CIO & LEADER-November 2017 (1)

FEATURE 

15 must-haves for the IT 

leader's bookshelf Pg 34 

INSIGHT 

New CIO Appointments 

Pg 28 

Volume 06 

Issue 08 

November 2017 

150 

TRACK TECHNOLOGY BUILD BUSINESS SHAPE SELF 

THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF 

DIGITAL PAYMENT 

Demonetization did not push up digital payments but took it 

to the common man. What that means for businesses... 

pg. 06 

A 9.9 Media Publication

EDITORIAL 

Shyamanuja Das 

shyamanuja.das@9dot9.in 

Digtal 

Payment: 

Understanding 

the Shift 

P 

After more than a 

year, it is probably 

time to take a 

dispassionate look 

at the real impact of 

demonetization on 

digital payment in 

India. What better 

way than analyzing 

data to ensure that 

dispassionateness? 

Post-demonetization, when we were left 

with literally no money in our pockets, it is 

Paytm that most of us turned to. Some of us 

had Paytm accounts; some of us did not. And 

the only thing that separated us, the Paytmhaves, 

from our Paytm-havenot friends, is the 

use of Uber services. Yes, almost all of us had 

signed up for Paytm because initially, that is 

the only form of payment that Uber accepted. 

After some time, while the cab-aggregator 

started accepting cash, we stuck to wallets 

because it was far more convenient. Yet, 

few used Paytm for anything else. And 

here, I am talking of a set of people who 

have been using non-cash payments 

such as credit cards and debit cards for 

several years now. 

Why did we start using Paytm? Elementary, 

my dear Watson; that is the only 

type of payment the neighborhood kirana 

store accepted; that is the only form of 

payment Mother Diary outlets in Delhi 

accepted; the usage was everywhere. 

After more than a year, it is probably 

time to take a dispassionate look at the 

real impact of demonetization on digital 

payment in India. What better way than analyzing 

data to ensure that dispassionateness? 

That is what we have done, largely, in this 

issue’s cover story. 

So, what are the findings? I do not want to 

give them away here but can actually say this 

much—it does confirm the anecdotal evidence 

that digital payment enhanced its breadth 

post-demonetization, reaching sections that 

had never used that before. The headline on 

the cover would have given you that already! 

We have also tried to figure out what it 

could mean for businesses? The consumer 

businesses and digital payment systems support 

each other. Initially, the (ab)use of Uber 

started Paytm. 

Talking of Uber, at the time of writing, it is 

there in news for wrong reasons—for allegedly 

failing to report massive compromise of 

customer data and paying hackers to hide it. 

Well, when we talk of digital payments, 

digital business, digital India and 4th industrial 

revolution, we cannot close our eyes to 

this real threat. In case of payment, a hack 

could actually mean a direct financial loss to 

all parties 

November 2017 | CIO&LEADER 

1

S P I N E 

A 9.9 Media Publication 

FEATURE 

15 must-haves for the IT 

leader's bookshelf Pg 34 

TRACK TECHNOLOGY BUILD BUSINESS SHAPE SELF 

INSIGHT Volume 06 

New CIO Appointments Issue 08 

November 2017 

Pg 28 

150 

Demonetization did not push up digital payments but took it 

to the common man. What that means for businesses... 

pg. 06 

CONTENT 

NOVEMBER 2017 

COVER STORY 

06-10| The 

Democratization of 

Digital Payment 

Demonetization did not push up, let alone initiate digital payments. 

But it managed to spread it significantly. It is now for the consumer 

businesses to make innovative use of the new regime 

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2 CIO&LEADER | November 2017

INTERVIEW 

04-05 

Manufacturing of 

tomorrow is smart 

manufacturing 

INSIGHT 

12-13 

Good news for India; 

Internet freedom 

remains stable in 2017 

14-15 

7 trends driving 

enterprise IT 

transformation 

20-21 

How will digitalization 

transform jobs: A trade view 

by UNCTAD preparedness of 

Indian enterprises 

26-27 

2018 top 10 BI/ 

Analytics trends 

OPINION 

32-33 

Peanut butter and jelly 

FEATURE 

34-40 

15 books for the 

IT leader's bookshelf? 

www.cioandleader.com 

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3

INTERVIEW 

"Manufacturing 

of tomorrow 

is smart 

manufacturing" 

Monica Menghini, Executive Vice President 

& Chief Strategy Officer, Dassault Systèmes 

provides a glimpse in to manufacturing in 

India and the role of CIO, CTO and CDO 

How is the Indian 

manufacturing evolving? 

To me, manufacturing is probably 

the part of the value stream of the 

industry that has been the least 

innovative unlike design engineering. 

The sales force of the world is 

changing. The way we manage sales 

and marketing is changing. However, 

in manufacturing, not a lot has 

changed since the 19th century. 

We started automating processes 

just 30 years ago with robotics and 

assembling things. The reality is 

that the manufacturing of tomorrow 

is smart manufacturing. I see that 

everyone in the world is at the same 

level – still trying to understand. 

It is a difficult question to answer 

since I'm unsure of India's positioning 

from a manufacturing point of 

view. Take Siemens' example; They 

talk about manufacturing 4.0 and 

automation, which was already 

invented 30 years ago. Globally, 

things have moved from mechanical 

manufacturing to automation. In 

India, however, you have the same 

mix; you have some of the industry 

that's still into mechanical assembly 

while others are automating their 

processes while others are still 

in the process of investigating or 

experimenting industrial IoT. 

What is the role of the CIO 

in a manufacturing setup? 

In your opinion, how should 

the CIO go about choosing the 

right IT solution for his/her 

manufacturing setup? 

Today the biggest tip for a CIO is citing 

the frog and the prince charming 

analogy. A point solution can be 

effective but it is not scalable and is 

not capable in the long-term to 

transform the shop floor operation 

into a manufacturing set up that is 

humanized and highly intuitive in 

terms of collecting IoT information. So 

they need to start defining or giving 

the enterprises their definition of 

success. Most of the time, the CIO, and 

each one of us is actually trying to find 

a solution. Instead they should start 

by asking when to involve the partner 

in the long-term. 

The reason for purchasing a 

point solution is that there is a 

mentality that a platform is difficult 

to be adopted by a manufacturing 

organization. For a CIO to choose 

the best, he/she needs a product that 

is going to last them for the next 20 

years. I think that there are forward 

thinkers who are capable of keeping 

the things in a way that idon't 

disturb the day to day working of the 

organization. Thereofore, it depends 

on the CIO's vision and mission for 

the organization. The second tip 

for the CIO is to become a business 

manager because the reality is that the 

technology is not useful unless there's 

a business ROI associated with it.. In 

terms of profits, there is no certainty in 

terms of production or time to market. 

Therefore, the business executive is 

responsible for the execution of the 

project and therefore, possesses a 

different perspective. he/she thinks 

differently and at the end, the best of 

the market could think differently 

from a technological mind would 

have foreseen. 

In India, a new role is 

emerging. The Chief 

Digital Officer (CDO) is 

responsible for all types of 

digital initiatives in the 

organization. Do you see these 

roles collaborating with the 

rest of the organization to 

define the strategy for digital 

transformation in their 

enterprises? 

It depends on the CDO whether he 

is part of the executive committee of 

the company. The titles can differ; so 

can the responsibilities. These roles, 

whether it is the CDO or CTO or CTDO, 

all report into the CIO, and sometimes 


Monica Menghini, Dassault Systèmes 

Interview 

“We talk 

about 

Industry 

4.0 and 

automation 

now,which 

was already 

invented 30 

years ago" 

–Monica Menghini, Executive 

Vice President & Chief 

Strategy Officer, 

Dassault Systèmes 

to the CFO. This is an approach that 

radically changes because transformation 

becomes directly proportional to 

cost. You cannot develop and execute 

transformation thinking and, at the 

same time, worry about cost. That is 

impossible. Innovation can be frugal 

and therefore, it doesn’t cost anything 

or it can be an enormous investment 

over the counter and you cannot treat 

transformation and procurement the 

same way. For instance, if the CDO is 

a person with real power, he sits with 

the executive committee, can speak 

his mind, and can really recommend 

what needs to be done and then rest of 

the executive committee needs to take 

a decision after listening to him. He 

will be the most powerful guy in the 

world because every single board in the 

world, and every single executive in a 

company , is looking for experienced 

professionals in the field of technology 

and digitalization. 

With the changing 

ecosystem that you just 

described, where does 

Dassault Systèmes see the 

opportunity from an Indian 

manufacturing perspective? 

For small manufacturers, in terms 

of providing a solution, we do have 

a sales steam that is deeply focused 

on adddressing their needs. We treat 

these companies in the same way 

as we treat like a giant such as Tata 

or Mahindra. They are aware of our 

diverse portfolio. Then, there are 

exploratory or discovery projects. We 

have over 43 fabrication labs in India 

and we are opening or collaborating 

with the governments and several 

national researchers. Whether it is 

for space or for transportation and 

mobility, and sometimes, it is for 

new types of industries. Take for 

instance,biotech space, we are as much 

involved in creating a tissue which 

gives that energy to embryos. At this 

time, the small manufacturer is at a 

critical space because the majority 

of the mainstream companies are 

either investigating whether they 

want to become a giant or they want 

to stay where they are. India, at the 

moment, is the best place to be and 

being in between if you want, they 

have the same access as the big clients 

in solutions and support or even 

partnership. If I count our strategic 

partnerships around the world, you 

will find that there are many small 

manufacturers who are partners as 

compared to the big manufacturing 

gains of the industry 


5



Demonetization did not push up, let alone initiate digital payments. 

But it managed to spread it significantly. It is now for the 

consumer businesses to make innovative use of the new regime 

By Shyamanuja Das

Every three years since 2001, the Reserve 

Bank of India (RBI) has been releasing what it 

calls a payment systems vision – a document 

that articulates the policy and regulatory 

stance it would take with regards to payment 

systems for next three years. 

In its fourth such document, called Payment System Vision 

2012-15, released as a draft in June 2012 and finalized in 

October the same year, the central bank moved from just talking 

about attributes such as safety, security, interoperability 

and efficiency to explicitly give itself a mandate to push electronic 

payments. 

The vision statement of that document read something like 

this: To proactively encourage electronic payment systems 

for ushering in a less-cash society in India and to ensure payment 

and settlement systems in the country are safe, efficient, 

interoperable, authorized, accessible, inclusive and compliant 

with international standards. 

For the first time, two phrases entered the vision lexicon: 

Electronic payment and less-cash society. 

To put it in context, the vision document came only five 

months after the then finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, 

releasing a white paper on black money that explicitly 

stressed on the need to move to electronic payments to curb 

the circulation of black money. The white paper is not available 

in the Department of Revenue site anymore. 

RBI’s insertion of the phrase ‘less-cash society’ was seen 

by many as a dream than a vision at that time, though many 

hailed the idea behind it. 

But in the next few months, RBI demonstrated that it was 

serious. For one, it slashed debit card transaction fees; it 

mandated the banks to go for electronic payments even while 

allowing some concessions to mobile wallets. 

The switch to a digital payment regime had started in all 

earnest. The next few years saw digital payment forms registering 

triple digit growths. (see charts) 

November 2017 | CIO&LEADER 7

Cover Story 

A wrong assumption—like 

demonetization has significantly 

increased the value of online 

transactions in India—will 

result in wrong expectation and 

possibly wrong business strategy 

Three and half years later, when the central bank released its 

next three-year vision document, Payment Systems Vision 

2018, the focus had shifted to well-defined outcomes: Continued 

decrease in the share of paper-based clearing instruments, 

consistent growth in individual segments of retail 

electronic payment systems (NEFT, IMPS, Card transactions, 

mobile banking, etc.) and increase in registered customer 

base for mobile banking and explicit statements about infrastructure—significant 

growth in acceptance infrastructure 

and accelerated use of Aadhaar in payment systems. 

Demonetization: The madness? 

Demonetization, even as it came so shockingly, was thus 

not ‘complete madness’, as critics claim; nor was it as ‘pioneering’ 

a step, as the supporters hail it. It just followed a very 

well-defined, focused method initiated at least four years 

back. It was consistent with the policies initiated by the previous 

government. 

While the jury is still out on the real impact of demonetization 

in terms of achieving its originally stated objective—to 

curb black money—there is no denying that it did impact the 

way India transacts. 

Anecdotal evidences abound on how the likes of Paytm 

invaded each market, each galli, and each shop. All we do 

here is to look at cold data, published by RBI, to see what it 

achieved and what it did not. 

The real impact of demonetization 

What we ask here is a very specific question that can be 

answered—and more importantly, is extremely relevant to 

our readers. That is: Has demonetization helped in pushing 

up digital payments? 

We try to explore the question by taking the data route. 

We examine here five data points. 

a. Value growth in credit card usage (PoS only) 

b. Value growth in debit card usage (PoS only) 

c. Value growth in retail electronic clearing such as NEFT, 

IMPS etc 

d. Value growth in m-wallet usage 

e. Value growth in other prepaid cards usage (excluding 

paper vouchers) 

The card usage data shows that between August 2016 and 

August 2017, the monthly usage of credit card value has 

increased by 41%, which is significantly, though not disruptively, 

higher than the growth in annual usage (in terms of 

value) witnessed in the previous three financial years of 2015- 

16 (25%), 2014-15 (23%) and 2013-14 (25%). In short, demonetization 

has had some impact on driving credit card usage. 

However, if one examines monthly data, it is clear that 

while the usage did go up significantly during demonetization 

period—between November and January—the growth 

today is at a higher level than its January level. So, it has been 

a more gradual growth. So, a definite conclusion is not possible. 

However, it is safe to say that demonetization did help in 

some manner, pushing up credit card usage. 

The debit card usage data is not so ambiguous. Between 

August 2016 and August 2017 (the last month for which 

detailed data is available), the monthly debit card usage (in 

terms of value) went up by 93%, as compared to 31%, 27% and 

28% growths in the previous three year (annual value). That’s 

a huge jump. Further, the monthly data shows that, unlike 

credit cards, the big push to debit cards came during the 

demonetization months of November 2016 to January 2017. 

In fact, the usage sharply dropped in February after availability 

of cash. It has been in the February levels in even now; that 

is close to 30% below the January peak. 


Cover Story 

So, it is much easier to conclude that demonetization had 

had a big impact on driving debit card usage in PoS or using 

them as a real payment instrument, rather than just withdrawing 

cash. 

Of course, in case of both credit card and debit card usage, 

we have used the PoS usage only and not the ATM usage, as 

ATM usage is for cash. 

The impact on mobile wallets has been significant too. 

Between August 2016 and August 2017, the monthly usage 

of mobile wallets in terms of value grew by 236% as compared 

to 152%, 198% and 174% annual growths in the previous 

three years. It is a no-brainer than demonetization did 

push up mobile wallet usage. But what is more important is 

that unlike debit cards, the mobile wallet usage saw a more 

permanent growth and even today is at a level that is significantly 

higher than pre-demonetization months. 

So, data suggests that mobile wallets gained immensely 

from the demonetization move. 

Prepaid cards actually saw a lower growth in monthly 

value usage between August 2016 and August 2017. They 

grew 120% in this period, as compared to growth of 143% and 

278% in annual usage value in the previous two years. 

In short, demonetization has had no impact on prepaid card 

usage, not even during November to January, as the monthly 

data reveals. 

Let us finally look at the retail electronic clearing data, 

which accounts for more than 90% of all retail electronic 

transactions in terms of value. In fact, all the other four payment 

methods we have examined here combined account for 

just about 5% of retail electronic clearing like NEFT, IMPS 

and ECS. 

The analysis of retail electronic clearing data shows that the 

monthly usage in terms of value grew 44% between August 

2016 and August 2017, marginally higher than the 40% 

growth witnessed in the annual usage in the previous year 

(2015-16) and 38% growth witnessed in the year before that. 

Demonetization has very little impact on driving the 

growth of electronic bank payments. 

So, what is the final conclusion? 

The significant growth in debit card usage and mobile wallet 

usage shows that demonetization did push up the usage 

of electronic payment in the segments that use them. The 

explosive growth in these two segments showcase that many 

users who did not use electronic payments earlier came into 

the ‘system’ and started using electronic payments. 

To that extent, demonetization did democratize electronic 

payment in India to a great extent—not a mean achievement. 

However, did it turn India into a digital economy by significantly 

pushing digital payments? The answer is a BIG 

no. More than 90% of the payments are through banks like 

NEFT, ECS and IMPS. That has not shown any major disruptive 

impact from demonetization. 

How does it matter? 

But beyond demonetization, the big question is how the 

future unfolds. 

Non-cash transactions in India are likely to grow at a CAGR 

of 26.2% between 2016 and 2020. Further, the Government 

has an aggressive target of 25 billion non-cash transactions 

for 2017–2018, with priority areas being mobile, government 

benefits/subsidy transfers, and micropayments. That total 

is expected to comprise 11 billion card systems transactions, 

6 billion mobile transfers, and 8 billion online transfers. A 

focus on contactless payments for public transport is the next 

item on NPCI’s agenda to boost digital payments in India. 

Beyond politics, why is this question—and its answers— 

important for business? 

The future strategy of most consumer businesses will 

depend on how the digital payment scenario evolves. 

Depth—more value transactions happening online—will 

have a different implication than breadth—a wider base of 

digital payers. 

The implications for consumer businesses selling high 

value, low volume items such as electronics, furniture etc. 

will be different than the implications for low value, high vol- 


9

Cover Story 

“Beyond 

demonetization, 

the big question 

is how the future 

unfolds” 

ume businesses like retail, telecom, transport and FMCG. 

A wrong assumption—like demonetization has significantly 

increased the value of online transactions in India—will 

result in wrong expectation and possibly wrong business 

strategy. Similarly, not taking into account the significant 

upsurge noticed in terms of spread of digital payments may 

cost companies in terms of opportunity lost while formulating 

future selling and distribution strategies. 

A wider digital payment network impacts most industries, 

especially B2C businesses, in more ways than one. 

Most obvious, though less dramatic, impact of this democratization 

of digital payment will be enhanced efficiency of 

revenue cycles. This will be fairly secular across industries. 

Secondly, as digital payments become more widespread, 

companies can reach segments hitherto unreachable. This 

will be enabled by the fintechs whose models allow them to 

reach these sections at a fraction of the costs than the traditional 

banks. B2C businesses can take their help to reach out 

to these segments. 

“As collaboration becomes more accepted, merchant and 

third-party provider (TPP) partnerships are expected to 

become widespread as banks are bypassed in the development 

of customized offerings and innovative and secure 

payments solutions,” notes World Payment Report 2017, 

released by Capgemini and BNP Paribas. 

And finally, certain segments such as retail can directly 

leverage the hitherto unreachable to offer innovative 

value ads. 

“The increased digitization of services means retail merchants 

must find new and better ways to engage with their 

customers, and payments will be central to this,” says the 

World Payment Report. 

In India, many large consumer businesses have taken to 

creation of their mobile wallets. 

In e-commerce, it has almost become an industry standard. 

While Snapdeal started it by buying Freecharge (since then it 

has sold it to Axis Bank), Flipkart bought PhonePe. Amazon 

has been aggressively pushing its own Amazon Pay, offering 

attractive incentives to its customers for using it. Ola Cabs, 

the prime challenger to Uber, has its own Ola Money. The 

telecom companies—Airtel, Vodafone and Jio—have their 

own wallets; not to talk of banks, which have launched them 

for their non-customers too. 

“India has lower per capita non-cash transactions, therefore 

there is substantial opportunity for growth, particularly as 

financial inclusion and digital payments initiatives are rolled 

out,” it notes. 

As digital allows greater flexibility, newer business 

models will emerge. Payment APIs can be integrated to the 

service itself. 

However, like all business model shifts do, this change will 

be accompanied by new questions about value chains as they 

will get readjusted. Security will be a big concern, as in a digital 

payment regime where all sections of society use digital 

payments, the possibility of direct impact on consumers, 

of a security breach, is high. One large incident at this stage 

will significantly derail the shift. That is another story, for 

another day. 

The democratization of digital payment has laid the foundation 

stone of a digital India far more realistically than disparate, 

disjointed big bang digital projects. To that extent, it is 

truly the beginning of a new phase 


INSIGHT 

Good news for 

India; Internet 

freedom remains 

stable in 2017 

India has the second largest number of Internet 

subscribers in the world after China in 2017 

By CIO&Leader 


Insight 

Source: Freedom of the net 2017 report 

IIndia has over 460 million internet users in India. 

The rise in internet awareness and literacy keeps this 

number is growing everyday. However, factors such 

as network shutdowns, cyberattacks, among others 

impact internet freedom like no other. However, 

unlike last year, when the number of network shutdowns 

ordered by local authorities increased dramatically. 

This year observed comparatively lesser 

incidents including temporary telecommunication 

service shutdowns, among others. 

According to Freedom on the Net 2017 report, 

improving internet access in India was offset by 

network and social media shutdowns ordered by 

authorities. It was worse in other countries. Online 

manipulation and disinformation tactics played an 

important role in elections in at least 18 countries in 

2016, including the United States. A record number 

of governments have restricted mobile internet service 

for political or security reasons, often in areas 

populated by ethnic or religious minorities. For the 

third consecutive year, China was the world’s worst 

abuser of internet freedom, followed by Syria 

and Ethiopia. 

India has the second largest number of Internet 

subscribers in the world after China in 2017, having 

overtaken the United States. Still, internet penetration 

in India remains low, reaching 33% in June 2017, 

five up from 27% in June 2016. However, mobile penetration 

in India increased from 81% in 2016 to 92% 

by June 2017. The Broadband Commission ranked 

India 78 out of 196 countries in terms of mobile 

broadband penetration, up from 156 out of 179 countries 

the previous year. 

In the last three years, India has taken some tough 

stands towards privacy. In 2015, The Supreme 

Court struck down Section 66A of the IT Act, which 

allowed arrests for objectionable content online, and 

upheld citizen's rights to freedom and expression. 

This year in 2017, the SC upheld privacy as a fundamental 

right. This, and the stabilization of internet 

freedom, is a sign that India is maturing and adjusting 

to a digital economy 


13

Insight 

7 trends driving 

enterprise IT 

transformation 

People taking control of digital experience is one of the 

trends that will be seen in 2018 


IIt’s all about transformation in 2018, as global 

brands and government agencies look to use 

technology to better serve their customers, and 

differentiate themselves from the competition. 

Many of the hype-technologies of recent 

years – software-defined networking (SDN), 

the Internet of Things (IoT), and Artificial 

Intelligence (AI) to name but a few – are now 

in the mainstream, and 2018 is the year when 

attention will turn to what organizations do 

with them. Those organizations that are best 

able to realize tangible benefits from technology 

deployments, without adding more complexity 

to their operations, will win the day. 

Here is Verizon Enterprise Solution’s view 

of those enterprise technology trends that are 

most likely to impact our global business and 

government customers in 2018. 


Insight 

1. SDN has lift off! 

With software-defined networking 

(SDN) deployments now live around 

the globe, companies are beginning to 

explore what they can really do with 

the security, agility and flexibility of 

virtualized network services. The next 

big thing is application-aware networking 

– managing the performance, 

capabilities and security of applications 

to make the most of bandwidth 

- ever more critical in an increasingly 

complex content world. 

2. Security goes 

underground 

Security will undertake a step change 

in 2018, and become embedded into 

the platform, supporting everything 

a business does. We’re talking end-toend 

managed security infrastructure 

for the network, the developer and 

applications. In today’s threat landscape, 

it’s all about global scale – but 

openness and information sharing to 

combat the bad guy, both online and 

in the real world will also become the 

norm. With this step change, measuring 

security effectiveness is imperative 

so that cyber-risks can be integrated 

into any enterprise risk assessment. 

The quantification of security posture, 

maturity and hygiene will not only 

enable effective risk management, but 

also establish a security ROI - a key 

ability for the C-suite. 

3. Digital collaboration is 

table stakes 

Savvy organizations have been moving 

away from aging PBXs to IP-based 

telephony systems over recent years 

- but 2018 will be the year when digital 

technologies really begin to transform 

workplace collaboration, not least as 

third party compliance becomes a 

major frustration. Employees expect to 

be able to seamlessly access calendar 

information, share documents and 

schedule calls across platforms, quickly 

and securely. The focus is therefore 

on enabling multi-channel access to 

improve both the user experience and 

productivity. Software-defined networking 

will facilitate intelligent data 

management and multi-platform call 

routing for more effective collaboration, 

and mobile apps will put the 

power of information directly into the 

hands of employees or consumers. 

4. Artificial Intelligence 

and Robotics take on the 

Internet of Things 

IoT will become part of the fabric of an 

organization in 2018 – the challenge 

will be how to integrate device management 

into overall IT infrastructure 

in a way that doesn’t overwhelm the 

organization. This is where AI and 

robotics will come into their own, 

offering intelligent automation of 

managed IoT deployments cheaply 

and efficiently. 

5. People take control of 

the digital experience 

Consumers are increasingly aware of 

the power of their data, and in 2018 

will become choosier about their 

engagements. Brands will need to be 

aware of how they deal with data, as 

their customers will be looking for 

mobile, secure, simple interactions for 

a higher level of intimacy. Brands that 

can deliver on this will stand out. 

6. Interoperability will 

be a priority for public 

safety 

2017 has seen a large number of both 

terrorist incidents and natural disasters 

around the globe. Seamless, secure 

connections across rapidly deployable 

networks -- particularly those dedicated 

to first responders – will be a critical 

focus in 2018, particularly in the 

United States in the context of FirstNet. 

Interoperability will let companies 

and public safety organizations benefit 

from choice in network and technology 

services, will drive innovation through 

market competition, and will also 

help control costs. Most importantly, 

interoperability will better enable first 

responders to keep in touch and communicate 

with authorities and private 

citizens, should disaster strike. 

7. Simple is the goal 

As the world becomes more complicated, 

business success is increasingly 

about separating out core versus chore. 

Successful organizations will focus 

on delivering key business outcomes, 

and will outsource the non-core to key 

partners. Working out who does what 

to quickly reduce complexity to the 

point where things become simple will 

define future business success 


15

Insight 

Security more 

important than 

convenience in 

online payments 

for Indians 

However, there is a much greater acceptance of digital 

payments, finds the survey by Visa 



Insight 

FFour out of five respondents (81%) in a recent 

survey said security is an important factor while 

considering online payments. This is similar across 

the board - gender, ages, household income and even 

education levels. 

The study, conducted by Visa, observed high 

inclination amongst Indian consumers (78%) in 

favour of adopting newer modes of digital payments, 

indicating increased awareness, acceptance 

and adoption of digital forms of payments among 

Indian consumers. 

One of the factors that surfaced as the key driver 

of this adoption was the ease of transition to digital 

form factors of payments, as stated by 86% of the 

respondents. Amongst those who have used lesscash 

currently than before, 70% state that the main 

reasons to transit away from cash include – convenience, 

efficiency and speed of transaction offered 

by digital modes. 

This survey was aimed at understanding the 

pulse of the Indian consumer and their views 

towards the transition to a digital economy. The 

study indicates that amongst people for whom this 

transition was tough: 

41% find that merchants they go to only 

accept cash 

39% are worried about the security of their 

transactions. 

52% find insufficient modes of payments as a 

key barrier. 

Visa, the world’s leader in digital payments, 

today announced an independent study, examining 

the consumer sentiment around digital payments 

in India. 

The survey also shows that millennials are more 

likely to use digital payments for everyday essentials 

like shopping at supermarkets, online, department 

stores, fast food restaurants, taxis/cabs etc. 

than other generations. The study also shows that 

the inclination towards embracing digital is higher 

amongst those from a higher income household. 

Cash vs Digital Payments in India 

34% 

33% 

36% 

31% 

2016 2017 2018 

Cash 

Digital 

39% 

25% 

Source: Visa 

“More and more consumers are becoming digital 

natives, expecting a differentiated experience, oriented 

towards convenience and practical usability. 

IoT, contactless payment technology, enabling simplified, 

secure and faster eCommerce experience 

are some of the trends defining the next wave of the 

future of payments. The study shows that while 

consumers are steadily embracing digital payments, 

they are also seeking secure payment forms,” says 

TR Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, Visa, 

India & South Asia. 

According to the survey, cash usage continues to 

decline marginally from around 33% last year, to 

31% currently, and is expected to come down further 

to around 25% over next 12 months. On the contrary, 

digital payment forms like card usage continues see 

uptake, rising from around 34% last year to over 

36% currently, and likely to touch 39% in next 12 

months. The numbers from the survey indicate a 

marginal impact of demonetization. 

The research probed over 2000 people across 

the Indian Subcontinent. Commissioned by Visa, 

the online survey was conducted independently 

by YouGov to find out the sentiment of the consumer 

adoption of digital payments and user habits 

in the region 


17

Insight 

Six must-haves 

that will determine 

the security 

preparedness of 

Indian enterprises 

The following are key takeaways from The Ponemon 

Institute and F5 Networks joint study 



Insight 

T 

The onslaught of cyberattacks has taught 

Indian organizations one important thing: The 

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is 

indispensable to a business’s survival. Cybersecurity 

exploits and material data breaches 

are contributing to changing attitudes about IT 

security programs. 

In order to discover how CISOs work, what 

they are doing, and where they should reside 

within the organization is key to strengthening 

their capability - The Ponemon Institute and 

F5 Networks collaborated on a global research 

study—The Evolving Role of CISOs and Their 

Importance to the Business. The following findings 

present key takeaways from the IT security 

leaders in India. 

Security is becoming a 

business priority 

According to the report, 57% of respondents 

have experienced big developments that are 

driving change in their attitudes about their 

security programs. However, 49% respondents 

believe their organization 

“Organizations 

are finally 

realizing the 

need for a 

stronger security 

posture in 

organizations" 

considers security to be a 

business priority. 

CISOs believe in 

the importance of 

an executive-level 

security leader 

According to the CISO 

report, 56% of respondents 

believe that there is a 

need for an executive-level, 

enterprise-wide responsibility 

role. This, in their 

opinion, is the most important governance practice 

for organizations. A similar percentage of respondents 

feel that the creation of a cross-functional committee 

to oversee IT security strategies is must. 

Companies need stronger 

policies to protect themselves 

from insider threat 

A total of 31% of respondents have had employees 

and supervisors are held strictly accountable for IT 

security infractions and non-compliance. 

Assess the risks created by the 

Internet of Things (IoT) 

83% of respondents feel IoT will cause significant 

or some change to their practices and requirements. 

Most of these companies are setting new policies and 

standard operating procedures. 

Hold third parties to a higher 

standard of security 

Outsourcing security functions is still considered 

an important option. A total of 60% of respondents' 

organizations outsource an average of 36% of IT 

security requirements. However, respondents agree 

that outsourcing security functions is considered an 

important option, it does create risks. 

Invest in technologies to protect 

endpoints, applications, and data 

According to the findings, 23% of IT security posture 

will be less dependent on network security in the 

next two years, and more dependent on application 

security (31%) and endpoint security (30%). 

These important findings sum up one important 

thing: The appointment of a CISO that will bring the 

necessary change 


19

Insight 

How will 

digitalization 

transform jobs? 

Excerpts from the UNCTAD's Information 

Economy Report 2017 


TThe impact on jobs created by the forces of digitalization 

is now a global debate. The issue has 

been addressed by the recently released annual 

Information Economy Report (IER) by the United 

Nations Conference on Trade and Development 

(UNCTAD). The report, with theme of Digitalization, 

Trade and Development, identifies four sets of 

changes to the labour market with increased digitalization: 

job creation, job destruction, job changes 

and job shifts. 

“This year’s Information Economy Report aims 

to augment our collective understanding of the way 

the digital economy works and its implications. 

It aims to help intensify policy dialogue and peer 

learning about the issues involved among developing 

and developed countries alike. And countries 

with more resources will need to reach out and 

assist those with less; current efforts are inadequate,” 

says Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General 

of UNCTAD. 

Greater reliance on digital technologies will 

lead to the creation of new jobs and occupations 

in various sectors, including for the production of 

new goods and services or existing products that 

respond to increased demand. The demand for 

work can be expected to grow in areas such as data 

analysis, software and applications (apps) development, 

networking and artificial intelligence (AI), as 

well as designing and production of new intelligent 

machines, robots and 3D printers. For example, 

with the greater use of IoT, firms will need to hire 

more product managers, software developers 

(including for smart phones), hardware designers, 

data scientists, user experience designers and sales 

managers. Similarly, there is likely to be job growth 

in “pure” digital firms, the report says citing example 

of job growths in the e-commerce sector in the 

US as well as for mobile developers in Vietnam. It 

also points to a million vacancies in cyber-security 

jobs worldwide, which is likely to grow to 1.5 million 

by 2019. 

Secondly, digitalization will make some jobs 

obsolete. Advances in computerization, software, 

automation, robots and AI enhance the scope for 

disruptions to traditional industries, with smart 

machines taking over functions currently performed 

by people. For example, according to a 2016 

study, 89% of all salaried workers in the Philippines’ 

BPO sector are at high risk of losing their 

jobs to automation. On-site security guards may 


Insight 

similarly be replaced by sensors monitored 

remotely in centres that provide 

surveillance for multiple sites. 

Thirdly, the nature of work will be 

affected. Digitalization may automate 

some tasks or activities but not others. 

An increasing number of tasks that 

are components of even highly skilled 

jobs risk becoming automated and/or 

outsourced. For example, secretarial 

work was first disrupted when computers 

reduced the need for assistants. 

The next disruption may be the shift 

to digital assistants, further reducing 

the need for secretarial assistance. The 

use of digital devices will grow in different 

jobs, requiring different kinds 

of skills. Car mechanics routinely 

run diagnostics on laptops, and truck 

drivers use GPS devices, including for 

route optimization, fuel efficiency and 

fuel prices. The next technology, which 

is already being rolled out, is connected 

devices that transmit usage and 

maintenance data (e.g. of car engines 

and tyres) directly to the factory and 

service facilities. 

Routine tasks that follow explicit and 

codifiable procedures, whether they 

are manually intensive (such as typing) 

or cognitive intensive (e.g. book- keeping), 

are more likely to be automated 

with software. A profound – and yet 

unanswered – question is what percentage 

of tasks in various jobs will 

ultimately yield to automation, and 

how much labour will be needed to 

perform the remaining tasks. Whether 

a job will continue to exist in a transformed 

form or disappear altogether, 

automation will change the traditional 

division of labour and tasks, affecting 

all sectors and all levels of skills. 

Finally, digitalization will change 

the conditions of work. Online platforms 

are matching tasks across the 

whole skills spectrum (from “counting 

clicks” to writing articles or coding). As 

noted in chapter III, these platforms 

are transforming labour markets by 

favouring certain types of contracts 

(freelance and contract work over 

regular employment) and enabling 

the entry of new competitors. As a 

result, workers with high levels of 

social protection find themselves in 

competition with other workers (in 

the domestic market or abroad) with 

low levels of social protection. This has 

implications for how benefits, health 

care and pensions are organized, and 

for the provision of training and continuing 

education. 

Digitalization is transforming jobs 

across all sectors and economies, and 

will create opportunities as well as 

challenges in developing countries. 

However, its overall effects remain 

uncertain, being context-specific and 

differing between countries and sectors. 

The main risk of digitalization is 

unlikely to be joblessness, but rather 

increased polarization and widening 

income inequality. While challenging, 

the impacts of digitalization on 

skills requirements, jobs and employment 

raise issues that are necessary 

to address. Countries that lack people 

with the relevant skills will be at a disadvantage. 

A range of policy measures 

on both the demand and supply side, 

including in the areas of education and 

skills development and in the labour 

market, may have to be considered. 

Measures will need to be adapted to 

each country, taking into account the 

current state and level of education, 

training and skills as well as the degree 

of digital connectivity and use. Irrespective 

of the situation in countries 

today, they should start preparing for 

future transformations. Activities and 

discussions related to the ILO’s Future 

of Work Centenary Initiative could 

support such preparations 


21

Insight 

C for CIOs; 

C for Change 

It is known that digitalization and technological evolution 

has transformed the role of the CIO 



Insight 

A 

According to 2018 Gartner CIO Agenda 

Survey, 51% of CIOs surveyed in India reported 

that they are taking charge of innovation and 

49% have indicated that they are heading up 

digital transformation. 

The survey results show that, overall 95% of 

CIOs expect their jobs to change or be remixed 

due to digitalization. IT delivery management 

is taking up less and less of the CIO's time. 

Respondents believe that the two biggest transformations 

in the CIO role will be becoming a 

change leader, followed by assuming increased 

and broader responsibilities and capabilities. 

Globally growth is the No. 1 CIO 

priority for 2018 

However in India, CIOs reported optimizing 

enterprise operational excellence (66%), tracking 

business value of IT (64%) and business cost 

optimization (62%) as their top priorities. The 

good news for CIOs in India is that more money 

will be available to support these priorities. IT 

budgets in India are expected to increase by 

7.4% in 2018. This compares to an expected 3% 

IT budget increase globally. 

Define the role – focus attention 

beyond IT 

At least 84% of all top CIOs surveyed have 

responsibility for areas of the business outside 

traditional IT. The most common are innovation 

and transformation. 51% of respondents in 

India said that the CIO in their organization is 

in charge of innovation while 49% said the CIO 

heads up digital transformation and 30% said 

the CIO leads enterprise change. The survey 

found that CIOs are spending more time on the 

business executive elements of their jobs compared 

with three years ago. In fact, CIOs from 

top performing organizations are spending up 

to four days more on executive leadership. The more 

mature an enterprise's digital business is, the more 

likely the CIO will report to the CEO. 

In a change from previous surveys, respondents 

were asked to name the top differentiating technologies 

(in previous years they were asked about investment 

levels). Business intelligence (BI) and analytics 

still retain the No. 1 spot, with top performers most 

likely to consider them strategic. 

Implement the new role 

79% of CIOs report that digital business is making 

their IT organizations more "change-ready," which 

suggests that now is a good time to implement change 

to the IT organizations, and, in turn, should make the 

transition to the new job of the CIO easier. 

The first part of the new job of the CIO is to build 

the required bench strength to scale the enterprise's 

digital business through support for the digital ecosystem. 

This means hiring new resources to put in 

place the right digital team structures. Some CIOs 

favor a separate digital team while others make digitalization 

part of the day job of IT. However, 71% of 

the top performers have a separate digital team to 

help them scale their digitalization efforts. The most 

common structure for these teams is to report to the 

CIO, although the biggest difference between the top 

performers and their peers is in the CEO reporting 

relationship of these teams. 

"The effects of digitalization are profound. 

The impact on the job of CIO and on the IT organization 

itself should not be underestimated," said 

Rowsell-Jones. "In this new world, CIO success is not 

based on what they build, but the services that they 

integrate. The IT organization will move from manufacturer 

to buyer, and the CIO will become an expert 

orchestrator of services. The real finding though is 

that this is happening now. CIOs must start scaling 

their digital business and changing their own jobs 

with it now." 


23

Insight 

New 

predictions 

serve as 

a wake 

up call for 

enterprises 

Forrester predicts that 2018 calls 

for a definitive action from leaders 

and their organizations 


IIt is the time of the year again when new predictions 

that will surpass top trends of 2017. Indian CIOs 

touted Digital transformation and customer experience 

(CX) as some of the major trends that transformed 

organizations and their cultures. According 

to Forrester's 2018 predictions, next year will force 

decisive action for organizations looking to: 

1. Take control of their destiny as platforms like Amazon 

and Google drive up disintermediation risk and 

make some companies unintentional utilities. 

2. Shift spend away from acquisition to confront escalating 

churn 

3. Revitalize customer experience in a market where 

rewards and punishments are doled out experience 

by experience. 

4. Transition to digital companies while maintaining 

their corporate identity and soul 

The top Forrester predictions for 2018 include: 

I. Declining CX quality 

In 2018, 30% of companies will see further declines 

in CX performance, and those declines will translate 

into a net loss of a point of growth. Smart executives 

will intervene to make CX an internal disruptive 

force, one that is underpinned by the fundamentals 

of CX management with customer trust at the core; 

too many executives will continue to ignore evidence 

of market disruption and procrastinate until the evidence 

is overwhelming, putting their firms at risk as 

we enter 2019. 


Insight 

II. Digital transformation as a risk 

In 2018, CEOs must show the political will and, with 

the CIO and CMO, orchestrate digital transformation 

across the enterprise. Some CEOs will use their balance 

sheet to acquire digital assets and buy time. But 

20% of CEOs will fail to act: As a result, those firms 

will be acquired or begin to perish. 

III. Talent gap and the digital divide 

In 2018, talent issues will widen the divide between 

digital predator and prey; laggards will need to more 

aggressively set up digital incubation centers in talent 

hotspots and pay up to 20% above the market rate 

to change the game. 

IV. Welcome to the machine 

In 2018, 10% of purchase decisions will be guided 

by a platform’s agent and start the real economic 

impact of empowered machines. Lines of businesses 

will also need to source talent to interpret AI-driven 

platforms.Twenty-five percent of CMOs will fail, 

resulting in their brand becoming undifferentiated 

and silenced in the market, according to Forrester's 

predictions. Additionally, intelligent agents will 

continue to strengthen their influence on consumers 

and pressure brands to engage through the subtle 

power of conversation. However, lack of skills, quasidifferentiated 

brands, and aged operations will 

become hurdles for traditional retailers — but the 

role of intelligent agents will be the thorniest issue in 

2018. Only 33% of retailers understand the disruptive 

nature of intelligent agents; 67% do not. 

V. GDPR compliance 

We predict that 80% of firms affected by GDPR will 

not comply with the regulation by May 2018. Of 

those noncompliant firms, 50% will intentionally 

not comply — meaning they have weighed the cost 

and risk and are taking a path that presents the best 

position for their firms. The other 50% are trying to 

comply but will fail. 

VI. Onslaught of fintech will 

positively impact banking sector 

Amazon and Google,well-positioned fintech provid- 

"In 2018, 75% of 

AI projects will 

underwhelm 

because they 

fail to model 

operational 

considerations" 

ers, and challenger banks will exploit access to 

data, disintermediating or supplanting incumbent 

banks. In 2018, Forrester predicts that more than 

50% of banks will fail to exploit open banking, starting 

down the slow, painful path to becoming an unintentional 

utility. 

VII. The operation issue of 

implementing AI 

In 2018, 75% of AI projects will underwhelm because 

they fail to model operational considerations, causing 

business leaders to reset the scope of AI investments 

— and place their firms on a path to realizing 

the expected benefits 

VIII. Creating a foundation 

for Blockchain 

In 2018, the combination of rhetoric and enthusiasm 

will continue to limit blockchain gains. However, 

30% of proofs of concept will accelerate blockchain 

for those companies able to consider its operational 

impact. 

IX. The security ROI 

In 2018, we will start to see security for profit measures 

driven by security, risk, and privacy teams with 

the support of their marketing and product peers. 

Central to this is identity management. In the coming 

year, 10% of firms will crack this code and gain new 

and powerful investment 


25

Insight 

2018 Top 10 

Analytics Trends 

BI software maker Tableau presents top 

BI trends for the new year 



Insight 

DDon’t 

fear AI 

Machine learning can make the data 

analytics process more efficient, leaving 

the analysts with more time to 

think about business implications and 

the next logical steps. It also helps the 

analyst explore and stay in the flow 

of their data analysis because they no 

longer have to stop and crunch the 

numbers. Instead, the analyst is asking 

the next question. 

The human impact of 

liberal arts 

As analytics evolves to be more art and 

less science, the focus has shifted from 

simply delivering the data to crafting 

data-driven stories that inevitably lead 

to decisions. 

The promise of NLP 

The rising popularity of Amazon 

Alexa, Google Home, and Microsoft 

Cortana have nurtured people’s expectations 

that they can speak to their 

software and it will understand what 

to do. This same concept is also being 

applied to data, making it easier for 

everyone to ask questions and analyze 

the data they have at hand. 

The debate for multi-cloud 

rages on 

As multi-cloud adoption rises, organizations 

will have to manoeuvre 

through the nuance of assessing 

whether their strategy measures 

how much of each cloud platform 

was adopted, internal usage, and the 

workload demands and implementation 

costs. 

Rise of the Chief Data 

Officer 

To derive actionable insights from data 

through analytics investments, organizations 

are increasingly realizing the 

need for accountability in the C-Suite 

to create a culture of analytics. For a 

growing number of organizations, the 

answer is appointing a Chief Data Officer 

(CDO) or Chief Analytics Officer 

(CAO) to lead business process change, 

overcome cultural barriers, and communicate 

the value of analytics at all 

levels of the organization. This allows 

the CIO to have a more strategic focus 

on things such as data security. 

The future of data 

governance is 

crowdsourced 

BI and analytics strategies will 

embrace the modern governance 

model: IT departments and data engineers 

will curate and prepare trusted 

data sources, and as self-service is 

mainstreamed, end users will have the 

freedom to explore data that is trusted 

and secure. Top-down processes that 

only address IT control will be discarded 

in favor of a collaborative development 

process combining the talents of 

IT and end users. 

Vulnerability leads to a 

rise in data insurance 

Cyber and privacy insurance covers a 

business’ liability for a data breach in 

which the customer’s personal information 

is exposed or stolen by a hacker. 

Data’s As data’s value increases and 

so do the threats, companies will look 

for an option Z—the last option. 

Increased prominence of 

the data engineer role 

Data engineers are responsible for 

extracting data from the foundational 

systems of the business in a way that 

can be used and leveraged to make 

insights and decisions. As the rate of 

data and storage capacity increases, 

someone with deep technical knowledge 

of the different systems, architecture, 

and the ability to understand 

what the business wants or needs 

starts to become ever more crucial. 

The location of things will 

drive IoT innovation 

One positive trend that is being seen 

is the usage and benefits of leveraging 

location-based data with IoT devices. 

This subcategory, termed “location 

of things,” provides IoT devices with 

sensing and communicates their geographic 

position. By knowing where 

an IoT device is located, it allows us to 

add context, better understand what 

is happening and what we predict will 

happen in a specific location. 

As it relates to analyzing the data, 

location-based figures can be viewed 

as an input versus an output of results. 

If the data is available, analysts can 

incorporate this information with their 

analysis to better understand what is 

happening, where it is happening, and 

what they should expect to happen in a 

contextual area. 

Universities double down 

on data science and 

analytics programs 

The hard skills of analytics are 

no longer an elective; they are a mandate. 

2018 will begin to see a more 

rigorous approach to making sure 

students possess the skills to join the 

modern workforce. And as companies 

continue to refine their data to extract 

the most value, the demand for a 

highly data-savvy workforce will exist 

— and grow 


27

Insight 

New CIO 

Appointments 

The year 2017 may come to a close, but the CIO churn 

is just beginning 



Insight 

Anthony Thomas to Join Nissan 

Motor As Global CIO 

Thomas was the Group CIO for all of GE Global 

businesses, where he worked closely with GE business 

leaders and partners across all regions outside 

USA to understand their local needs and deliver inmarket 

solutions that support GE's global technical 

strategy. Thomas is a Digital/Information Technology 

leader for global businesses, across sectors and 

geographies in both corporate and Management Consulting 

environments. 

He has a total of 25 years of which about 12 years 

leading Digital Transformations at a global level. 

Thomas has a proven track record in leading strategy, 

digital and organizational transformations, growing 

revenue opportunities, deepening business partnerships 

and establishing Global Centers of Excellence 

among others. 

He is a seasoned public speaker, recognized as a 

luminary in his field of leadership, technology and 

innovation, and a recipient of many industry honors 

and awards. Thomas is also an active member 

in the startup ecosystem as a founding member of 

CIO Angel Network (CAN), and a member of Indian 

Angel Network (IAN). 

Bhavin Purohit Joins Welspun 

Group As CIO 

Bhavin Purohit has taken over as CIO & Group IT 

Head at Welspun Group. He was the CIO at Arvind 

Ltd for more than three years. Purohit, a Next100 

jury, has earlier worked in large companies such 

as ICICI Bank, Godrej Industries and Siemens. His 

proven track record of handling large, complex 

projects on diverse platforms, has won him several 

accolades in the IT industry. His experience includes 

initiatives in the areas of technology innovations, IT 

strategy, IoT, ERP, supply chain management, sales 

automation, CRM, HRMS, Analytics, among others. 

Bhavin has a Bachelors degree in Electrical 

Engineering from Gujarat University and MBA 

from MDI, Gurgaon. He is also an alumni of IIM 

Ahmedabad and Michigan University' Ross School 

of Business. 


29

Insight 

Girish Rao Appointed As Future 

Group's Transformation Head 

Veteran technology leader Girish Rao has been 

appointed as the Chief Digital Transformation Officer 

of retail major Future Group. He will drive transformation 

initiatives across the group. Rao was earlier 

the Head - IT of FMCG company Marico where 

he served for more than a decade. Rao has been a 

member of the NEXT100 jury for last few years. 

Reliance Brands Has A New CTO 

P K X Thomas has taken over as Chief Technology 

Officer at Reliance Lifestyle Holdings Limited 

(Reliance Brands). An e-commerce industry veteran, 

he has served in companies such as Hpscotch, Cleartrip 

and had had an earlier stint with Reliance 

Brands itself. 

Archana Deskus is HPE’s New 

Global CIO 

Over the past several months, HPE has communicated 

a lot about HPE Next, a company-wide initiative 

that will architect a purpose-built company designed 

to compete and win in the markets where we participate. 

A key part of this program is a set of critical 

investments towards driving innovation, enhancing 

our go-to-market, and improving our business 

processes. And a key enabler of all of this will be our 

investments in IT. 

Archana Deskus will drive HPE's IT strategy. 

For the past four years, Archie was CIO at Baker 

Hughes where she transformed their IT organization 

into a strategic business partner, while delivering 

operational performance and business value. Prior 

to Baker Hughes, she held CIO roles at Ingersoll- 

Rand, Timex Corporation, and United Technologies 

Corporation 


OPINION 

Peanut Butter 

and Jelly 

Finding the simple basics of Computer Science 

with the power to change lives 

By Karen Panetta 


Opinion 

IIn 

computer science class, students 

learn how to think in a structured and 

logical manner. This allows them to 

break down problems and develop 

algorithms that consider all scenarios, 

not just the obvious ones. When we 

design and write code to do a specific 

task, students are learning how to 

anticipate uses and misuses. It forces 

them to test for cases outside the 

intended functionality. 

Computer Science Teaches 

Transferrable Skills 

The courses that teach these skills are 

algorithm and software engineering. 

While most computer science 

curriculum reinforces theory by 

using programming languages to 

implement concepts or investigating 

computational efficiency, these 

programming skills are raw. The raw 

skills are what companies are looking 

for. But, as the languages change and 

new technologies are introduced, 

students will rely more and more 

on the fundamental concepts that 

will help them understand the next 

programming language. 

Computer science has the power to 

change lives by creating simulations. 

It can replace animal testing, provide 

modelling for space exploration, create 

vehicle and safety analysis, and so 

much more. It has applications in 

robotics and medical imagery, too. 

Years ago there were languages like 

COBOL, Fortran, Bliss, ADA, Pascal 

and now it’s C, C++, C# and Java. 

Learning these and operating systems 

has helped computer engineering 

students forge new paths into cloud 

computing and has given rise to the 

development of robust computer 

networks. The goal for the student is 

to build these networks with reliable 

computer power without the daunting 

complexities of underlying computer 

technologies. 

Real-world Application 

Fosters Student 

Engagement 

Today, computer science programs 

are taking a different, pedagogical 

approach in order to attract a diverse 

study body. And what has become 

clear is the importance of engagement 

early on in those programs. Without 

it, students have shown to make a 

quick exit, especially if the course 

overloads on theory or programming 

syntax without any relevant real-world 

application. Students want to learn 

how to program mobile apps, control 

robots and incorporate multimedia 

components in a useful way. They 

want to manipulate animations, 

produce colorful data visualizations 

and find creative ways to interact and 

accept input. It’s activities like these 

that stimulate the mind and build 

confidence around their abilities in 

computer science. 

With the advent of cloud technology, 

millions of people have gained 

accessibility that they never had 

before. It has paved the way for new 

and emerging fields in computer 

science, like ethical hacking, 

cybersecurity and global health. And 

with each new field, students have 

the opportunity to step up and push 

the boundaries of computer science 

to combat resulting challenges or 

limitations. Those who stay current 

will find themselves in higher 

demand for opportunities after their 

educational career. 

STEM is Bigger than 

You Think 

We must do away with putting 

filters on our youth and telling 

children that they need to be the very 

best in math and science to enter 

computer science coursework. An 

algorithm can be taught and explained 

through the basic steps of making 

a peanut butter and jelly sandwich; 

although there’s no math in that 

equation, there’s logic and structure. 

We must also appreciate that every 

child is different and has different 

interests. Just like some students may 

not like sports, some students may 

not enjoy writing programs to control 

robots. It is important to provide 

students with a variety of experiences 

and projects. Educators and parents 

need to be aware that youth will 

typically use a single negative 

experience to convince themselves 

that all the STEM fields are not a 

good match for their interests or that 

they are not smart enough to pursue 

those fields. 

It is also very important to show 

the big picture of all of the incredible 

career opportunities that there are for 

computer scientists and others in the 

STEM field. We have to get rid of the 

notion that careers in this line of work 

involve sitting in a cubicle or dark 

basement programming all day and 

sacrificing a social life. 

Computer science has the power to 

change lives by creating simulations. 

It can replace animal testing, provide 

modelling for space exploration, 

create vehicle and safety analysis and 

so much more. It has applications in 

robotics and medical imagery, too. 

Computer science classes that 

incorporate these types of real-world 

solutions help to retain and attract 

more underrepresented groups of 

individuals, and that includes women. 

Together, with a global community of 

engineers and educators, ideas will be 

shared freely and opportunities will be 

available to anyone who wants to make 

their mark on the world 

–The author is IEEE Fellow & Editorin-Chief, 

IEEE Women in Engineering 

Magazine 


33

FEATURE 

15 Books For 

The IT Leader's 

Bookshelf 

We recommend these books that will help you 

build perspectives 

By Shyamanuja Das 


Feature 

TThis is a list of some of the most relevant (in our 

opinion) current books that we present here. Even 

before we try explaining the selection, we probably 

owe you some justification on why a list of books, of 

all things—that too on cover? 

Aren’t they so 70s? Google can virtually answer 

anything that you want to know. Wikipedia can 

explain a topic a little better. And if you are the active 

advice/learning seeker type, the TED talks can give 

you quite engaging content that gives you a different 

take on a topic. 

To survive, you need facts and information. Never 

had information been available so easily. To grow 

your professional career and do your job better, you 

need knowledge. The new medium of Internet has 

made it far efficient and convenient to acquire skills 

and knowledge. 

But to become a leader, you need to have a wellrounded 

perspective. That comes through discovery 

and introspection. For ages, books have been the most 

trusted and effective aid in doing that. 

“What the Net seems to be doing is chipping away 

my capacity for concentration and contemplation. My 

mind now expects to take in information the way the 

Net distributes it: in a swiftly moving stream of particles. 

Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. 

Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a Jet Ski,” 

writes Nicholas Carr, the leading writer on technology 

and culture, in an article Is Google making us stupid? 

Carr’s book on the subject The Shallows: What 

the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains, was a Pulitzer 

Prize finalist and a New York Times bestseller. 

The cognitive impact of Internet is a much deeper 

discussion. What we want to point here is that books, 

especially books that help you reflect and contemplate, 

are as much a need for developing perspectives 

now, as they were 100 years back. 

All that we have done here is to create a list of such 

books published in 2017 we think will help you build 

a perspective. 

Why 2017? Elementary. We do not think we are 

qualified to make a list of all time books. We are trying 

to do what we are committed to: reporting and 

analyzing to make the knowledge a little more accessible; 

we are clearly not into advising. 

We are primarily reporting, extensively flipping 

through many books, not even trying to read them 

cover to cover. The idea is not to review them; but to 

decide if it is worth reading. 

That probably tells you a bit more about the reading 

list. The books are not necessarily the books that 

will help you in your everyday jobs or to develop 

some leadership skills. That is the reason we call it 

the not-so-essential reading list. 

You can just ignore this list. It will not impact 

you next promotion or next assignment even 

slightly. However, we have kept the books relevant 

to your work so that you can identify with the content; 

not books on fine arts of films delivering similar 

messages. 

It is not exactly ironic—though neither was it intentional—that 

the list starts with World Without Mind, 

by Franklin Foer, a book that dwells on the same subject 

of how Internet is making us duller; but unlike 

Carr, Foer’s villain is not the medium per se but the 

corporations controlling them—Facebook, Google, 

and Amazon, in particular. You do not have to agree 

with him, but he does provide a line of thought that is 

worth following. 

The books are classified into four categories—Big 

Picture, Business/Management, Technology and 

Self Improvement. By the way, we did the classification 

after creating the complete list. The purpose is 

to make the list slightly more usable—and nothing 

more. You may even ignore the classification. 

Some of the books are very much your everyday 

business guides. But they are there because they 

either make a new point or do ‘the connecting the 

dots’ a lot better. The information about the books are 

taken from Amazon.in. You may find different editions 

outside India. 

Happy Reading. 


35

Feature 

BIG PICTURE 

World 

Without Mind 

The Existential Threat of Big Tech 

by Franklin Foer 

Publisher: Random House UK 

Month of Publishing: October 2017 

The Book is about 

How technology and the big technology 

companies threaten our civilization by 

killing privacy, free will, an independent 

media (yes, the author is an ex-editor) and 

above all our individuality. 

Why it is in the list 

Those who are working to make 

technology make an impact on business 

and society must be aware of and 

sensitized to the other side of it. 

The Four 

The Hidden DNA of Amazon, 

Apple, Facebook, and Google 

by Scott Galloway 

Publisher: Portfolio/Penguin 

Month of Publishing: October 2017 


A more factual account (supported by 

numbers) on how the four companies 

have dominated the business, the 

industry and the consumer psyche. 

According to Galloway, each of these 

companies do dominate by capturing 

a specific human trait—Google targets 

the thinking and knowledge (brain); 

Facebook our heart/social needs; Amazon 

the guts and Apple the senses by creating 

sleek products. Though the ‘hidden 

DNA’ part is a little misleading, as the 

author deals mostly with the tactics of the 

companies rather than the organizational 

structure. The book is extremely readable. 


Elementary, my dear IT Manager. If you 

are in technology, you must understand 

The Four very well which in turn explains 

the forces of technology. 

Everybody 

Lies 

Big Data, New Data, and What 

the Internet Can Tell Us About 

Who We Really Are 

by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz 

Publisher: Dey Street Books 

Month of Publishing: May 2017 


Not exactly brilliant in terms of 

new theories or trend-spotting, it is 

nevertheless a good attempt to establish 

how Big Data can impact all our lives. A 

wannabe Feakonomics not as brilliant 

but fairly witty and with example you can 

easily identify with. 


A witty book that is easy to read on 

information and Big Data, the book is 

primarily in the list because of the topic, 

its readability and the fact that it is 

published in 2017, not because it offers 

any great new insights. 


Feature 

Hit Refresh 

The Quest to Rediscover 

Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a 

Better Future for Everyone 

by Satya Nadella 

Publisher: Harper Business 

Month of Publishing: September 2017 


Nadella’s personal journey as well as 

the story of Microsoft’s transformation. 

Microsoft’s transformation to an 

empathetic, open-to-partnership cloud 

company has happened completely 

during his short tenure of three years. 

The book gives insights into that 

transformation. Indians will identify 

with it much better—his passion for 

cricket, his prized possession of a Sachin 

Tendulakar signed cricket bat, his lessons 

of leadership from the game….very Indian. 


It is not a very witty and smart book but 

it is honest and does provide insights into 

one of the largest transformation stories 

in recent times. Indians will identify with 

many things in the book. 

The 

Consolidators 

by Prince Mathews Thomas 

Publisher: Penguin Random House India 



Second generation business leaders 

who have grown their family business 

considerably or have succeeded by 

venturing into new areas. While there are 

many recounts of the work done by first 

generation of entrepreneurs like Tata, 

Ambani and Birla and the new generation 

entrepreneurs, this book deals with the 

achievements of those who grew their 

business in a comparatively difficult 

phase of Indian economy. 


In terms of writing, it nowhere compares 

with most books in the list but the topic 

itself is so relevant that this is a must read 

for Indian managers—especially those 

who have worked with/are working with/ 

plan to work with Indian companies, 

family-owned or otherwise. 

The Fourth 

Industrial 

Revolution 

by Klaus Schwab 

Publisher: Portfolio Penguin 

Month of Publishing: February 2017 


It is the basic manifesto of the Fourth 

Industrial Revolution, having been 

written by the man who popularized 

the term. By his own admission, it is a 

compilation of thoughts and ideas from 

many. A very good reference book. 


It is the book on the topic, much like 

Dennis Ritchie’s book on C. 


37

Feature 

TECHNOLOGY 

Doing 

Digital Right 

How Companies Can Thrive in 

the Next Digital Era 

by Louis Lamoureux 

Publisher: Third Digital, Inc. 

Month of Publishing: March 2017 


If you are overwhelmed already by the big 

ideas, this comes as a respite. The book, at 

right hands, is a very useful book that can 

help, well, in doing digital right. It has a 

lot of step by step instructions and factual 

information which can connect well with 

the managers. 


Who does not want to do digital right? 

And this is a fairly usable book on 

the subject. 

Digital @ 

Scale 

The Playbook You Need to 

Transform Your Company 

by Anand Swaminathan, 

Jürgen Meffert 

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons 

Month of Publishing: August 2017 


Doing digital as a pilot with all the 

attention of the young scion of a large 

business family is often a great success 

story. Just that it never manages to 

touch the rest of the company, let alone 

transform it. Swaminathan and Meffet, 

two McKinsey consultants examine “what 

it takes for companies to break through 

the gravitational pull of their legacy 

organizations and capture the full value 

of digital”. 


It is a highly practical, factual and 

readable book on digital transformation. 

Probably the best on the subject 

published in 2017. 

Data 

Strategy 

How to Profit from a World of Big 

Data, Analytics and the Internet 

of Things 

by Bernard Marr 

Publisher: Kogan Page 

Month of Publishing: April 2017 


The most recent take of the author on 

practical usage of Big Data and Analytics. 

Those who read Marr regularly on Forbes 

would be familiar with his engaging 

writing and ability to draw insights 

from recent trends. The book, his 4th on 

the subject, not counting the books for 

Dummies, is a must read for those who 

want to keep pace with Big Data trends. 


Simple. It is the most relevant book on 

the subject; and is extremely readable 

(and usable). 


Feature 

Dual 

Transformation 

How to Reposition Today’s 

Business While Creating the 

Future 

by Clark G. Gilbert, Mark W. 

Johnson, and Scott D. Anthony 

Publisher: Harvard Business Review 



One of the most common challenges 

before business leader: how to transform 

your current business in the face of 

continuous disruptions. Balancing 

the current investor and customer 

expectation with creating a future model 

is a dual task for most businesses and the 

book is a “how-to” book on the subject. 


It deals with one of the most common 

challenges and especially in a country like 

India where change is slow to implement. 

Machine, 

Platform, 

Crowd 

Harnessing Our Digital Future 

by Andrew Mcafee (Author), 

Erik Brynjolfsson 

Publisher: WW Norton & Company 

Month of Publishing: June 2017 


Yet another book following the successful 

formula in management literature—a 

successful original should be followed 

with updates cum more consumable 

presentation of those ideas. This book is 

an updated and concise version of The 

Second Machine Age by the authors for 

“executive education,” as many critics 

point out. 


It is still the most useful book on 

the subject, presented with a business 

outlook and not from a sociologist’s 

perspective. 

Artificial 

Intelligence 

and Machine 

Learning for 

Business 

A No-Nonsense Guide to Data 

Driven Technologies 

by Steven Finlay 

Publisher: Relativistic 



As the name suggests, it is a no-nonsense 

introduction to technologies like AI, 

machine learning etc targeted at non-datascience 

community, especially business 

executives. 


It is a lucid introduction to one of the 

hottest areas within technology. A 

must read for those who want to work 

in technology/business functions that 

work with Big Data but are not into data 

science themselves. 


39

Feature 

SELF IMPROVEMENT/PERSONAL MOTIVATION 

Sell 

The Art, the Science, 

the Witchcraft 

by Subroto Bagchi 

Publisher: Hachette India 



Understanding selling, especially B2B 

selling, in the typical honest, easy-todigest 

way of Bagchi. 


For IT managers, it is useful in two ways. 

One, they themselves often have to sell 

ideas within the company. Two—and 

more tangibly—to understand how their 

vendors think, as the book is more about 

B2B sales, especially technology sales. 

The 

Captain Class 

The Hidden Force Behind the 

World’s greatest Teams 

by Sam Walker 

Publisher: Random House UK 



Very different from the rest of the books 

in this list, this a study of the most 

successful sports teams the world over— 

Walker was the Global Sports Editor of 

The Wall Street Journal—and the people 

who led them. Walkers’ years of research 

helped him select 16 most successful 

sports teams globally and when he sought 

answer the question—what made them 

successful—he came out with some 

common traits of the captains. 


Most valuable leadership lessons from 

the world of sports presented in a 

readable manner. 

Option B 

Facing Adversity, Building 

Resilience and Finding Joy 

by Sheryl Sandberg, Adam Grant 

Publisher: Random House 

Month of Publishing: April 2017 


Written after her husband’s death, the 

idea of the book started from a Facebook 

post to which she received millions of 

responses some of which were people’s 

own experience of grief. It is that a manual 

of recovering from grief. 


Very unusual book to be in the list but 

a powerful, compassionate writing on 

recovering from some real damage; not 

the consultants’ option B, as we know it. 

Reading books like this makes you more 

mature and humble.

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