Shruti Kashyap is a passionate about implementing innovations that bring value to the organization and help strengthen our brands with purpose. She believe technology is not just a key enabler for business, in fact in today's day and age every business needs to be a technology business to succeed. She believe in taking risks and challenging the status quo.
1. Take us through the formative years of your life. What were some early influences that contributed towards shaping the trajectory of your life?
I come from a middle class family in Delhi, as was the case in the 80s, there was a lot of stress on good education. As such the values of hard work, discipline, focus on school, reading books and newspapers were all ingrained in me right from childhood. For me these have been the fundamental reasons which made the difference at all stages of life – when I became a CBSE topper in 12th std., or when I cracked my first job interview, and even continue to make a difference today in my day to day work. The reason I excel is because these foundations have become a part of my personality.
2. Decision making is an integral part of a business leader’s work. What is your approach to making sound decision making?
That’s a great question. The first step on decision making is really on who needs to make the decision. Just because I am senior does not mean every decision needs to come to me. I strongly believe in empowering the teams below, and a lot of the day to day operational and tactical decisions get taken care of by them. Coming to strategic decision making, here it is important that you spend enough time and do thorough research before making a call, as the decision will have an implication for several years to come. If we need to select a new vendor partner for a project for example, I would follow a very rigorous process of scoring and capability analysis, meet their team in person to understand their skillset and attitude and sometimes even follow it up with a visit to their office to check on a cultural fit.
3. You are someone who has built a successful and lasting career in a highly competitive industry. In your opinion what are some practical do’s and don’ts that help other women also build a fruitful and lasting career in the Indian business landscape?
Technology is an ever evolving industry and I really wish there was a perfect answer to this. To be frank, what worked for me 10 years back isn’t even valid today. Having seen and worked with some of the new generation, I see a tendency to get restless and keep moving onto doing new things every few months. To me this is recipe for disaster. To truly build your career for the long term you need to build depth in a few areas, spend so much time and go deep enough to almost become the resident authority on that matter. As a young manager I remember writing several white papers on technology areas I was working on – there was nobody asking me to do this, but just investing that time to build my own knowledge really helped me do my job better.
I would also strongly encourage people to take risks. Dive into new areas whenever an opportunity comes up and learn along the way. We often prefer the safer options because of a guaranteed promotion, or because it’s our comfort zone, but stepping out of it exposes you to new challenges. I remember reading an article from Niel DeGrass Tyson, someone said to him that all the algebra and calculus we learnt in school is never used again for the rest of our lives. To which he responded, that doing that algebra and calculus opens a new series of neurons in the brain which wouldn’t have been unlocked otherwise. It’s the same with taking risks!
4. What is your take on the current state of Indian women leaders in the field of technology? Have you observed the Indian tech space evolve lately, making it a more inclusive and diverse industry?
There is absolutely positive movement and there are lots of women picking up STEM education in school which leads them to careers in tech. The presence of giants like Infosys, TCS in India has definitely opened the doors for young women to start their careers in this field. Having said that a lot more needs to be done. If you see the leadership roles in most tech organisations, they are still dominated by men. Equally, I constantly find myself as the only women in several CIO forums and panel discussions. The right level of investment by the organisations at critical stages like maternity etc. are crucial to making sure we don’t lose great talent. Post pandemic, work from home has become more acceptable and it has enabled several women to continue working in situations where they may have otherwise quit. Equally important to invest in formal learning and development opportunities, at the right stages – when they are ready to be promoted to director / VP level. These are critical in shaping their leadership journey.
5. How do you foresee the Indian technology market growing in the next few years? Which industry trends will amplify this growth the most?
India has long been known as the back office of the tech industry, the kind of services we have provided through a host of strong IT companies built locally has been truly incredible. My wish is for the Indian technology industry to move into the space of innovation. The best technology innovations come from Silicon Valley, not from Bangalore, and there is a lot of scope for us to get into that space given the quality and quantity of our talent. It is not by chance after all that three of the worlds largest tech organisations are led by Indians.
Each year brings a new thing in tech: wearables, mobile, 3D printing, blockchain, Web 3.0, the metaverse. Some live up to the hype, most do not, and a few exceed it. My bet is on Artificial intelligence. I believe we’re in the midst of a great leap forward in AI, and that this tech will be transformative, not just lucrative, thanks to its utility. I expect cloud to continue to be big – there are very few organisations that have truly leveraged the power of cloud. There will be an uptick on immersive experiences for relevant industries like retail / fashion. On any of these, we don’t have much to speak when it comes to India, and it is a great opportunity for us to take the lead.
