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Hinal Shah, with over a decade of experience is Director of the Salesforce CRM team at LTIMindtree. She excels in leadership, fostering innovation, and building strong, high-performing teams, making a significant impact on the organization’s success. Women leadership series - In conversations with Hinal Shah 8 Mar 2025 Hinal Shah, with over a decade of experience is Director of the Salesforce CRM team at LTIMindtree. She excels in leadership, fostering innovation, and building strong, high-performing teams, making a significant impact on the organization’s success. How would you introduce yourself? Hi there, I am Hinal Shah. I would like to introduce myself as a dedicated Salesforce professional, current enjoying my role as the Director of the Salesforce CRM team for Enterprise Technology at LTIMindtree. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? After completing my Engineering in Electronics and Telecommunication, I started my journey in the realm of Salesforce which began over a decade ago, starting as a developer and gradually moving up the ranks through sheer determination and passion for technology. Over the years, I have cultivated a deep understanding of CRM systems and led numerous projects that have significantly contributed to business growth and efficiency. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? My top challenge in leadership was balancing personal tasks with team development. When entering an unfamiliar area, I needed to build a capable team rather than doing everything myself. This required me to consider the impact of work and set clear expectations with the team. Another challenge that I had initially faced while leading a team that caters to different business stakeholders with varying priorities requires effectively managing these priorities while delivering value. Initially, this posed some challenges, but setting clear expectations with all the stakeholders, keeping them informed, and making decisions collaboratively, I effectively managed these priorities while delivering value. Maintaining transparency with stakeholders and being genuinely invested in solving their problems helped gain their trust and built a long-term relationship with them. A leader usually is always expected to know everything and give the right sense of direction when you are looked upon. I always felt that I needed to know everything for every question, which stressed me out, over the period of time I learned that it is okay to admit when I don’t have an answer at the moment. A major challenge I frequently encounter is bridging communication gaps. Technical teams and non-technical stakeholders often struggle to understand each other's perspectives. To address this, I focus on simplifying complex technical concepts using clear, layman language and ensuring alignment through regular cross-functional meetings. Managing team dynamics and retention is another significant challenge for any leader. Keeping the team motivated and engaged while ensuring high performance can be tough. By recognizing individual strengths and fostering a collaborative environment, I successfully maintain high morale. What motivates you? Building strong teams motivates me, Leading a high performance team and helping individuals grow professionally is incredibly rewarding. It gives immense satisfaction seeing team members succeed and develop their skills. Creating impacts by delivering solutions that not solves the immediate problems but also contribute to long term success and scalability of the organization. I am often excited by the challenge of solving complex problems with innovative solutions. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? There are many people who inspire me, but at the top of the list is, and always will be, my mom. She has been a constant source of motivation and guidance throughout my life. Her unwavering support and strength have shaped me into the person I am today, and I am forever grateful for her presence in my life. I would also mention Maclean Josh who is the Head of Strategy Office, he is known for leading with Empathy, encouraging his teams to innovate fostering a collaborative environment where diverse ideas and creativity flourish. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? To me, leadership is all about inspiring and empowering others to reach their full potential while working towards a common goal. It's about creating a space where everyone feels valued, heard, and motivated to give their best. Leadership isn't about being the boss; it's about supporting and guiding others, helping them tackle their challenges, and celebrating their wins with empathy. Ultimately, leadership is about making a positive and lasting impact on the team and the organization. What would be your advice to young leaders? Always Believe in yourself because there is nobody like you. Embrace Continuous learning because Leadership is not a destination, it is a journey. Lead with Empathy, leadership is all about people. Empathy fosters trust and stronger relationships. Be resilient and adaptable, embrace failure as a learning opportunity and remain adaptable in the face of change. Empower Others because true leaders always lift others up, give opportunities to grow. Keep sight of the bigger picture, align your decisions with long terms goals for yourself and your team. Stay humble, stay open minded and always seek to be a leader that helps to be your best selves.

Insights about Innovation, Digital transformation, IT strategy. Digital platforms, Business strategy and Leadership. Hello. Aim high enough so that you fail. Try hard enough so that you don't. Celebrate even your failures. I dream and I chase dreams. I sometimes win, but most often fail in my pursuits. However, what I enjoy is the journey and pursuit of success. I feel inspired by opportunities to make a positive impact on this world through technology. Know more. About me Know about Swapnil and his journey so far Read more .. Insights Thoughts on strategy, innovation and leadership Read more .. Media Listen to podcats, interviews and video blogs Read more ..

Interesting conversations on the topic of strategy, innovation & leadership with key women leaders Women Leadership Series. Women leadership series - In conversations with Vidya Kulkarni 8 Mar 2025 Vidya is a dedicated technical manager, a former Java developer and excels in application delivery and team support. Transitioning from peer to leader, Vidya's managerial style emphasizes trust, autonomy, and unwavering support during both challenges and triumphs. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Vadivambal P 8 Mar 2025 Vadi leads the SAP Security Team at LTIMindtree. With a career beginning in 2005, Vadi has risen to Senior Director, excelling in SAP installations, upgrades, and security. Known for overcoming challenges, Vadi thrives on innovation and team collaboration. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Padmavathi BK 9 Mar 2025 Padma is a passionate leader and dedicated professional, balancing her roles as a mother and wife with a successful career in operations, guided by values of resilience, mentorship, and a results-driven mindset. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Hinal Shah 8 Mar 2025 Hinal Shah, with over a decade of experience is Director of the Salesforce CRM team at LTIMindtree. She excels in leadership, fostering innovation, and building strong, high-performing teams, making a significant impact on the organization’s success. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Rashmi Siddagangaiah 8 Mar 2025 Rashmi, with over 20 years of experience, specializes in Quality Engineering and excels in developing test strategies, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing Azure DevOps processes, ensuring high standards and continuous improvement. She is a collaborative leader dedicated to fostering a supportive environment. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Vaishali Kulkarni 9 Mar 2025 Vaishali, an IT professional with 26 years of experience, specializes in Project and Program Management. She leads by example, values teamwork, and thrives on new opportunities and learning. Read More Women leadership series - In conversations with Prachi Kotmire 8 Mar 2025 Prachi is an IT leader, specialized in AI-driven digital transformation, and is passionate advocate for democratic leadership, collaboration, empowerment, and growth. Read More Women leadership series - In conversation with Ying Fu 5 Mar 2022 Ying started her career with Thoughtworks and has played roles like Developer, Delivery Lead, Product Owner, Head of Operations and now playing the role of the Program Manager. Read More Women leadership series - In conversation with Sudeepa Ghosh Majumdar 7 Mar 2022 Sudeepa is an amazing photographer, likes to travel, has a great attention to detail and is an extremely hardworking individual. She works as the Techops Head of Finance with Thoughtworks. Read More Women leadership series - In conversation with Kavitha Thyagarajan 5 Mar 2022 Kavitha is Head of Design with Digital Platforms & one of the best in visual design. Read More Women leadership series - In conversation with Jade Daubney 5 Mar 2022 Jade Daubney is a go-getter and the Global Programme Manager with Thoughtworks University Read More Women leadership series - In conversation with Deepthi K 5 Mar 2022 Deepthi completed her MBA, started her career in IT in a pre-sales role, moved on to be Six-sigma consultant before joining Thoughtworks 2.5 yrs ago as a BA and currently playing the role of the Product Owner for the Data platforms team. Read More

Interesting conversations on the topic of strategy, innovation & leadership with key emerging leaders Emerging Leadership Series. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Partha Dash 20 Feb 2023 Partha is a thought leader and a passionate technologist having 14 + years of experience in Networks and Security domain. He is currently playing the role of enterprise network architect with Thoughtworks. For Partha, leadership is like parenting and is based on trust and integrity. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Gyanesh Ojha 16 Feb 2023 Gyanesh started his IT career as a developer more than two decades ago but soon transitioned into the security domain out of curiosity. He is someone who does not like to say "no" and help whoever comes to him with a problem. Gyanesh derives satisfaction on solving problems and feeling of responsibility and trust motivates him. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Junjun Yang (Lily) 14 Feb 2023 Junjun Yang, also called as Lily, is part ofthe Digital Capabilities team with @Thoughtworks IT. She started her career in China in in Digital marketing & communications, before moving to Silicon Valley technology start up as a Marketing director. She is motivated to learn new things, gain new skills and taking on new responsibilities and solve problems. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Gayathri Sribharath 13 Feb 2023 Gayathri is the Global IT-Compliance Lead for /thoughtworks and an auditor with a strong focus on Information Technology audits. Professionally, she loves collaborating and accomplishing big things as a part of a team and her thinks current role in /thoughtworks allows her to do this daily. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Sakthivel Viswanathan 9 Feb 2023 Sakthivel Viswanathan is a Technology Principal with Thoughtworks and co-leads the IDP (Internal Developer Platform) Program. With more than a decade of experience, his strong focus has been to bridge the gap between technology and business objectives and to make the jobs of the business leaders easier. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Abdul Jeelani 1 Feb 2023 Abdul is a passionate techie with good interpersonal skills who understands business and tech equally well. He is of a firm belief that strategy without execution is hallucination. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Sujana Arul Selvi Alaguraj 1 Feb 2023 Sujana is a natural leader. She enjoys helping others learn new things and realise their full potential. She also thinks that's a great way to learn and realize her own potential. Being a mother of two, staying on top of her game has been one of her top challenges with its own highs & lows. Sujana considers Jesus Christ as her role model continues to learn everyday from the way He leads with humility, love and integrity. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Jinjun Huang 30 Jan 2023 Jinjun Huang comes with 14+ years of experience in IT and has been with @thoughtworks since 2018. He joined us as a Tech Lead and then switched to become a Product Manager in 2020. Jinjun looks up to his father in law as a role model. Jinjun has learnt key lessons of responsibility, hardwork, and optimism from him. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Ganesh Kumar Balusamy 28 Jan 2023 Ganesh is a product manager of NEO with @thoughtworks. He considers his 14 yrs daughter as his role model and he proudly acknowledges she inspires him with her dedication, determination, firm decision making, and clarity of thoughts. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Vijayalakshimi Kandasamy 25 Jan 2023 Vijayalakshimi Kandasamy (Viji) comes with 19 years of IT experience and leads one of the most important project within internal IT. Viji is very passionate about solving problems and has a keen interest towards Project and People management. She loves to be close to nature and spend her spare time trying to maintain a small farmland. Read More .. Emerging leadership series - In conversation with Venkatesh V 12 Jan 2023 A strong desire to be a catalyst or a problem solver brings Venkatesh to work everyday. He is at his best when he is connected to people. Read More ..

Vidya is a dedicated technical manager, a former Java developer and excels in application delivery and team support. Transitioning from peer to leader, Vidya's managerial style emphasizes trust, autonomy, and unwavering support during both challenges and triumphs. Women leadership series - In conversations with Vidya Kulkarni 8 Mar 2025 Vidya is a dedicated technical manager, a former Java developer and excels in application delivery and team support. Transitioning from peer to leader, Vidya's managerial style emphasizes trust, autonomy, and unwavering support during both challenges and triumphs. How would you introduce yourself? I am a technical manager dedicated to assisting the team, contributing technically, and overseeing application delivery. Can you share your career journey and when you first took on a leadership role? I started as a Java developer at a renowned Indian IT company and by my fourth year, I was leading the team. I enjoyed contributing individually and mentoring juniors in technical aspects and application development. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? My top challenges were, · Balancing work-life by efficiently managing my day, with support from my family. · Transitioning from a peer to a manager for my tech team at erstwhile Mindtree; I adopted my manager's approach of trusting the team, avoiding micro-management, and ensuring regular follow-ups. · Working with non-technical managers to help them understand and address technical challenges. What motivates you? My interest in technology and enthusiasm for work. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? Yes, my previous managers are my role models: · Prashant Mehra: I adopted his managerial qualities which I mentioned above. · Pooja R: A commanding leader who stays updated with trends and supports her subordinates through challenges. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership entails providing unwavering support to the team during both successful and challenging times, ensuring that the team remains cohesive and motivated. My leadership style involves providing team members with the autonomy to work in their comfort zones, fully trusting their capabilities, and ensuring that discipline is consistently maintained. What would be your advice to young leaders? Avoid micro-managing, share credit for good work, and support the team through both successes and challenges.

Vadi leads the SAP Security Team at LTIMindtree. With a career beginning in 2005, Vadi has risen to Senior Director, excelling in SAP installations, upgrades, and security. Known for overcoming challenges, Vadi thrives on innovation and team collaboration. Women leadership series - In conversations with Vadivambal P 8 Mar 2025 Vadi leads the SAP Security Team at LTIMindtree. With a career beginning in 2005, Vadi has risen to Senior Director, excelling in SAP installations, upgrades, and security. Known for overcoming challenges, Vadi thrives on innovation and team collaboration. How would you introduce yourself? I lead the SAP Security Team at LTIMindtree and feel fortunate to be part of the IT industry, where opportunities are endless. With new technologies constantly emerging, there's always something exciting to explore and innovate! Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? I began my career in 2005, initially working on data collection before migrating it to SAP systems. When my lead transitioned out of the role, I stepped into the position of Basis and Security Consultant, quickly adapting to the ongoing project needs. With guidance from my new manager, I was able to refine my skills and elevate my expertise. Within 3 to 4 years, I had the opportunity to take on a leadership role, overseeing SAP and DB installations, integrations of various SAP systems, and upgrades. Being part of a small, dynamic team, we handled all facets of the project, from implementation and upgrades to support, security tasks, and audits. This holistic involvement allowed me to develop a well-rounded skill set in SAP. Today, as a Senior Director at LTIMindtree, I look back on the long and rewarding journey that has brought me here. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? I was entrusted with the responsibility of executing a complex system upgrade to the latest version, a significant and demanding task. Initially, I had doubts about my readiness, especially without any senior team members present and with the entire ownership of the project on my shoulders. However, the trust my team placed in me helped me push past those fears. I took the time to thoroughly prepare, conducting multiple trials, and with newfound confidence, I embraced the challenge and successfully completed the upgrade. What motivates you? Appreciation and recognition are powerful motivators. Being acknowledged for my contributions inspires me to continue giving my best. I thrive on tackling challenges, collaborating with a team to find innovative solutions, and contributing to something meaningful while witnessing the positive impact of our efforts. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I consider all the leaders I've worked with as role models, as there’s always something valuable to learn from each of them. While the list is long, I’d like to highlight a few names: Sudhir Kumar Reddy , Ajay Mittal , Vijay Anand Gopal , Sathvik , and Maclean Josh . I deeply admire their communication skills, exceptional people management, and their commitment to going above and beyond to support the team. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership is about guiding and inspiring others to achieve a common goal If I were to describe my leadership style, it would be a blend of: Supportive : Offering encouragement, understanding, and guidance to help others grow and succeed. Visionary : Setting clear goals Collaborative : Encouraging teamwork. When people from different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences collaborate, they bring unique ideas and solutions to the table Adaptable : Being flexible and open to change. What would be your advice to young leaders? Leadership qualities naturally emerge when you take ownership of your work. It's essential to build strong relationships and trust within the team, valuing their input when making decisions. Focus on both the team's growth and the deliverables, ensuring tasks are evenly distributed to maintain balance and efficiency

Padma is a passionate leader and dedicated professional, balancing her roles as a mother and wife with a successful career in operations, guided by values of resilience, mentorship, and a results-driven mindset. Women leadership series - In conversations with Padmavathi BK 9 Mar 2025 Padma is a passionate leader and dedicated professional, balancing her roles as a mother and wife with a successful career in operations, guided by values of resilience, mentorship, and a results-driven mindset. How would you introduce yourself? I am a dedicated professional, a wife, and a mother to a preteen boy. Beyond work, I am a passionate trekking enthusiast who finds joy in the mountains and adventure. I firmly believe in living in the present moment and embracing life’s experiences to the fullest Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? My career journey began as an entry-level Accounting Executive at Zee Network. Shortly thereafter, I transitioned into IT by joining Accenture as a Business Operations Analyst. Over an 11-year tenure at Accenture, I advanced from Analyst to Associate Manager, eventually becoming a subject matter expert in business operations. My first leadership role emerged at PwC, where I served as Senior Manager of Operations Excellence—an experience that marked the start of my formal leadership journey. During my time there, I was fortunate to receive invaluable guidance from Ashwin Rao, whose mentorship has been a constant source of inspiration. After a rewarding 1.5 years at PwC, I joined LTIMindtree in 2022. My leadership path took an exciting turn when I became part of the CIO leadership team under the exceptional leadership of Swapnil Deshpande, who believed in me from day one and has played a pivotal role in my continued growth as a leader. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? One of the most challenging moments in my career was returning to the office just four months after maternity leave. As a new mother, leaving my young baby behind was incredibly difficult—especially at a time when work-from-home or hybrid work arrangements were almost unheard of. I often felt overwhelmed, unsure of how to navigate the conflicting demands of work and motherhood.This experience taught me the vital importance of asking for help. I was fortunate to have a compassionate manager, Shubhajit Mukherjee, who recognized my situation and enabled a work-from-home arrangement so I could spend precious time with my little boy. This support not only eased my transition back to work but also underscored the value of a nurturing workplace culture. I firmly believe that asking for help is essential for achieving a healthy work-life balance, a necessity for both personal well-being and professional success. What motivates you? On a lighter note—my bank EMI! But on a more serious note, what truly motivates me is the role I play and the impact I create. The trust my leaders place in me, pushes me to go the extra mile. Knowing that my contributions drive meaningful change keeps me motivated to do more and continuously improve. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? My ultimate role model, and the one person I always look up to, is my elder brother, Dr. Lokesh Krishnamurthy. He has been my greatest mentor, guide, and support system. Beyond him, I have been fortunate to have incredible individuals who continue to inspire me and bring out the best in me, including Ashwin Rao and Saikat Ray. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? To me, leadership is about inspiring, empowering, and making strategic choices that drive both people and business forward. It’s about creating an environment where individuals can grow, contribute, and feel valued while ensuring organizational goals are met with efficiently. I believe in making practical, well-informed decisions that prioritize business outcomes. While emotions are essential in understanding and managing people, I firmly believe that strategic decision-making requires setting them aside when necessary to ensure clarity and objectivity. I believe this balance helps lead with fairness, confidence, and a results-driven mindset What would be your advice to young leaders? Be strong & humble. Take ownership-don’t wait for directions. Ask for help when needed and last but not the least, don’t shy away from making bold decisions!!

Rashmi, with over 20 years of experience, specializes in Quality Engineering and excels in developing test strategies, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing Azure DevOps processes, ensuring high standards and continuous improvement. She is a collaborative leader dedicated to fostering a supportive environment. Women leadership series - In conversations with Rashmi Siddagangaiah 8 Mar 2025 Rashmi, with over 20 years of experience, specializes in Quality Engineering and excels in developing test strategies, leading cross-functional teams, and implementing Azure DevOps processes, ensuring high standards and continuous improvement. She is a collaborative leader dedicated to fostering a supportive environment. How would you introduce yourself? I am an IT professional with over 20 years of experience in Quality Engineering. I develop and implement test strategies that align with business objectives. My approach focuses on achieving high standards through continuous improvement. Balancing work and personal life can be challenging; however, I manage factors within my control. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? My career journey began with a clerical position at a nationalised bank, after which I transitioned into the IT industry as a tester for the banking product Finacle. During my tenure, I had the opportunity to test and certify renowned products such as Finacle, booking.com , eTrade, and numerous applications within the banking, insurance, eCommerce, and CRM sectors. I have gained experience working across various domains and technologies, encompassing different facets of testing. For the past 10 years, I have been leading the Quality Engineering team for Enterprise Applications. In this role, I oversee all aspects of project delivery. I have developed extensive expertise in quality assurance, covering functional, integration, impact analysis, automation, performance, security, usability, and data privacy testing. My responsibilities include managing QA activities for DOTNET applications, SAP, ServiceNow, SuccessFactors, Salesforce, and DW reports. I have spearheaded the definition of Azure DevOps processes and implemented Microsoft ALM tools to ensure automated and secure application delivery, achieving 100% tool-driven traceability from requirements to production deployment. Additionally, I have established the change management process for applications and other portfolios within the Enterprise Systems organisation, driving its adoption through collaboration with cross-functional teams in the IT department. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? I was tasked with implementing the end-to-end SDLC process using Azure DevOps for Enterprise Applications. Coming from a QA background, this was quite a challenge. However, by collaborating with the COE team to understand best practices, receiving guidance from my manager, and working closely with the development and support teams, we successfully achieved 100% traceability on the tool, from requirements all the way to go-live. Process and governance have been an area of interest, and I was allowed to implement the Change Management process across Enterprise systems. This initiative required coordination with multiple teams and achieving consensus within a three-month period. Initially, introducing a change in the workflow and convincing all teams to adopt it was challenging. However, after explaining the benefits and discussing the problems that could be avoided by adhering to the Change Management process, industry-standard procedures of the ServiceNow (SNOW) Change Management module were adopted, defined, and successfully implemented across all teams within the agreed timelines. What motivates you? What drives me is the creation of a nurturing environment where open communication, mutual respect, and the opportunity to witness and contribute to each other's best qualities are paramount. This supportive atmosphere fuels my motivation and inspires me to excel. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I do not have just one role model in life; rather, I admire and adopt various traits from many individuals. My parents have been significant role models for me. My father is exemplary in his ability to think ahead and plan meticulously. My mother has taught me the importance of remaining calm and composed, which helps in assessing options and making the best choices. My previous manager, Pooja Wahi, inspires me with her extensive technical knowledge on any subject, motivating me to explore further. My friend, Chaitra Kashinath, exemplifies excellent leadership skills, encouraging others to achieve more and fostering strong teams. Chitra Iyengar, AVP Training and Development, stands out as a dynamic individual who empowers others through her inspiring words. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? One of my favourite quotes on leadership is from John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. He said: "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." I believe this captures the essence of what leadership means to me: inspiring others to grow and achieve their full potential. I describe myself as a collaborative and participative Leader. What would be your advice to young leaders? I believe that the way you think, act, and treat others defines a leader. Collaborate and gain visibility to strategize effectively; discuss key objectives, identify growth opportunities, cultivate trust, and ensure that everyone is heard, treated fairly, and respected.

Vaishali, an IT professional with 26 years of experience, specializes in Project and Program Management. She leads by example, values teamwork, and thrives on new opportunities and learning. Women leadership series - In conversations with Vaishali Kulkarni 9 Mar 2025 Vaishali, an IT professional with 26 years of experience, specializes in Project and Program Management. She leads by example, values teamwork, and thrives on new opportunities and learning. How would you introduce yourself? Hello. I work as an IT professional, specializing in Project and Program Management. I enjoy focused work and engaging with people in my comfort zone. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? I began my career as a trainee 26 years ago, undertaking various roles such as developer, tester, and analyst in the initial stages. The projects I worked on allowed me to grow into a lead role. After gaining 8 years of experience, I was assigned to manage a group of 10 new employees independently. Within 2 years, the team size increased to 30. This expansion was facilitated by management's confidence in my capability to manage the team. What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? There were challenges faced at each stage. Initially, I was hesitant to engage in open conversations, which resulted in missed opportunities. Another challenge was the lack of guidance in the IT career, as there was no one available to provide reliable advice. This led to some mistakes, but these mistakes provided learning experiences. Reflecting back, it is now clear how certain situations should have been handled more effectively. What motivates you? The availability of new opportunities continues to motivate me. I have the chance to engage in various types of work, conduct experiments, and acquire new knowledge. Collaborating with my team throughout this journey brings me great satisfaction. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? In truth, it is challenging to single out any individual by name here. However, various situations offer substantial lessons. The manner in which one analyses and manages a situation provides significant learning opportunities. I have observed many individuals performing exceptionally well under immense pressure without losing their composure. Additionally, I have witnessed some effectively handling conversations to persuade others. Moreover, I have seen people navigating through critical 'do or die' situations successfully. What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? I have gained valuable insights into effective leadership practices from various individuals. In my view, a leader serves as both a protector and a guide for their team. My preferred leadership style is to lead by example, setting positive precedents that others are inspired to follow. What would be your advice to young leaders? It is acceptable to fail. Use mistakes as learning opportunities. Maintain honesty. Collaborate towards shared objectives. Verify that the approach and methods used are aligned with achieving the target.

Swapnil Deshpande is a global business & technology leader and currently working as a Chief Digital Officer with Thoughtworks About Me. Swapnil is a strategic leader with a strong execution passion. He specializes in building forward looking, strategic & purpose-oriented teams & learning oriented organizations that are high performing and consistently delivering intended outcomes. In his current role at a large IT services organization, Swapnil is driving the Internal IT transformation to help realize the business vision. In his past avatar, he worked with Thoughtworks as a Chief Digital Officer . Swapnil is a global thought leader & a strong business leader who can envision, execute and operationalize the strategy and deliver strategic business outcomes. He is also a Manchester United fan. Recognition & Awards. Cloud Leadership Award 2023 Next Generation IT Leader 2019 Top 50 Technology Leaders in Asia 2022 Top Innovator 2010 Outstanding Leader Award 2022 Special Recognition 2005 Top 50 Business Growth Leaders 2022 Experience. LTIMindtree 2024 - Present Amdocs 2009 - 2011 Thoughtworks 2013 - 2023 Tech Mahindra 2003 - 2009 Start up founder & Entrepreneur 2011 - 2013 Cognizant 2001 - 2003 Academics. Harvard University DCE Advnced business strategy & Innovation strategy Leading through digital disruption 2020 - 2021 National Institute of Technology Computer Science & Engineering 1997 - 2001 Talks. WORKSHOP ON “UNBLOCKING INNOVATION” An experiential learning workshop that helps people to learn how to unblock paths for innovation. ART & SCIENCE OF CAREER & LEADERSHIP The art & science of the career journey and leadership journey. I share my key learnings for leaders. LEADING THROUGH DISRUPTION Disruption is everywhere. How to navigate through increasingly unpredictable world to lead towards success. ENTERPRISE INNOVATION & COLLABORATION How to build enterprise innovation using incubator driven approach & collaborative innovation SUSTAINABLE INNOVATION Building sustainable innovation practices using collaborative innovation. BUILDING FOR DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Sharing my thoughts on how to build performance driven teams that are capable of driving digital transformation for the organisations

Prachi is an IT leader, specialized in AI-driven digital transformation, and is passionate advocate for democratic leadership, collaboration, empowerment, and growth. Women leadership series - In conversations with Prachi Kotmire 8 Mar 2025 Prachi is an IT leader, specialized in AI-driven digital transformation, and is passionate advocate for democratic leadership, collaboration, empowerment, and growth. How would you introduce yourself? A Seasoned IT leader with experience in AI-driven digital transformation, automation, and IT operations; a wonderer and a fitness enthusiast. Can you tell me a bit about your career journey? When did you first get into a leadership role? Initiated corporate journey in 2008 as a techie, in IT security domain with HP group. Followed by service delivery and operations domain @IBM for almost five years. Then took over, Senior Delivery consultant role with DXC technology. Stepped up in leadership role in year 2020 as a customer engagement global lead. Joined Commonwealth Bank of Australia in mid-2021 and shouldered the responsibility of senior manager, Application Management. Stepped up as a Transformation director in Oct’2023 @ LTIMindtree. Had a fantastic career journey so far and looking forward for more! What were the top challenges you faced during your journey and how did you overcome them? The challenges begun post getting into leadership role. Major aspect of leadership is people management, keeping the business requirements on the top priority. Maintaining balance between business and people expectations is crucial. Major challenge I have faced is managing the balance between financial growth expectations of employees and business goals. To deal with it, you must know the major business drivers and doers. For this, closely connect with people is important. Keep in mind, EQ and IQ are equally important. What motivates you? New challenges and exposure to new learnings and domains keep motivating me. Do you have a role model in your life? Can you name a few people who you look up to? I cannot name a specific role model. I do learn from anyone and everyone. Sometimes what I am supposed to do as a leader, and sometimes what I am not supposed to. I follow principles of multiple leaders though like Ratan Tata, Indra Nooyi, Kamala Harris, Sheryl Sandberg, Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and list goes on! What does leadership mean to you? How would you describe your leadership style? Leadership comes with responsibility and accountability of business and people! It’s about taking the risk, collaboration and empowerment! Leadership is not about controlling people and making them follow you. It’s about taking them along in the journey, help them to participate and grow. I describe myself as a democratic leader. What would be your advice to young leaders? Invest in your people, your customers and in yourself. IQ and EQ are equally important!

< Back The path towards technology transformation can be very long, says Swapnil Deshpande, Chief Digital Officer at ThoughtWorks This is an exclusive interview conducted by the Editor Team of CIO News with Swapnil Deshpande, Chief Digital Officer at ThoughtWorks. Technology leaders need to be able to adapt to the constantly changing environment around them, sense the change early, and be ready before the change becomes a problem by responding to the change appropriately How did you plan your career path to be a successful technology leader? Let me break down this question and answer it in two parts. First, “how did I become a technology leader?” and second, “how did I become a successful leader?” For the first part of the question, let me admit that my journey of becoming a technology leader has grown from many small career dreams I had at various stages in my life. My very first career dream as a child was to grow up and be a teacher. Being the son of two teachers, I have always had a great admiration for teachers, their knowledge and wisdom, and their ability to impart knowledge and build the characters of hundreds of students. Growing up further, when I was in my pre-teens, I developed a passion for reading, and I would spend hours and hours reading various kinds of books and novels. Reading would not only broaden my knowledge and understanding of various subjects, but it would also foster a deep respect for the authors’ creativity and story-telling abilities, and their fantastic ability to take readers on a journey through their stories was something I was eager to learn. So, my second career dream was to become an author or storyteller. Later in my early teens, I got introduced to computers, and it unlocked a completely different world for me. I was fascinated by the abilities of computers and the possibilities they could unlock for the world. Computers allowed me to be creative, abstract, and structured at the same time, and I knew that this is what I wanted to pursue for the rest of my life. So, my next career dream was to make a career in computers and technology. Thankfully, I stuck to that for the rest of my life. After completing a formal professional education from NIT Allahabad as a Computer Science and Engineering student, I had work tenures with Cognizant, Tech Mahindra, and Amdocs before taking the plunge to be an entrepreneur and setting up two start-ups. My most valuable lessons about the corporate world came during my days as an entrepreneur. Now, I have almost 10 years of working experience with Thoughtworks. For the second part of the question, I do not know if I am successful or not. The definition of success is different for different people, so I cannot say generally whether my career is successful or not; I will leave that to others to decide if they think of me as successful or not. For me, “career” is a long-term and evolving part of life. A successful career includes great learning as well as using that learning to help build a positive impact on others. For the first part (my professional life), I believe I have had a reasonable amount of success because I have had numerous opportunities to continue my learning over the course of my two decades of experience. For the second one, I would leave it to the people who work with me to tell if I have been successful in delivering a positive impact on their life and helping them grow. What challenges you faced in your career path and how did you overcome them? I have a comprehension issue with the word “challenge.” I find it difficult to treat a specific situation as a challenge; I would rather think of it as an “opportunity” to make an impact or make life better for someone. A couple of examples I can give are: some people think of the “rapidly changing technology landscape” as a challenge; I think of it as an opportunity to continuously learn and expand the horizon. Another example could be the “constrained financial situation of companies and departments” post-COVID, which may be a challenge to deliver impact, but I think of that as an opportunity to “innovate” the business models. Looking at any situation as a challenge makes your brain think of it as a problem to be solved or mitigated and responds like that, possibly in a constrained way where the focus is to avoid loss or issues or risks. However, looking at the same situation as an opportunity makes you think across the horizon to find the best solutions, innovative solutions, and sometimes those that do not exist today. The emphasis then shifts to value maximisation and impact maximisation rather than risk or loss avoidance. Having said that, the real challenge comes when you deal with people and their emotions at work. Understanding human nature and behaviour is indeed challenging, yet an important aspect of leadership. I am pretty sure I have made mistakes in my leadership career; however, it remains a journey of continuous learning. What are the challenges faced by technology leaders today while implementing digital technologies? Continuing from the previous theme, rather than outlining the challenges that are likely to be faced by the technology leaders, I would like to outline the situations that the technology leaders are likely to face and in which they will play an important role in steering the organisation forward. Technology leaders will face increasing pressures from managing and navigating industry and business model disruptions. They are not only expected to react to disruptions, but also to anticipate and prepare for them in many cases. Markets are evolving fast, and the technology landscape is evolving even faster, so navigating this will be a big thing on the minds of the leaders. On the other side, this presents a wonderful opportunity to disrupt yourself and get ahead of the competition. Aside from the topic of disruptions, technology leaders will increasingly face constraints on the investment dollars at their disposal. In the post-pandemic, recession-hit world, investments in building new technology or in the use of new technology are getting harder scrutiny. The technology leaders will need to learn how to manage experiments, innovations, and using new technology for generating tangible value without touching their mainstream businesses (that earn money). The third and perhaps equally important conundrum that the technology leaders will face is to manage the timing of their key investment decisions. When should I invest in developing or deploying technology for commercial purposes? Should we buy technology or build it ourselves? The right decision always lies somewhere in between “opportunity cost” and “cost of missed opportunity.” If you invest too early, you may not get the right value (because the use cases have not matured), while if you invest too late, you may have missed out entirely. Technology leaders will need to always balance their decisions between these two poles. How can technology leaders overcome the challenges faced? While technology is important, the people and leaders of the organisations that drive tech initiatives and business transformation play a larger role. For an effective outcome, they need to have the right mindset and be “transformation ready.” I would advise the technology leaders to focus on the following key aspects for preparing themselves and their teams to respond better to challenges and unpredictable situations: How to think? The technology leaders need to see possibilities and opportunities beyond the current problems and situations they are encountering on a day-to-day basis. Being buried in today’s problems does not help people have the right mindset to imagine a better future. How to act? Because things can get unpredictable along the way and decisions could go wrong along the way, it is important for the leaders to be tolerant of an environment that seems ambiguous and often contains risks. Since the path for each company is unique and unexplored, the teams and leaders need to show a high level of resilience in the face of constant change and constant ambiguity along the way. How to react? The path towards technology transformation can be very long, bumpy, and full of unexpected surprises and blockers along the way. Leadership changes, organisational direction changes, business model changes, organisational politics, shifting powers between teams, and the ability to influence are some of the key reasons why the path can be bumpy. The technology leaders need to be able to adapt to the constantly changing environment around them, sense the change early, and be ready before the change becomes a problem by responding to the change appropriately. Any best practices, industry trends, or advice you’d give to fellow technology leaders to help them succeed professionally? Technology is transient and ever-changing, while the business value paradigm is permanent. While some businesses develop new technologies, the vast majority of businesses use technology to deliver business value. I would strongly advise the technology leaders to take a keen interest in understanding the business model of the organisation and the associated nuances. Knowing how the company runs and generates profit or grows is very important knowledge that the technology leaders should possess. Keep your curiosity quotient high. Go back to the fundamentals and apply first-principles thinking to bring more innovation and impact to your business. Do not be satisfied with the status quo and challenge it continuously. Finally, taking inspiration from the most successful football teams, another message I would like to give to the technology leaders is to forget about the past achievements and successes and focus on delivering future value. What you did in the past is over and should be forgotten as soon as possible, and your focus should be on the next target. A technologist’s true joy comes from the journey of learning and creating value. Any other points that you would like to highlight? Some tips that have helped me along the way are: Try not to overinvest emotionally at work. Invest in people, not work or products. Your career and journey are much larger than the project or team you are currently on. So, invest in long-term relationships and help each other grow. Have a passion (or a hobby) outside of work that you are willing to burn your nights for. For me, watching Manchester United play football is one such passion. I tell my team not to be surprised if they see me responding to some chat messages or emails at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. India time. It’s possible I might have been awake watching football. Take time off. Do not just book time off to fight stress and refresh your mind; take time off to experience new things too. Take care of your physical and mental well-being. The pandemic has taught us how important it is to take care of mental health. Take it seriously and take good care of it. Previous Next