How Mindtree CIO is using collaboration technologies to boost employee productivity
In a wide-ranging interview with ETCIO.COM, Subramanyam Putrevu, CIO of Mindtree talks about the ways in which he is using analytics, IoT, and AI to boost employee productivity.
Mindtree has a challenge that’s common to many organizations. Its assets and resources are spread across multiple geographies. Its 17,000 strong workforce is working on projects from various customers. Collaboration, for Mindtree, is not a choice but a business imperative. And that means more than connecting systems. It means connecting people, processes, and systems through digital technologies.
Not an easy task, but CIO Subramanyam Putrevu is pursuing the target with an unflinching spirit. He is using IT as a means to foster collaboration, shore up employee productivity and effectiveness, improve decision making and help the business leaders work more efficiently, leaving more time and money for strategic thinking.
In a wide-ranging interview with ETCIO.COM, Subramanyam Putrevu, CIO of Mindtree talks about the ways in which he is using analytics, IoT, and AI to boost employee productivity.
Mindtree is an IT services company employing 17,000 employees spread across various geographies. How do you leverage technology to foster collaboration among such a huge workforce spread across diverse locations?
Collaboration is an area we have been focusing on for a long time because as a software services organization we are spread across various geographies. At the same time, our Mindtree Minds are working on various client projects.
Keeping this business reality in mind, we are focused on simplifying the employee transaction and engagement within the organization. We are enabling information search through new- age technologies like bots. Some of these things are done by adopting the applications on the SaaS model or moving some of our own applications in the cloud.
For small team collaborations, we are actively looking at Microsoft Teams, a platform that combines workplace chat, meetings, notes, and attachments. The group chat software allows workplace collaboration at a different level. Today, one of my verticals does its vertical review using the Microsoft Teams platform. They log in either through chat interface or over the call using the same team's interface. Using the platform, the group members are able to collaborate better and access the same information effectively.
Mobility is another way we simplify employee collaboration. All the key applications have been made available on mobile. We have created an app that allows all Mindtree Minds to fill up their worksheets when they complete their workday.
The automation of factsheet generation has resulted in a saving of 10 days required earlier for publishing factsheet.
In 2017, we also launched enhanced maternity leave policy. IT then created a mobile app to enable Lady Mindtree Minds on maternity leave to stay connected to Mindtree and facilitate their return to work.
Can you talk to us about the business rationale behind building a data lake? What are the various ways in which Mindtree has benefitted from the initiative?
We have disparate systems from which information keeps flowing continually. So we have built our own data lake. All data elements from disparate systems come into this data lake. We are collating about 6000+ data points into the data lake which gives us the base of all information available across Mindtree.
The data lake is updated on a daily basis. Based on the use cases for different groups, we have defined what is it that we will build as data cubes on top of this data lakes to equip them with the required data elements which will see from their perspective. For instance, the operations team needs to see the data on the execution of various day to day activities. They can see various talent pools available within the system to ascertain if there is enough manpower to fulfill and manage the project deliverables. So they get information on talent flowing out of the projects nearing completion and can recognize the need to recruit talent for a particular project. This helps us map the talent flow within the organization and the opportunities at large, at any given point in time. We have created dashboards and what if scenarios for the talent fulfillment activity by bringing in data from the data lake. We have taken use cases like HR, CIO and Executive dashboards for the data lake.
Through its analytics projects, Mindtree has tried to combine technology and business requirements into a vision that contains elements of both. What has been the business impact of your analytics initiative? What’s your vision, going forward?
We are seeing a considerable amount of benefits from our analytics project. The fact that information is coming from a central system helps reduce the discussion on the validity of data. The productivity has increased because of such informed decision making.
In the past when the information was shared using a spreadsheet, the discussions began by questioning the accuracy of data. Since the time our analytics project went live, the data is visualized from a single source of truth. So the time is productively used for discussion rather than debating the accuracy of data.
The automation of a few major reports used extensively within the company has resulted in a saving of 10-12 man hours on a weekly basis. Consequently, the accuracy of data used for decision making has improved by 30-40 %.
The time and effort required for building all functional reports and dashboards have reduced by 80-90%.
We have been able to reduce the number of Excel reports by 10-15%. The employees who created and managed excel reports have moved into more value-added roles. By the end of 2018, we aim to reduce the use of Excel reports by 50 %.
How is Mindtree using IoT technology at its training center in Kalinga?
In March 2016, we started operations at our Global Learning and Development Center in Kalinga. The residential campus grooms the newly recruited engineers on advanced technologies.
At the Global Learning Center in Kalinga, we have used the IoT technology that we offer our customers. We have invested in building capabilities in device engineering, IoT specific protocols and application development.
Using IoT, we have created horizontal solutions for ‘Remote Monitoring of Assets’ and ‘Employee location sensing’. These solutions are targeted at factories and premises. We have also invested in building hardware solutions to integrate with multiple wired and wireless systems, to sense location indoors and outdoors and to enable long-range communication.
How are you leveraging AI for improving employee engagement?
We have implemented use cases in HR, information access, compliance with the endpoints and the likes. We are applying AI across these business functions. We employ 1200 campus recruits every year. AI chatbots will help with employee onboarding in this area. For example – if any of the Mindtree minds need policy information, regarding leave, the Maci BOT will help them with the required information based on their location (we have different # of leave days in different parts of the world). In addition, it shares the details of leave policy, and also apply leave in the same window if requested.
What were your key accomplishments in 2017?
Some of the key projects we undertook successfully were the creation of a large number of management dashboards, enablement of chatbots within the organization and combining all mobile applications into one mobile app.
What are your IT priorities for 2018? What does the technology roadmap of Mindtree look like?
Through the Microsoft Technologies and Power BI for the data lake, we will bring more dashboards and “what if” scenarios for the different business groups and verticals.
In 2017, one of my biggest learnings was that for applications available on the mobile the usage, adoption, and usability are far higher. So we will strengthen employee collaboration on the mobile. We will bring enterprise chatbot to the mobile.
Mindtree has a challenge that’s common to many organizations. Its assets and resources are spread across multiple geographies. Its 17,000 strong workforce is working on projects from various customers. Collaboration, for Mindtree, is not a choice but a business imperative. And that means more than connecting systems. It means connecting people, processes, and systems through digital technologies.
Not an easy task, but CIO Subramanyam Putrevu is pursuing the target with an unflinching spirit. He is using IT as a means to foster collaboration, shore up employee productivity and effectiveness, improve decision making and help the business leaders work more efficiently, leaving more time and money for strategic thinking.
In a wide-ranging interview with ETCIO.COM, Subramanyam Putrevu, CIO of Mindtree talks about the ways in which he is using analytics, IoT, and AI to boost employee productivity.
Mindtree is an IT services company employing 17,000 employees spread across various geographies. How do you leverage technology to foster collaboration among such a huge workforce spread across diverse locations?
Collaboration is an area we have been focusing on for a long time because as a software services organization we are spread across various geographies. At the same time, our Mindtree Minds are working on various client projects.
Keeping this business reality in mind, we are focused on simplifying the employee transaction and engagement within the organization. We are enabling information search through new- age technologies like bots. Some of these things are done by adopting the applications on the SaaS model or moving some of our own applications in the cloud.
For small team collaborations, we are actively looking at Microsoft Teams, a platform that combines workplace chat, meetings, notes, and attachments. The group chat software allows workplace collaboration at a different level. Today, one of my verticals does its vertical review using the Microsoft Teams platform. They log in either through chat interface or over the call using the same team's interface. Using the platform, the group members are able to collaborate better and access the same information effectively.
Mobility is another way we simplify employee collaboration. All the key applications have been made available on mobile. We have created an app that allows all Mindtree Minds to fill up their worksheets when they complete their workday.
The automation of factsheet generation has resulted in a saving of 10 days required earlier for publishing factsheet.
In 2017, we also launched enhanced maternity leave policy. IT then created a mobile app to enable Lady Mindtree Minds on maternity leave to stay connected to Mindtree and facilitate their return to work.
Can you talk to us about the business rationale behind building a data lake? What are the various ways in which Mindtree has benefitted from the initiative?
We have disparate systems from which information keeps flowing continually. So we have built our own data lake. All data elements from disparate systems come into this data lake. We are collating about 6000+ data points into the data lake which gives us the base of all information available across Mindtree.
The data lake is updated on a daily basis. Based on the use cases for different groups, we have defined what is it that we will build as data cubes on top of this data lakes to equip them with the required data elements which will see from their perspective. For instance, the operations team needs to see the data on the execution of various day to day activities. They can see various talent pools available within the system to ascertain if there is enough manpower to fulfill and manage the project deliverables. So they get information on talent flowing out of the projects nearing completion and can recognize the need to recruit talent for a particular project. This helps us map the talent flow within the organization and the opportunities at large, at any given point in time. We have created dashboards and what if scenarios for the talent fulfillment activity by bringing in data from the data lake. We have taken use cases like HR, CIO and Executive dashboards for the data lake.
Through its analytics projects, Mindtree has tried to combine technology and business requirements into a vision that contains elements of both. What has been the business impact of your analytics initiative? What’s your vision, going forward?
We are seeing a considerable amount of benefits from our analytics project. The fact that information is coming from a central system helps reduce the discussion on the validity of data. The productivity has increased because of such informed decision making.
In the past when the information was shared using a spreadsheet, the discussions began by questioning the accuracy of data. Since the time our analytics project went live, the data is visualized from a single source of truth. So the time is productively used for discussion rather than debating the accuracy of data.
The automation of a few major reports used extensively within the company has resulted in a saving of 10-12 man hours on a weekly basis. Consequently, the accuracy of data used for decision making has improved by 30-40 %.
The time and effort required for building all functional reports and dashboards have reduced by 80-90%.
We have been able to reduce the number of Excel reports by 10-15%. The employees who created and managed excel reports have moved into more value-added roles. By the end of 2018, we aim to reduce the use of Excel reports by 50 %.
How is Mindtree using IoT technology at its training center in Kalinga?
In March 2016, we started operations at our Global Learning and Development Center in Kalinga. The residential campus grooms the newly recruited engineers on advanced technologies.
At the Global Learning Center in Kalinga, we have used the IoT technology that we offer our customers. We have invested in building capabilities in device engineering, IoT specific protocols and application development.
Using IoT, we have created horizontal solutions for ‘Remote Monitoring of Assets’ and ‘Employee location sensing’. These solutions are targeted at factories and premises. We have also invested in building hardware solutions to integrate with multiple wired and wireless systems, to sense location indoors and outdoors and to enable long-range communication.
How are you leveraging AI for improving employee engagement?
We have implemented use cases in HR, information access, compliance with the endpoints and the likes. We are applying AI across these business functions. We employ 1200 campus recruits every year. AI chatbots will help with employee onboarding in this area. For example – if any of the Mindtree minds need policy information, regarding leave, the Maci BOT will help them with the required information based on their location (we have different # of leave days in different parts of the world). In addition, it shares the details of leave policy, and also apply leave in the same window if requested.
What were your key accomplishments in 2017?
Some of the key projects we undertook successfully were the creation of a large number of management dashboards, enablement of chatbots within the organization and combining all mobile applications into one mobile app.
What are your IT priorities for 2018? What does the technology roadmap of Mindtree look like?
Through the Microsoft Technologies and Power BI for the data lake, we will bring more dashboards and “what if” scenarios for the different business groups and verticals.
In 2017, one of my biggest learnings was that for applications available on the mobile the usage, adoption, and usability are far higher. So we will strengthen employee collaboration on the mobile. We will bring enterprise chatbot to the mobile.
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