Small Business And Technology: Can The Twain Ever Meet?
Forbes
August 24, 2021
Small businesses (MSMEs in India) are supposed to be the growth engines of the Indian economy, but repeated assaults by Covid-19 are bringing most of them down to their knees. Apart from dwindling finances and mounting debts, one of the critical issues they have been grappling with is their inability to adapt to the new behavior protocols imposed by the pandemic. In such a scenario, digitization sounds like the obvious and imminent savior, a decision that most MSMEs have debated, discussed and delayed.
See publication
Tags: Innovation, Startups, Business Strategy
SaaS could soon mean Supercomputing-as-a-Service
LinkedIn
July 14, 2021
A supercomputer pinpointed and eased congestion in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Eagle (the supercomputer) operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) used machine learning to trawl through tons of traffic data from satellites, traffic cameras, weather stations, patterns, etc. For example, Eagle found that traffic lights on a road leading into Chattanooga were causing delays, leading to congestion. Switching traffic timings resulted in a 16% decrease in fuel use. In addition, Eagle itself reuses 97% of the wasted heat in other facilities in the complex, making it very environmentally conscious.
See publication
Tags: AI, Blockchain, Ecosystems
How safe is our Quantum Future?
LinkedIn
June 28, 2021
If you're my age, you will remember the critical premise of the 1992 classic "Sneakers", starring Robert Redford and Ben Kingsley - a top-secret black box that can break the encryption of any computer system. Quantum computing is that "black box." In the next 2-7 years, quantum computers could change the face of cybersecurity. Once they can factor products of large prime numbers (the basis of current cryptography) (expected between 2024 and 2030) – existing cyber-defense mechanisms will be rendered obsolete. We need to plan for encryption in the quantum future.
See publication
Tags: AR/VR, Cybersecurity, 5G
The Holy Trinity of Transformation — Culture, Sustainability and Leadership
LinkedIn
April 15, 2021
Digital Transformation is not a magic wand; it is a complex yet essential enterprise commitment to change. Companies that have succeeded have reaped significant benefits. The Deloitte Digital Transformation Survey 2020 found that greater digital maturity is associated with better financial performance. The higher-maturity companies in this year’s sample were about 3X more likely than lower-maturity companies to report annual net revenue growth and net profit margins — a pattern that was consistent across industries.
See publication
Tags: Sustainability, Culture, Customer Loyalty
The Future Is Both Automated And Intelligent
Forbes
April 08, 2021
Intelligent Automation (IA) is one of the trending buzzwords of our times. What makes automation smart? Is it new? Why the renewed focus? Bill Gates believed automation to be a double-edged sword when he said: "Automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. ... Automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency."
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Leadership, Sustainability
Building back Trust and Concience
My Blog
February 19, 2021
Short Summary of the 5-day virtual event organised by the World Economic Forum
See publication
Tags: Digital Disruption, Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability
In AI (Can) We Trust?
Forbes Technology Council
February 09, 2021
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the best thing to happen to our lives. It helps us read our emails, complete our sentences, get directions, do online shopping, get dining and entertainment recommendations, and even make it easier to connect with old friends or make new ones on social media. AI is not only skilling itself at many human jobs; it is also making decisions for us.
The question is whether these decisions can be trusted. To elaborate, does AI-aided recruitment facilitate or reject the right candidate selection? Is the Tinder match made in heaven or by the algorithm? Who is being sent to jail — criminals or innocents predicted by AI bias?
See publication
Tags: AI, Emerging Technology, Privacy
Fantasy Sports – A propellant of digital transformation for India’s sporting ecosystem
Financial Express
January 15, 2021
The potential for growth and pitfalls to scale for Fantasy Sports in India
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Emerging Technology, Startups
Build The Truth Block By Block
Forbes
September 30, 2020
There is nothing new about fake news. It has been in existence for centuries, albeit without the scaffolding of support from social media. From housewives’ tales to gossip magazines, the Trojan horse to the misinformation around the D-Day landing site, fake news has been a rite of passage.
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency
Self-Healing Blockchains are the cure for Sharding’s Scalability Woes
LinkedIn
July 28, 2020
The world is eagerly waiting for a next-generation, high-performance, permissionless blockchain, and this blockchain should be able to industrially scale all decentralized applications. So far, the crypto community has witnessed:
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency
Management Lessons from the world of spies
LinkedIn
September 11, 2019
I claim no originality for this - all credit goes to Stefan Thomke, the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School whose work I am reproducing verbatim. Others like Business Insider have also referenced this in their articles. The piece itself borders between the hilarious and the ominous - hilarious because you will easily recognise organizational stereotypes which are completely Dilbertian in nature; ominous because of the original intent of the work - to disrupt and destabilise foreign institutions and organizations.
See publication
Tags: Culture, Leadership, Management
The Evolving Nature of Cryptocurrency Regulations
LinkedIn
July 06, 2019
This is an abstract submitted and accepted for a chapter in a book about payment technologies to be jointly published by Fintech Circle and Wiley. The complete chapter will be featured in the book to be published sometime in 2020
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Fintech
The Blockchain for Health Care
LinkedIn
January 25, 2017
Say you’ve inherited a rare genetic mutation that guarantees you’ll get a certain form of cancer by the time you reach 50 years of age.
See publication
Tags: Blockchain
The "MS Dhoni" brand of Leadership
LinkedIn
January 23, 2017
It was about 20 days ago that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the Ex-Indian Cricket Captain and Player, announced his retirement as the Captain. While he will continue to play as a player, this was an iconic moment as one of the most prolific leaders of this era was calling time on what was one of the most incredible chapters in Leadership.
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Bank Account Portability - Part 2
LinkedIn
December 09, 2016
Bank account number portability will improve competition among banks for acquiring customers and hence increase the acquisition and service cost. Bank account number portability can drive customers of the banks with insufficient service and marketing to comparatively stronger banks. Weaker and smaller banks would have to emphasis on consumer segmentation and for retaining their client base. Banks would be required to provide for higher preliminary investment and service costs for setting up bank account number portability IT infrastructure. Banks would also be required to train their staff to understand and employ the changed processes.
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Digital Disruption, Fintech
Bank Account Number Portability – Part 1
LinkedIn
December 07, 2016
The financial and banking sector in India is seeing a lot of reforms and changes to take the banking system up to the global standards, and in many cases surpass them. As a part of these changes, the banking sector in India is ready to move towards the account number portability, as per the deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, S.S. Mundra.
See publication
Tags: Fintech
Bank Account Portability - Part 1
LinkedIn
December 06, 2016
The financial and banking sector in India is seeing a lot of reforms and changes to take the banking system up to the global standards, and in many cases surpass them. As a part of these changes, the banking sector in India is ready to move towards the account number portability, as per the deputy governor of Reserve Bank of India, S.S. Mundra.
See publication
Tags: Fintech
5 Ideas For Using Infographics To Teach Classic Literature
LinkedIn
June 15, 2016
Reprinting this article by Dawn Casey-Rowe from www.teachthought.com that provides interesting persp3ctives on how astute use of infographics can increase the love for literature
See publication
Tags: Leadership
Vacancies, Vacancies Everywhere: Why The Government Can't Attract The Right Talent
Huffington Post
March 04, 2016
Article in the Huffington Post India
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Govtech, Culture
mLearning: The Chance To Enhance Education In Developing Nations
elearningindustry.com
January 30, 2016
Article in eLearning Magazine
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Startups, Edtech
Distance Learning: Still A Distant Possibility?
elearningindustry.com
January 17, 2016
The model of the future seems to be a hybrid of what we have been used in terms of the classical approach to teaching on the one side and then a bouquet of learning options across various media and devices that be a woven together to create a composite whole.
See publication
Tags: Sustainability, Edtech
Beyond the Great (Fire) Wall of China
CIO Review
December 15, 2015
The Golden Shield Project, or the GFW (Greater China Firewall) was put in place to regulate internet traffic and it blocks upwards of 90 percent, which translates into more than 2500 sites including the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Loading a non-China hosted web site takes 10-15 seconds more than if it would have been hosted in-country. It is very common for end-users in China to see a 30-second Web page load time for a page that loads in 3 seconds in the UK or Paris. This renders the website or web application unusable. Methods employed by GFW to manage content include DNS blocking, Connection phasing, URL keyword blocking and page content scanning.
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Retail
Only "Selfish CSR" is sustainable
LinkedIn
July 09, 2015
If the "C"in CSR stands for Corporate, then why should we not follow all corporate practices in the process of executing on social responsibility. Should CSR be unrelated to corporate activity? Why can it not be with selfish interest and with a motive of maximizing gain (albeit not always monetary gain) like all good capitalist logic dictates.
See publication
Tags: Sustainability, Culture, CSR
The 100 Most Influential People In AI
AI Newsletter
January 21, 2021
Those who know artificial intelligence (AI) only from science fiction were probably surprised by this Guardian op-ed written by the AI GPT-3.
“Artificial intelligence will not destroy humans,” it says. “Believe me.”
Whether or not you find this reassuring, AI is now integrated into our daily lives. For example, Siri, Amazon, and Facebook rely on narrow (or weak) AI, focused on specific tasks.
General (or strong) AI can do much more, and AI experts now predict that a general AI rivaling or exceeding human intelligence is on its way. Even if we never reach this ‘singularity,’ AI will change how we do business, learn, drive, and even create.
To help you keep up with these developments, we’ve compiled a diverse list of researchers, business leaders, entrepreneurs, and journalists who bring unique perspectives on AI.
See publication
Tags: AI
Top 200 Blockchain Influencers And Authors
Open Business Council
June 09, 2020
Top 200 Blockchain Influencers And Authors offers a holistic overview research list of the most important and influential authors, influencers, makers, creators in the blockchain world!
See publication
Tags: Blockchain
Top 25 #AI #Influencers to follow on @Twitter by 2019
AI Time Journal
December 04, 2019
With Artificial Intelligence playing a central role in the era of digital transformation, sharing information and knowledge about the advancements and the opportunities brought by AI is becoming crucial.
The influencers presented in this list are actively sharing information and knowledge about AI and disruptive technologies. They are the co-founders of AI ventures, machine learning professors, data scientists, and tech and digital transformation leaders.
See publication
Tags: Analytics, AI, Predictive Analytics
AI Influencer
Rise Global
June 13, 2019
In the Top 50 AI Influencers list from Rise Global
See publication
Tags: Analytics, AI, Big Data
TEDx Talk by Samiran Ghosh - Is Eternal Life Possible
YouTube
September 04, 2020
I revisited my TEDx Talk very recently and realized how relevant it was to the new world in transition. All of us seem to be redefining our lives and I thought - why not add some sub-titles and upload a Ver 2.0 of this talk. We all seem to be a new version of ourselves (or at least trying to figure out one).
A big challenge with these talks is not being able to choose one's subject but work with the one provided - and an abstract one at that. Further, working with Microsoft at that point in time also had its challenges - adopting any position on the future of technology would be grounds for disqualification.
At the same time, the expectation was that there would be some unique and thought-provoking insights leveraging my experience. I chose to interpret 'Coming Back to Life' in as many ways as I could - eternal life, another life, a second life, a better life, the life you always wanted to live. But to be able to speak with conviction, I had to speak on something close to my heart." That's how my favorite comic characters, movies, and my golden labrador, Toffee found their way into the talk - along with their unique philosophies!
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Leadership
Digital Transformation Case Studies
Self
September 10, 2018
See publication
Tags: Digital Disruption, Digital Transformation, Innovation
Digital Platform Roadmap: Setting a course for Transformation
GE
December 07, 2017
Keynote at GE Tech Talks event on #Digital Platform Roadmap: Setting a course for Transformation
See publication
Tags: Digital Disruption, Digital Transformation, Emerging Technology
Fiinancial Inclusion 2.0 aided by Mobility
Dun & Bradstreet
November 27, 2017
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Mobility, Fintech, Diversity and Inclusion
Automation as a productivity lever for enterprises
Dun & Bradstreet
October 23, 2017
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Future of Work, Innovation
‘Technology Laggards’: 14 Important Lessons They Can Teach Tech Leaders
Forbes
July 23, 2020
“Technology laggards” are late adopters of technology tools—the last holdouts in adopting a new tech gadget or solution. They’re often skeptical of innovation and may even have an aversion to change.
See publication
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation
Accelerating towards a more inclusive society with AI and Blockchain
World Economic Forum
July 03, 2020
The Fourth Industrial Revolution , normally characterized by the utilization of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 3D printing, blockchain , Internet of Things, 5G among others — has ushered in a new era of economic disruption with uncertain socio-economic consequences, especially for the Global South.
Samiran Ghosh has worked at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, especially in the context of the global south. As the Chief Digital Advisor at Microsoft, he worked on platforms like the Connected Vehicle, Digital Agriculture and Smart Cities. These initiatives all had undercurrents of massive societal impact. Most recently, at Aadhaar, he helped develop the Application Authentication Framework which allows key stakeholders to engage with each other in the UIDAI ecosystem. He is a regular contributor in leading journals,and a guest lecturer in various Indian universities.
Given his expertise, I interviewed him to find out a bit more about the role technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain can play to enhance and leapfrog communities, as well as the societal issues they can create.
See publication
Tags: AI, Blockchain, Smart Cities
Managing In-House Teams in APAC
APAC CIO Outlook
June 14, 2016
Interview carried in the APAC CIO Outlook magazine
See publication
Tags: Culture, Emerging Technology, Management
CIO Wall
CIO Section for Economic Times
September 23, 2014
Interview in ETCIO Online Magazine
See publication
Tags: Cloud, Management, Risk Management
12 Skills Tech Teams Will Need To Cover As AI Use Expands
Forbes
October 27, 2020
In recent years, artificial intelligence use has exploded in business and industry, from data analysis to customer communication. Many of the new and expanding AI applications coming online require support from tech staff with specialized skills, and tech teams will need to ensure they have these experts on staff if they’re to keep up.
Below, 12 members of Forbes Technology Council weigh in on the skills that tech teams should prioritize to remain relevant as AI continues to revolutionize the marketplace.
See publication
Tags: AI
12 Tech Leaders On The Biggest Challenges Facing Their Industry
Forbes
September 03, 2020
Budgets, talent pipelines, cyberthreats—there’s no shortage of challenges facing tech leaders and their teams now and in the near future. And as the pandemic has shown, tech leaders and their teams are often called on to provide needed solutions for industries and communities at the drop of a hat.
However, as most tech professionals know, it’s not always about having all the answers, it’s about prioritizing the most pressing issues. Below, 12 tech industry leaders from Forbes Technology Council discuss the most pressing challenges that tech leaders and their teams face today and in the near future.
See publication
Tags: Digital Disruption
14 Smart Ways To Keep Your Dev And Sales Teams On The Same Page
Forbes
September 01, 2020
In a tech company, the people selling your product usually aren’t the same ones who developed it. Your sales numbers and customer retention can significantly decline if the members of your sales team don’t fully understand your product’s capabilities and functionality. They may under-promote it, leaving out key details that could close the deal, or make unrealistic promises about the product, leaving new customers disappointed and more likely to move on.
As a tech leader, you need to do your part to keep your company’s IT and sales teams on the same page. Here’s how the members of Forbes Technology Council recommend encouraging greater collaboration between these two departments.
See publication
Tags: Sales
Tech Pros: Boost Your Skills With These 14 Resources
Forbes
July 27, 2020
In the era of social distancing and remote work, those who no longer have travel plans and daily commutes find themselves with extra time on their hands. Many are taking this time to learn new professional skills and brush up old ones. But what are the best resources for tech pros looking for educational content?
We asked 14 members of Forbes Technology Council which online (and offline) resources they recommend other tech pros tap into. Try their recommendations if you’re interested in professional development during your downtime.
See publication
Tags: Edtech
‘Technology Laggards’: 14 Important Lessons They Can Teach Tech Leaders
Forbes
July 23, 2020
“Technology laggards” are late adopters of technology tools—the last holdouts in adopting a new tech gadget or solution. They’re often skeptical of innovation and may even have an aversion to change.
It may seem like these individuals simply hold back the innovation process, but they can play a critical role in pushing technology forward. That’s why we asked Forbes Technology Council members why “laggards” are important to innovation and what tech leaders can learn from them.
See publication
Tags: Design Thinking, Digital Transformation, Innovation
Cryptocurrency
Uniris
December 09, 2019
What if technology could finally simplify your daily life without jeopardizing your security? What if you were told that you already have this technology? Uniris promise is to provide access to all technologies with a simple touch of your finger while protecting your identity. The Uniris team has developed an ultra-secure and tamper-proof technology that is as secure as a chip of a Bank card. It allows you to replace any password, key or other authentication device by simply reading inside your fingers.
To operate on a global human scale without control or intervention of any person, company or state, this "open source" technology is based on a new generation network called "Blockchain". To achieve the scale and adoption we improved the blockchain technology so that it can replace any application or service: open your car or home door, identify yourself or pay online without risk to your data or goods, always have your medical record accessible yet protected ... This technology just works from the very first use regardless of where you are.
To function and reward people who host a network server (miner), a Blockchain is built around a cryptocurrency (UCO in the case of Uniris). This currency is created at the start of the project to finance all developments thus making each investor, a real participant in the construction of this New World from the very first moment of inception.
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Emerging Technology
A Truly Decentralized and Limitless Network
https://uniris.io/
September 09, 2019
Cryptocurrency economy introduced a disruptive way to invest & protect assets, irrespective of government or regulatory instability. Yet it remains a promise to be delivered. Uniris aims to deliver that promise of secure, scalable, decentralized World. After 4 years of research, Uniris introduces ARCH consensus that provides 10-9 risk of fraud even at 90% malicious network activity unlike dBFT, dPoS or DAG. Similarly, even after a decade of mathematically proven trust of blockchains, mass adoption remains a pipe dream. Uniris brings mass adoption by providing the missing link of Human/Computer interaction by using a tamper-proof biometric authentication inside a new blockchain ecosystem - truly decentralized and designed to survive for centuries.
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Emerging Technology
A Truly Decentralized and Limitless Network
https://uniris.io/
August 12, 2019
In the following document and through four successive publications, we present the Uniris solution and how its blockchain provides a counterpoint to every single weakness of current blockchains – provides a decentralized and interoperable identity for every use-case – supports millions of transactions per second avoiding known security breaches – provides a governance integrating the community as a whole and, finally, offers the prospect of a tamper-proof, universal and risk-free human-machine interaction system.
See publication
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Cybersecurity
Council Member and Contributor
The AI Book: The Artificial Intelligence Handbook for Investors, Entrepreneurs and FinTech Visionaries
The Paytech Book
Fintech Trends 2020
Ambassador for Uniris
Council Member and Contributor
Intelligent Automation
Digital Transformation Best Practices
Data Science Panel Discussion
Managing IT across APAC
Prevalence of Shadow IT
Business Data Quality and Analytics
WHY AI CONTINUES TO FAIL AT VALUE-LADEN DECISION MAKING
Digital Strategy and Implementation
