Deloitte's Deepa Seshadri on India's Real Digital Story

In an exclusive interview, Seshadri shares insights from Deloitte's "Sprint to Excellence" report, unveiling surprising trends in technology adoption across various sectors.

We take a closer look at key findings in the report with respect to how industries outside technology and financial services are moving toward digitization. Seshadri also discusses the enhanced focus on cybersecurity and the potential of emerging technologies such as generative AI.

It will throw up light on the challenges and opportunities that are shaping India's digital landscape—from talent shortage to building a resilient digital infrastructure. Seshadri provides key strategic advice for businesses to navigate this complex environment.

Excerpts:

What were the most surprising or unexpected findings from the "Sprint to Excellence" report? How do these findings align with Deloitte's overall observations of the Indian business landscape?

The rapid pace of digital adoption across Indian industries is an interesting finding. This is not just in the financial, consumer, or technology sector, but other sectors such as energy and industrials, life sciences and healthcare are also gearing up and prioritizing technology investments. This aligns with Deloitte's view of India as a dynamic market rapidly embracing digital technologies.

In the context of cybersecurity as well, it is fascinating to see how it is being prioritized by sectors beyond technology and BFSI, which also signals growing digitalization in other sectors, and awareness around digital resilience, consumer data security, and privacy.

From the standpoint of tech implementation across functions, sales and marketing seems to be garnering significant mindshare, which shows the rising propensity towards using data and technologies for enhanced customer engagement and experience. In addition, finance and accounting and operations and maintenance are popular in the current context but in the next 2-3 years, supply chain logistics (which includes product development and distribution) and human resources would also make their headway.

When asked about evolving priorities in the next 2-3 years, 94% of respondents pointed towards generative AI, followed by industry 5.0, and augmented reality.

Do the findings of the report align with your observations about the digital landscape in India?

Absolutely. The report's findings mirror our observations of a digitally evolving India. Organizations are increasingly recognizing the pivotal role of technology in driving growth and efficiency. In the next 2-3 years, there will be a likely interplay of technologies to drive customer experiences, efficiency enhancements, and streamlining of operations and supply chains, through predictive insights. Adding a sectoral mix to it, it favorably points towards tech-driven industrialization in India, where we are looking at smarter retail, smarter factories, IT-OT integration, and a stronger focus on resilience and sustainability. However, challenges such as talent scarcity, complexity of technology environment and cybersecurity remain quite significant, and competitive advantage will come from addressing these challenges.

How do you think the insights from this report can influence business strategies and decision-making?

This report provides actionable insights for businesses to navigate the digital landscape. By understanding the digital maturity of their industry and peers, organizations can prioritize investments, allocate resources effectively, and build a robust digital foundation towards a resilient future. It provides an outside-in view for CIOs and technology leaders to have meaningful conversations with functional heads, risk leaders, CEOs, CFOs, and the Board to together craft the future.

At the same time, understanding and addressing the challenges pertaining to talent, skilling, technology complexity, budget, cybersecurity, and regulatory landscape, allow CIOs to lead with more confidence.

Which industry sectors do you believe are leading the digital transformation charge in India, and why?

Sectors such as BFSI, Consumer, and Technology are leading the digital charge. These industries have been early adopters and have a strong focus on customer experience. They've leveraged technology to disrupt traditional business models and gained competitive edge.

Which industry sectors do you believe have greatest potential for digital transformation in India, and why?

Consumer, Financial Services and Healthcare present immense potential. These sectors can revolutionize service delivery, accessibility, and efficiency through digital technologies. However, they require significant investments in infrastructure and digital literacy.

Given the report's highlighting of cybersecurity as a paramount concern, how do you see organizations addressing this challenge in the coming years?

Cybersecurity is now integral to businesses and will be a top priority. Today, it is critical for business continuity, stakeholder confidence, and customer trust. We expect increased investments in robust security infrastructure, data privacy, and employee training.

A proactive approach to risk management and compliance and embedding cybersecurity and resilience at the heart of digital transformation, will be crucial.

Given the report's focus on cybersecurity, what specific strategies can organizations implement to strengthen their cyber defenses?

Organizations should adopt a layered security approach, including robust firewalls, endpoint protection, and regular security audits. Employee awareness, training, incident response planning, business continuity planning, third party risk management and leveraging AI and other emerging technologies for threat detection, response and mitigation are essential.

How can organizations effectively address the talent shortage in the technology sector and build a future-ready workforce?

Some of the top challenges identified in technology adoption are in terms of talent reskilling, acquiring, and retaining talent. An effective talent strategy must entail skilling-related investments and acknowledging or incentivizing reskilling/upskilling/cross-skilling efforts within the team. Organisations must look at the diverse talent pool available today.

Another best way to tap into talent is allowing rotations within the team. Collaborating with academia, engaging in open innovation/crowdsourcing initiatives, looking beyond tier 1 and tier 2 cities, engaging with non-tech talent pool can significantly broaden the talent base and open-up new avenues.

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