Ashfaque :
Sure. I actually started my career way back in 1997, which was like, I’m a 25 years old veteran now in the field of IT.

I started as a TPF programmer. TPF is used for high end mission critical applications like booking on an airline, for credit card authorizations and things like that. As a TPF programmer, we do basically the coding in assembly language. And it was for a company called Aviation Software Development Consultancy, A joint venture between TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) and Singapore Airlines. It was a very small company, like, with a maximum of 500 – 600 people at that time. So, I had the fortune to grow up in the ladder quite early in my life. I became a relationship manager of one of our accounts, which is Emirates Airlines, within five years of my career.

Eventually Singapore Airlines withdrew from the JV and ASDC became a subsidiary of TCS. But ultimately in 2006, the company was merged with TCS. In both the companies I had the opportunity to travel far and wide. I was in Singapore, I was in the Middle East, in a couple of countries in Europe, in USA, on various projects for various clients. I got the opportunity to take up various roles in Project Delivery, like project management, as well as in program management.

And I finally came back to India in 2011. When my kids were growing up, I wanted to settle back in India. I took up the role of the Pre-sales Head, covering EMEA and APAC regions. TCS was building up a new horizontal called Mobility, which evolved as TCS Digital after I left. And then in 2013, I quit TCS. I started my own company which is Bluecast Technologies with a couple of my friends. So we are here with Bluecast Technologies for the last ten years.

Interviewer:
It’s great to know that now you have started your own company and of course there’s a plethora of learning you have gained in your career so far. And you as a chief executive officer you must be aware of several common pitfalls because you have started your own company and while developing and executing a strategic plan you must be facing of course many challenges and difficulties in your journey. So according to you, what are the most common issues you have find and you think that need to avoid when developing and executing a strategic plan?

Ashfaque :
As a startup, I faced so many pitfalls. Initially when we start up a company, it’s very difficult to focus on which area unless you have a particular product. This is especially true for services company. If you are starting a company, you definitely have some plan of what to do and a strategy based on that. But then in services, at times you get derailed here and there. You run around looking for projects, when somebody says there are so many opportunities there, there is a tendency like we slip from the planned things and then move towards something else. I found this in so many startups like us. But definitely the first thing that you should have is to have a strategic plan like where you are heading to and then you stick on to that. The second thing which I should say is about the pace with which we grow. Basically there is horizontal growth as well as the vertical growth. Like you can diversify into many things (technology and domain).

When you focus on horizontal growth before strengthening vertically, you have people deployed in various technologies and domains. But then the problem with that is, you don’t have a depth for each of these technologies. Like you have a few people in multiple technologies. For Example, we had projects in Blockchain, we had projects in AI, so we were actually fast adopters of latest technologies. But then at one point of time during COVID we faced a lot of attrition. I wasn’t expecting that people to move out during COVID But then the market was so lucrative for the employees, they were getting offers like anything, especially in new technologies. So what happened to us was like, one of our departments, AI department people all of a sudden left and it was kind of empty.

So we had to hire people from the market offering very high salaries. So what I learned a lesson from that is, like, if I had focused on the vertical growth first, I might have had a lot of people whom I could replace internally instead of going out in the market to get the people. So diversification is good but then it has to come after you have consolidated your team and then focused on something and then build something on that so that you have a strong pipeline internally to meet your needs.

Interviewer:
Definitely very rightly said of course as internal hiring is very important and of course each and everyone should have that strategic plan in mind and of course talking about the plans nowadays we are seeing that each and every organization is planning and trying to shift and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace. So according to you how can professionals promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace?

Ashfaque :
Yeah, actually as a company we encourage diversity in our workplace and we actually take people of quality irrespective of the gender, religion, caste or even nationality. Like we have office in Dubai as well as in Singapore. Even though, as you know, you have lots of people from India working over there we have people from countries like Syria who are working there.

In India, even though we are based in Kerala, we have people from Orissa, Tamil Nadu and many other states. Women constitute a substantial workforce in our company. We believe that we are enemies of the unknown and the unfamiliar. So we give a maximum exposure to our people. We have a very open office in the sense like we don’t have any cubicles in our office. Even I don’t sit in a cubicle. So we have an office where everybody can see each other and we have a pantry where people can sit across the tables and have food together. We have a few indoor games so that people play and actually mingle well with each other. We promote diversity in that sense.

Interviewer:
That’s really great to know because of course work culture is also very important in the organization and like workplace are becoming increasingly diverse and not everyone feels like they fit in because of the obvious treatment and subtle attitude they experience. But the points highlighted by you, the workplace can consider that points and adopt that. And of course workplace culture comes into the play. So how do you ensure that the company’s value and culture are becoming upheld across all levels and departments?

Ashfaque :
The only way to ensure that is leading by example. People do what they see, not what they are told. I am a firm believer in that. So I try to keep some values for myself. I think that when I say a word to my employees or my people, they trust me. So I make sure that I don’t lie to them, I don’t give them any false hopes or things like that. I always try to be very transparent with them. So in that sense and that’s the culture which I want to build across the company. I tell them that to think from the customer’s viewpoint. I always tell them that the customer comes first. You have to keep them in your mind when you develop some application or something because it is the end consumer who might be giving some amount for the services that they get to our customer. And then it through that customer it comes to us and then it comes to the employees and then it goes to the family as food and entertainment and things like that. I tell, every penny that we get actually comes from the services that we provide and then we want to give them the best, so we don’t want somebody cursing and then making the payment so that we have to take such an amount and then use it for ourselves. So I tell, whatever the money that we earn, we should be very happy and contented of what we did. We should feel proud that I have done that work in the best interest of the customer and I am getting the rightful thing for myself and for my family. This is something which I always try to convey to my people and I think that they take it well.

Interviewer:
Definitely that makes a lot of sense. Yeah, because as you highlighted about the changes in process and because of the change in technologies and trends, I think not only in one area because you are working in software company and you are more involved into AI and all. So I think not in one area we can see the changes, but also the future of HR is changing. So what do you think? What impact according to you will AI and automation have on HR roles and responsibilities.

Ashfaque :

You might have recently following the Chat GPT. That actually took many of us, even though we work in the field of technology, by surprise. Its growth and evolution is amazing. We have been talking about job replacements by AI. But, most of the job that we thought would be replaced were the redundant jobs like the cashiers, the tellers and somebody who does the routine kind of job. And people were always talking that only the creative people would be relevant in the future. But Generative AI actually shook us upside down. Now the creative people are the most worried and concerned at the moment. I have read that one of the publishers was talking that they were getting like around 200 instead of 50 novels and most of which are written by ChatGPT. And then one of my friends is already creating cartoons and drawings using Generative AI tools.

Interviewer:
So it’s definitely having an impact on whatever that we do. So AI, it has become quite unpredictable what it wouldn’t touch. And coming back to your question, sorry that I actually went away from that question.

Ashfaque :
AI has been used by big companies like Google for quite some time now. Actually, AI has a role in recruiting people because now everybody’s life is out open in the social media. So instead of going
and searching out there manually, AI can do a good job of recommending who is the right choice, who could blend into your culture and all those things by going behind their social media posts and whatever footprints they leave on the internet.

And also by measuring the productivity of employees, AI can work on upskilling resources, suggesting the trainings and things like that people might need. I mean, AI can have a tremendous impact on HR professionals. So perhaps it could impact some HR jobs as well.

However, there is nothing to be worried about. When something goes, something else comes up. OF course, some of the things which HR regularly does, could go, but then something new might come. Anyway, machines cannot replace humans, so that’s the bottom line.

Definitely, to stay relevant, we need to constantly upskill ourselves and be creative every time. So that will be ahead of the others. Even for the chatGPT that we were talking about, you need to ask the right question to get the right answer. Asking that right question itself is a skill.

Interviewer:
Yeah, that’s great point brought up by you, Ashfaque. So I’m sure there’s a lot of takeaway from the content you have shared today. So this brings us to the end of our conversation. Okay, Ashfaque. Thank you and it was lovely hosting you today.

Ashfaque :
Thank you so much. Thank you Riddhi, it was a pleasure being with you. I really enjoyed your questions and the session. Thanks a lot.