IIM Amritsar conducted its maiden IT and Analytics Conclave – Vyakriti’ 21 in VC mode

Amritsar:  Indian Institute of Management, Amritsar successfully conducted its inaugural IT and Analytics Conclave, Vyakriti’21, in Video Conference mode on September 18, 2021.

Vyakriti’21 provided a dais where the veterans from the industry interacted and reflected with the budding managers on the recent trends and developments in IT and Analytics. It gave the student fraternity of IIM Amritsar a holistic view of how a cohesive and competitive market responds dynamically to varying conditions. Engulfing the critical developments in the domain of IT & Analytics, the theme of the conclave was set as “Evolving to Adapt; Digital Transformation in the Era of Disruption.”

The eminent panelists gracing the discussion were: Mr. Bhaskar Roy- VP and Global Operating Leader, Genpact, Mr. Jitendra Kanojia- Head of Analytics, Leading Fashion Retail Company, Mr. Mehul Bhagadia- Head of Data and Analytics, Commercial Banking, Wells Fargo, Mr. Ritwik Rath- Chief General Manager, IS Strategy, HPCL, Ms. Ruchi Bubber- Head of Analytics, Sales, Pernod Ricard, and Mr. Sunder Prabhu S, AVP Analytics Consulting, Tiger Analytics.

The conclave emancipated with a small presentation from Akshay Kumar PD and Krishnaprasad V from the MBA-07 batch introducing the topic to the attendees. They provided a general overview on the broad concept of digital transformation- touching upon issues such as When, Why, and How of digital transformation, various industry trends, technology and people, cultural shift, and corporate governance. Following the presentation, Dr. Sunil Reddy Kunduru, Faculty Anchor of the Analytics and Business Computing Club, addressed the gathering, welcoming all the panelists and the audience, standing in for the Director Dr. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, who could not attend the event due to prior commitments. He elucidated how it is the mandate of IIM Amritsar to prepare future managers for the uncertain times caused by various artificial and natural reasons. Emphasizing the relevance of this conclave, he added that classroom education alone isn’t sufficient to keep pace with the rapid changes in the workplace. He concluded by talking about the inception of the MBA- Business Analytics course at IIM Amritsar from 2021.

Mr. Jitendra Kanojia, who also took up the moderator’s responsibility, started off by demystifying digital transformations. Mr. Kanojia highlighted cases where the lack of digital transformation resulted in companies failing in the long run. He added that “digital” is a loaded word with multiple meanings and that digital transformation plays a significant role in developing the industry and the students.

Mr. Ritwik Rath spoke about how digital transformation has shifted the control from the producer to the customer. Mr. Rath added that there is no successful guided procedure for a digital transformation journey. To answer the question as to how to transform digitally, he emphasized the role of robust executive support. Mr. Rath reaffirmed the concept of the change in organizational culture by stating that one has to be mindful that digital transformation would bring about pertinent changes in the workplace.

Commencing by stating that “Digital is easy, transformation is difficult,” Mr. Bhaskar Roy talked about the importance of a seamless collaboration between the man and the machine to attain long-term success. He added that success would depend on understanding the big picture and how well we stick to the plan ideated. Mr. Roy talked extensively about how digital transformation will surely bring about disruption and add value to the customer experience, elevate thinking, and change consumer behavior.

Ms. Ruchi Bubber reinforced that digital transformation is here to stay, and all the panelists unanimously agreed with her. She emphasized that the outcome of digital transformation is across these pillars- customers, consumers, and the workforce. Ms. Bubber added that the COVID-19 pandemic has given us all a reality check, as there isn’t business continuity readiness yet. Different transformation points across various domains were touched upon by her, including automation, employee well-being, and assessment, compliance management, etc.

Talking about digital transformations from a banking perspective, Mr. Mehul Bhagadia explicated that “progress or perish” are the only two alternatives left for banks. Making the audience reminisce when it used to take 7-8 days to open a bank account, Mr. Bhagadia commented on the ease of procedures in banks brought about by digital transformation. He concluded with the thought that the next two to three years will be a crucial phase in the industry, commenting that people are still skeptical about conducting online transactions.

Mr. Sunder Prabhu ushered in the perspective of being in the consulting industry. It is not just the big firms on a digital transformation journey, but even small and medium enterprises are. Mr. Prabhu accentuated that all the departments must come together for a successful digital transformation journey. There should be a digital transformation champion up top to bring everyone together. Concluding his chain of thoughts, Mr. Prabhu emphasized the right mix of a top-down and bottom-up approach for improving the process’s accountability, ownership, and transparency.

The students of IIM Amritsar showed great enthusiasm during the panel discussion. The discussions were made highly interactive through a healthy Q&A session between the panelists and students. The
Conclave successfully concluded on a high note. The event was covered live on the official YouTube channel of IIM Amritsar and will be telecasted on ET NOW- the official media partner for this event.