New technologies are being discussed with respect to its RoI

Sanjay Chowdhry

 Chief Information Officer

Hamdard Laboratories India

“Since Information technology revolution, IT has always been part of Board meetings & Discussions. But in recent years IT has taken the front seat & has emerged as the driving force for organization's growth. Upcoming & New Technologies are being discussed with respect to its ROI, Business & Customer impact. Board is willing to invest in the technology if any of the business parameters like Revenue, Improved customer satisfaction & brand Image, Outreach in the market, is improved. Board members are more tech savvy now & their technology awareness is very high. This actually in turn helps IT in putting good projects in front of them. Sometimes, proposals are coming directly from CEO & Board members. This is in complete contrast to few years back when IT projects were not given any attention and diligence. Industry has definitely come a long way in adopting IT as their future growth partner.

Around 21 countries have released strategies to promote the use and development of AI. Race has already begun to become the global leader in AI, BI or Robotics. This has direct impact on the organizations as well. Many private & govt. firms are already using AI, BI and Robotics in various departments to perform daily tasks. Percentage of adoption is increasing day by day with more organization focusing on these technologies. Management is asking more accurate planning, forecasting & decision making. Adoption of Robots & Cobots are on the rise as well. Cobots being less expensive than Robots is being targeted by small firms while Robots are in demand with large conglomerates. Trend is upward but there is still long way to go.

IT is now no longer considered as only technology support function. Management demands IT to think strategically and contribute towards the business growth. There is a complete paradigm shift towards IT function as board sees it as an opportunity to stay ahead of their competitors. Moreover, IT has become a hybrid function. Apart from implementing & supporting traditional softwares, need to re-invent and focus on latest trends like big-data analytics, intelligent & smart computing. Social Media, AI, BI & Robotics are playing big role in driving the changes in IT. Re-inventing IT function is the need of the hour.”