Gen Z, Gen AI and the Future of Work

 

Hardly a quarter of the 21^st century is over and mankind is on the cusp of witnessing a ‘never-seen-before, never-imagined-before’ revolution, impacting lives of most of us. One particular segment could be bearing the brunt of it and that could be Gen Z!

Gen Z –

This could be of one of the most widely used terms in the last couple of years.

By the way, naming a generation is typically a US phenomenon; we read of ‘silent generation’ (Born 1928-1945), then came the ‘Boomers’ (they were born during a massive ‘baby boom’ that happened after World War II , spanning the years between 1946 and 1964), followed by Gen X (born 1965-1980), Millennials/Gen Y (born 1981-1996) and then came in Gen Z (born in 1997-2012)! While these names until Millennials/Gen Y were more or less confined to US media, Gen Z became a buzzword across the world, mostly due the world coming closer due to technological advancements and thereby the vast reach of social media!

The formative years of Gen Z (all over the world) were impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. For almost 2 years, they didn’t go to school (or some to office); attended school/office from home. This early (and over) exposure to smartphones made them digitally fluent with vast access to information and thereby got them global exposure. But it also came with the downside. Too much screen time has been affecting their health, people skills, EQ (Emotional Quotient) and attention span also.

And as if all this were not sufficient, just when they are about to enter the corporate world (or just entered it a couple of years ago and learning the ropes) , they have to face the biggest of the challenges, …of the most disruptive technology of.. Gen AI!

Gen AI – (Generative Artificial Intelligence)

In 1950, Alan Turing proposed the question ‘Can machines think?’ and outlined the famous Turing Test. In this test, a human judge has a text chat with both a person and a machine. If the judge cannot tell which one is the machine, the machine passes. (By the way, the first Turing test was passed in 2014, just 12 years ago, by a computer program named Eugene Goostman)

In 1956, John McCarthy coined the term ‘Artificial Intelligence’ at Dartmouth College, marking the official birth of AI as a field of study. The 1970’s saw the development of Expert systems (rule-based programs designed to solve specific domain problems e.g. Medical diagnostics). 90’s witnessed Data-driven machine learning. In 1997, IBM’s Deep Blue defeated world chess champion Garry Kasparov (proved the power of raw computing power and decision trees). The years 2000-2010 saw rise of Deep Learning and Big Data explosion.

In 2016, Google’s DeepMind’s AlphaGo defeated world champion Lee Sedol at Go, a complex game once thought impossible for machines to master.

LLMs (Large Language Models), The Generative AI (using NLP – Natural Language Processing) and autonomous Agents got developed.

Year 2022-2026: OpenAI’s ChatGPT popularized Gen AI, followed by Gemini, Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, DeepSeek, Perplexity, Claude.

Corporate world has been quick to move in. Traditional BI, which helped analyse and report data (that too in a batch mode) is getting replaced by AI which not only makes predictions and recommendations in real-time but also enables automated decision-making when you use AI-powered autonomous agents. In short, we’re seeing Reporting à Predictions → Recommendation → Autonomous Action.

Indian enterprises have been pretty receptive. While the early adopters were e-Commerce players (like Swiggy, Zomato, Paytm, Amazon), many industries/verticals are embracing AI with gusto.

•        Software Engineering/IT – (GitHub Copilot, Claude) – writing code to auto-debugging to creating Apps

•        Marketing/Sales/Content creation

•        Back office - BPOs/customer care agents, email automation, Personal Assistant (thru’ agentic AI)

•        Healthcare and life sciences – drug discovery (predicting protein structures/design custom molecule etc.) , clinical workflows

•        Media/Gaming/entertainment - News/cartoons/memes creation, create songs(numbers/album!) from lyrics (AI writes lyrics too!!)

•        BFSI industry, stock brokers, investment consultants 

•        Professional services, Legal professionals

Even the traditional engineering/automobile companies are deploying AI. 

Tata Motors, Hyundai Motors, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra, Larsen and Toubro are using AI in some of the following applications -

•        Predictive maintenance

•        Automated quality checks

•        Simulate crash tests

•        Driving assistance software

•        Supply chain and smart plants

Future of Work –

Gen AI is a transformative force with some some metrics showing capability doubling every 6 to 7 months (sometimes described by industry leaders as "Moore's Law squared"). Humanoid AI could be accelerating the pace further and thereby promising 20X/50X productivity gains. This is bound to make paradigms shift (rather, it could be seismic shifts!)

So can anyone really foresee what the workplace will look like in 2040? Probably not!

..And here is yours truly giving it a humble try; so please take it with a liberal pinch of salt! 😊

There could be three possible scenarios (or rather, stages) unfolding over next 20 years.

•        Scenario A (Next 10 years) – AI augments humans

Limited net impact on white-collar employment, but significant task-level changes.

Stanford University Study says-

•        AI’s impact on aggregate employment is likely small right now.

•        A tough market for recent graduates may be partly due to AI.

•        AI’s impact on worker productivity is mixed but generally positive.

•        Firm adoption has accelerated but unevenly across the economy

Boston Consulting Group has something similar –

•        Reshaping over replacement: Most jobs are changing rather than disappearing completely. Over half of jobs are being actively transformed. BCG says - AI Will Reshape More Jobs Than It Replaces.

•        Entry-level squeeze: Early-career and entry-level positions—such as junior analysts, customer support, and data entry—face the steepest decline as AI agents handle foundational tasks.

•        High-exposure sectors: Finance, legal services, software development, and administrative support see the highest task overlap with current generative AI tools.

Times of India news (8^th Aug’26) confirming the same –

‘AI creating more jobs than it cuts in India. India recorded 83,100 AI-related hires during the period, compared with 31,921 layoffs and attrition, according to the report released Friday.’

Vineet Nayar (former CEO of HCL Consulting) captures it succinctly. He says, “Worldwide, the number of people in technology is going to go up and not down. But for some companies that are not going to re-invent themselves in the age of AI, the number of employees is going to go down. And That’s what you are seeing today. You need more what I call imagineers — people who imagine different kind of solutions.”

•        Scenario B (After 15 years) – AI replaces many tasks

White collar jobs would be affected greatly. Blue collar jobs would be in demand. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and AI Godfather Geoffrey Hinton believe manual labour is safer from AI because it will take longer for AI to have the dexterity to take on more physical jobs.

•        Scenario C (After 20 years) – (AI + Robotics/Humanoids) radically reshape work

White collar as well as blue collar jobs would be reduced drastically. There would be productivity boom (due to AI and affordable automation/robots/humanoids). Governments would be giving UBI (Universal Basic Income) to all – to be at home and do nothing!

 To prepare for the future –

While nobody would be 100% correct over which scenario would unfold over the next 20 years, overall, it certainly isn’t very rosy. How should Gen Z prepare for it?

While there is no magic mantra (or a magic wand), one needs to do a SWOT-style analysis of what AI brings to the table (speed, scale, data, pattern recognition, content generation) and what we (humans) bring to the table (judgement, empathy, leadership, creativity, ethics, context).

We should neither shun nor fear AI nor should we blindly follow it. (Never develop the notion that ‘AI is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent’)

But we need to see AI as our coworker/collaborator bringing out the synergistic results/huge productivity gains.  

While 74% of Gen Z use artificial intelligence tools every day, we don’t know how much it adds to their efficiency. Prompt engineering should not be overlooked.

As noted by Fortune, about 62% of Gen Z admit they use artificial intelligence as a mental crutch. Heavy use of automated tools can weaken natural problem-solving and critical thinking skills. So, one needs to draw a boundary over AI usage and should not overlook his/her innate human skills, rather they need to be leveraged to survive/succeed!

It is worth noting that AI doesn't necessarily replace entire jobs. AI changes the tasks within jobs. There will be new tasks unimagined today. One just needs to have his/her eyes and ears open to see the changes happening around, spot the opportunities and embrace the best possible one with open mind. The time-tested best habits of networking, continuously sharpening your skills and keeping abreast of the technologies/developments would come in handy!

 

 

 

 

SAP S/4HANA Condensed: For CXOs to Consultants

 

Most of the SAP books are written by consultants for consultants talking about a particular module or technology detailing about table structures, configuration or deep-dive coding. 

But there is nothing there for the CXO or the Senior Management, Delivery Leaders, Business Heads and Presales Architects who don’t need to configure a movement type or pricing conditions, but they need to enable a multimillion-dollar digital transformation led by SAP. 

This book (‘SAP S/4HANA Condensed: For CXOs to Consultants’) provides the much-needed ‘500-Foot visibility’ into SAP S/4HANA suite/ecosystem, Migrations, Rise/GROW with SAP methodologies and much more in a 250-page compact guide. It also provides a holistic approach, rather a 360-degree view of SAP S/4HANA Suite along with the essential cross-skilling framework enabling career progression for SAP Consultants and SAP Users.  

It cuts through complexity, offers practical insights, executive clarity and consultant depth.

Call it ‘From Strategy to Execution’ or ‘Your Boardroom-to-project guide’, it would assist you to drive the SAP-led Digital Transformation of your organization.

Also, considering SAP is being used by almost 80%+ of large companies in India (& worldwide) , the book should be useful to Engineering as well as Management students. (Many reputed institutes offer ERP/SAP as an elective/optional subject. This book would be an added advantage there. And even if the subject is not there, this book should give enough exposure and details which should enable a student in becoming more productive at work.) 

With 30 years of deep SAP experience from various top-notch organizations, I’ve tried to nail it down.

(If you’re a CXO/Sr. Leader in an enterprise running on SAP (or planning to go for Rise/Grow with SAP) OR if you’re a Delivery/Practice/Presales leader in a SAP consulting company OR a SAP Project Manager/Consultant/newly entrant OR a SAP User with high aspirations, this book would be immensely useful. (It would be an ideal gift also to your relative/friend working in any of above role) 

For readers in India: - URL  - https://notionpress.com/in/read/sap-s-4hana-r-condensed 

Get the Hardcover copy @ Rs. 595) 

For readers worldwide - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0H54N5ZFD#  

- Available in Kindle/paperback/hardcover editions on Amazon) 

Unravelling Web 3.0

Evolution –

The "internet" as we know it, based on the TCP/IP protocol, officially started on January 1, 1983. This is when ARPANET and the Defense Data Network adopted TCP/IP, enabling different computer networks to communicate with each other using a standard protocol. 

In 1991, the World Wide Web was introduced to the public, marking a significant milestone in the internet's history. Tim Berners-Lee released the first website and web browser, making the technology accessible outside of CERN (The European Organization for Nuclear Research).

Web 1.0, often referred to as the ‘read-only’ web, emerged in the early 1990s. (1990s- early 2000s) It consisted of static web pages, where users could only consume information without interactive functionalities. The internet during this period was largely dominated by news portals, basic search engines and personal websites.

Web 2.0 revolutionized online engagement in the early 2000s. Interactive websites, social media platforms, and user-generated content became the norm. This era introduced centralized platforms such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, enabling user participation and content sharing on a massive scale. Data collected from user activity fuelled algorithms that tailored content and advertisements, leading to a highly personalized, yet often opaque, online experience. User data became a valuable commodity (Data Monetization), driving the business models of many Web 2.0 companies.

Web 3.0, often referred to as the ‘decentralized web’ aims to address the flaws of Web 2.0 by shifting power from centralized corporations to users. It incorporates blockchain technology, decentralized protocols and artificial intelligence to create a more autonomous and secure internet ecosystem.

 

Web 3.0 vis-à-vis Metaverse-

The terms ‘Metaverse’ and ‘Web 3.0’ are often used interchangeably, but they represent distinct, though highly related, concepts that are shaping the future of the internet.

The Metaverse is a persistent, interconnected 3D virtual universe where users, represented by avatars, can interact with each other, digital objects, and AI-driven entities in real-time. It's envisioned as an evolution of the internet where you don't just "browse" content, but rather inhabit it.

In essence, while the Metaverse is about the immersive 3D virtual spaces and experiences, Web 3.0 is about the underlying architecture and principles that make such a decentralized, user-centric, and truly interoperable Metaverse possible. Web 3.0 can exist without the Metaverse (e.g., decentralized finance applications), but a fully realized, open, and user-owned Metaverse heavily relies on the advancements and philosophy of Web 3.0.

The foundations of Web 3.0-

Those are essentially decentralization through blockchain and peer-to-peer networks, which shift control from single entities to users. 

Core foundations

·        Decentralization: Instead of data being stored on servers controlled by a few large companies, it is distributed across a network of computers (nodes). This is enabled by blockchain technology and peer-to-peer networks, giving users more control and ownership.

·        Blockchain technology: A distributed, immutable ledger that provides a secure and transparent record of transactions and data. (In very short – Preceding block, current block and the succeeding block linked through hash function constitute the unique blockchain architecture. Immutability, transparency and security make the blockchain structure very powerful)

·        Enhanced Data Ownership – Users have control over their personal data and identity.

·        Trustless Transactions – Blockchain technology ensures secure and transparent operations. “Trustless” means that you don't have to trust a third party: a bank, a person, or any intermediary that could operate between you and your cryptocurrency transactions or holdings. Instead, trust is placed in the underlying cryptographic protocols, algorithms, and the decentralized network itself. 

Emerging and supporting technologies 

·        Semantic web: The vision of a web where data is given meaning (semantics), allowing machines to understand the content and perform more sophisticated tasks for users.

·        Interoperability: The ability of different applications and systems to work together and exchange data seamlessly, a core goal for the new web. 

·        Artificial intelligence (AI): Plays a crucial role in creating smarter applications, processing data, and providing AI-based analytics. 

Web 3.0 applications -

·        Smart Contracts - Self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. They run on blockchain and automatically enforce the agreement when certain conditions are met. (And thereby eliminate the need for intermediaries, enabling trustless transactions)

·        Decentralized Applications (dApps) - Applications that run on a peer-to-peer network rather than a single server. They leverage smart contracts and the underlying blockchain for their backend logic and data storage.

·        Decentralized Finance (DeFi) - DeFi utilizes smart contracts and cryptocurrencies to automate and manage financial processes, offering services like lending, borrowing, trading, and more. It allows people, businesses, or other entities to transact directly with each other without intermediaries like banks or brokerages, enabling peer-to-peer financial transactions through smart contracts on a programmable, permissionless blockchain.

·        Cryptocurrencies – They are fungible tokens where each unit is identical and interchangeable with any other unit. They are easily divisible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis without changing their value. They are digital assets designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure transactions and control the creation of new units. There are mainly two types of cryptocurrencies – those based on ‘proof of work’ (like Bitcoin, Dogecoin) and those based on ‘proof of stake’ (like Ethereum, Solana, Tezos).

·        Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs): Unique digital assets whose ownership is recorded on a blockchain. Each NFT is distinct and represents ownership of a specific item, like digital art, avatars collectibles. They represent ownership of digital or physical items and play a crucial role in digital ownership and creator economies within Web 3.0. They are not interchangeable (i.e. One NFT cannot be directly swapped for another without considering its unique characteristics and value). OpenSea, Rarible and Magic Eden are some of the popular market places for NFTs.

·        Supply Chain Management: Web3 provides transparency and traceability for physical goods, from origin to consumer. Everledger uses blockchain to create a permanent digital record for high-value assets (like diamonds and art) to combat counterfeits and verify ethical sourcing

•        Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) - Organizations run by code and governed by their members through a decentralized voting mechanism, often powered by blockchain. DAOs offer a new model for collective decision-making and resource management. Leveraging the global shift toward remote work models, some NGOs could be looking at DAO option in the near future.

 

Downside -

·       The approximate daily energy consumption of the Bitcoin blockchain network was around 250 GWh (gigawatt-hours) in 2023 which is slightly more than the annual energy consumption of Finland. As of 2025, a non-peer-reviewed study by the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) estimated that bitcoin mining represented 0.5% of global electricity consumption and 0.08% of world greenhouse gas emissions, comparable to Slovakia's emissions. Naturally, the environmental impact of bitcoin mining has attracted the attention of regulators, leading to restrictions in various jurisdictions.

To make it more energy-efficient, many major cryptocurrencies (including Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Polkadot etc) utilize a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This mechanism selects validators based on the amount of cryptocurrency they ‘stake’ (lock up as collateral) rather than computational power, making it more energy-efficient than the Proof of Work (PoW) system used by Bitcoin. 

·       Scaling in Web 3.0 is uniquely complex because of the Blockchain Trilemma (a decentralized system can only achieve two of three key properties at any given time)

•        Decentralization - The network is distributed among many independent nodes. Making a network faster often requires fewer nodes, which means sacrificing growth.

•        Security - The network needs to be resistant to attack, corruption, and collusion. Adding transaction speed can introduce new attack vectors.

•        Scalability - The network can handle a high volume of transactions quickly (high Throughput). Prioritizing speed and low cost often comes at the expense of decentralization or security. 

·       Regulatory/legal uncertainty (especially for DeFi/NFTs/DAOs) are other challenges.

·       User Experience (UX) of Blockchain applications is quite a challenge especially for non-technical users.

Web 3.0 in India –

CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team) is India’s national nodal agency ensuring blockchain platforms in India to comply with strict cybersecurity and incident-reporting standards, including rapid notification, regular audits, and robust record-keeping protocols.

 Besides major players like TCS and Infosys, there are many Indian companies like Polygon Labs, WazirX (India’s cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform), Maticz Technologies, Deqode, Nadcabs Labs which are making waves in Web3.0 globally.

 India is not just a consumer of Web3 but an active builder and early adopter in public sector use cases. The Maharashtra government is actively using blockchain technology for various applications. Its endeavour to build ‘digital public infrastructure’ is briefly explained below-

Caste and Diploma Certificates: The Maharashtra government has been issuing blockchain-based caste and diploma certificates to ensure tamper-proof, instantly verifiable records. This was done initially through pilot projects, for example, in Gadchiroli district for caste certificates on the Polygon blockchain.

Property Registration - Blockchain is being used to store e-registration data for properties, creating a secure, shared ledger for all stakeholders like buyers, government authorities, and financial institutions.

 

Future of Web 3.0 and Metaverse -

Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Supply Chain Management, NFTs (Avatars) Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) could be some of the hugely popular applications of Blockchain technology in near future. DeFi applications are moving towards greater efficiency, accessibility, and regulatory alignment, attracting both retail and institutional users. Many banks and central banks (e.g., JPMorgan, Bank for International Settlements) are already exploring and implementing the underlying blockchain technology for more efficient backend operations, such as faster cross-border payments, interbank transfers, and trade finance.

 Meta has spent over $46 billion on the metaverse since 2019, with more recent reports suggesting a total expenditure of over $60 billion. This massive investment is focused on developing virtual and augmented reality technologies. (VR/AR). Apple too is concentrating heavily on augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality experiences, positioning itself to play a significant role in the hardware and software ecosystem of future immersive technologies.

 Though Microsoft, Nvidia, Google, Shopify, Epic Games, Nike are some of the other global companies investing in Metaverse and Web 3.0, for a while it looked like the advent of ChatGPT (and its unimagined popularity) in Jan’23 changed the focus of everybody to AI, rather Gen. AI!

 But a closer look shows that the metaverse and Web3.0 are evolving in a symbiotic relationship with generative AI, which is now a major focus of investor and public interest. The shift in attention (to AI) has impacted public hype, but not necessarily core development, as the technologies are increasingly seen as complementary rather than competing. 

A Symbiotic Future -

Industry experts and current trends show that the three technologies are converging to create a more integrated digital future: 

·        AI as a Catalyst: Generative AI acts as a powerful enabler, providing the tools needed to build more immersive and dynamic virtual worlds and intelligent decentralized applications (dApps) with better user experience (UX).

·        Web3 for Trust and Ownership: Web3's decentralized nature offers solutions to AI's ‘trust deficit’ (e.g., verifying AI-generated content using blockchain notarization to combat misinformation) and provides a framework for digital ownership of AI-generated assets via NFTs.

·        Continued Growth Trajectory: Despite the hype cycle cool-down, investment in Web3 and the metaverse remains robust, with the market projected to experience significant growth in the coming years as practical applications mature. 

 

In essence, Web3 and Metaverse remain strategically important despite hype cycles. Generative AI has shifted public attention but is actually an enabler for an integrated digital future in a collaborative technological landscape.

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Prashant Pimpalekar 

Management conundrum of IT Startup

Albeit forced by the situation, the landmark budget presented by the then finance minister Manmohan Singh in 1991 ushered a new dawn in Indian economy. ‘Liberalization and globalization’ was the magic mantra of the reforms! One particular industry which was in nascent stage at that time got benefitted most and it was Information Technology industry! It won’t be an exaggeration to say Narayan Murthy, Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji, FC Kohli and Narendra Patni were the founding fathers of Indian IT Industry!

IT got one more boost thanks to the Y2K bug and then it never looked back! The subsequent years provided employment to millions of youngsters; lakhs of them made a leap to upper middle-class, stock options saw thousands of them becoming crorepatis. More importantly, it spawned a new wave of entrepreneurs!

India's IT-BPM industry (excluding e-commerce) was expected to reach at USD 254 billion, including exports of around 200 USD Billion in FY2023-24. DPIIT has recognized over 77,000 start-ups across 656 districts in India. In terms of headcount, the Indian tech SME sector is estimated to have closed FY23 with 740,000 employees.

Everyone loves an Indian startup success story. Not too many know that 2,404 failed in 2023.

While India boasts 115 unicorn startups, only 17% of them are profitable – that’s hardly 15%. (The rest are just sucking up resources, drawing in billions of dollars in funding from venture capitalists and investment firms around the world)

91% of startups fail within first 5 years and the most common reason being lack of innovation.

While almost all of the entrepreneurs might be aspiring to be unicorns, hardly 2-3% of them could be realizing that dream. A bulk of the startups (may be, almost 80%) would be having the employee count between 10 to 50 and turnover could be between one to eight crore Rs.

Even after surviving for 7-8 years, a typical startup (small enterprise) doesn’t grow to be a medium-sized enterprise. There could be many reasons why it stagnates over the years or rather fails to leap to the next orbit.  A salient few reasons are described below:

1.     One-customer dependence – Most of such companies rely heavily on handful customers with one or two constituting almost 80% of the revenue.  Knowing this fact, customers start arm-twisting in the billing rates in every contract renewal. So while the start-ups need to provide increased salary to their employees year on year, billing rates don’t increase in that proportion. In fact, they come down in many cases impacting the bottom line adversely 

2.     Absence of second-level management – Right from the inception, the founder director is well aware of the fact that s/he needs to wear multiple hats, at least four of them at one point!  (Sales Head, Delivery Head, Practice/Competency Head & HR Head). Acquiring new customer happens mostly thru’ founder’s contacts. While this is ok in the initial days (or even a year or two), the founder needs to consciously develop the second-tier management, to start with BDMs (Business Development Manager) and project managers who should also be hands-on in the designated skills. Absence of this second layer puts heavy pressure, time constraints on the founder/s. If you cannot hire second tier leadership (mainly due to your financial constraints), you need to groom the youngsters for the positions of project manager, business development manager, HR lead etc. More importantly, you need to instil the sense of responsibility, accountability over months of hand holding. Caution – Don’t give them phony/big titles.

 3.     Dead-parrot syndrome – While it could be a universal tricky situation of ‘who will bell the cat’ (read – take the risk of becoming a bad messenger and share the unpleasant truth with the top boss), this phenomenon is more pronounced in SME segment compared to large organizations run by professional management. So the team refrains from noticing the elephant in the room; communicates everything which owner/founder likes to hear but the obvious (like, say, the product is no more relevant in the market; the parrot is dead and not meditating!)  And the founder, with his own set of worries, and fights almost on 24*7 basis (cash flow being on top of it), has no time (rather peace of mind) to reflect, to introspect, to brainstorm, to set feedback mechanism etc.

To avoid this kind of unpleasant scenario, following measures could be adapted –

o   Drop-box feedback / suggestions by team (It could be anonymous to ensure wider participation by the team)

o   Hire seasoned management professionals as a freelancer for a week or two and get their feedback about the company/operations/team etc.

o   Do some relevant/credible course in management or some specific IT topic. More than anything else, it frees up your mind for fresh thinking.

o   Get feedback from close friends/fellow-entrepreneurs who are not afraid of calling a spade a spade.

 4.     Loving product/technology more than the customer - Many startups come up with products/solutions targeted at micro-niche, ultra-thin market segments.  Many a times the founder/directors are so much sold on their own novel concept/product/technology that they overlook the important parameter of market size or of customer’s actual requirements/expectations. When you’re targeting such a micro-niche, what would be your growth prospects? And what if that micro-niche somehow vanishes thanks to some other technology, you didn’t imagine would surface some day? And when you have invested so much resources over the years in it, you kind of get trapped in that daily grind and fail to notice the cues or the writing on the wall. So go back to basics; re-validate your Go-to-Market plan, re-assess your service offerings/solution/product in terms of 5 P’s of marketing.

5.     Lack of innovation culture – While the very reason your startup would be in the existence could be due to some innovative solution you would have thought of, but subsequently, have you consciously fostered the innovation culture in your team? Due to the highly dynamic nature of IT industry, innovative products/tools get launched almost on a daily basis. You and your team need to be agile enough to explore the relevant tools/trends (e.g. Generative AI) and take proactive steps for your business operations ensuring you are ahead of the curve. If this is not happening, it could be hampering your growth prospects over the years.

6.     Complacency – In many cases, only after toiling for years (at least 3-4 years), startups reach the break-even point, cash-flow becomes more predictable, the business gets some stability but soon that becomes the comfort zone and the risk appetite of founders reduces drastically.  (“Don’t-rock-the-boat!”) 

7.     BCP (Business Continuity Planning) – Very few founders enjoy the luxury of week-long annual vacation! This fact itself demonstrates the one-man-show of the company.  Keep aside vacation, but founders can’t afford to fall sick even for a couple of days..  So while BCP expects you to take care of how the business should go uninterrupted in the wake of a disaster (natural or man-made), founder needs to at least ensure that the business operations would continue seamlessly in case s/he is not reachable for a day or two due to personal/health reasons. The existence of a sound second-tier management is of paramount importance in such cases.

8.     Dilution of equity / on-boarding of new partner/s – This is a tricky trade-off but a necessary one if you want to expand your business operations in lesser time and so need lot of funds. Here the key thing would be the chemistry between the current directors and the new ones.

9.     Succession planning – Founders need to plan very much for succession planning.  If you have toiled for years, rather decades and only now you’re reaping the results, you need to plan for the legacy; induct family member (or even a professional manager in rare cases) early enough and groom him/her for the top role under your tutelage.

While I’m fully aware that there is no ‘one-size-fits-for-all’ and there have to be ‘horses-for-courses’, above mentioned points should nevertheless make entrepreneurs realize of the management conundrum they might be facing (and could be blissfully unaware of) hampering the growth prospects. It should encourage them to reflect on the points relevant for their own startup, facilitate questioning of the status quo, prioritize actions and thereby enable leaping to the next orbit!

Good luck!! 

(Published in ‘Corporate Citizen’ magazine -April’25 issue) 

Demise of Indian I.T. Industry???

Last week a business daily (Economic Times of India) published an article proclaiming Indian IT industry (age 25 yr.) has died..

Many naysayers, doubting Thomases (of course including politicians)lapped up the news & began fear mongering. It soon began trending on social media too.

What is the reality??

Indian IT industry (rather, to be precise, we should call it ICT) a $150 Billion industry behemoth, provides 2.5 million jobs through direct employment  & services almost 90+% of Fortune-500 biggies to millions of small and medium enterprises worldwide. Call it world’s back-office or the neuro-network of world, Indian industry achieved the hallmark within a matter of two decades, which is absolutely praiseworthy!

The Big-fours of Indian IT Industry (Wipro, Infosys, TCS & HCL – I call it 'WITH') grew almost 30% YoY for so many years and thereby set the pace of the entire Indian IT industry. They perfected the art of offshore Delivery, managed the scale of operations , managed language/culture/time zone issues & went on and on globally.. In the heat of meeting market expectations of QoQ growth & profit, they put so much thrust on services part & neglected the path of product development/ innovation. Only recently, when there is no enough head-wind (due to recessionary pressures worldwide) with an ailing Europe, Brexit and a slowing dragon, they're realizing the hard way to move away from linear model (i.e. revenue should not be dependent on headcount).

They all were in cushy comfort zone.  In fact, many of the companies are sitting on a huge pile of cash (and companies like Infosys put it in fixed deposits, besides some acquisitions), but nobody is putting their money on inventing some game-changer product/ disruptive innovation.  Why India couldn’t develop a product like Windows, Linux, SAP or salesforce.com or Kindle or iPhone? Why Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp (& almost entire social media) have to come from the US of A? And if we have the huge pile of cash, why our IT companies are not using it to gobble some of them? If Tatas could acquire Jaguar Land Rover, why can’t Indian IT biggies think of acquiring, even say, ailing giant like Yahoo? Are our ambitions audacious enough? Did we invent any new industry like what eBay did? Why didn’t we come up with the likes of Uber, Tesla or Airbnb?  When the young Bansals are making noise in mobile commerce, why aren’t the biggies interested? Everybody knows SMAC (Social Media, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud) but nobody is envisioning how to leverage it or rather, how to spot the next trend.

It could be the middle-class roots / risk-averse nature or too much structured thinking of engineers (how many of the IT employees are with Humanities or literature or economics background?) or a combination, but if Indian IT Industry has to put a stop to the slow-dying  and leap to the next orbit, it MUST think beyond the services and the linear model.

So while I may not be very gung-ho on the future of Indian IT Industry, it is too early to write its obituary note. In my humble opinion, it will not die for sure for at least next 10 years. The ICT services piece is a too big pie to be over (or to be serviced entirely by some other country/countries). But yes, the era of explosive growth (with handsome margins and huge hikes in salary packages) is over. Get used to single digit growth rate unless some of them traverse the path less-traveled and invent revolutionary products, bring in paradigm-shifting innovations, invent new industries & thereby a new future..!  

Are the super-Gods of Indian IT Industry listening??





*Note - The views expressed are solely of your truly & they don't represent views of any organization/institute/NGO. 

Ten ‘MUST-HAVE’ Apps

How time flies.. My journey with mobile phone (literally J ) began in ’97 when I was in Singapore.  That time, the popular term was cellular phone.  It was a simple Nokia phone, nevertheless I used to treat it as a prized possession! Changed few more Nokia devices before moving to Blackberry, and the BB love-affair continued for 7-8 long years before the sleek iPhone captured my attention.. finally !

In the meantime, the convergence of IT with telecom industry was happening, ICT became the buzzword. Mundane mobile phone became smart phone & then came millions of apps promising us to make smarter J

And believe me, I took quite some time (call it neophobia, which plainly means fear of learning new things J )  before venturing into the wonderland of Apps!  And considering there are still thousands of people (or could be millions) who don’t know whom to ask or who think ‘what-is-the-big-deal’, here are ten Apps which sure will change your life .. for better, ..just like I discovered!  So, here we go..

1.       Contact Snap –  Assuming you’re in the corporate world for 10+ years, you would have accumulated at least 100 business cards of various contacts. And if you’re in sales, you know how difficult it becomes to manage business card album & find out the right contact when needed. This app lets you scan the business card, it gets stored as a contact with all the necessary info right from phone numbers, email id to office address without any efforts.

2.       CamScanner  - Many a times, we have a need of scanning documents (certificates / ids / license , medical report etc). This software provided provides a much better quality scan, than compared to taking just picture of the document. It also enables you to email the scanned document & related stuff

3.       SportsTracker – So you’re worried about your new year resolution related to weighty matter or cholesterol? This app will help you in achieving that. It lets you record your walking / jogging, shows entire path in a map, maximum speed, total distance covered in walking/jogging, time taken & calories burnt. It saves each walk/run as a workout record so you can see the progress over the days.

4.       MoneyControl -  This is a good app (by CNBC, TV18) I’ve been using since long. It not only gives the stock portfolio overview, day’s gain etc. but also rich analysis of any scrip listed on BSE/NSE.

5.       Currency – This simple but useful app quickly tells you the conversion rate from Dollar or Euro  (or for that matter, any currency) to any other currency. Typically when we’re working on the proposals involving global clients, this app comes handy (or, when you want to valuate your holdings parked in foreign banks J )

6.       Google maps – You need to use it to believe it!  Going from point A to point B was never easier! My friend from US was amazed seeing me using it in Chennai! May it be Chennai or Chicago (or Chechnya), it works like a charm.  A great tool for us men who are somehow hesitant asking driving directions to strangers!

7.       Quora – You always had some question (anything under and beyond the Sun, from humanities to literature to sports to management to sciences etc. etc.) but never knew whom to ask; right? Well, google is there, but Quora does a far better job. The quality of answers is pretty good. You can save some questions/answers & can again read when you have time. Whatever your question may be, chances are someone had already asked it & someone had answered it too!

8.       Dictionary – Comes handy especially when you work in media, content prep, ad agency or when you just have the flair for writing & are looking for that good word ..! Quick test –what is insouciant :-?

9.       Saavn – For the Bollywood music buffs a great app. Has all genres from duets to sad songs to gazals to dance numbers..

10.   Zomato – If you’re one who is a heavy business traveller (or leisure traveller), this app would tell you the great eating places in the town. Lists restaurants neatly under various categories, like seaside, late night eats, Sunday brunches etc.  So you know where to pamper your taste-buds..!

And then there are the usual social media Apps (FB/WA/Instagram/Twitter) & some other hugely popular apps like YouTube & Skype which everybody is aware of, so I didn’t include them here. 

My simple criteria was, the novelty factor, does it boost productivity & is it a free app J

‘Appy Times are here to stay!  Join the bandwagon!!

Disclaimer – I don’t have any stakes in any of the organizations (owner/developer of aforementioned Apps). And how I wish ..J