National Engineers’ Day 2022 – Comments from Tech Leaders in India

Every year, September 15 is celebrated as Engineer’s Day in the country in recognition of Bharat Ratna Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya’s contribution towards nation building. With cutting-edge and evolving technology, engineers are influencing the growth of digital breakthroughs.

National Engineers’ Day: Here’s what some industry experts say:

Madhu Krishnapuram, Vice President of Engineering and Managing Director, India at GoTo, says, “Engineers are dreamers, inventors, creators and above all – problem solvers! Engineers are the backbone behind the sustainable development of society as we see it. The Indian engineering sector has played a crucial role in the industrial economy and has made the country self-reliant in many key areas. They have fostered diverse, multi-disciplinary collaboration by redefining engineering with smart business enablement and intelligent solutions to improve the way we live and work today. As we march ahead in the new normal, engineers remain the front players in developing innovative solutions that create a foundation for everyone to thrive in dynamic borderless workplaces driven by talent and technology.”

Deepak Visweswaraiah, Vice President, Platform Engineering, and Site Managing Director, Pegasystems, India , says, “In today’s world, it would be extremely difficult to find an avenue where engineering has not left its footprint. Engineering constitutes the largest share of the Indian industrial sector and its application spans from deep sea exploration to space travel and beyond. India is poised to lead from the front as we are on the cusp of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“Pega engineers have been at the forefront of this change, expanding their horizons, skillsets and knowledge while working on cutting-edge technologies like Artificial Intelligence, automation, and low- code, among others. Now, the role of engineers has become more critical than ever as we are at the centre of a global digital revolution. At Pega, we strive for continued learning and thus invest in the right infrastructure, technologies and tools to support our teams yield greater productivity and deliver better results.

“On this Engineer’s Day, I salute our talented engineers who have contributed significantly and made a difference to the organisation as well as the nation as a whole.”

Sudhindra Holla, Director, Axis Communications, India and SAARC, said, “The engineering landscape is always adapting and evolving as new technologies become available. The dynamic business environment coupled with today’s customer needs have reinforced the importance of innovation as a key enabler to add value in this sector.

“At Axis, innovation is at the forefront of technology that helps us in providing world class products and solutions which are built for meeting the challenges of tomorrow. We are a people-centric organization, and we believe in creating an environment of collaboration and opportunities for engineers who are the innovators of tomorrow. We provide comprehensive programs and trainings that enables our engineers to thrive on innovation and build leading designs in an efficient and smarter way.”

Purna Mehta, Manager Software Engineering, Granicus, said, “ “As we observe Engineer’s Day today, commemorating the great achievements of Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya, it is also a great opportunity for all of us to remind ourselves of the accomplishments of our engineers that has placed India on the global map, in the recent years.

“India is the one of the largest producers of Engineers and Researchers. Not only have our educational institutions set global benchmarks, our engineers are now renowned world leaders in a variety of industries. Major multinational companies are turning to India and investing heavily in the research facilities and tying up with our engineers for building their next gen products and services.

‘Aarogya Setu’- world’s fastest growing mobile application, Global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, UPI(Unified payments Interface): the world’s largest real-time payment system, OLA – world’s largest e-scooter factory that makes an Electronic Vehicle every two seconds are just a few of the many milestones in India’s scientific and technological achievements.

As Henry Petroski said “Science is about knowing; engineering is about doing”; from space explorations, nuclear and defence technology, to inventions that have improved everyday life, our engineers are playing a crucial role in turning our nation’s dreams into a reality.”

Ramesh Kalanje, Vice President, Center of Excellence, Commvault, says “A nation’s development can be traced back to its leadership in technology and innovation. The engineering landscape in India has gone through a massive transformation with engineers evolving to becoming key business enablers. Today, India is the hotbed for product engineering and product design in the world – thanks to the novel ideas and smarter products being borne out of the country.

“Engineering community in India is paving the way through innovations, ready to thrive in a competitive environment and be at par with the industry requirements. As our economy rapidly accelerates towards digitalization, the role of engineers is only going to become more vital with time.

“At Commvault, we believe that the process of continuous learning not only feeds a business’ bottom line but also fosters an environment that inspires creativity and innovation. We continue to inspire and unleash creativity among our Vaulters through various initiatives such as Hackathons, Mentoring Circles, Junior Vaulter Challenge and many more.

“Engineers have the power to set the course of our digital future, and We, as an organization; as a community; as an economy, must provide them a strong foundation to unlock their true potential and thrive.”

Sarada Vempati, Executive Vice President and Head of Enterprise Functions Technology, Wells Fargo India & Philippines, says, “It is an oft repeated truism that technology now drives the world and that there’s no better time to be an engineer. But from the vantage point of my two decades of experience, I can safely say that there hasn’t been a better time (yet) to be a woman in Technology. Or for that matter, someone from diverse segments.

First, the people make a difference. With Gen Z and millennials already forming a significant proportion of the workforce, they bring in a refreshingly equitable ethos. From being the rare woman on the technology team in my early days, I see the younger workforce taking for granted, and indeed expecting to be part of a diverse team that embraces multiple identities.

Second, the pandemic accelerated flexibility, and pushed companies to fully embrace the agility that technology provided workforces. So for young mothers, and increasingly fathers, who need to take a parenting break, or anybody who needs to take any kind of break or slowdown, there are options for part-time and remote work. They also no longer need to worry about skills becoming obsolete. Training is now available online.

Third, the exciting new technologies and the rapidly accelerating pace of growth make it a truly rewarding time to be an engineer. And technology is one of the many areas that benefit from diversity. So its acceptance and encouragement of diverse talent make it a far more welcoming space for people who embrace multiple identities of gender, ability, etc. I am at that point in my life where I can most fully, equally and unapologetically embrace my many identities as a technologist, a mother, a wife, a sister, a friend, a mentor, a leader.

Nothing of course is idyllic or ideal, and there are many things to fix. But just as there is no perfect or immutable code, long as we continue to engineer solutions and make things a little better every day, the world is a slightly better place for that.”

Saurabh Saxena, country head of Micro Focus, says, “In today’s day and age, technology is all around us, touching every aspect of our lives. Engineering stands as a strong pillar when it comes to creating these technologies providing the vital push for progress and development. To create better solutions to the problems we face in real-time, quality engineers strive to convert ideas into reality.

At Micro Focus, we have engineers spanning expertise across all segments, where they use their skills and experience to deliver the best of all technologies. From speeding up application delivery to strengthening cyber resilience to partnering with TCS Jaguar to help with Formula One analytics. Our engineers not only develop products but also ensure that they are long-lasting, guaranteeing compliance and implementing our commitment to transform systems into a low-carbon one, which provides a framework that works towards the commitment of behaving responsibly and sustainably across the entire business. We take this day as an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of engineers to society.”

Debasmita Bal, Director of Development, Genesys India, says, “India is one of the top choices for technology service providers worldwide. The pandemic has pushed for India’s digital transformation and produced new working methods to increase efficiencies and enhance digital experiences. Enterprises are witnessing the merits of digital transformations and cloud services and changing their approach to meet the demands of the new-age customers by leveraging state-of-the-art technologies not just to develop connected, smart, and secure products but also to deliver empathetic experiences. Our nation is known for smart engineers who bring game-changing products and solutions to the world.

“At Genesys, our talented engineers are the backbone of our business as they bring about innovations that deliver smart, personalised, and empathetic services for organisations across varied sectors. Centered around innovation and considered a Centre of Excellence (CoE), our second largest R&D site for Genesys in Chennai hosts engineers who contribute to many market-leading product lines, digital capabilities, and cloud solutions. The work these multifunctional teams do is core to key initiatives like speech analytics and artificial intelligence that has a huge impact in the advancement of cloud and AI solutions for the industry. We are able to redefine the customer experience by leveraging Cloud, AI, and machine learning to provide faster, hyper-personalised, and connected interactions for people –due to core contributions made by the engineering team.

“On this Engineer’s Day, we salute our talented engineers who are the pioneersof emerging technologies, inventors of the future, and innovators of a sustainable tomorrow.”