Anurag Shah, Head of Solutions, US, Newgen Software, shares what time in tech has taught him.
What would you describe as your most memorable achievement?
Being associated with the first release of our flagship product in 2002 – the low code and no code platform. It was a greenfield undertaking with a lot of uncertainties, but nothing beats the exhilaration of seeing the customer going live successfully and feeling that sense of pride.
There have been other memorable achievements, such as managing Newgen’s delivery functions for an enterprise and growing it into a 200-person team. I shifted gears to managing the products and solutions functions for our Americas region and helped acquire initial customers in the banking and insurance verticals in the US.
What first made you think of a career in technology?
Although my early engineering days paved the way for a career in technology, it wasn’t until my final year that I realized that I wanted to explore technology adoption in the business domain and pursued an MBA. It was intriguing to think of technology from a business point of view and how operations in businesses are run using technology. It changed the whole paradigm for me to approach the business domain before starting technology evaluation and solutions.
What style of management philosophy do you employ with your current position?
To empower my team members. I believe that each person brings a set of strengths and capabilities. I allow my team to express themselves and provide them the room to experiment with new ideas.
In this process, my team also learned from their failures and came out better on the other side. Each such instance has strengthened the team’s morale and long-term association aligned with the organizational mission and vision.
I rarely micro-manage my team, but always keep an oversight. This way, I am still connected to the grassroots while giving my team the freedom to grow.
What do you think is the current hot technology talking point?
Generative AI – but the dust is yet to be settled before pragmatic implementation of the technology can be used for business outcomes. It does show a lot of promise – eventually almost all software applications will be impacted in some shape and form.
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?
A morning workout is great stress buster. It helps me start my day with energy and a positive mind.
I enjoy hiking. I find being surrounded by nature calming and soothing. Recently, I tried camping up in the mountains and it was absolutely fun!
Cooking is another activity I enjoy. My family eagerly waits for barbecue weekends. When I find free time in the evening, I enjoy catching up on the latest movies and a few select shows. I also follow a couple of sports and my favorite teams are seasonal but quite intense.
If you could go back and change one career decision, what would it be?
I don’t really have any regrets. Looking back, I always think I could have done almost everything better. True to cliché, there’s always room for improvement.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in your industry?
My role is mostly horizontal, encompassing all verticals and industries. Digital Transformation is one of the top initiatives and investments by both CIO and COO offices. It includes connecting front, mid and back-offices in business processes to deliver a superior customer experience through an equal endeavor of ergonomic employee experience. So, in a contact center’s Digital Transformation, the enterprises aim to map out the entire customer journey from the first interaction to the end goal. It also involves considering all the intermediate activities, such as employee engagement across omnichannel, and integrating with business applications, which are the overarching missions and visions of the enterprises.
What are the region-specific challenges when implementing new technologies in North America?
The fundamental challenges revolve around core and business applications. While the early maturity in the technology adopted by these applications has benefitted enterprises in the last 2 to 3 decades, it also has created barriers to emerging technology adoption. Implementing any new technology impacting such core systems has its trade-offs. While the latest technologies come with their promises, change management in core systems poses substantial worries. This is where the platform approach mitigates the worries and delivers the promises.
What changes to your job role have you seen in the last year and how do you see these developing in the next 12 months?
The lines between sales and solutions roles are starting to blur.
The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach is no longer accepted – each enterprise is unique in its Digital Transformation strategy and tactics.
Technology and business domains are morphing into one – more business stakeholders are participating in technology creation and adoption and the concept of ‘citizen developer’ is gaining popularity.
Finding the balance between professional and citizen developers is crucial in a low code platform.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in your industry?
Start your customer journey with customer experience central to it. Remember, great customer experience begins with great employee experience.
When you are taking a closer look at your employee experience, learn how they are working with current systems and processes in place and identify if there are any silos. Your aim is to make them seamless and unified.
Revitalize the business case for process, content and collaborative services as your business imperatives change.
Keep the business case fresh as priorities change and maturity levels keep rising.
Align the business case to the top corporate priorities to help prevent failure and get executive support – which can lead to sponsorship.
Do not forget to present your quick wins, ensure you have established performance metrics aligned with the identified corporate priorities and decide how to recognize the desired outcomes
