XLRI Online learning (XOL), Colloquium Consulting Club hosted its first Consulting and Technology Conclave TechCon 1.0 – Innovate, Grow & Transform.

It was a one-of-a-kind event that brought together industry experts to discuss the latest trends and developments in the technology and consulting domain. The event was held on 17th December 2022. It featured a series of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities.

The conclave was a unique opportunity for professionals in the technology and consulting domain to connect and collaborate. It provided a platform for the participants to learn about the latest developments in areas such as Digital Transformation, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and Business Strategy. Attendees also had the chance to engage with industry experts, exchange ideas, and explore new opportunities for growth and innovation.

The event featured leaders from some of the top technology and consulting firms. The experts shared their insights and experiences, providing attendees with valuable perspectives on some of the best practices in the industry.

The Conclave commenced with an Inaugural address by Prof. Sanjay Patro, Dean Academics alongside Prof. Gloryson Chalil, Associate Dean XOL XLRI Jamshedpur.

Our first chief speaker, Mr. Sandeep Bathla, Executive Director – Plasser India Pvt Ltd, renowned “Best CEO” ACMA India-2015.

He shared his views on “Business Excellence through Innovation”. Some of the key insights that Mr. Sandeep talked about were to follow 3 block strategy for every organization to grow – “Forgetting past, working on the present and building for future”.

This strategy was coined by Mr. Vijay Govindarajan – “3 Box Model”.
Mr. Sandeep also focussed on “building Human resource 4.0” to focus on softer aspects of business like basic human interaction. He also enlightened us with the various initiatives Plasser India is adopting to take the next step in innovation by implementing industry 4.0.

Following the insightful session by Mr. Sandeep, next up we had our first panel discussion on “Impact of Technology in transforming consulting industry”. Our elite panellists were Mr. Vibhu Goenka, Vice President – EXL Analytics; Mr. Arijit Sarkar, Vice President- EY; Mr. Nandakumar Muthukrishnan, Associate Partner & India Lead- Energy, Utilities and Services Business Consulting- Infosys and Ms. Sudeshna Choudhury, Offering Owner, Inspection as a Service, Partner Ecosystems & Alliances- Tata Consultancy Service

Mr. Vibhu Goenka had very well explained the growth areas and the challenges in the consulting Industry. He said “I believe that there is largely an untapped area to unveil and to unlock future growth in the consulting Industry”.

We got some interesting insights about the impact of AI & ML in consulting and how these technologies can be utilized in a more robust way.

Mr. Arijit Sarkar spoke about how technology has introduced a completely new field of work, commonly bundled under the label ‘digital transformation’.

Mr. Nandakumar Muthukrishnan spoke about how clients nowadays are looking for collaborator solutions, including consulting and technology. Industries should explore different types of commercial models to control pricing.

Essential topics are ESG, Energy translation, and sustainability. Overall ask from consulting has not changed. It's just digitalized in terms of navigation and automation to provide value to the business.

Ms. Sudeshna Choudhury spoke about her experience of how collaboration with technology (IoT Devices) is changing and Corporate Governance of internal control from bottom to top. She also enlightened how the world has been practicing consulting exercises through hybrid mode with OCR Driven Technology.

Our second panel discussion was on "Driving Business Transformation through Digitalization & Automation."

The panel comprised of experienced leaders such as, Mr. Arun Misra, CEO of Hindustan Zinc ltd, Ms. Sudeepta Veerapaneni, Partner at Deloitte, Ms. Kavitha Siddada, Head of Design Engineering at Shell, and Mr. Ravishankar Rao, Director, Strategy and Operations at Cisco.

Mr. Arun Misra delivered a wonderful talk highlighting business transformation through digitalization. He enlightened us with different key points such as the importance of business growth, the role of leadership, and the cultural change required in driving digital transformation. Ms. SudeeptaVeerapaneni spoke about: changing Leadership role in digitalization, she believes leadership in the era of digitalization is about making digital transformation seamless and easy to adopt, along with developing an ecosystem within the organization.

Traditional companies are taking steps towards digitalization, and it is fascinating to see the magnitude of impact tech has brought for in these organizations.

Ms. Kavitha Siddada mentioned – “I believe digitalization and business are inseparable”, identifying opportunities through digitalization will keep one company at the edge of possibilities and solutions. Bringing change together with people to make value is one of the key roles of leadership in respect of Digital transformation.

Mr. Ravishankar Rao started the conversation by talking about digitalization in driving business growth. He shared that the world is getting connected from the industrial revolution to today's internet revolution; while talking about the failure of transformation projects, Mr. Rao quotes Peter Drucker "Culture eats strategy for breakfast."

He points that change is given, but only some are willing to accept change.

Lastly we had an opportunity to hear the thoughts of Mr. Sudipta Ghosh, Partner PWC & Ms. Rudrani Das Associate director at PWC, on “Cost of Technology & Risk Aversion”.

Mr. Sudipta Ghosh shared his views on the topic Cost of Technology & Risk Aversion, He covered the cost of technology from the perspective of data analytics. He spoke about the exponential increase in data stored today. Nowadays, we seek information from various devices, and simultaneously we are generating a lot of electronic data.

Ms. Rudrani Das shared her views on "Cost of Technology & Risk Aversion." She said we would see a lot of demographic data highly utilized by companies for various purposes. Companies should responsibly manage how data is traversing from one system to another in different business units and how we can optimize the volume and cost of managing data.

The TechCon 1.0 Technology & Consulting Conclave successfully highlighted the finest aspects of the consulting and technology industry, fostering collaboration among professionals from various backgrounds to exchange invaluable expertise and insights. Drawing from their vast experience, esteemed consultants imparted valuable knowledge, enabling participants to understand the domain holistically.