www.mirrorreview.

com
March 2019

1
Most Influential
omen

T H E
Travel Tech In Tech 2019
Reinventing The Travel And
Tourism Industry Using Digital
Technologies

Looking Into The Future

Learn How Lidar Is Changing
The World For Better

Co-founder & COO | Viteos Fund Services LLC.

Chitra Baskar
Her Leadership Changed Asset Driven Firms’ Operations
 EDITOR’S LETTER
www.mirrorreview.com
March 2018

Travel Tech
1
T H E
Most Influential
omen
In Tech 2019
I n the era of digital disruption and market innovation, women are
bringing their A game to the business & tech landscape. Whether it is a
role of a Founder, Senior Product Manager, CEO, COO, CTO or that of
a Senior Director of Enterprise, C-Suite of tech organizations are powered
and led by women influencers, innovators, and revolutionary thinkers.
Reinventing The Travel And
Tourism Industry Using Digital
Technologies

Looking Into The Future

Learn How Lidar Is Changing
The World For Better But what is it about them that make us want to follow in their footsteps? Is it
their passion for work, fiery persona, strategic mindset, technological
prowess, or all of the rest and some more? Join us in the exciting journey full
of remarkable tales as we profile women influencers from the technological
sector one by one. In this magazine issue, our featured female pioneers also
share their secret of success which is bound to motivate and inspire women
entering in tech careers regardless of industry.

Co-founder & COO | Viteos Fund Services LLC.
Chitra Baskar
Her Leadership Changed Asset Driven Firms’ Operations
Our Cover Star, Chitra Baskar (Co-founder & COO, Viteos Fund Services
LLC) is a visionary leader who is making an impact in the private equity
industry based on industry insights and technological expertise. We get to
know about her childhood goal of becoming an accountant to recognizing the
market needs, and later fulfilling them through the inception of Viteos.
Indeed, she is a remarkable example of someone who believes in “Little girls

Celebrating
with dreams become women with vision.”

Moving ahead, we showcase influential women leaders coming from diverse

The Female
industries, playing equally diverse roles. These include Anjali Kumari
(Senior Director of Product, Capillary Technologies), Cay Gliebe (SVP,

Power In
Marketing & Product Management, OneSource Virtual), Clare Parry-Jones
(Sector Director of Enterprise, Computacenter), Daphne Thomas (Chief
Transformation Officer, iPipeline, Inc.), Janaki Joshi (CEO, Iris Interactive),

Tech!
Rajashree Rajadhyax (Co-founder & COO, Cere Labs Pvt. Ltd), Kiran
Bhagotra (Founder, CEO & President, ProtectBox), and Shwetha Prasad
(CEO & Founder, Omnia Digital).

Sharing her opinions in the Expert’s Views section, Cami Zimmer

(Executive VP Business Development & Marketing, Glympse) speaks about
why the last mile delivery is the new competitive vanguard for retail and
grocery ecommerce.

We have also included amazing articles in the ‘Travel Tech’ and ‘Looking
into the Future’ sections for our voracious readers and magazine
subscribers.

Dream Big & Stay Real!

Anuja Mulmule
Managing Editor
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COVER STORY

ARTICLES

22 Looking Into The

Future
Learn How Lidar Is Changing
The World For Better

42 Travel Tech
Reinventing The Travel
And Tourism Industry
Using Digital Technologies

Expert's Views

32

10
Chitra Baskar: Cami Zimmer | Glympse
Her Leadership Changed Asset Driven
Why Last Mile Delivery Is The New
Firms’ Operations Competitive Vanguard For Retail And
Grocery Ecommerce
 Anjali Kumari:
A Visionary Leader Empowering
Retailers With Omnichannel
18
Solutions

Cay Gliebe:
20 A Dynamic Leader In The Marketplace,
Utilizing Diverse Experience At
OneSource Virtual

Clare Parry-Jones:
A Persuasive Leader, Elevating
Computacenter With Excellent 28
Management Skills

Daphne Thomas:
30 Setting An Example By Influencing
People To Make Them Successful
 Janaki Joshi:
Transforming Product
Commercialization In The Life
38
10
Sciences Industry

Kiran Bhagotra:
40 A Determined Founder, Making How
We Buy Cybersecurity
Customer-Friendly By Building Trust

Rajashree Rajadhyax:
A Visionary Leader, Exploring
The Landscape Of Artificial 46
Intelligence

Shwetha Prasad:
A Passionate Digital Marketing
48 Expert Empowering Clients
With Omnia’s Services
1
Most Influential
omen
T H E

In Tech 2019

Chitra Baskar:
Her Leadership Changed Asset Driven
Firms’ Operations

A well-established professional life is the result of

constant learning, and it doesn’t stop even after
becoming a leader.
 C
O
V
E
R
S
T
O

Co-founder & COO

R
Viteos Fund Services LLC.

Y
COVER STORY
F or asset management operations, such as in hedge
fund and private equity organizations, the constant
challenge is to keep ahead of and consistent with
efficient and productive processes in an environment of
ever changing technology, regulation, and competition.
And this overarching environment is undergirded by
demands such as transparency, accuracy, timeliness, and
reliability in reporting across complex global assets.
It is here where Chitra Baskar saw a need, co-founded
and built a firm, Viteos, and continues with her visionary
leadership, and with her colleagues, to change the industry.
Chitra was Co-founder and is COO of Viteos Fund
Services LLC. She and her fellow founders identified
operations as an unmet and underserved area for profitable
growth. They decided to explore operations in an
anticipatory way, and to actually define the space. From
there, they developed innovative services and technology,
combined with accounting expertise, to meet the market
demand. Presently, Chitra directs the daily operations of
Viteos, even as she remains visionary in the strategic
direction of the company in the years ahead. These
directions include AI, robotics, machine learning, and
Blockchain on the product side, and expansion into new
client areas such as Private Equity portfolio accounting on
the client side.
Chitra already possessed expertise in investment
operations, and diving deeply into this previously shunned
area was both challenging and gratifying. Prior to
founding Viteos, Chitra led IL&FS, where she worked as
the COO of Securities and Transaction Processing
Services, and which served as a launchpad for her thinking
A leader must focus on
developing solutions
that deliver value to
uplift their capabilities.
around gaps in the solution set in Capital Market
operations – including the viability of an outsourced
business processing model.
A Journey Started From Early Childhood, Building to
Exceptional Achievement and Poised For the Future
“Little girls with dreams become women with vision.”
This held true for Chitra. Since her school days, she was
th
taught to consistently learn and improve. In 9 grade, she
set her goal to become an accountant, for two reasons: it
would draw on her talent and enable her to make a
difference, regardless of the industry she entered. The fact
is accounting was the platform from which she would
become an entrepreneur. It informed her view that
accounting could offer value to clients - if it were wed to
advanced technology delivery.
She set as Viteos’ mission an understanding of operations
in depth, and in bringing innovative thinking to what was
previously underserved. Now, many of the world’s most
complex managers rely on Viteos services and technology
for: trade support; reconciliation; collateral management;
regulatory reporting; systems implementation; and shadow
accounting.
As managers broaden their complex assets, Viteos’
experience in deploying accounting relevant technology
addresses operational concerns brought about by these
assets: accounting; reporting; allocation; and process
monitoring. This automation and STP approach unburdens
firms’ teams so they can focus on investing. It is this
ability to deliver and to provide unparalleled client service
that makes Viteos the leader in middle office operations
worldwide.
And, as investing and regulations grew more complex,
Viteos was there to fill the need. The firm now serves the
most complex assets in hedge fund portfolios, and more so
for the world’s largest and best known brands.
Further, her team also developed a modular collection of
technology solutions with robust capabilities which
interoperatively turn data into useful information. Chitra
mandated this modular approach so that each module is
created to be intuitive from an accountant’s viewpoint and
engineered to automate post-trade activities with minimal
manual intervention.

The modular technology is the engine driving efficiency in
servicing clients and the platform operates singularly or
collectively. Clients can opt for the full suite or any
combination of components. Interoperability, core to the
platform, accelerates data inputs, regardless of source.
Complete flexibility and customization is the experience of
Viteos clients, who benefit from embedded robotics, and
Machine Learning development.
As one example, the comprehensive technology reporting
library, VU 360 is specifically designed for the middle and
back office including exposures, profit and loss,
attributions, cash projections, and other essentials. This
wide-ranging digital library consists of reports, which are
customizable to users’ individual needs via simple
modifications. Moreover, VU 360 is built on a foundation
of knowledge and collective experience from servicing
multiple hedge funds of differing complexities, product
mixes, and strategies.
Leading with Determination and Persistence for
Strategic Results
Early adoption to technology, enhanced by ongoing
innovation, has been the backbone of the Viteos service
model. Viteos has consistently been successful because, in
addition to its accounting expertise and technology, it
delivers exceptional client services. This again is rooted in
the principles of being anticipatory of client and market
needs and in demonstrating an understanding of each
client’s particular business, especially in areas of
complexity. Her consultative approach has resulted in
partnerships over time, while also making major
contributions to the industry as a whole, such as the
development of shadow accounting as a category offering.
Achieving Future Growth Through Management
Vision and Focus
Consistent with the anticipatory approach, Chitra and her
team are leveraging market dynamics and industry trends.
Since the firm’s inception in 2003, outsourcing as a
productive approach to operations has proven to be true –
and will become more rather than less important.
Says Chitra: “By far the most significant trend is the
exponential increase in complexity of investment
operations, driven by exotic instruments, intricate asset
accumulation structures and jurisdictional requirements
1
Most Influential
omen
T H E
In Tech 2019
Success is the
natural consequence
of determination,
persistence,
and perspiration.
that managers must handle to remain competitive. These
include asset class, regulatory reporting, trading,
reconciliation, collateral management, shadow accounting,
and treasury – even systems upgrades. As operations are
our sole business, we unburden firms of the inherent cost
and maintenance concerns while staying abreast of
requirements and developments.”
While driving the global strategic growth of Viteos with
Hedge Funds, Chitra is also managing its entry into the
Private Equity/Private Debt area. The extensive experience
of Chitra and her team in the Hedge Fund space further
helped them to lead in Private Equity.
Utilizing Values with Consistent Learning
As a successful tech centered-woman, she is also changing
the dynamics in a male-dominated industry. Chitra
empowers other women to increase their roles in the
company. She oversaw the gender diversity expansion of
Viteos from 13% women to 27% from 2015 to 2017, and
was instrumental in setting up a network for Women in
Hedge Fund Operations as a support and mentoring
organization focused solely on the challenges facing
women in hedge fund services.
Viteos’ expertize in valued investment management
services is an example of Chitra’s consistent learning and
contribution towards the company’s success. Since the
beginning, she always brought creativity, innovation,
COVER STORY

learning, growth, and integrity into her work. Today, she

encourages and motivates the Viteos team to utilize those
values in the company’s environment. Armored with two
and a half decades of experience in financial services,
Chitra has successfully build Viteos from strength to
strength. The dynamic COO of Viteos gives credit to her
colleagues and clients for her success. She also
appreciates her family for their essential support,
enabling her to maintain a good work-life balance, and in
her outside activity, most especially in brining Indian
music into the U.S.

Secret of Chitra’s Success

I think people need to

move past competence
to excellence in the skills
necessary for their work.
Determination and
persistence in work
and being nimble
without losing sight of
the vision also counts
for a lot.
– Chitra Baskar
Co-founder & COO
Viteos Fund Services LLC.
Get Inspired, Stay Updated with all
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 Leader Name Company Info

Capillary Technologies is one such prominent company which is infusing

Anjali Kumari
Senior Director of Product
technologies to interpret the actual use case of consumer behaviours in the
Capillary Technologies retail industry.
www.capillarytech.com

Cay Gliebe OneSource Virtual was founded in 2008 as the pioneer of Business Process as
SVP of Marketing & a Service (BPaaS) outsourcing.
Product Management
www.onesourcevirtual.com
OneSource Virtual

Viteos is complexity made simple. It combines technology with accounting

Chitra Baskar expertise to create smart, simple solutions for investment operations—through
Co-founder & COO
rigorous processes and innovative technology.
Viteos Fund Services LLC
www.viteos.com

Computacenter is a leading independent provider of IT infrastructure services,

Clare Parry-Jones
enabling users and their business in a digital world. It advises organisations on
Sector Director of
Enterprise
IT strategy, implement the most appropriate technology, optimise its
Computacenter performance, and manage it’s customers’ infrastructures.
www.computacenter.com

Based in Exton, Pennsylvania, iPipeline was founded with the goal of digitizing
Daphne Thomas the life insurance industry by aggregating and distributing up-to-date content for
Chief Transformation Officer
producers selling a variety of insurance products for multiple carriers.
iPipeline
www.ipipeline.com

Janaki Joshi Iris Interactive is an Independent Software Vendor and a leading provider of
CEO proven software.
Iris Interactive www.irisinteractive.com

Kiran Bhagotra ProtectBox is about collaboration, empowerment, challenging norms of who

Founder & CEO can work in cyber by hiring ex-forces, graduates, returners etc. & fun.
ProtectBox www.protectbox.com

Linda Strick The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) is the world’s leading organization
Managing Director dedicated to defining and raising awareness of best practices to help ensure a
The Cloud Security Alliance secure cloud computing environment.
(CSA) www.cloudsecurityalliance.org

Cere Labs Pvt. Ltd. a team of entrepreneurs, engineers and researchers

Rajashree Rajadhyax exploring the mystery, challenges and possibilities in the landscape of
Co-founder & COO Artificial Intelligence.
Cere Labs Pvt. Ltd. www.cerelabs.com

Shwetha Prasad Omnia Digital has specialization in content marketing, digital strategy and
Founder & CEO execution, campaign management, and insight & analytics.
Omnia Digital www.omniadigital.in
 Anjali Kumari:
A Visionary Leader Empowering Retailers With Omnichannel
Solutions
T oday, the world is heavily influenced and driven
by technology. Right from healthcare, automobile,
education and finance, every industry has been
stirred with a rationale to simplify human lives. Hence, it
doesn’t come as a major surprise when one thinks about its
dominance in the retail industry too. Modern day
consumers are well attuned with the evolving technologies
such as AI, Big Data, IoT etc. and are therefore raising the
bar of expectations when it comes to the deliverables.
Retailers who are still using the traditional techniques are
left high and dry to survive in the cut-throat market
whereas astute vendors who are leveraging these
technologies are racing far ahead. Here comes the game-
changing part where having sound insights on what the
existing technologies are capable of offering along with
clear understanding of the millennial consumers demands
becomes a requisite.
Capillary Technologies is one such prominent company
which is infusing technologies to interpret the actual use
case of consumer behaviours in the retail industry. The
firm has witnessed remarkable success in the retail domain
over the years. During its initial days, Capillary assisted
retailers to identify and understand the consumers in the
offline world. Afterwards, as the online world got
introduced, it started providing .coms to the retailers
while promising to blend the best of the online and offline
worlds by capturing offline clickstream data so that retail
customers can enjoy a seamless and personalized
omnichannel experience.
At present, Capillary Technologies provides a long range
of retail CRM, eCommerce, and Loyalty Program
solutions to help businesses to become more consumer-
centric. The firm’s AI and Machine Learning powered
platforms enable enterprises to learn more about consumer
preferences and unlock business potentials.
Leading this industry shift with sound market insights on
consumer behaviour is its Senior Director of
Product—Anjali Kumari. Being an integral part of the
company, Anjali handles several responsibilities with great
18
proficiency and finesse. However, the most challenging
part of her job is to keep the team constantly motivated
and productive. In order to execute this task, it becomes
very important to have an open and clear communication
with the team. Therefore, at Capillary Technologies, Anjali
and the management team provide a dynamic culture to
encourage the team members to openly communicate,
exchange ideas, evolve, and give their absolute best.
Anjali’s Expedition towards Expertise
Since the beginning, Anjali has always been a great learner
and while studying, she worked as a grader for the course
on Algorithm, Design, & Implementation. During her
graduation program in Computer Science, she worked as a
lab assistant and continued her zeal for knowledge. Later,
Anjali received her MS degree in the same field from the
renowned Purdue University and successfully completed
her MBA from the Indian School of Business. After
completing her academia, Anjali started her career as
Associate Software Product Developer at Symphony
Services. She then moved to Box.com and played a vital
role in the firm’s journey. At that point, she gained an
amazing entrepreneurial experience when Box switched
the strategy to serving business instead of consumers.
After several years of experience working at start-ups,
Anjali then decided to strike into product management and
worked with Myntra for some time. In 2013, Anjali joined
Capillary Technologies and began contributing her
valuable experience. Since then, she has successfully
proved herself as an effective Product Manager. Over the
years, Anjali has developed great expertise in product
visioning and gained the ability to build them from
scratch. In doing so, she has always been customer-
focused and data-driven.
A Leader that Promotes Authenticity
Anjali is a dashing leader with tremendous courage who
makes sound decisions and stands by them. She makes
decisions which are best for the clients, consequently
empowering the company and her team. Moreover, she
also makes sure that her decisions are making consumers’
journeys beneficial.
Anjali’s voyage with Capillary Technologies has been an
amazing one. In her early days, she triumphantly led BI
and Analytics product suite and the Tech Publication
teams. Later, she worked on ideation, creation, and launch
of new products. During this period, she also performed
market research and determined product-market fit,
evaluation of different pricing strategies, and creation of
go-to-market strategies.
Therefore, when asked about the secret mantra behind her
outstanding performance, Anjali reveals, “My best comes
out when I work with my natural personality.” According
to her, failure is not fatal; the ability to learn from it is
what makes a difference. Great leaders embrace failures
and learn from them and therefore Anjali is very much
appreciated for this quality as well as for her authenticity
at work. Since the beginning, she always showed an
implicit trust in her team members and this has helped her
in creating a healthy work environment where the
company’s leadership team can openly question each
other.
Senior Director of Product | Capillary Technologies
Keeping Things Simple Helps in Solving Critical
Hitches
Noticeably, Anjali concentrates on the part where most
humans fail. It sounds basic but the most complicated job
in the world is to keep things simple and this small piece
of advice has helped her immensely in her professional
career. It has also aided her to identify and focus on the top
priorities and deliver a solution in the most simple and
efficient way. Today, Anjali looks at everything with the
lens of simplicity, thereby making her a successful and
impactful leader.
Overcoming Challenges and Executing Strategies to
Stay Ahead
When it comes to making strategies for Capillary
Technologies, Anjali focuses on effectively
communicating with the team as well as the customers.
Her impressive background in CRM domain helps her in
maintaining good relations with the clients and focuses on
making their lives easier. Moreover, her approach to
tackling the difficulties with audacity and simplicity helps
her in being agile when it comes to making effective
strategies.
“
Authenticity, trust in
team members, ability to
embrace failures, and
“
learning from them
are the key ingredients
of becoming a successful
leader.
19
 Cay Gliebe:
A Dynamic Leader In The Marketplace, Utilizing Diverse Experience At
OneSource Virtual
I n the world of digital revolution, Robotic Process
Automation (RPA) is a critical but often overlooked
aspect of a digital workspace. Presently, RPA is a
piece of highly customized software called a Software
Robot or a BOT, that when deployed performs a variety
of tasks as a part of an enterprise. Therefore, everyone
from the board to the C level is curious about its
capabilities but unsure of how it can be utilized within
their organizations.
In the view of Cay Gliebe, the SVP, Marketing and
Product Management at OneSource Virtual
(OSV)—RPA is one of the most intriguing tools to date
which has the capability to take out repetitive and
manual work, thereby enabling team members to utilize
the saved time for performing strategic tasks. Most
notably, OneSource Virtual has recently launched a
Robotic Process as a Service (RPaaS) offering, a solution
that leverages a digital workforce of robots to help
organizations more efficiently navigate a wide variety of
business issues in human resources and finance
departments. This new launch is the result of the efforts
by Cay and the teams she leads at OneSource Virtual.
She brings emphasis on developing dynamic and
advanced solutions like RPA to uplift the offerings of
OSV.
Cay’s Vibrant Journey of Vast and Diverse
Experience
At OneSource Virtual, Cay leads a marketing
department, a corporate sales development team, and
product development teams. She helps the company to
determine the future direction and strategies with her
expertise in Sales Leadership & Execution, Process
Improvement, Business & HR Transformation, and
Redesign & Project Management.
Cay’s professional journey is the prime factor behind her
successful leadership role at OneSource Virtual. With a
20
Bachelor of Science in Interrelated Studies and a minor
in Sociology from the State University of New York, Cay
began her professional career in the military and then
moved into the corporate world. This transition from the
military to corporate has made her professional career
more dynamic and diverse. Today, Cay has more than 30
years of experience in HR, sales, marketing, operations,
and product management. These job roles have provided
her with a holistic view of the corporate world and
enabled her to learn from highly experienced individuals.
This continual learning from practical challenges and
interactions with versatile personalities shaped Cay’s
career and made her a dynamic leader. With this solid
experience in several markets and industries, Cay has
built and raised strong teams that are responsible for
delivering revenue targets in both small and large
technology and outsourcing companies.
Developing New Offerings while Tackling the
Challenges
At OneSource Virtual, Cay handles two completely
different business units that are Marketing &
Communication and Product Management. According to
her, this is the most challenging and fascinating part of
her job because both departments have distinguishing
characteristics. Cay has successfully helped the Product
Management team, a new business unit at OSV, to thrive
with her exceptional talent and vast prior experience. Her
diverse experience in marketing and product
management enables her to manage the department
efficiently. To keep the pace with changing customer
requirements, Cay regularly interacts with customers and
ensures that the OSV solutions are solving the real
questions and pain points in the industry. Currently, with
her effective leadership qualities, she is successfully
bringing together solutions that enable the company to
exceed its goals and objectives.
OneSource Virtual Services in Workday Ecosystem
Under the leadership umbrella of Cay and the managing
team, OneSource Virtual offers end-to-end services in
the Workday ecosystem. The company has the capability
to fully support customers’ use of the Workday platform.
It enables customers to realize the value of Workday,
reduce their efforts, and help them to see additional
benefits with their changing business and Workday
functionality. The firm achieves this through patented
technology and superior execution with total alignment
across the organization while keeping the customers’
needs at the center.
In addition, OSV strives to deliver quality professional
services to customers and also helps them to expand
products and extend reach into additional markets. It
offers comprehensive services like Strategic Consulting
for Workday, Global Workforce Administration, Benefits
Administration, Payroll Services on Workday, Finance &
Accounting Services, and Application Management
Services. With offices in London and Derry, Northern
Ireland, OneSource Virtual is planning to expand its
global reach in EMEA to better serve its international
customers.
SVP, Marketing and Product Management |
OneSource Virtual
“Advice is good, but obsessing over advice is
unproductive,” says Cay.
In her long span of professional life, Cay has received
numerous opinions but the one she believes to be the
best of all is: “Feedback is a gift. Take it, evaluate it,
then decide if it’s really wise to consider and
implement”. Therefore, the well-versed Cay mostly
relies on her experience and vision to understand the
feedback from clients and help them to map and deliver
a road to success.
The latest example of this is the launch of her newest
brainchild, the RPaaS offering. Cay developed RPaaS as
a means to help customers fill the gap in their operational
processes and reduce legal and regulatory risks. It is her
experience and vision that makes Cay a dynamic leader
in her field and a conduit to her customers’ success.
Explaining the proper response to advice, Cay asserts,
“It’s important to assess and weigh constructive
feedback, but in the end obsessing over advice is
unproductive.”
The value of
experience
“
is not in seeing
“
much,
but in seeing wisely.
21
 Looking Into The Future
Learn How
LiDAR
Is Changing the World for Better
H uman beings are peculiar creatures who
want to know anything and everything.
In order to do this, we have developed
many technologies and devices so that we can
search and gather about the unknown. LiDAR
stands for Light Detection and Ranging, is a
remote sensing method that measures the distance
to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed
laser light and measuring the reflected pulses with
a sensor. LiDAR is one of those technologies,
which helped scientists and researchers to
characterize vegetation and other objects across
large sections. To map objects, LiDAR uses
ultraviolet, visible, or near-infrared light. This
remote sensing method is used to make
geological maps, create virtual models of city
landscapes, scan the ocean floor at some
shallower depths, and map changes happening in
coastlines.
Working of LiDAR Technology
LiDAR works in a similar manner as radar and
sonar works, but it uses light waves from a laser.
22
Generally, a LiDAR device consists of a laser, a
scanner, and a specialized GPS receiver. From the
LiDAR system, light is emitted from a rapidly
firing laser. The sensor on the system calculates
the total time taken for each pulse to bounce
back. Since the light moves at a constant speed
the LiDAR device can calculate the distance
between itself and the target. The GPS is used for
identifying the X, Y, Z location of the light
energy. By repeating the same process, it forms a
map of the surface it is measuring and the 3D
model of the surface can be constructed. LiDAR
is becoming popular and used in various sectors
that are:
Evaluating the surrounding areas of
Autonomous Vehicles
With the invention of autonomous cars, the
automotive industry has transformed into a
completely new level. Many organizations started
financing as well as building self-driving cars. An
autonomous vehicle uses LiDAR technology to
look at its surrounding area. The remote sensing
technology measures the distances, categorizes
obstacles ahead, brightens objects with a laser
and then creates high-resolution digital images of
the surrounding areas of self-driving cars. By
mounting a LiDAR on the bumper or the roof of a
car, it can calculate the distance between two
vehicles to avoid the collision. The LiDAR
technology also provides information to the
Adaptive Cruise Control system of the self-
driving to decide when to apply the brakes, slow
down, or accelerate the vehicle.
Transforming the Real World view with
Augmented Reality (AR)
Augmented Reality (AR) might not be the same
as virtual reality, but the technology is proving
itself as a very useful tool in our everyday lives.
The AR is rapidly growing in popularity because
it incorporates the elements of the virtual world
into the real world that enhances the things we
see, hear, and feel. AR merged with LiDAR can
heighten the transparency and final output of AR
systems. In principle, a LiDAR scanner offers the
ultra-detailed 3D mapping which allows another
AR system to pile his data on top of a precise and
reliable map. The point cloud created by LiDAR
scanner can offer an extraordinary AR
experience. Currently, there is research going on
the application of Doppler wind LiDAR, which
would allow us to see the clear movement of the
wind. The research would be useful in aviation
safety, data visualize of atmospheric, weather
forecasting and disaster management.
Landscape Analysis
The most common use of LiDAR technology is to
survey the landscapes. With the recent
advancement in hardware and software sector, the
analysis of LiDAR data can be processed more
efficiently. The remote sensing technology can
enter in thick shades, which allows the scientists
to uncovered earth territory models that was not
visible to them by picture based photogrammetry.
A comprehensive and updateable risk model can
be introduced allowing risk to be managed, rather
than responded to.
23
 Looking Into The Future

Biodiversity for Species and Insects

Forest is home of different species and insects. To unveil the mystery of their lifestyle LiDAR
technology is used. Using LiDAR, scientist and researchers gather data about various species and
insects. Then, the gathered data is analyzed to see whether the forest is a suitable place for them to live
or not. Essentially, the vertical arrangement of trees, shrubs, and other plant tell what species can live
and prosper in that area.

Tsunami Hazard Model

We all had known about tsunami and its effect on human lives. The natural disaster can destroy
infrastructure and take a thousand lives. However, LiDAR technology can help to minimize this damage.
Scientists can utilize LiDAR technology to understand the area that will be covered when the tsunami
happens. The 3D CG representation of a terrain’s surface produced by LiDAR gives the elevation value
of the seashores and bathymetric data provides underwater elevation. The data layered in the GIS gives
us the flood area details when a tsunami occurs.

Aiding Forensic Researchers

Due to LiDAR’s capabilities to survey areas and detect life form, the researchers pondered on whether
LiDAR technology could be used to find unmarked graves. For this, the researches obtained numerous
corpses that had been donated to science and buried them in various unmarked graves. Using LiDAR
technology, the researchers were able to make out the outlines of all of the graves even those that were
covered by leaves and other debris.

Conclusion

As the LiDAR technology becomes cheaper and more available, no doubt people around the world will
continue to enjoy fascinating new applications built from it. LiDAR technology gives an opportunity to
do impossible tasks out of human capabilities like surveying the remote landscapes. The technology has
a versatile nature for utilizing its sensors in various situations. Moreover, LiDAR technology can change
the viewpoints of the human for monitoring an object or anything. This technology has the potential to
transform human insights on various things and in future, we might see things from a different
perceptive.

24
 Clare Parry-Jones:
A Persuasive Leader, Elevating Computacenter With Excellent
Management Skills
B usinesses are constantly increasing investments
in enhancing their digital agenda, the speed of
their networks, building their cloud capabilities,
and most importantly, improving their resilience for their
customers. The customer-centricity has given a rise to
new strategies amongst businesses that specifically
concentrate on customer requirements. Therefore, the
products, services, or solutions from companies are
greatly proportional to customer demands.
Clare Parry-Jones, the Sector Director of Enterprise
at Computacenter and her colleagues have built
powerful partnerships with the world’s leading
technology providers to offer such customer-focused
solutions. At Computacenter, Clare is contributing to a
path of sustainable growth with her excellent leadership
qualities and influential communication skills.
The Journey of Leaping from Versatile Roles to being
a Leader at Computacenter
Being the only child of her parents, Clare was very close
to them. Since childhood, she saw her parents efficiently
running a hotel business; she observed them putting the
customer at the heart of everything. That observation
was the beginning of her journey.
In her studies, Clare initially started with A-levels in
Chemistry, Biology & English Literature. While doing
that, she took an additional O-level in Computer Studies.
Moving ahead, Clare dropped her idea of doing Food
Science with a thought of spending 4 years in a lab coat
and took admission in a new degree in Business
Information Technology at UCLAN and pursued it with
full interest. After completing her studies, she moved to
various companies leading them with different roles.
Interestingly, Clare’s roles transitioned from technical
support, systems engineer to sales management. With her
adaptable nature, she joined Computacenter in 2007 as
an account manager. Her dynamic business and
28
leadership qualities were soon recognized, and are
utilized daily in her current role of Sector Director.
Assisting Clients in their Success while Maintaining
Healthy Relationships
Today, at Computacenter, the team is successfully adding
value to the clients’ businesses by offering complete
advice on what choice of technology will be best suited
for their businesses. They listen to customer needs and
find the best ways to integrate Computacenter services to
their environment and help them to manage it securely
and reliably. Commenting on the growth of
Computacenter, Clare asserts, “Being 38 years old and
UK based, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved. We’ve
created a ‘can-do’ culture where people matter and are
encouraged to thrive. Today, our business has grown in
capability, reach, and reputation.”
Clare and team are therefore continually focused on
long-lasting relationships with customers and long-term
goals. Computacenter believes that profitability is
directly related to customer satisfaction which
encourages them to experiment with new trends and
technologies and explore delivery locations for new
service centres. Likewise, the team leads the go-to-
market strategy primarily with their service business
which helps them to drive the overall strategy for
Computacenter. Computacenter views Managed Services
as the prerequisite for long-term customer relationships
and retention, whilst Professional Services give them
visibility and recognition as they work with CIOs to
make their IT infrastructure suitable for digital services.
Further, these relationships help their Technology
Sourcing business to flourish.
Additionally, to remain ahead in the challenging
environment where clients prefer high-quality services at
low price points, Computacenter constantly focuses on
maintaining high levels of professionalism and quality
with competitive pricing while considering the
commercial viability to avoid any losses.
Defeating Problems while Making Confident
Decisions
Since joining, Clare has significantly contributed to the
company to new horizons of growth. Being a mother and
a senior leader in a reputed organization is not an easy
task. Clare remarks on this, “For me, ensuring my work-
life balance is critical. I’m not always perfect at
balancing it, but I certainly try the best to manage my
home as well as work.” Therefore, like most of us, she
has to juggle everything and say ‘no’ to certain things.
Clare always tries to approach everything with an open
mind and trust her instincts while taking decisions.
Regarding decisions, she was given advice by a past
manager of hers from Compaq— “Make a decision and
move on!” Clare follows this mantra to avoid stagnation
and allowing for corrective action to be taken if required.
Clare’s customer-centric approach was learnt from her
parents. She always thinks about remaining relevant to
her customers and concentrates on their end goals to
better assist them with Computacenter services.
Sector Director of Enterprise | Computacenter
Throughout her career, Clare has been helping, driving
and supporting people in their careers. While doing this,
she never thought about leaving a legacy behind - she
always wanted her team, colleagues and company to
succeed.
When explaining about her opinions on legacy, Clare
said, “I’ve never really thought about leaving a legacy
[behind]. I don’t want to be famous for being a woman
in IT. I want to be famous for being a Leader and Role
Model that happens to be called Clare, who along the
way has made a positive impact and depending on your
point of view that could be as a daughter, a mother, a
wife, a friend, a co-worker and leader.”
Finally, this well-versed leader offers her advice, Clare
shares “Treat people as you would want to be treated,
approach each day with a smile as if it’s your first and
never be afraid of failing.”
“
Life is busy and work
is busy, so smile and
believe in yourself
because you are“
the creator of your
destiny.
29
 Daphne Thomas:
Setting An Example By Influencing People To Make Them
Successful
W hen leading a business organization, you
must be able to motivate your workforce for
various reasons including task completion,
vision alignment, and even employee development. A
personality that can change someone’s behavior for
good, can fruitfully drive organizational growth towards
great heights of success. Moreover, as leadership is about
impacting, influencing, and inspiring, an adept leader
impacts people for getting results, influences them for
spreading the passion he/she has and inspires teammates
and customers to thrive. One of such personalities is
Daphne Thomas, who is an active Chief
Transformation Officer (CTO) at iPipeline, Inc.
Coming from a Computer Science background, Daphne
has worked as a developer for many years in Ireland, the
UK, and Japan. After a long career at Siemens Medical,
she was elevated to VP of Research and Discovery,
where she led an Enterprise Development team of 1,500
employees across 5 different countries. Moreover,
Daphne is deeply experienced in agile/process consulting
and building a services team. In 2008, when Daphne
joined iPipeline as the Head of Services, she developed a
solid delivery methodology that helped the firm to grow
its customer base to over 130 insurers and 1,300
distributors & financial institutions, with best in class
profitability.
Considering Customers as Paramount
Today, being the Chief Transformation Officer of
iPipeline, Daphne is involved in collaborating with
customers in the insurance and financial services
industry to transform not only their business, but the
industry. Through her immense contribution, she
provides the best practices and consultative services to
the industry as it evolves to a more digital landscape.
While developing iPipeline’s strategies, the customers
are Daphne’s top priority, as enhancing the lives of
customers and helping them protect their families is at
30
the forefront of everything she does. Similarly, Daphne
and her team focus on how the potential strategy will
improve the lives of the consumer as they consider
buying insurance. Further, the viability of bringing a
potential strategy to market is also a priority in the
decision process at iPipeline.
An Organization with a Mission to Make the
Difference
Based in Exton, Pennsylvania, iPipeline was founded
with the goal of digitizing the life insurance industry by
aggregating and distributing up-to-date content for
producers selling a variety of insurance products for
multiple carriers. Presently, the tech solution provider is
a leading the space of cloud-based software solutions
and dramatically improving the planning, selling, and
servicing of financial products. With a vision to
dramatically improve how insurance is sold, iPipeline
offers innovative solutions that include pre-sales support,
new business & underwriting, policy administration,
point-of-sale execution of applications, post-sale support,
data analysis, reporting, user-driven configuration,
consumer delivery & self-service, and agency & firm
management.
iPipeline’s mission is to provide a world-class,
integrated, end-to-end platform to the financial services
and life insurance industry to accelerate and simplify
sales, compliance, operations, and support. With this
mission, their team looks ahead to continue expanding
the capabilities of their platform, grow responsibly, and
capture more than 75% of industry electronic
transactions, while focusing on customer-centricity.
Employing the Experiences to Create Great Teams
As Daphne has spent ample time working overseas,
immersing in new cultures has helped her become who
she is and shaped the way she navigates the diverse
philosophies within the teams she works. Moreover,
Daphne is passionate about cultural diversity and
believes in building a global team. While speaking about
how her overseas career journey has helped her, she
says, “The experiences I gained by living in 4 different
countries has given me an appreciation for the unique
value each culture holds, and how to tap into these
unique traits to build high performing teams.”
Challenges are the Part and Parcel of the Business
As iPipeline’s innovative efforts grow along with the
booming industry, the firm is always in need of the
topmost talent. Daphne finds the most challenging aspect
of her job is to find great talent. In these times,
iPipeline’s goodwill tends to help her a lot. “Fortunately,
we have a wonderful reputation and culture that help us
attract great minds, but we always have room for new
innovators,” Daphne asserts.
Measuring the Success by the Success of Mentees
Being a leader, Daphne also acts as a mentor for various
members of her team. Once a mentor asked her how
Chief Transformation O cer | iPipeline, Inc.
many people she has mentored, and how many now hold
positions higher than her. That question inspired her to
look at her network and realize her great contribution to
people is mentoring. The success of those people always
gives her a feeling of great pride and inspires her to
contribute more to people seeking guidance.
When asked how she would like to be remembered,
Daphne replied, “I would like for my legacy to be that of
a leader and mentor. I hope the individuals I have
mentored will remember me for what I taught them and
how my leadership helped them grow.”
Moreover, in the Mentor Club for Women at iPipeline,
Daphne and her team share books and articles to
empower women in their careers and hold open
discussions around how they can help each other
overcome the challenges that women face in the
workplace. They are currently reading a book that
Daphne recommends to anyone looking to grow their
career—“Why Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office.”
“
By means of iPipeline,
I strive to provide the
best practices and
“
consultative services
to the industry as it
evolves to a more digital
landscape.
31
 Expert's Views

Why
Last Mile Delivery Is
The New Competitive Vanguard For
Retail & Grocery eCommerce

A ccording to a 2018 study, the preceding 18

months saw a 50% increase in last mile
interactions, largely due to increased demand in
B2C eCommerce. Here’s how your business can prepare
itself to excel in this new reality.
more and more under their umbrella, introducing faster
shipping options and giving customers the ability to see
where their driver is on the delivery day.

The industry has followed suit, and thankfully you don’t

The eCommerce era has redefined customer
expectations
The evolution of customer expectations when it comes to
home delivery has been discussed frequently in recent
years, but in reality it’s more appropriate to say that they
have been redefined in the current environment; the term
“evolution” doesn’t quite capture just how quickly the
standards have changed. For example, in just a short time
Amazon went from completely utilizing the major
shipping carriers for all of their deliveries to bringing
have to have the economies of scale of Amazon (since
almost no one does!) in order to incorporate last mile
improvements for customers. All you have to do is focus
on the opportunities for engagement at every step of the
last mile journey.
Consistently excellent last mile service sets you apart
In the case of retail delivery, companies are typically
competing against other entities that offer similar (or
often the same) products at similar prices. This is
especially true in the grocery industry, where companies

32
already compete for razor-thin margins and brands are
increasingly turning to home delivery as a part of their
core CX.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
On one hand this seems daunting, but it also represents
an important opportunity: if your competitors are
also offering home delivery, you can differentiate
yourself by making incremental yet important
improvements in your last mile experience. Make a
commitment to increase visibility whenever
possible. Invest in new technology such as AI that
automatically optimizes delivery routes. Provide
customers with easy options for returns and follow
up with instant feedback opportunities.

Last mile self-service options make sense for

consumers and brands

The ultimate goal is to make every aspect of the

last mile experience as easy as possible for
everyone involved—your customers, your delivery
drivers, and your customer service team. Self-
service functionality is a crucial part of this
strategy, and innovative technology is now taking
things that were impossible just a couple of years Cami Zimmer | Executive VP BDM
ago and turning them into routine interactions.

Customers can get real-time updates on driver location

from any mobile device, and even track the driver’s
position in an instant, all without having to call to find
out where they are or when they will be there. For
customers who do call during the last mile, integrated
Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems keep them in
the loop nearly as quickly, all without the need for
interaction with a live agent. This is an incredible
operational savings to brands!

Success in the last mile is built on a foundation of

technology and dedication

The newest, most user-friendly last mile technology

available won’t be very useful unless it’s paired with
employees who are willing to execute your CX strategy
sale after-sale. And the most dedicated employees in the
world won’t be able to save you from falling behind the
competition if you don’t provide them with innovative

33
 Expert's Views

technological tools that make home delivery more convenient and worry-free for consumers.

The new frontier of the last mile for retail and grocery businesses lies at the junction of innovative tech and team
members who prioritize the service experience for every customer. Customers expect more from their last mile
experience than ever before, but brands also have more affordable tools and feasible strategies at their disposal than
ever before. It’s up to you to combine them in a way that delivers sustained value to your buyers each time they click
the checkout button on your eCommerce platform.

Sources:
Ÿ retaildive.com/news

Ÿ oracle.com/webfolder
·

34
 Janaki Joshi:
Transforming Product Commercialization In The Life Sciences
Industry
T oday’s technology world is going through a
transformation of corporate IT systems. The
switch from in-house infrastructure and teams to
cloud-based infrastructure as well as the continued trend
towards the Software as a Service (SaaS) model has
completely altered the way business is done. Furthermore,
the arrival of pioneering technologies such as Artificial
Intelligence (AL), Machine Learning (ML), Natural
Language Processing (NLP) and Text mining has attracted
attention from various industries.
This is not dissimilar to the trends in the
telecommunications and entertainment industries where
we have seen a shift from traditional to new technologies.
Over a decade ago, consumers moved to smartphones and
VoIP based communication from landlines and old mobile
phones. In the entertainment industry on demand content
streamed by Netflix or Amazon Prime has led to the
demise of traditional DVD chains such as Blockbuster.
For developing and launching new products in the
Consumer Packaged Goods and Life Sciences industry,
Iris Interactive offers an innovative approach to its
customers. The New York-based company is as an
independent software vendor, which has developed a
product commercialization platform that companies use to
innovate with speed, efficiency and quality. Janaki Joshi,
the CEO of Iris Interactive leads the company to achieve
breakthrough results for its customers in commercializing
their products.
Journey from Accountant to an Entrepreneur
Janaki started her professional life as a Chartered
Accountant. During the early stages of her career, she
worked with big consumer, pharmaceuticals and
telecommunications organizations. While working as an
accountant, she uncovered the need for a companywide
software system that cross-functional teams can use to
develop and commercialize their products in the market
more effectively. Furthermore, she observed that in
38
accounting, software systems are used to automate tasks
with capabilities to track every activity. However, the
business processes in R&D, marketing and sales of new
products were being managed in an ad-hoc manner which
led to wasted investment and resources as well as lost
opportunities to achieve the success and loss of
competitive edge.
Further, Janaki observed that the stock market was
focused on the net present value of future cash flow of the
company and innovation was the key driver which
crucially relies on the ability of a company to successfully
commercialize products ahead of their competitors. She
saw that effective product commercialization was one of
the prime factors impacting the future of the company.
In the Life Sciences industry this is even more mission
critical due to the short time available for companies to
launch their products to fully realize their revenue
potential before the patents expire. Janaki saw a big
opportunity that needed to be addressed, so she quit her
job to embark on a journey to become an entrepreneur and
established Iris Interactive to offer comprehensive end to
end product management solution.
Iris Interactive, Providing Platform for
Commercialization
Statistics show that more than 90% of product launches in
the consumer packaged and the life sciences industries are
either late to the market or do not fully realize their sales
potential. Iris Interactive helps such companies by
enabling cross-functional teams coordinate their activities
in all aspects of the commercialization process including
customer insights, R&D, communication development
and go-to-market activities. Janaki and her team at Iris
Interactive is committed to helping companies launch the
products faster to the market, accomplish higher sales and
build strong brands.
The Iris system supports multi-disciplinary teams
comprising marketing, clinical, R&D and sales
professionals involved in the new product development
and commercialization process. In the life sciences
industry, to bring a new drug or biologic to market, the
Iris platform provides tracking of all the activities that
involve FDA submissions, clinical milestones, launch and
post-launch activities. Iris provides a central platform for
all information related to the new product so that each
team member can access it from anywhere.
CEO’s Philosophy to empower teams to innovate
Janaki believes that to become an effective leader, it is
necessary to balance the growth of the organization and
endure the failure that comes with the growth.
Furthermore, an innovation culture requires taking risks
and accepting the fact that some ideas may not be easy to
implement or the initial investment may exceed the
company’s willingness to invest in innovation.
In the last 25 years of her professional life, Janaki has had
the privilege of working with the leaders of global fortune
500 companies and interacting with cultures across
CEO | Iris Interactive
Europe, USA, Australia, and Asia. This opportunity
provided her with an insight into the leadership styles
which makes her as an operationally focused, strong and
skillful leader.
Facing Challenges while Aiming for Growth and Profit
The biggest challenge for a platform like Iris is the lack of
awareness among companies that innovation and product
commercialization can be managed using an enterprise
platform to bring high levels of transparency,
accountability, and control. Therefore, increasing
awareness among business leaders regarding end-to-end
innovation management using both ‘Challenge based and
Open Innovation based’ thinking to increase the rate of
launch success, is a high priority. Moreover, Janaki wants
to help corporate leaders realize that growth and
profitability can be achieved without unnecessary stress
and with the help of innovative technologies, that
minimize wastage of resources help teams achieve work
life balance.
“
Creating a culture of
innovation requires taking
risks and accepting that
“
some ideas may not be
easy to implement or
investments may exceed
the initial budget.
39
 Kiran Bhagotra:
A Determined Founder, Making How We Buy Cybersecurity
Customer-Friendly By Building Trust
T he present cybersecurity market is complex,
changing and over-filled with thousands of
vendors, which makes it challenging for
businesses, particularly small & medium businesses
(SMBs) to decide the appropriate solution for their
companies. Many customers end up confused & with
security solutions that are not essential for their business
needs. The rising competition between vendors has also
made the customer-centric approach more important. To
fulfill this essential security gap, the Founder, CEO and
President of ProtectBox, Kiran Bhagotra left her UK
government role and established a simple, quick and
affordable cyber comparison website & marketplace for
SMBs & suppliers globally.
A Journey from a Cabinet Job to Establishing
ProtectBox
Having worked in completely different industries, Kiran
never imagined herself as a cybersecurity entrepreneur.
But, the highly curious Kiran fell in love with
cybersecurity when she was contracting for the UK
government’s Cabinet Office & Foreign & Commonwealth
Office managing international cyber relations. Two years
ago, she moved forward with her passion and founded
ProtectBox. In today’s “customer is king” market, UK &
US-based ProtectBox is successfully helping choice-rich
buyers to find the right fit cybersecurity solutions for them.
At ProtectBox, Kiran and her team are not driven by the
profit-centric approach alone but more so by the
experience-centric approach that includes working with
partners (government and corporates) and suppliers who
understand and care about the requirements of ProtectBox
customers. In short, building trust with their customers.
Despite not coming from a coding background, Kiran is
successfully leading the company and with her
extraordinary efforts has enabled it to win various awards
and recognition like Corporate LiveWire’s Cybersecurity
Comparison Site of the Year 2019 Award, Security & Fire
Excellence Awards, 2018’s Cybersecurity Project of the
Year, Wired Security 2017’s Start-Up Award. Likewise,
nd
ProtectBox came 2 for HRH Duke of York/Prince
40
Andrew’s Pitch@Palace 9.0 People’s Choice Award &
been a finalist in 25+ other Awards.
Defeating Severe Challenges with Courage,
Communication and Clan
The awards and recognition are the result of dedication and
efforts by Kiran and her team at ProtectBox. When asked
about experiences and challenges she faced while leading
ProtectBox, Kiran said, “Sadly, just like many of our SMB
customers, I have experienced the same challenges they do
whilst setting up ProtectBox. I have paid for nearly all
ProtectBox’s build by myself, as marketplaces do not get
investment until they are scaled. We have been let down by
technical people for not delivering what they promised &
have had to run lean to make up for the extra costs whilst
building replacements. The encouragement of loved ones &
asking for help, not to mention my faith that ProtectBox
needs to be done for the sake of others, has got us
through.” Often the dynamic CEO must switch from CEO,
CTO, and other positions to get the job done. However,
Kiran successfully combats such changes and challenges
with her confidence and emotional intelligence. Likewise,
she believes in courage, communication, and clan: courage
to accept her fears, communicating to deliver the message
concisely and finally, clan means surrounding oneself with
the right and inspiring people that include customers,
investors and stakeholders.
Eliminating the Lengthy and Costly Cybersecurity
Selection Process with ProtectBox
Today, most SMBs often waste thousands of pounds on
consultants to decide & buy for them, cybersecurity
solutions that cost an additional hundreds or thousands of
pounds. Likewise, if SMBs decide to purchase on their
own, they need to go through numerous terminologies or
jargon, which is not affordable as it consumes both time
and money. Commenting on this difficult situation, Kiran
asserts, “How much easier would it be to go online & in
one hour, fill out a simple questionnaire with customer
services on hand, get 6 comparisons of technology,
training & processes that can be personalized using filters
& sliders before buying with a single click. With lots of
ways to pay, including instant credit & government
grants/subsidies.”
ProtectBox does this. It is a cybersecurity comparison
website & marketplace that automates the purchasing of
cybersecurity products (technology, people, and processes)
to be quick, simple and affordable for SMBs globally.
Kiran and her expert team have also created an answer for
complicated jargon. Info icons are available on each
question to explain the jargon & customers can delegate
questions to their teams, inside or outside the company. All
these activities can be seamlessly managed through the
customer’s account.
A Strategy to Expand Worldwide
In the coming month, Kiran and her team plan to launch
ProtectBox as an internationally successful product, which
will help businesses across the world. Additionally, the
product can be sold/joint-marketed as an all-in-one cyber
add-on by accountants, telecoms, banks, lawyers,
consultants or any data-related service provider to SMBs.
Likewise, governments can extend the capabilities of their
Founder, CEO & President
ProtectBox
marketplaces by integrating with ProtectBox’s platform
and ProtectBox’s all-in-one bundles can be part-funded
through government grant schemes. These various benefits
have attracted large players to partner with ProtectBox.
Already, the company has signed 4 partners with another
10 partners in the pipeline globally.
“People will help you because they believe in you..,”
says Kiran
Finally, Kiran shares her best bit of business advice, which
she got from her late father—“If you don’t ask, you don’t
get”. She explains further, that she has come to understand
the kindness of strangers & one should never be scared to
ask for help. According to her, people will help because
they believe in you, or believe in your cause and efforts. In
her daily emails, the founder receives praises saying—“We
so desperately need a capability like ProtectBox in
cybersecurity so please stick at it, we can see how hard it
must be but don’t give up, keep up the good work”. Such
trust of people in Kiran and her team is inspiring and keeps
them moving forward no matter what the challenges are.
“
Life is hard. I’ve got
through it by looking
forward, accepting my fears,
“
surrounding myself with
people who help. Giving back
by sharing, listening, and
smiling or making someone
else smile everyday!
41
 Travel Tech
Reinventing
Using Digital Technologies
T he digital transformation has renovated the
personal and professional life of every human
being. Numerous organizations have
integrated themselves with digital technologies to
improve their workflow and expand their business
around the world. Moreover, the travel and tourism
industry has been adapting the digital technologies for
decades and constantly changing the way people
travel. The positive impact of digital transformation in
the travel and tourism industry is that we do not have
to wait in a queue to book railway tickets. Through
digital mediums, the tickets can be booked over the
internet effortlessly and customer’s time is saved.
Similarly, we can book airline tickets, bus tickets or
any tickets from the many online travel portals. Online
booking is just a single example of digital
transformation in the travel and tourism industry. The
introduction of new and innovative travel technologies
is redesigning the travel and tourism industry in the
following ways:
42
& Business
Utilizing innovative technologies for boosting
airline facility
While traveling by airplane, the customer’s baggage
might mislay or stolen. Adapting the blockchain
technology can help the airport to avoid such a
situation. A specific message could be attached to the
baggage for tracking its position from the origin point.
The message would be in encrypted form that is stored
in a blockchain system. In this way, each baggage
check-in will contain a unique code and the baggage
management would become effortless for the flights,
connected flights, airports, and customs. Along with
that, robots powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
Machine Learning (ML) can execute the entire
operations of the airport. Another area of
improvement can be an airline’s On-Time
Performance (OTP). The OTP transformation into
digital would enhance flight delays and operational
efficiency as well as increase the airlines’ brand value
while maintaining the OTP. AI-powered chatbots can
optimize the booking process efficiently. The smart
chatbots can handle queries of travelers as well as
book their tickets effortlessly.
Redesigning travel amenities using big data
analytics
Before the digital transformation, the hotels used to
have binders on the desks, outlining where to eat,
what to see, what are the hotspots and everything you
needed to know about the area. Using those binders,
explorers used to see and search nearby locations, but
the digital transformation changed everything. Now,
tourists can easily search for information about their
nearby areas with their smartphones. Based on their
experience, tourist offers their opinions via Facebook,
WhatsApp, Instagram, TripAdvisor, and other travel
review websites. These channels produce a large
amount of data, which could be utilized by tourism
brands. For that reason, new as well as old vendors in
the travel sector are searching for innovative ways to
take advantage of generated data from consumers so
they can offer more customized and cost-effective
products and services. Big data analytics can help
vendors to identify consumer trends and business
opportunities. The statistics information also enables
the hotels to offer the best experience to the
customers. Travel agencies are also utilizing the
gathered data to provide customized and flexible
package, which is suitable for their travel and
accommodation needs.
Accessing any information from the wearable
device
Wearable technology is fast becoming one of the best
innovations in the modern world. The trend is no
longer a simple idea that gadget lovers can sport under
their collar and many individuals adapted it across the
globe. The travel and tourism companies are slowly
but surely using this technology to offer customers a
more personalized and united experience. While
traveling from one place to another, the wearable
device performs many functions the same as a
smartphone. Some of these functions are boarding
43
 Travel Tech

pass reminders, reservation information, gate updates, QR codes, etc. which greatly benefit travelers in their
journeys. Through wearable technology, airlines can push a gate change notification directly to a user’s watch, and
down the line, travelers may even receive this alert via smart headphones.

Experience the world without leaving home

Over the past few years, travel and tourism industry have seen an increase in AR or VR popularity. Typically,
these technologies are being used either for content marketing or to enhance the customer experience. However,
virtual reality allows users to get an opportunity to see new sights or to enjoy exotic journeys without leaving the
comfort of their own space. For example, a traveler can experience the sceneries of Italy from home. Furthermore,
the hotel can use VR to exhibit their rooms, reception areas and even local area hotspots on their website, in order
to boost bookings.

Utilizing the recognition technology in the travel industry

The existing system needs to be reformed to tie up with cutting-edge technologies. For safety measures, many
devices and technologies are used such as fingerprint, facial recognition, retina scanning or other biometric
identification methods. However, the travel and tourism industry utilize these technologies to diminish traveller’s
distress. As technology advances and becomes more widely accepted, travelers could use this technology to
authorize payments or check out of the hotel. This could radically help reduce the long queues and free up
restaurant or reception workers to deal with customers who require more hands-on assistance.

Conclusion:

Every traveler has faced good as well as bad experiences at one point or another within the tourism industry.
Often times, the services provided to the travelers were not up to the mark and as a result, they remain unsatisfied.
With the implementation of innovative technologies, the travel and tourism industry can offer consumers with
personalized packages at an affordable cost and enhance their customer experience. In this way, the consumers
can search according to their needs and buy a holiday or vacation package that contains all the services they need
under their budget. Hence, travelers can enjoy their trip with better amenities. Alongside this, the service
providers also get the profit due to which they expand and cultivate themselves in the travel and tourism industry.

44
 Rajashree Rajadhyax:
A Visionary Leader, Exploring The Landscape Of Artificial
Intelligence
‘‘
I would love to be remembered as somebody who
created a mark, a person who created something
of value that has helped people in their lives!”
says Rajashree Rajadhyax, the Co-founder and
Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Cere Labs Pvt.
Ltd.
Through her venture, Rajashree endeavors to help
businesses adapt to the next era of digitization by
deploying Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions.
Rajashree’s team and project management capabilities
combined with her excellent hold on technologies like
Deep Learning and Cognitive Computing have been
instrumental in shaping and developing the company’s
core AI product and platform. Apart from leading the
AI product development, she oversees the operations of
the company and drives the business to sustainable and
extensive growth.
An Oath for Value Addition to Businesses
The word “Cere” in Cerelabs is taken from
“Cerebrum”—a Latin word for brain. Cere Labs was
formed with the idea of making a software that works
like the human mind. The company, today is driving its
focus towards process automation which involves the
processing of unstructured documents, thereby laying
the foundation of the fundamental steps to adding AI to
businesses.
Most of the organisations possess unstructured and
unanalysed data (commonly referred to as ’Dark Data’)
gathered from multiple operations and channels. The
research team at Cere Labs has developed an AI
platform “Cerescope” that uses cognitive capabilities to
process this unstructured and dark data. A major
offering by the firm is the “Cerescope D-tect” for
46
document processing that allows digitization of printed
documents. Using Cerescope as the platform, Cere
Labs strives to come up with more such AI-based
products, which will help in adding real value to
businesses.
Rajashree’s journey in the making of Cere Labs
Rajashree has always been passionate about technology
and performing arts. After having worked in the
healthcare tech industry for some time, she decided to
start something on her own by bringing her love for
technology and performing arts together. As a result of
her decision, she started a venture called
“meetkalakar”—a portal for online coaching in
performing arts, which today has more than 300
students worldwide learning various forms of
performing arts.
While dealing with “meetkalakar”, she was also
connected with a group of her friends who had plans to
leverage IoT for healthcare and therefore alongside the
online portal, she participated in the development of
their product. Having closely looked at the IoT
technology, Rajashree realized that making sense out of
the huge volumes of data generated by millions of
interconnected devices is very soon going to be the
toughest nut to crack and AI seemed like the only
solution to the problem. With this idea in mind, she
stepped into the journey of building an AI startup with
a friend & colleague Devesh, and co- founded Cere
Labs in 2015.
Leadership Elaborated Eloquently
Rajashree believes that leadership is about getting
people with multifarious skills and talents to work
along to share a leader’s dream. As long as a leader
shares a vision that inspires employees to follow,
his/her demands will be fulfilled anyway. Moreover,
while sharing what’s that one thought that helped her
throughout the way, Rajashree asserts, “I have always
found that inherently all people are good, you just need
to give them a direction. It has worked for me always.”
Bits of Advice that Help Rajashree
One of the best advices Rajashree has received is from
her mentor who has given her lessons on setting the
priorities, time management, and disadvantages of
having a rigid mindset. Having kept those suggestions
in mind, she always applies them in her life. At Cere
Labs, she alongwith her team often use the agile
approach by coming up with quick prototypes of their
product followed by test marketing to see if it is
accepted. The test does not result in positive ways
always, and hence she says, “If it doesn’t work, one
Co-founder & COO | Cere Labs Pvt. Ltd.
should be ready to go back to the drawing board and
go through as many iteration as needed till you get it
right.”
Pioneering something is quite a Challenge
Although there have been a lot of talks around AI, it is
comparatively a new technology, especially when it
comes to its application in business. The reason behind
it is even if the business users see a working prototype,
they tend to show disbelief in the fact that an AI
solution can add value to their business and that is what
Rajashree finds quite challenging to make them believe
in the technology. While commenting on the adoption
scenario of AI, Rajashree utters, “Adoption of AI
solutions for business is in its early stages yet, quite
like what IT systems were in the early 1990s.”
“
People say, data is
the new oil and I
believe that the use
“
of AI is inevitable to
harnessing the value
of data.
47
 Shwetha Prasad:
A Passionate Digital Marketing Expert Empowering Clients
With Omnia’s Services
I n business, especially in the service industry, a
major challenge for a leader is to keep the
employees motivated, happy, passionate, and driven
towards the company’s vision. The leader of an
organization acts as the glue that keeps the team
members together and promotes a healthy collaboration.
Likewise, in the days of the financial crisis, the leaders
have to stay strong because it gets lonely on the top
while facing bad financial situations.
Shwetha Prasad, the CEO and Founder of Omnia
Digital, has tackled these challenges during her
expedition of leading the company. Sharing her
experience positively, she says, “As long as we love what
we do, we will end up finding the solution for the
problems that do come our way.” Therefore, her passion
and inclination to empower businesses with various
digital marketing services keep her going ahead
regardless of the uncertain situations. Shwetha has a
deep faith in strong passion and dedication to succeed
and believes that these qualities come when people work
for what they like the most because if one wakes up and
worries about going to office then such people need to
rethink their profession to find their true passion.
Therefore, Shwetha prefers to hire like-minded people
who would love to work at Omnia and act as an extended
part of the business. At the full-service digital marketing
agency, Shwetha and her team members do things with
the utmost passion. She follows her idol Gary
Vaynerchuk who once said, “The best marketing strategy
is to care”. Shwetha followed the same advice
throughout her career and today, keeping the digital
marketing at the core, Omnia is offering services from
branding, names, logo creations, collaterals, brochure,
creating digital assets like websites, e-commerce portals,
mobile apps, digital marketing and numerous related
solutions.
48
Shwetha’s Journey of Excelling through Passionate
Learning
An experienced professional with a demonstrated history
of working in the marketing and advertising industry,
Shwetha has led and built many startups where she was
the youngest core member having to do handle key
departments from accounts, operational, tech, etc. Those
practical experiences gave Shwetha, a clear expectation
about the VC’s and PE’s and how valuation and other
business related things in her previous company which
was a startup. As COO in an established agency
delegating & managing almost 70 people under her.
During her days as a COO, she learned leadership and
mentorship skills from the highly experienced founder of
that organization. Seeing her dedication and passion to
learn things, the leaders proposed a partnership to
Shwetha to use her leadership skills and take decisions
for the business. Shwetha utilized this opportunity with
full responsibility and steadfastly worked hard towards
unlocking new achievements for that organization.
Today, Shwetha successfully owns and leads Omnia
Digital with her unique business style and sets an ideal
example for her team. She believes that a leader must get
own hands dirty and help the team to learn from it. It is
an important aspect for a CEO to follow because setting
an example encourages team members to do the same
and keeps them motivated to walk on the same path.
Optimizing Clients’ Online Presence with Expert
Digital Marketing Services
Digital marketing is at Omnia’s core and its team
members are committed to digitalize the businesses from
startups to SMCs which aim to rebuild or expand their
online presence. Till date, Shwetha and her team have
worked with numerous MNC’s and are also offering a
range of services to startups, service, and product-based
companies. Similarly, they have improved customers’
views towards brands via promotions, thereby assisted
their clients to gain and retain a large customer base. To
help the customers achieve their goals, the Omnia team
follows a data-driven digital approach. They focus on
real results and create an optimized ad campaign that
adds value to the client’s business.
As the right content for representing a brand delivers
depth and visibility in today’s competitive marketplace,
the Omnia team enables brands to build lasting
relationships with the target audience through Content
Marketing. Further, using Digital Strategy and
Execution, the company develops strategies that help
businesses achieve favorable business outcomes.
Additionally, to further increase the brand recognition,
Omnia team creates the right Campaign Management
for clients backed by an intelligent Insights and
Analytics and ensures that data is monitored, analyzed,
and managed before, during and at the end of each
campaign, which ultimately enables them to optimize
efficiency.
CEO & Founder | Omnia Digital
Planning Worldwide Expansion while Delivering
Measurable Results
At present, the company has specialization in content
marketing, digital strategy and execution, campaign
management, and insight & analytics. Utilizing their
skills and extensive experience in the aforementioned
forte, Shwetha and her team of Omnia offer a wide range
of digital marketing solutions including digital brand
presence management, print design and collateral
management, e-commerce marketing, digital asset, and
campaign management, etc. In the coming days, they are
also looking forward to continue delivering some
measurable results to the client through digital mediums
while focusing on expanding pan India and globally.
Finally, looking behind the achievements of Omnia,
Shwetha asserts, “The thing that’s closest to my heart is
Omnia. At my core, I want to change and touch many
lives through Omnia. Even we are small in number and
hopefully, in the future, we will be large enough to
facilitate and change a lot of lives and provide growth
for people.”
Your passion,
“
dedication, and the
drastic work to set an
“
example have the
capability to make you
a successful leader.
49