ClariTea Chat with V V Rajasekhar, Former CIO of ITC

Timestamp Summary of the Session

00:00 Purpose of ClariTea Chat.

02:00 Welcome to ClariTea Chat & Raja’s Introduction.

06:20 Raja shared humorous memories – the yin yang of technology – some aspects change, yet come remain the same.

09:00 Audience Engagement.

10:00 Overview of Raja’s professional career.

14:00 Shared his experiences of building ITC’s foundation, emphasizing the importance of leveraging technology and the motto: Learn from the best & help the rest.

25:20 How ITC balanced its legacy with innovation and drove diversified growth using the method of Implement – Fix - Scale.

32:00 How ITC’s adoption of data drove the eChaupal initiative & empowered 60 million farmers with personalized solutions.

41:00 Top three challenges in moving from ITC Infotech to ITC -

Prioritize data accuracy for effective analytics and AI implementation.

Build internal talent to reduce reliance on external suppliers.

Foster a culture of change management for sustainable organizational growth.

52:50 Audience (Amarinder) inquiry - IT governance as a “bamboo dance” - Balancing central principles with business innovations founded on a strong Enterprise Architecture charter.

1:03:00 Audience (Vipesh) inquiry to drive ROI for large-scale digital adoption - Impactful initiatives focused to enhance business performance captures CXO attention beyond just accounting considerations.

1:12:25 Audience (Karthikeyan) inquiry about B2B and B2C challenges - Focus should be on personalization and addressing unique consumer needs. Think from business’ point of view to push the case for technology. Proposal should be business speak, not tech speak.

1:15:30 In response to Audience (Naveen) inquiry, Raja noted that today’s tech-overexposure presents unique challenges for companies, making it essential to engage customers effectively using their technology preferences.

1:17:25 In response to Audience (Vijoy) inquiry Raja advised using an MVP approach to prioritize key elements, set expectations, and challenge assumptions when businesses demand quick tech solutions - Don’t be an order taker.

1:20:00 Rapid fire questions

1:29:50 Reverse question: Takeaways from ClariTea Chats. Despite varied industry stories, common themes emerge -

Technology management is quite complex and is still an art.

Success lies in building cohesive teams with partners and continuously learning from them.

The key to success is creating business value. And there are multiple ways to articulate business value effectively as shared by ClariTea Chat guests.

1:34:00 Summary of the session.

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Welcome to this week's ClariTea chat with V V Rajasekhar (Raja), the former CIO of ITC. Born in Hyderabad and educated at Osmania University and IIM Calcutta, he dedicated four decades to ITC navigating the challenges of B2b -- B2C transition, diversification and digitalization.

He joined as a Systems Analyst during the 1990s, when new economic liberalization policies opened up global opportunities, and spent more than three decades with businesses in diverse sectors – manufacturing, trading, retail, services - focusing on developing empowered teams, consumer-led innovation and leadership to create sustainable value.

At ITC Infotech, he gained global insights and built process-driven IT-business frameworks, leading GST changes and AI evolution.

Our rich discussion will cover -

• Evolution of businesses in adoption of data and digital technologies and creation of new platforms
• Steering the diversification of business model
• Absorbing Global best practices @IT Services
• Transforming Enterprise Technology Landscape
• IT Governance across large conglomerate

Get ready for an exciting chat with Raja! His experiences and insights offer valuable lessons for today’s CIOs in becoming a future shaping business technologists. I am excited to host him Live this coming Saturday.

Please participate and ask your questions in this ClariTea Chat with Raja.

Join us this Saturday, 26th Oct, 5 PM IST.

Be ready with your cup of tea, of course.

#jc1stprinciples #jcinsights #ClariTeaChat


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About ClariTea Chat

For Digital Transformation, Technology is necessary but not sufficient. ClariTea Chat brings thematic, honest and candid dialogues with CXOs and CIOs to decode the art of driving success from technologies. Every alternate Saturday at 5 PM IST. The event link preserves the recording, in case you miss the live session.

ClariTea Chat has completed 3-½ years of Co-Creating powerful live interactions with fellow leaders woven around the Art of Managing Technologies.