We’ve entered the era of hyper digitalization

We caught up with Dharmender Kapoor, CEO & MD, Birlasoft, and discussed a wide range of issues, including the balance required in the Work From Anywhere (WFA) culture, the serious threat of cyber attacks, why cryptocurrencies have to be regulated and the three irreversibles. Excerpts from the video interview...

The need to balance Work From “Home” & “Office”

I truly believe that the working model is changing. I have been looking at defining the new model because you cannot grow while sitting at home. If somebody is interested in growing in their career, they will have to step out and go and meet people. That will define how the personality of an individual is going to develop. Freshers still need to understand what the work culture is, what personality development they would need when they are working in a services organization.

How do they interact with the client, how do they manage the escalation and what does it mean to be a dependable partner to our customers? We also give the flexibility that if we allow them to work from home or wherever due to the nature of the work, then we provide that flexibility also. We need to have a good balance between what can be done and being in the office and what can be done from faraway locations. This new model is going to stay forever.

Client regrets during the pandemic

During the pandemic I asked a very simple question to my clients: What would you have done differently if you knew the pandemic was hitting the world one year down the line. They said: I wish I had moved to the cloud. I wish I had opened my online channel. I wish I was directly connected with my consumer so that I could really determine what they needed. I wish I could have taken care of cybersecurity.

The era of hyper digitalization

The speed of change is significant and the amount of digitalization that has happened in the last one year, it did not happen in the last 7-8 years. It is the time of hyper digitalization that we are seeing. How do I very quickly break barriers and connect with the outer world is what digitalization is all about? It is not about really using technology but it is about the real business value that we need to get out of digital.

The threat of cyber attacks

One thing that keeps me awake is cyber attacks, because you need to really ensure that you have covered all your gaps in the infrastructure, in the applications, in the cloud and everywhere so that you continue to protect yourself, your information and data. IT services companies are far more vulnerable because we provide services to many of our clients and sometimes we can be seen as a gateway to their environment. We need enough investment in ensuring that we have put our house in order from the cybersecurity point of view.

The danger of cryptocurrencies

There is a lot of discussion over cryptocurrencies and I have nothing against that. But the usage of that cryptocurrency sometimes to get ransomware, that is wrong. There must be some rules and guidelines and ways to govern that. Otherwise we are going to be vulnerable: Not just the company and industry, but the country too.

The 3 irreversibles

There are three irreversibles. The first is hyper digitalization. Everything is going to be digital. There is no looking back. The second irreversible is Artificial Intelligence and data will be king and they will be disruptive going forward. The third is this whole new working model. We can resist it, but I don’t think we can avoid it. We need to start preparing our HR policies. We need to understand how to deal with people, how to manage talent better and how to upskill. The trends are going to emerge from these irreversibles.

Check out the complete interview...