“A CDO is often asked to enhance digital revenue of the company”

Tata Communications Chief Digital Officer C R Srinivasan is responsible for the overall digital and security strategy and execution for the company. As technologist and a business leader, he also heads the company’s global business for cloud and security, enabling digital transformation initiatives for customers. He is also responsible for creating industry standards in cloud computing solutions for customers coupled with solidifying the internal digital processes and delivering technical solutions to enhance business growth and productivity. In an interaction with Thomas George, he talked about emerging technology trends, different aspects of digital transformation, and the emerging role of a CDO. Excerpts from the interview:

- Thomas George

THOMAS GEORGE (TG): What are the key emerging trends and insights for 2020?

CR Srinivasan (CRS): From a broad context of where the industry is going we can say that cloud adoption will continue to grow. The enterprises will move a lot more workloads to the cloud. Most enterprises have begun this journey in some form or another and the context of cloud migration has changed—from I have to migrate and should I migrate, to when I can migrate. Security is another thing that has gained importance. It is, however, not a concern for migration to cloud because users know that there are ways to mitigate.

The third thing is the overall cyber security posture of an organization. Customers are very worried about it because of the likes of high-profile incidents like Equifax. The danger of data leak is a top of the mind issue for most companies. Hence, from a cyber security risk management standpoint there is a definite move towards software-defined wide-area network (SDWAN). Customers are willing to invest in SD-WAN and leverage the internet more for business critical functions. Customers are also keen to understand what benefits they can accrue from emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). This is an area where they are constantly seeking help and guidance because the technology is changing faster than one could imagine.