In an interview with CIO AXIS, A Shiju Rawther, Chief Information & Technology Officer, CARE Ratings Limited, discusses CARE Ratings’ digital transformation, while outlining key cybertrends and cybersecurity sector’s performance in 2021.
1.Please outline your strategy for accelerating digital transformation particularly in response to the challenges brought about by COVID-19?
We have defined strategy of technology based on four pillars. First pillar is the Zero Tolerance. The zero tolerance tower has focus areas of Engineering, Scalability and introducing new platforms. This will ensure the setup is built on robust foundations and can be scale as per business growth.
Second Pillar is the Customer Experience. This tower will focus on innovations and implementing future technologies to enhance the experience of internal and external customers by delivering the services through superior technology.
Information security is the third pillar in the roadmap which we are focusing on so that information security is given key importance for the design, build and operation phase. This also includes that everything under technology comes under the compliance, get audited, governed by the GRC team, and is protected always.
The fourth pillar is the Orchestration. Orchestration is to bring in more orientation, synergy and automation. This year we are working on many automation projects along with building Data Lake platform. We are working on the robotic process automation using cognitive services so that manual dependency reduces. Automation will also help us achieve cost reduction while providing better customer service.
2.Can you please share some of the unique lessons learned from Covid-19?
This pandemic has taught us a lot of things which will now become a part of the new normal. The importance of technology cannot be overstated. Making solutions and customer deliverables tech-dependent is the way forward. We can achieve a lot by connecting with our customers online and catering to their specific requests in line with their current needs. The pandemic has also taught us the need to engage with employees and to keep them motivated on an ongoing basis and help them to deliver to their best.
3.What technologies and trends will your organization be focusing on next year?
Key priorities for us in 2021 will be aligning IT with the business and enhance the customer experience. We are also in journey of Digital transformation where we are looking to embrace the technology by revamping existing technology footprints along with cloud adoption, building new digital platforms, data lake & enhance analytical capabilities using cognitive solutions. We are also embracing the inhouse capabilities for Data Science function to build advance analytics data platforms. With this journey equal focus will be given on Compliance, Security & Governance to keep all the data sets of customer and employees safe.
4.How will the cybersecurity sector look in a post-COVID-19 world? What do you expect to be different when it comes to cybersecurity and hiring in a post-COVID-19 world?
Role of cybersecurity is like a brake in a car. The security awareness levels are heightened considering the scenarios across the financial industry with the threat vectors that everyone is facing today specially during the Covid-19 period. As per research reports, skills in enterprise on-premise security and intrusion detection which used to be essential are becoming obsolete. Core skills in cybersecurity, application security and network security are still desired but flat while the growing and emerging skills in cloud environments, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and AI look to hold the best promise for job seekers. Organizations are making significant investments in artificial intelligence systems. As a result, AI knowledge and data analytic skills will continue to be in high demand as companies want people who are deep thinkers, and know-how to analyze data for trends, and recognize early indications of the next cyber-attack.