Harnessing the power of data to deliver insights

The Mavericks CTO Conversations brings together technology executives from Digital Native Businesses in India who have faced the challenge head-on and used technology to drive, survive, and grow amid a crisis to share their experiences, many achievements, and even mistakes.

This discussion centers on The CTOs' hands-on approach to the ever-changing world of digital solutions. CTOs carry out the founder's vision. Their infrastructure adaptation tactics determine whether businesses prosper or fail. It broadens their leadership, making it more public-facing. These discussions will center on how a technological edge and technology solutions helped them scale their businesses while maintaining a customer-centric focus by providing a superior experience.

In a discussion moderated by Manu Balachandran, Assistant Editor at Forbes India, we explored the power of data and data analytics in the first chapter of The Mavericks - CTO Conversations and how they will play a crucial role in the success and efficiency of meeting market needs in the future. The panel comprised leaders like Rajat Agarwal, Matrix Partners India, Sanjeev Barnwal, CTO of Meesho, Nag Thota, Head Technology Delhivery, Amit Sharma, CTO of Dream11 and Cameron Price, Head of Data and Analytics at AWS.

COVID-19: The Accelerator Of Digital Adoption

2020 changed our lives forever, and the shift towards digital was evident. As data grows, the insights about customers, competitive landscape and more also become more powerful. Talking about the strategy to future-proof your business and how data will play a substantial role in long-term growth, Amit Sharma said, “Initially, since there were no sports, it was a tough time. But as it came back, Dream 11 has seen tremendous growth. User engagement was at an all-time high; we powered our internal data processes to keep up with what’s coming. We leveraged data to launch personalization features and experiments. Our newest product initiative we launched is gamification using all the data.”

Sanjeev Barnwal also shares his insights on leveraging data to help improve business efficiency. He said, “Meesho is the lifeblood for many. When COVID hit, it was difficult as non-essential items were not moving. We offered them new avenues of earning through digital goods and educational packages. Having the right data and culture in place played a huge role in the business transition. At Meesho, we emphasize data-driven culture rather than data and data engineering capabilities; it’s helped us grow 6x.”

Adopting Data To Advance Up The Digital Roadmap

Nag Thota shared his insights on how the last year impacted their business and data implications. He said,” Supply chain saw a massive transformation. We all know data plays a huge role, and we had the platforms ready even before the pandemic hit us. How to use the data helped us stay active, data cataloging and improve our business efficiency.”

Predictive Data Analytics To Understand Consumer Behavior

Talking about the mindset change owing to the pandemic, Rajat shares his insights. He said, “Resource-constrained companies had to put in additional effort. Data helped target the new sources of revenue and deploy services in a better way. Across the portfolio, a data analyst or data scientist is getting hired easily. They help improve operational efficiencies, customer experience, and more. Using predictive data analytics helped us enhance the user experience. It helped e-commerce companies to analyze data, too.”

Cameron Price shares his take on the global impact of data adoption, saying, “It was a trend we saw globally, where everyone was trying to extract vital value from data. But, the real challenge was to capture, store and analyze this data. The competition was predominant, with new players still looking to enter the market. It was all about the right tool for the right job at the right time.”

To adapt to this digital transformation- a business should focus on ownership, user engagement, high performance, transparency, and data analytics. Data will lead the way, and companies must integrate it into their strategy, operations, and culture to survive and thrive.