Digital, which used to be an enabler for some businesses a few years ago, is now the very lifeline of several industries. Driven by this digital transformation, several industries have had to undergo business model evolution and modifications too. Businesses now strive to deliver products that are faster, cheaper, better, and more enjoyable. Customers seek products and services that are within their budget, delivered on time, and free of defects, as well as good-to-have. Customers also expect near-real-time delivery of products and services which has significantly reduced the time to market.

With such changes in industry operations and business models underway, it's critical that quality management's function in organisations change as well. In the context of emerging lifecycle models, quality standards and philosophies must be revised or interpreted. Quality Engineering & Digital Quality Transformation expert, Jamuna Thangavelu believes that Quality is not an afterthought and it is always the result of intelligent efforts. In a bid to revise the system, Jamuna switched from the role of a developer to a business role; her primary focus as a business leader now is on quality transformation within her respective organisations.

Jamuna is a techno-functional leader with demonstrated expertise in leading solutioning, Quality Engineering, Stakeholder Management, Business Consulting, Agile transformations, and Release management in the E-Com, Banking, and Capital Markets industries. She has over a decade of experience in core QA and has led a successful QA transformation. She has assisted a few organisations in their digital transformation and has also implemented employee techno functional up-skilling programmes. Jamuna is currently the senior director-Digital Quality Transformation at Charles Hudson. She drives global delivery across service portfolio of the organisation.

In a conversation with the Women Entrepreneur Magazine team, Jamuna narrates to us her professional journey and her thoughts on the criticality of QA. Here are choice excerpts from the conversation.

What are some important features about your expertise as a business leader?

I am a techno-functional leader with demonstrated expertise in leading solutioning, Quality Engineering - SDET, Stakeholder Management, Business Consulting, Agile transformations, and Release management in E-Com, Banking, and Capital Markets industries.

This includes proactively identifying opportunities and making practical recommendations to assist the company in maintaining market leadership, collaborating with the business team to identify and prioritise customer needs, creating product roadmaps that meet or exceed customer expectations and contributing to business growth and change management that are significant.

Take us through your early educational journey and prior industry experience that you bring to the table. What led to you developing expertise as a techno-functional thought leader?

I graduated from Anna University of Technology in Coimbatore with a bachelor's degree in information technology engineering. Prior to joining Charles Hudson, I was a Senior Manager at Lowes eCommerce, where I led a successful QA transformation. I've worked in core QA for over a decade. At Charles Hudson, I am in charge of the global delivery of our service offering.

In addition, I am a certified professional in the capital market domain, as well as a certified Scrum master (CSM) and Agile coach (ICC ACP). I've completed numerous other certifications, including CBAP, IIBF, Financial markets, International Knowledge Management, and German language, to name a few.

I've worked as a software engineer, quality specialist, and quality consultant before switching to transforming an organization's operations from a traditional to a modern method of operation. I was able to transform the organisation from one level to the other using all of my expertise and experience, which is called `digital quality transformation'. I have assisted a couple of organisations in their quality transformation journey and have also implemented techno functional up-skilling programmes for the employees.

What are some of the critical challenges associated with your current role?

There may not be any challenges when we simply have specific clients, but in my job, I must interact with stakeholders and clients from various perspectives, backgrounds, and with different levels of understanding. Some will be outdated, while others will be more current. So the challenge is to keep up with market trends and then strategize a solution that meets the needs of the customer I'm working with. The other issue is up-skilling new graduates who have no prior experience with the industry. We must assess their capabilities and devise an up-skilling strategy.

Tell us about the key personality traits that you possess that have aided your journey as a business leader? What are the most significant milestones that you have achieved so far?

As a person I have a positive outlook on life. I believe that the way we think and organise our thoughts is the only way we can achieve something in our professional or personal lives. We have family responsibilities as well as work commitments, but my never-say-die attitude keeps me going.

“The primary goal i have for myself in the professional world is to enable quality through the results of intelligent efforts”

Women are the best at multitasking; we can do everything, but we don't provide ourselves with the proper support system that helps you grow.

Another characteristic is differentiation, which allows us to give only what is required, whether in personal or professional life. I am also a firm believer in giving back to the community.

Quality is the first milestone that I want to achieve wherever I operate in the professional industry. People do not give much importance to quality in the initial stage; Quality is always an afterthought. However, quality is everyone's responsibility. Organizations are struggling to offer what the end users anticipate, and I felt the need to revise the system. That's why, I had to switch from being a developer to a business role; I focused more on quality transformation and how to engineer quality. My achievement is instilling in the organisation the value of quality. Wherever I've worked, I've always been referred to as a quality enabler.

What trends do you foresee developing within the Indian tech space going forward?

I see that a lot of effort is being put forward to quicker time to market. Artificial Intelligence or AI is the most revolutionary technology trend currently. Enabling Quality through AI is the way of the future, so we need to automate the automation. Strong knowledge & understanding of system application and strong technical skills with passion is necessary to deliver faster with better quality consistently. The expectation is to upskill and to be market ready to ensure that any application or any product is defect free.

Jamuna Thangavelu, Senior Director Charles Hudson Technology Solutions

Jamuna is a techno-functional leader who has over a decade of experience in core QE and has led a successful QA transformation. She has assisted a few organisations in their digital quality transformation and has also implemented employee career up-skilling programmes through SDET Journey.