Microsoft Future Ready: Why a human-first approach will accelerate India’s growth in this techade

Tech intensity is the engine for the future readiness of all businesses and industries,” Anant Maheshwari, President, Microsoft India noted at the company’s flagship event, Future Ready. During the discussions where government representatives and industry leaders shared their thoughts on the way towards inclusive, equitable, and sustainable development, the role of technology emerged as a common thread. The pandemic has marked the beginning of what can aptly be called a “techade”, with the government, public and private sectors leveraging technology in new ways to build resilience, drive innovation, and enable sustainable growth. Here are five standout trends that will shape this techade.

Digital initiatives will democratize benefits; digital skills will drive industries

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant mentioned how digital technologies and platforms are enhancing the lives of millions of Indians. He pointed to government-led initiatives such as the Jan Dhan - Aadhaar - Mobile trinity, biometric data, DigiLocker, Unified Payments Interface, and digital signature, which are enabling easy access to many essential services for the masses – a true touchstone for technology impact.

As Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman and Executive Director, Narayana Health remarked, technology can democratize healthcare – make it preventive, predictive, accessible, and more affordable than it is at present.

N Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons, noted that AI-and-tech literacy are important prerequisites for tech leadership. He emphasized the importance of making AI, Machine Learning, and Cloud relevant for more people.

Rohini Srivathsa, National Technology Officer, Microsoft India, highlighted the increased adoption of AI and IoT by organizations across industries. “Large enterprises and startups are leveraging AI to solve problems, disrupt industry norms, and enhance capabilities in areas ranging from dairy to defense.”

Digital skills are becoming essential in almost all industries today. Every company is becoming a digital company and consumers are becoming digital natives. India’s consumer digital economy will grow manifold over this decade.

Cybersecurity will not be an add-on but built-in

The growth in digitization has not been without an increase in the number of phishing, malware, ransomware, and other cyberattacks against businesses and nation states in recent years, especially since the pandemic began.

Vishal Salvi, CISO and Cybersecurity Head at Infosys noted that remote working has diminished the monolithic perimeter defenses of a pre-pandemic world. Treating security as an afterthought is likely to leave companies very vulnerable to cyberattacks, he said.

It is difficult and expensive to implement security into products and solutions after you have developed or installed them. Instead, the focus should be on products and solutions with in-built security. According to Salvi, four things assume great importance: finding a balance between convenience and control, upgrading the cybersecurity posture continuously, building cyber resiliency, and building a cybersecurity culture.

For Irina Ghose, Executive Director, Cloud Solutions, Microsoft India, security is not an add-on, but an engine for survival and success; not a business function, but a part of organizational culture. “At Microsoft, we believe in an inside-out and outside-in approach to security. We advocate a comprehensive, end-to-end approach so that organizations may secure their entire digital estate,” she said.

Technologies will serve both business objectives and sustainability goals

The effects of climate-related events have underlined the need for making communities and businesses more sustainable. Organizations should aim to be carbon-negative, waste-negative, and water-positive. Solutions such as Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability can provide almost real-time visibility into emission metrics and help organizations manage sustainability goals and become net-zero. Transitioning to the Cloud can reduce carbon emissions associated with on-premises data center operations.

As N Chandrasekaran commenting on sustainability remarked, “It is the biggest challenge for humankind for the next decades to come.” The most important climate technologies will be those that deliver both decarbonization and resilience.

Business and governance aside, future-proofing the economy calls for adopting a human-first mindset.

Employee experiences and well-being will be at the core of hybrid work models

Anant Maheshwari observed, “The future of work is hybrid. All of us are collectively learning and innovating on how to shape the future of work in India.”

To make the hybrid model empowering and fulfilling for employees, organizations should combine flexibility, well-being, and inclusion. A successful shift to hybrid work will require us to accommodate the hybrid paradox, where people want the flexibility to work from anywhere, but also want more in-person interactions. There are five aspects that will draw close attention in this context: flexible working, technology investments, rebuilding social capital and culture, rethinking employee experiences, and addressing digital exhaustion.

Leadership approaches will become more empathetic and empowering

Business is, first and foremost, about people. As Rishad Premji, Chairman, Wipro Ltd said, “The most important thing is strong employee engagement and connectedness, nothing replaces good old connecting with people.”

Rekha M Menon, Chairperson and Senior Managing Director, Accenture in India said, “As we work remotely, we need very different leadership skills. As we work with machines, we need very different human skills, which is critical thinking and reasoning.”

Leaders need to demonstrate genuine care and empathy for their employees, partners, and stakeholders. An empathetic leader makes others feel secure and creates a bond of mutual trust. The onus is on leaders to ensure that their teams have enough time and resources to take care of themselves and their families. Empathetic leadership also involves understanding the needs and goals of each team and making every member feel responsible for and empowered to contribute to their organization’s success. Teams tend to be more engaged and productive when their opinions are valued, and their work is recognized. Empathetic leadership can improve innovation, engagement, retention, work-life balance, and inclusivity. This is something that all organizations, big or small, need in good times and bad.

You can visit all the on-demand sessions from Microsoft Future Ready at https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/MicrosoftFutureReady/ and stay tuned for the ‘Future Ready – Industry Edition’ where we dive into 6 key industries transitioning into the next era of transformation.

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