Krishnan Gopi, Chief Disruption Officer, GEMS Education, is a seasoned Technology professional with two decades of International experience across five continents and a successful track record of spearheading Business Transformation for Fortune 100 companies including Citigroup, Fidelity Investments, First Abu Dhabi Bank, BankMuscat, Qatar Islamic Bank and Al Hilal Bank. Excerpts from an interview:
How do you see technology impacting business specially in the Middle East?
We have come a long way and are currently living in an information age. Although technology has been around for a long time, it took decades to change the human life in a meaningful way. In the last 15 years, it has changed the way we communicate, learn, play, work, commute, and live.
New technologies such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, AR, VR, and the Internet of Things are all creating opportunities, and new competitors for businesses as well. Customers are also becoming tech-savvy, which is why no matter how big you are, businesses have to be fast, nimble and exceed customer expectations. The need for digital transformation is essential for successful operations.
Why do you think that despite the buzz in digital transformation, the actual implementation has been slow in the region?
Middle East has only scratched the surface when it comes to digital maturity. GCC has shown more commitment and innovation than other Middle East companies, even though we are yet to catch up with a lot of developed countries. Disruption levels are due to various factors. Macroeconomics is one, while the political situation, commitment of the country's leadership and support from regulators are also among important factors. Available resources and infrastructure are also going to play a big role in terms of digital transformation maturity.
You have worked across industries from banking to education. How do you see technology as a common enabler across all these industries?
It is time and again proven that technology can be a business enabler, as well as a competitive tool across multiple industries. For me, technology is about five factors - how to use it to sell more; how do we serve the customers better; how do we create a sustainable business model in the digital era; how do we secure our assets, use our data for better competitive advantage and better decision-making; and how do we reduce costs? This does not change from industry to industry. Digital transformation is about creating experiences for the customer, staff and partners.
Where do people as an asset and resource fit in this entire scheme of things?
Digital transformation is not about technology, it is about experience, convenience and speed. So transformation is for the people, by the people. People form a very, very important role here, as 70 per cent of digital transformations fail due to poor user adaption or understanding. So, having the right team with change management expertise is the key to a successful transformation.
What role do you see the government playing in this region when it comes to promoting technology across sectors?
Dubai is the best example where the government is participating in the digital transformation across the city. UAE is the first country in the world to have a Ministry of Artificial Intelligence. Dubai is also the first city to have a blockchain strategy, and has formed Dubai 10X, an initiative that is imbibed into government strategy. As part of UAE Vision 2021, the National Innovation Strategy identified digital technology as one of the top seven primary national sectors.
We have noticed the Ransomware attacks that paralysed few organisations and government bodies across the world. Is the rise of digital transformation also a nightmare for you, in terms of cyber-security and data protection?
With increased use of digital technology and Internet of Things, the challenges of information security, cyber security and data protection is greater than ever before. Businesses have to constantly update their security posture, and at the same time, increase the end-user awareness. As we all know, humans are the weakest link in the information security and the number of attacks are not going down anywhere sooner. It is very important that we keep information security as one of the top agendas in our digital transformation journey.
Kindly brief us on the initiatives GEMS Education has embarked to keep pace with Technology Transformation?
We have currently embarked on an exciting journey to disrupt the "Business As Usual" and adopt new perspectives for continuous innovation in Education and exploiting technology for competitive advantage.
Some of the key initiatives include:
Focusing on end to end customer journey by delivering state-of-the-art digital platforms
Improving learning outcomes and strengthening the education system for future learning needs by formulating impactful, scalable and future ready innovations in education
Establishing roadmap for Enterprise Mobility Platforms for a scalable and future ready technology landscape
Establishing GEMS Data Hub; a flexible, scalable platform that provides easy, self-service access to decision-ready information and advanced analytics
Kicking off standardisation drive of Technology Platform / Application stack towards creating GEMS Education's own intellectual property
Delivering enterprise-wide technology consolidation initiatives thereby reducing complexity and facilitating cost savings through economy of scale, ease of integration, improved efficiency and optimal resource utilisation
Driving operational excellence through design of agile and flexible processes, streamlining performance gaps and reduced cycle time
Enabling streamlined, integrated and fully-automated processes using Robotic Process Automation, IOTx etc.
Improving the overall Information Security posture of GEMS Education against all external and internal information security risks and threats.
Apart from seeing GEMS reach the top of innovation and digitisation, what interests you in your personal capacity? Your leisure activities?
We all know GEMS Education Founder Sunny Varkey as a great educator. Few people are aware that he is a great philanthropist. On a smaller scale, my friends and I have been running a philanthropic initiative called "Giving is Good", where a percentage of your monthly income could help buy computers and technology equipment for people and students located in remote villages of India. Now, these are kids who have ever seen a computer, and have learnt about the world through textbooks and plastic globes in their classrooms. We could give them the opportunity to free education programmes with Internet access. You cannot imagine the positive impact it can make in the lives of students, teachers and parents as a whole. That is something that is driving me during my free time. I am also an average golfer, a good cricketer, and an avid fan of bonsai trees.
What can delegates expect from your presentation at DIGITRANS 2018?
We are in the midst of what many people call the Age of Customers. This is an era where customer shapes strategies, not corporates. Customers often do not remember their first time interacting with a particular brand, but they do remember how they had felt, and would happily tell others about their experience with that brand. Rather than technology, it is about the experience, convenience and speed. It is imperative to understand that customers hold the key to a successful digital transformation. I am going to talk about the evolution of the new age customers and why is it critical to put the customer at the heart of your Digital Transformation Strategy.
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