gender equality indicators than on indicators related to health and education. Similarly, funding is concentrated in Tier-1 cities. Adani's donation will be utilised in the areas of healthcare, education and skill development with a special focus in rural regions.  India's ultra-rich could potentially increase their donations by 8 to 13 times if they can match the giving as a percentage of wealth of their UK, Chinese and US counterparts. Anant Bhagwati, Partner, The Bridgespan Group says, over the next 5 years, family philanthropy could grow to 40% of total private giving. Unlike CSR or retail, family giving can back causes that deliver long-term results, he says.  How the Adani family deploys its large $7.7 billion donation is also key. While a good number of family philanthropists engage with NGOs through grant-making, not all NGOs can absorb scale funding of the sort offered by these families.  Gautam Adani has said that three expert committees will be formed to formalise strategy and decide allocation of funds, with a plan to add one or two more focus areas in the coming months. Adani Foundation will have to build the right talent, enhance its institutional capabilities further, and develop strategies to drive change in the targeted areas.

While addressing the 27th annual general meeting of Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Sons chairperson N Chandrasekaran recently warned of a “stagflationary impulse” in the backdrop of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, he said that TCS was well positioned to leverage the demand for digital solutions in the present environment and that the company was engaging in India and across the globe to tap opportunities.  Not everyone in the industry is so sanguine. In late May, Zoho Co-Founder and CEO Sridhar Vembu told a news channel that the prospect of a recession in Europe and the earnings misses by American retail giants like Target and Walmart should have Indian IT services firms worried. Vembu explained that since the IT industry was dependent on the US and European markets, it was very concerning to see recessionary winds. So, what is this exposure like? The US market contributes anywhere between 40 per cent to 78 per cent of the revenues earned by Indian IT companies. Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies, and Tech Mahindra, which are the top five firms, have more than a 50 per cent exposure to it. On 19th May, JP Morgan downgraded the Indian IT sector to ‘underweight' as it believes that the sector's heydays are over. The report said that rising margin headwinds in the near-term and revenue headwinds in the medium-term due to a potential macro slowdown meant that the sector's earnings upgrade cycle was behind us. At the same time, Kotak Institutional Equities had suggested that the recent correction in the sector had been mostly driven by three factors, which were increase in interest rates, fears of recession in key client geographies, and the risk to margins. The Kotak Institutional Equities note had said that what was priced into stock was risk to margins, but what was not priced in was economic recession. The markets have also reacted. Indian IT stocks have seen a sharp correction in 2022, in part because of worries over the drawn out slowdown in IT spending in the US. In fact, the Nifty IT index has plunged around 25 per cent so far this year. In particular, May turned out to be bad for IT stocks.   Speaking to Business Standard, Omkar Tanksale, Senior Research Analyst, Axis Securities says Indian IT services don't have a problem on the revenue front due to the multi-year contracts they have signed. There has been a correction in the valuations of Indian IT firms. Correction in valuations is likely to continue with the falling markets unless there is stability in macro conditions. Investors should go for value investing instead of investing across the sector. He says, look at companies with higher revenue growth momentum, look at companies that are successful at execution, look at companies that are controlling the attrition rate and maintaining margins and look for stocks that are undervalued compared to peers) On their part, IT companies see the pipeline for digital transformation deals staying strong for several years. Note that these deals have been driving the order books since the Covid-19 pandemic began.  So, is the relatively strong 2022-23 growth guidance put forward by IT companies under threat now? DD Mishra, Sr Director Analyst, Gartner says Indian IT firms don't face US recession challenge in the short to medium term due to their pipeline being full. IT firms are not expressing significant concerns about a possible recession. He says, we need to keep a close watch on how things unfold. As of now we believe that a recession in the US would have a minimal impact on Indian IT firms. It will not significantly impact their guidance and forecast.  Gaurav Vasu, Founder & CEO, UnearthInsight says FY23 H1 will be robust and similar to what was seen last year. FY23 Q3 and Q4 might see some guidance revision by some players for the full year, and FY24 guidance will also see some revision at that time. He says, inflation-led wage-hike pr

India's third largest software services exporter HCL Technologies recently took everyone by surprise. It decided to raise fresher pay packages from 3.6 lakh rupees to 4.25 lakh for FY23. This new package would also be applicable to those freshers who joined the firm in FY22. Last year, mid-sized IT firm Happiest Minds Technologies reportedly increased its fresher salary to 5.5 lakh rupees, which includes a base salary of 4.25 lakh rupees and the rest being joining bonus.  Freshers' salaries remained stagnant between 2.5 lakh to 3.5 lakh rupees for a decade now. In a bid to attract fresh talent and keep them for longer to counter the impact of rising voluntary attrition rate, companies are giving joining bonuses, double-digit pay hikes and promotions.   Some employees are seeing their salaries double when they switch jobs. According to a news report, Infosys, which reported a 27.7% attrition rate last quarter, plans to have an average salary hike of 12-13%. High potential employees will get increases of 22-23%. Globally too, tech talent is being rewarded as never before. Microsoft said it will “nearly double” its budget for employee salaries and boost the range of stock compensation it gives workers by at least 25%, mainly affecting “early to mid-career employees”. Shiv Agrawal, managing director at recruitment firm ABC Consultants, believes that the recent salary hikes are among the highest ever.  An HR executive told Business Standard that salary hikes at TCS are already in double digits and in some cases it's upwards of 25%. In the third quarter of FY22, TCS had given promotion to over 110,000 employees. At Wipro, the company announced that at the junior level, promotions will happen on a quarterly basis. Employee costs for the top 5 Indian IT services have touched an all-time high of 2.85 trillion rupees last fiscal, driven by strong fresher hiring and pay hikes. They grew between 15% to 35% for these companies.  Universities that see bulk hiring noted that differential hiring has gone up. What this means is that based on a student's skills, he/she can attract a higher package. TCS has a programme called TCS Digital that looks at hiring students with specialisation and the pay package starts from 7 lakh rupees. Cognizant's Digital Next, for which if selected, a fresher can get a starting pay package of 6.75 lakh rupees. Wipro Turbo, a similar programme from Wipro, can take a student's salary package to Rs 6.5 lakh. The sector had seen major layoffs just before the pandemic. Companies are now trying to fill the gap to cater to the strong post-pandemic demand pipeline. For long, enterprises have had the command over the pay and this seems to be changing now. While IT companies have been managing their operational costs by keeping a tight check on the fresher salaries, they may find it difficult to attract new talent now at the old packages. We can therefore expect the industry to settle at an overall higher pay structure even after the current talent supply issue is resolved.

The Covid-19 disruption has changed the way we live and work. While companies had to fast-forward digital transformation, their workforce adapted to remote and hybrid operations to ensure work continuity.    As economic activities are returning to normalcy, India Inc is now facing subtle pushbacks in getting its workforce back to the office.   However, mass resignation reported at Mumbai-based startup WhiteHat Jr after it asked its employees to get back to office has put the spotlight on the problem facing India Inc: Employees don't want to return to office full-time.    According to a November 2021 survey by Nasscom and job portal Indeed, around 70 per cent of IT companies were trying to make the hybrid model work effectively. The survey found that 66 per cent of the respondents had reported higher employee satisfaction working remotely. Now, let's examine the present employee outlook and the steps taken by India Inc. In March 2022, a financial daily reported the finding of a survey where six out of every 10 employees who responded were prepared to quit their jobs instead of returning to the office.   The same survey by recruitment firm CIEL HR Services found that a similar number of employees ready to forgo a higher-paying job that required them to come to the office. This view is prevalent among employees in sectors like IT, outsourcing, consulting and BFSI, along with tech start-ups. According to a recent Business Standard report, companies across sectors are proceeding cautiously. In June 2020, FMCG player CavinKare had said that it would rent out its corporate office and its 300+ employees might work-from-home permanently. At present, CavinKare's corporate office is still in the WFH mode and in-person meetings are held once in 15 days. In April 2020, TCS called out for a 25/25 model. Under this model, by 2025, 25 per cent of the IT major's workforce would work out of its facilities, without spending more than 25 per cent of their time in office.     HCL Technologies, meanwhile, has identified 40-50 per cent of employees who can work from home permanently. For its part, upGrad has established offices across multiple locations in multiple cities. This has allowed its workforce to choose their preferred work location.   Over at ITC, employees can work-from-home for up to two days in a week. However, this is subject to approval. And, in case of an emergency situation, work-from-home is allowed for up to 15 days in a month. For many who have moved back to their hometowns, it will be difficult to convince them to return to the high rents and long office commutes of the metros. Some prefer continuing from their hometown. Hybrid work models might not be enough to retain such talents. However, there are other options.   There are many advantages for India Inc too in adapting to the changed circumstances. Not to mention, the changes seen in the nature of work, like the hybrid model, might not go away even if the pandemic does. Getting employees back to work will be a continuing challenge, especially if Covid-19 cases rise again. Even if and when the pandemic ends, companies might find that they have to the employee location and not the other way round. What about you? Would you give up an attractive paycheck for work from home?  

Equity markets ended the holiday-shortened week on a tepid note as rising bond yields, coupled with expected monetary tightening, high crude oil prices and anxiety ahead of Q4 results, back home, weighed on the investor sentiment.   The BSE S&P Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 indices declined nearly 2% in the three-day trading week while the Bank Nifty index managed to better the benchmarks, with a loss of 0.8%. The Nifty IT index, however, tanked about 3% in the result heavy week. And, as the markets open today after a four-day gap, it will have to factor in a host of developments in the world markets. Besides, it will also react to the earnings reported during the break including that of Infosys and HDFC Bank.   That apart, all eyes will be on WPI-based inflation numbers which will be released later today. On the earnings front Mindtree, ACC, L&T Infotech, Tata Elxsi, HCL Technologies, ICICI Lombard, L&T Technology, Nestle, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Metaliks and ICICI Bank are some of the prominent companies due to announce Q4 results this week. Globally, China's macroeconomic data, developments in the world markets, and the Ukraine war shall be closely tracked.   From a sectoral viewpoint, here's how Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services expects the market action to pan out. Against this backdrop technical charts suggest a trading range of 17,150 to 18,000 for the Nifty50 index, with a support at 17,300 level. For the Sensex, tech charts indicate support at 57,700 and resistance at 59,000. Watch video

IT consulting major Accenture recently announced its second quarter results for fiscal 2022, beating Wall Street estimates.   The Dublin-based company reported revenue income of 15 billion dollars, registering a growth of 24 per cent year-on-year in dollar terms and 28 per cent in local currency. It also saw record order inflow at 19.6 billion dollars, rising 26 per cent year-on-year in local currency.  However, what surprised the markets was Accenture's sharp upward revision in revenue guidance. The company now expects revenue growth in the range of 24-26% in local currency for FY22, up from 19-22% pegged last quarter. It had pegged revenue growth in the range of 12-15% at the start of the fiscal.   Analysts say Accenture's strong revenue growth led by broad-based demand driven by accelerated cloud and digital transformation is a positive for Indian IT. The increase in FY22 growth guidance, despite uncertainty from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, further pins hopes of robust order pipeline.   Motilal Oswal Financial Services highlights that Accenture's positive commentary indicates a healthy pipeline and strong spends in areas of digital, cloud, Web 3.0 and security. Only 30% of workload is on cloud and, thus, acceleration of cloud adoption will open further opportunities for IT companies and provide a sustained demand environment. It also said...given Accenture's tendency of increasing guidance over the quarters, its Indian IT services peers would be closely watched for their commentaries on FY23 as expectations on growth escalate. That said, not all is well for the Indian IT companies. According to D-Street mavens, even though Accenture's numbers look impressive, they highlight pain for its Indian counterparts. For instance, Accenture has been clocking record order wins in ‘large' size segment, while Indian IT companies are focusing on mid and small-order sizes. The company has also seen accelerated market share gains in FY20-FY22 compared to TCS and Infosys and has been talking about three-times industry growth in recent days versus two-times in the past.   To be sure, Accenture does benefit from strong capabilities across digital areas in consulting and outsourcing, which are preferred by enterprises undertaking digital transformation programs. But, this has aided the company in outperforming Tier-1 Indian IT companies. The second red flag for the Indian IT companies comes in terms of margin guidance. Accenture has lowered FY22 EBIT margin improvement guidance to 10bps for the fiscal, which suggests elevated supply pressures. Given this, JM Financial says there are potential risks to margins from likely rebound in travel expenses in H1FY23 itself and elevated supply side pressures, exacerbated further by the recent Ukraine crisis. Ambit Capital expects growth of tier-I IT companies to moderate from 17.7% YoY, in constant currency in FY22, to 11.7% and 8.1% in FY23 and FY24.   The third headwind for Indian ITs emerges from outsourcing income, which accounts for a very large part of Accenture's revenue. Indian players like TCS, Cognizant Technology Solutions, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra are in direct competition for the same. Against this backdrop, IT shares pared their gains and ended lower on Monday with the Nifty IT index dipping nearly 2% from the day's high and closing 07% down. Let's go to Business Standard's Avdhut Bagkar to see if these headwinds are showing any downside pressure on technical charts.   Net-net, Accenture results present a mixed picture for the Indian IT players with visibility of a sustainable demand but margin pressure and market share headwinds looming large. On Tuesday, global cues and stock specific action will sway the indices amid lack of domestic events. Watch video

Katie Litchfield talks with C Vijayakumar, CEO & Managing Director of HCL Technologies to commemorate International Women's Day 2022. He speaks about how HCL has put women's empowerment at the top of an holistic diversity and inclusive agenda. WeQual's mission is gender equality at the top of the world's largest companies. Katie Litchfield, WeQual Founder, talks with global CEOs about why it is taking so long to achieve gender equality and what they are doing to close that gap. Website WeQual Global Member Site LinkedIn

The latest Stories in AI podcast presents you with a deep conversation with Aruna Pattam, head of AI & Data Science at HCL Technologies. In this chat we discuss a wide variety of topics from AI in the Financial Services industry, to job automation, and the challenges that corporations face with AI implementation. I'm sure you will enjoy this one.   Aruna's Bio: Aruna Pattam is a Global AI thought leader and currently is the head of AI & Data Science managing Asia Pacific, Middle East and Japan region. Aruna was recently awarded the “The Most Admired Global Indians 2021” by Passion Vista - Luxury, Lifestyle & Business Magazine; “AI Changemaker Leader Awards 2022” by 3AI – AI & Analytics Association; “AI Global Ambassador 2022” by Swiss Cognitive – World leading AI Network. Aruna has spent the last 22+ years delivering analytics platforms, decision support systems and analytics solutions using analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. She has held many technical and executive leadership roles in Commonwealth bank of Australia, Westpac, AMP financial services, SAS Australia and had implemented solutions covering fraud detection, anti-money laundering, credit risk, privacy and compliance and so on. Aruna is a thought leader, speaker, mentor, blogger, vlogger with the goal of educating and providing awareness on AI to the business and wider community. She regularly shares informative blogs, storytelling videos etc. aimed at demystifying AI and detailing the ever-expanding AI scope for business transformation. LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/arunapattam YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8_yY-2_KXa5wYrEQFmMp-Q/videos Website https://arunapattam.com/ Twitter https://twitter.com/pattamaruna TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@arunapattam Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aruna.pattam/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AI-by-Aruna-Pattam-109033684771898/   A note about our sponsors: A big thank you to Experian, whom you may know as the credit bureau, but they are at heart a data company. When you are buying a car or a home, sending your kids to college or borrowing to grow your business, Experian is helping you behind the scenes. They unlock the power of data, to make better decisions, get access to financial services, and to prevent crime, unlocking a whole world of opportunities for individuals and organizations. Learn more at https://Experian.com.

Listen to this podcast by Gabe Batstone, co-founder & CEO of Contextere, as we discuss how artificial intelligence is bringing a radical shift for the industrial workplace and the blue-collar workforce. Discover how this new wave of democratization of emerging technologies is translating data into concrete business outcomes and creating new opportunities. Follow Gabe Batstone on LinkedIn to get more insights and updates on how to transform the 'future of work' via human-centric technology solutions.  In this podcast series by HCL Technologies' Digital Workplace Services, industry experts, analysts, and veterans help listeners identify, understand, and prepare for the upcoming digital workplace technologies and trends.

On January 16th, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India's IT industry can play a big role in raising services exports to $1 trillion a year. In a virtual meeting with a clutch of top leaders from the IT industry, the Union minister assured the government's full support to the sector. The assurance, which came just days before the Union budget, was a confidence-booster for the sector. And amid strong Q3 performances, the Indian IT sector got another shot in the arm this week. Six Indian IT companies found themselves in the top 25 list of most valuable global IT services brands. TCS' growth is attributed to the company's investments in its brand and its employees, customer equity, and strong financial performance. Tata Consultancy Services or TCS has become the world's second most valuable brand in the IT services sector, according to Brand Finance's recent Global 500 IT Services Ranking report. On the top of the list was Accenture. TCS grew its brand value by $1.84 billion (12.5%) to $16.78 billion in just over the last 12 months. Infosys came in at third rank with a brand valuation of $12.77 bn. And apart from the two giants, four more Indian companies feature in the top 25 IT services brands The average growth of Indian brands that have appeared in the Brand Finance IT Services ranking since 2020 is an impressive 51 per cent. The US brands have on average contracted by 7 per cent. Both TCS and Infosys reported a healthy quarter-on-quarter rise in their consolidated net profit in the quarter ending December 2021. While TCS saw its net profit increase 1.51% to Rs 9,769 crore, Infosys saw its net profit increase by 12% to Rs 5,809 crore.  And the top 5 Indian IT companies, namely TCS, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra are expected to report around $70 bn as combined revenue in the ongoing fiscal year.  The pandemic has dealt a big blow to India's unorganised sector. But it helped several organised sectors register a good growth. Over the last two years, Indian IT companies reaped rich dividends as the world underwent digital transformation at a frantic pace. India's $194-billion IT industry has been a big beneficiary from the pandemic. It spurred global companies to bolster investments in services, ranging from cloud-computing, digital payment infrastructure to cyber-security. In fact, industry body NASSCOM has recently pointed out that before the pandemic, Indian IT companies were reporting annual growth rates of around 6-7%, which have now increased to around 15-20%.  However, the industry's growth has brought with it an increased scale of attrition. Indian IT majors and newer tech start-ups flush with venture capital money are competing for the same talent pool. And as evidenced by payments startup BharatPe luring techies with the promise of BMW bikes and paid holidays to Dubai, the entry of these VC-backed startups is driving up the industry's compensation metrics, leading to higher attrition rates, which for most companies including TCS, hovers around 15-16% today. Even as Indian IT services players keep pace with their global peers, they need to be ready to adapt to a volatile market, where change is the only constant. Another question that remains open is what will happen to the industry's momentum if and when the rapid pace of digital adoption driven by COVID-19 settles down.     Watch video

Traci Fenton is the founder and CEO of WorldBlu, a global leadership education company teaching top CEO, leaders, and their organizations how to lead with the proven Freedom at Work™ leadership model. Traci is also a globally-recognized keynote speaker, author, and coach to CEOs and top leaders worldwide. Traci is a “Thinkers50 Radar” award winner, received the Game Changer award for “Outstanding Results in Shaping the World,” was named a “World-Changing Woman in Conscious Business,” has been recognized in Inc. magazine as a “Top 50 Leadership  Thinker,” and as a Marshall Goldsmith “Top 100 Coach” in the world.  Traci founded WorldBlu in 1997 and has helped spark and lead the global conversation around leading and reinventing workplaces using freedom and organizational democracy rather than fear and control. Traci and her team have helped hundreds of top companies and leaders at world-class organizations such as The WD-40 Company, DaVita, HCL Technologies, Mindvalley, Pandora, Podio, RevAsia, GE Aviation, Zappos, and more in over 100 countries worldwide. Traci developed the groundbreaking Freedom at Work™ leadership model based in part on the WorldBlu 10 Principles of Organizational Democracy as well as numerous mindset, leadership, and organizational design courses, all of which are delivered on BluSpark™, the cutting-edge gamification learning technology she developed. Traci frequently speaks to top leaders, and has spoken at numerous organizations such as Harvard, Yale, Yahoo! and the US Naval Academy, and at worldwide events such as South by Southwest and TEDx.  Her work has been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, the Christian Science Monitor, the New York Times, Inc., BusinessWeek, NPR, the BBC, and dozens of other media outlets around the world as well as in over three dozen books. She is the author of the book Freedom at Work: The Leadership Strategy for Transforming Your Life, Your Organization, and Our World. Learn more at: worldblu.com http://worldblu.com/freedomatworkbook (worldblu.com/freedomatworkbook) www.marlanasemenza.com Audio : Ariza Music Productions Transcription : Vision In Word Marlana: Tracy Fenton is the founder and CEO of World Blu, a globally recognized keynote speaker, author and coach to CEOs and top leaders Worldwide. Welcome, Tracy. Traci: Great to be with you. Thanks for having me.  Marlana: So today we're going to talk about a fearless mindset. And first let me ask you what you really mean by fearless? Is it just fearing less? Is it absence of fear? Is it talk to us a little bit about that? So, we have a basis? Traci: That's a great question. There's a lot of ways to look at what fear is. A lot of people when they think of fear, they think of the acronym False Evidence Appearing Real which I love. It's a way of describing fear. I like to think of fear as a limited point of view of what we're capable of and what we're not capable of doing. Why I say this is because the brain research tells us that the average person thinks 60,000 thoughts a day, and 80% of those thoughts are the exact same thoughts we had the day before and have those exact same thoughts. 95% of those thoughts are negative and fear based. Marlana: Oh! Wow! Traci:  And so, most of the time, we're thinking fear based thoughts. And we might not even realize it, you know, we tend to use words like, I feel stressed, or I feel rushed, or I feel anxious, or I'm limiting myself, or I want to up level and I can't get there or excuses or lack of personal accountability, all of that when you dial it down, it comes back to fear, it's at the root of it. And another thing that's very interesting about fear is that when we're in a state of fear, the peripheries of our brain shut down, and we become myopic. So, we literally have a limited point of view. And so that's why I like to think of fear as a limited point of

In this episode of the AITJ podcast, we talk to Aruna Pattam about her career at HCL, overcoming hurdles in AI implementation, data industries in the Asia-Pacific region, and more! ---- Aruna Pattam, Head of AI & Data Science at HCL Technologies https://www.linkedin.com/in/arunapattam Melissa Drew, Associate Editor at AI Time Journal https://www.linkedin.com/in/m-drew/ Our website - https://www.aitimejournal.com/ --- Sponsor our podcast! With options of sponsoring your own podcast interview or multiple episodes with your 30-second ad featured pre, mid, and post-roll throughout your sponsored episode(s), this is a great opportunity to invite listeners to explore your company and brand. To learn more, please visit https://store.aitimejournal.com --- Do you want to be interviewed by AI Time Journal? Complete the Interview Inquiry Form at https://www.aitimejournal.com/interview-inquiries and we will contact you if you are a good fit!

How are business leaders using experience design to keep up with the pace of change? On this episode, host Shawn Nason is joined by a panel of experts to talk about the role that experience design plays when innovation gets accelerated. Guests include Braden Kelley, customer experience and innovation solution director at HCL Technologies; Diane Stover-Hopkins, founder and CEO of ExPeers; and Michael Horn, senior strategist at Guild Education. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anshuman Kumar is the Director of Global Brand and Corporate Communications at Intuit, and previously Global Head of Employee Engagement at HCL Technologies. A believer in collective storytelling, Anshuman led the charge to help establish Intuit as an employer of choice by empowering employees to evangelize and amplify Intuit's culture. This unique employee-powered transformation helped Intuit rank as the #1 Best Company to Work For by the Great Place to Work Institute in India and is featured as a case study in organizational transformation by Harvard Business Review.