IIM Amritsar Inaugurated Certificate Program in Data Analytics for HPCL officers

Amritsar : The inaugural for the Certificate Program in Data Analytics for officers of HPCL was held online on August 14, 2021. The fast-paced program was developed keeping in mind the inputs from senior management of HPCL and feedback from the previous program batch. The program aims to connect data with decision-making and includes foundation courses such as statistics, operations research, and advanced analytics courses such as machine learning, Artificial intelligence, and social media analytics. During the inaugural, the following dignitaries were present and delivered inaugural messages to the participants of the certificate program: Prof. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, Director IIM Amritsar; Prof. Vartika Dutta, Executive Education, Chairperson, IIM Amritsar; Prof. Mahima Gupta, MBA-Chairperson, IIM Amritsar; Mr. Ritvik Rath, Chief General Manager, IS – Strategy, HPCL; Mr. Vipul Maheshwari, Executive Director, Integrated Market, HPCL; Mr. Abhishek Dutta, Director, Human Resources, HPCL. Dr. Amitabh Basu, General Manager, Capability Building, HPCL; Nikhil Verma, Deputy General Manager, Capability Building, HPCL; Ms Odile Soreng, Assistant Manager, HPCL were also present during the inaugural.
Inaugural Messages
Prof. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, Director IIM Amritsar
Dr. Nagarajan Ramamoorthy, director IIM Amritsar emancipated his address with the quote by Mr. Douglas Conant – “You cannot win in the marketplace unless you win first in the workplace.” He talked about the difference in data, technology, and human capital. Physical and human assets both have a specific day beyond which they can’t work yet there is no limitation to capacity. Unlike physical assets, humans are creative and innovative in developing processes and systems. Remembering his experience in the US, he stated the importance of human capital and knowledge in the world using data. He advised the participants to stay motivated and thoroughly learn and grasp the details of the program. He also elucidated his expectations from the faculties to deliver their best in the teachings of the program. In the end, gratitude was expressed towards HPCL for their investment.

Mr. Ritvik Rath, Chief General Manager, IS – Strategy, HPCL
Ritvik Rath, chief general manager of IS strategy, HPCL, mentioned the importance of data and analytics combined. He stated that artificial intelligence and machine learning is going to be more widespread and less visible. Instead of applying data science and analytics to solving specific business cases, the program’s objective is to embed trust and respect for data, understanding patterns and utilizing them for business benefit. Mr. Rath recalled a report about new data scientists, over 80% of new data scientists complain about the struggle initially struggle with data science because data within the real world is massive, fragmented non-standardized, and very rarely understood and therefore, in the beginning, may feel overwhelming. Concluding his address, Mr. Rath added that perseverance is the key towards succeeding in this program.
Mr. Vipul Maheshwari, Executive Director, Integrated Market, HPCL
Vipul Maheshwari, executive director, integrated market, HPCL, stated that data is the new oil; we need to analyze and go deeper into the learning from the data. Time is challenging for the pure oil industry and thus Mr. Maheshwari encouraged the participants to see the unseen and bring it to value to and for the business decision.

Mr. Abhishek Dutta, Director, Human Resources, HPCL
Abhishek Dutta, Human Resources, HPCL, discussed the first successful collaboration with IIM Amritsar and the digital transformation journey HPCL has set out on. He added that it was heartening to see that batch comprised officers, CSMP, retail, and head HR. Mr Dutta discussed the peer learning importance and advised the participants to enrich themselves with this opportunity to learn from one another. Concluding his address, he emphasized understanding the concepts, tools, and tech of Data analytics as an essential program element.
Prof. Vartika Dutta, Executive Education, Chairperson
While inaugurating the program, Dr. Vartika Dutta, chairperson, Executive education, talked about the richness in diversity and the experiential diversity being a commendable part of HPCL. A mid-career development program named Madhyma for IOCL for two refineries at Mathura and Panipat was successfully delivered by the institute in the past. The successful completion of IIM Amritsar’s other executive programs, such as a 5-day long Atal FDP for 150 faculty members and a 3-week long leadership program for officials of SVJM marked the milestones of industry collaboration and executive learning for IIM Amritsar. Prof. Vartika also thanked the director and faculty members for making each course attuned to the needs of participants.
Prof. Mahima Gupta, MBA-Chairperson
Professor Mahima Gupta, program director – IIM Amritsar, shared the program snapshot with everyone during the event. She talked about the impact of data transformation being felt across value changes of the oil and gas industry through her words. Prof. Gupta added that a massive influx of data related to upstream, downstream, and retail operations, challenges, and opportunities to utilize the resources generates value for organizations.
Dr. Amitabh Basu, General Manager, Capability Building, HPCL; Nikhil Verma, Deputy General Manager, Capability Building, HPCL; Ms Odile Soreng, Assistant Manager, HPCL were also present during the inaugural.