IDC announced the India winners of the Future Enterprise Awards (FEA) 2022 recognizing 19 enterprises for their exceptional digital innovations. Spice Money Limited’s Varundeep Kaur, KEC international, RPG Group’s Nilesh Panchal, and CK Birla Hospitals’ Mitali Biswas have won in the CIO/CDO of the Year category for their exemplary leadership.
“Indian Enterprises did a stellar job in digitally transforming their business during the pandemic and driving the economy forward into a digital-first era. IDC is pleased to recognize Organizations that conceptualized and implemented projects that delivered value to customers and consumers, across different award categories,” says Vasant Rao, Managing Director, IDC India & South Asia.
Now in its sixth year, the Future Enterprise Awards continues to celebrate the tech-enabled resilience of enterprises as they navigate through the challenges and disruptions in a fast-paced and increasingly digital world. Union Bank of India, Grasim Industries Limited, and Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. are named winners in the Future Enterprise of the Year category.
“Indian enterprises are in forefront of digital adoption contributing to making the vision of ‘Digital India’ a reality. According to IDC, India’s spending on digital technologies is expected to reach $69 billion by 2025 and would constitute almost 70% of the enterprise IT spending happening in India. We are delighted to see the digital journey of Indian enterprises with the mission of both passion for innovation and the ability to adapt those innovations rapidly to deliver business outcomes,” says Sharath Srinivasamurthy, Associate Vice President, Enterprise Solutions & ICT Practices, IDC India.
These organizations asserted their leadership in a digital-first world, distinguishing themselves from 1,071 entries received from 707 unique end-user organizations across Asia/Pacific. They were chosen as a cut above the rest in India after displaying exceptional planning and implementation of DX initiatives according to IDC’s Future Enterprise benchmark categories, as shown in the recap below:
Project Global SASE by Birla Carbon | Best in Future of Connectedness:
The organization’s DX strategy focuses on five areas – Digital Business, Digital Experiences, Digital Capabilities, Digital Talent, and Digital Security. Designed to create new customer experiences, improve operational efficiencies, generate new revenue streams, and give rapid responses to changing business conditions. Birla Carbon relooked at the network architecture, deeming it necessary to adopt cloud infrastructure. The project improves the availability of network connectivity, increasing business transactions and reducing costs using global MPLS links. Birla Carbon has observed a drastic improvement in application performance levels. This has derived value for their customers in terms of performance and cost.
Digital Workspace on Cloud (eOffice Suite) by RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. | Best in Future of Connectedness:
RailTel began its digital transformation journey by adopting an eFile system to improve efficiency, transparency, productivity, and accountability in its office. The service was delivered through RailNet – built on the company’s cloud and MPLS infrastructure. To ensure that employees could work remotely during COVID-19, RailTel adopted VPN and firewalls to tighten its cyber security. The implementation of their Digital Workspace application helped to improve the velocity of decision-making and increased business resiliency and reliability. The application also resulted in a significant reduction in workflow cycle time from weeks to hours, enhancing employee productivity by an estimated 40%, and reducing carbon footprint by ceasing the use of manual paperwork.
DigiSure –Making Life Insurance Simple to Buy & Maintain by Bharti AXA Life Insurance Co. Ltd. | Best in Future of Customer Experience:
Providing excellent user experience and increasing sales prompted Bharti AXA Life Insurance to redesign its corporate website. Outdated technology, inconsistent user experience, and poor SEO were key issues, as well, needing resolution. The redesigned website provides a smarter user experience and a responsive asset to optimize SEO. Its technology stack was improved with a CMS and unified M-smart applications. The key principles embedded in each section of the website are: Be Bold; Be Simple; and Be Smart. The new website has helped achieve new milestones in setting new industry benchmarks — launching “first in the industry” innovative ideas and contributing immensely to the business revenue increase.
Customer Experience (CX) Transformation by Polycab India Limited | Best in Future of Customer Experience:
Polycab’s CX transformation project made possible the cultural shift from manual, follow-up-driven, excel-driven, owner-built organizations to digital, paperless, seamlessly automated, and mobility-based processes. Identifying key business challenges for internal & external stakeholders, Polycab reframed the customer experience, readying the organization for next-generation disruptive technologies (AI, machine learning, and predictive analysis), and met business velocity with resilient infrastructure. Creating a single-window digital platform helped Polycab improve stakeholders’ experience across the organization.
Smart Cloud Infrastructure & Associated Technology Operations by Bharti AXA Life Insurance | Best in Future of Digital Infrastructure:
Digital infrastructure is at the core of Bharti AXA’s Digital transformation roadmap, with the goal to have a smart cloud infrastructure and associated technology operations that underpin the creation of digital experiences. Bharti AXA intends to move the entire landscape to the cloud by building a self-managing, self-healing, and self-optimizing system of applications. Cloud-native technology and autonomous operations of infrastructure such as a Code, DevOps, and AIOps are at the center of the digital infrastructure strategy. With data on a remote server off-site, the system removes the communication limitations of traditional IT models and makes it much quicker and easier for employees working in different locations to access information and collaborate.
Digitalization from Application to Disbursement by The Karur Vysya Bank (KVB) Limited | Best in Future of Digital Infrastructure:
At every step, from application to disbursement, KVB has disrupted its operations by investing in digital infrastructure that provides its customers with a hassle-free experience. Some of the capabilities include digital application, automated customer screening, data-driven credit assessment, digital documentation, and human touch-free asset disbursement. For its retail asset products, SME Loans, and other transactions, KVB implemented a paperless solution. Automating total branch operations using robotic process automation (RPA) ensured branch-level ease of operation and quick TAT for customer service request processing at the branch.
Application Modernization with Mahindra Platform as a Service (M-PaaS) by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. | Best in Future of Digital Innovation:
Mahindra & Mahindra has adopted a 6-point approach in its digital innovation strategy and implemented the m-PaaS platform. This included containerized application, the virtualized cloud-ready platform for deploying applications in minutes, and everything is part of the code, a single gateway with documentation for API management, microservices-based structure for most of the user-facing applications for no-downtime deployments & faster future-ready developments, new edge features like chaos engineering and canary testing, and the platform for auto-provision of infrastructure and RBAC for developers. With new technology, Mahindra has witnessed a reduction in application development time by 30%.
Automation of ALM for Overseas Operations of SBI by State Bank of India | Best in Future of Digital Innovation:
The project’s goal is to guarantee effective management of liquidity risk and interest rate risk for banks’ international operations. In this project, data from various source systems in various currencies distributed across different time zones is sourced through a single application to produce a unified output in a designated structured format. Before the project implementation, the process was confined to the desktop with basic calculations using an excel sheet. With the implementation of the project complete system is automated with capabilities to conduct granular level calculations daily for each 22 Foreign Offices and 15 currencies.
“Project Gati” Distributor Management System by Merino Industries Ltd.| Best in Future of Industry Ecosystems:
Project Gati – Distributor Management System (DMS) is used to monitor Merino’s performance and efficiency in the distribution sector. DMS’ primary objective is to strengthen the supply chain between Merino and its distributors by aligning retail activities, trade promotions, inventory, invoicing, claims, competitive insights, and more.
Next Best Action for Retail Mutual Fund Investors by IDFC Asset Management Company Limited | Best in Future of Intelligence:
As IDFC AMC aims to focus on powering the next-best action for investors and distributors, their goal is to provide personalized marketing interventions with the right information for their investments or business needs. This is done by streamlining their marketing activities to a personalized approach – enabling them to better understand the behavior, preferences, and needs of investors. AMC has set up the predictive modeling platform to better understand the client using a state-of-the-art and deep learning-powered product called ‘Customer Genomics’ that predicts the next best action at the client level. This information is used to better understand clients’ needs, and help in engaging them at the right time, with the right product, on the platform of their choice, and in the language best understood by them.
Recommendation Engine/Next Best Product by State Bank of India | Best in Future of Intelligence:
SBI’s staff has been empowered via the state-of-the-art “Recommendation Engine” which acts as a virtual financial advisor for its customers. Based on cutting-edge ML techniques the Engine recommends products best suited for individual customers. With the system’s integration into the SBI’s CRM system, it offers staff a 360° view of a customer’s relationship with the bank – from the past, present, and future. The product uses an advanced collaborative filtering technique to predict customer preference for banking products. The ‘Recommendation Engine’ has helped the SBI to meet its revenue KPIs.
Contactless Pre-Policy Process by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. | Best in Future of Operations:
Bajaj Allianz GIC has been able to converge end-to-end digitization process strategy with smart, seamless, and swift execution to instantly conclude the issuance owing to digitized IoT-based medical check-up process at the customer’s doorstep. It’s aided the business transition from an antiquated pre-issuance medical examination process to an inventive, IoT-based, AI & ML integrated data transmission process that produces reliable results. With the end-to-end integration of apps, portals, and CORE Policy Administration System – with the mobile apps and portals of three TPAs and more than 3500 diagnostic centers – the process is entirely paperless.
IRIS – Digital Nerve Centre by Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) | Best in Future of Operations:
BPCL has undertaken a digital transformation christened Project Anubhav, driven by analytics based on AI and ML technologies, under which the company has launched IRIS, the Digital Nerve Centre (Command and Control Center). IRIS consistently tracks performance on key parameters – ensuring delivery of the right quality and quantity of product at the right price – to reinforce customer trust along with enhancing customer experience through faster and safer fueling. By embedding intelligence in BPCL’s operations to reimagine how the firm delivers to customers, IRIS is helping BPCL optimize its operational performance and efficiency, enhance security and safety, and deliver a superior experience to its customers.
Data Lab and Self-Service BI by State Bank of India | Best in Future of Operations:
The Business Intelligence Department (BID) of SBI is fulfilling the MIS requirements of the bank through dashboards, reports, and ad-hoc data requests. Each month, BID receives approximately 1000 requests from various Corporate Centre/IT Departments and Operating Units for ad-hoc data requirements. To empower the users and to make them self-reliant for their day-to-day data requirements, the bank has developed a Self-Service BI portal. The portal caters to most of the data requirements of BUs/ Operating Units as and when required. Data in Self-service Portal and ad-hoc reports are provided in the most detailed form. Therefore, it is now necessary for adequate security controls to eliminate any unauthorized access and circulation of data. To address this, the bank has envisioned a specific architecture named “Data Lab” to provide secured and restricted access to various users.
One More Step Towards Zero Trust by Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC Ltd. | Best in Future of Trust:
The path to Zero Trust cannot be taken by a single solution, it is a framework that must be adhered to at every stage of the implementation of any solution or application. Since the emphasis is on implementing technologies that will add an additional layer of security – by shielding organization resources from malicious actors – regulation among employees is often overlooked. Due to malicious actors’ intentional compromise of employees, most attacks succeed. To have a comprehensive understanding and control, security solutions should be integrated with one another. Currently, all enterprise organizations have a security solution for perimeter security such as Firewall, EDR, PAM, and 2FA; application security solutions such as VA/CA; and PT, FRM, and DRM for Data Protection.
Project Anveshak by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. | Best in Future of Trust:
BAGIC’s Project Anveshak encompasses a series of initiatives for the proactive identification of potential triggers and capturing evidence of anomalies to facilitate timely interventions. Project Anveshak is aimed to increase the efficiency of the investigator, reduce investigation time, and provide better investigation insights to BAGIC. It is a cloud-borne platform designed for the Investigation and Loss Mitigation (ILM) team that effectively brings all users and functionalities under one umbrella. This has improved operational efficiency, reduced the cost of claims, enhanced the customer claim experience, and scaled performance by 15%. It has also deployed Machine Learning to perform tasks such as predictions and detections, achieving a 45% success rate.
Project Economy by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. | Best in Future of Work:
BAGIC’s Project Economy is an intervention where cross-functional teams come together to work on a live business project and get recognized and rewarded based on the business outcome. Built on experiential learning and a cross-functional collaboration framework, Project Economy enables employees to try out new roles and skills within the organization while carrying out their regular job. The program helps unearth and fuel the right skills in the right projects to meet defined organizational objectives.
Project Anubhav: Reimagining Digital Workplace Experience by Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd | Best in Future of Work:
Improving employee engagement, Project Anubhav facilitates easier access to digital resources, streamlines workdays, and personifies employees’ digital roles. With it, M&M has created an employee portal with multiple features that provides a mobile-friendly UI for unified and personalized approval and task center; alerts and notifications manager, single access for compensation and reimbursement; genie digital support assistant for admin-related query resolution; and three-layer modernized and containerized cloud architecture with 100% high availability.
Mitali Biswas of CK Birla Hospitals | CIO of the Year:
The mission of CK Birla Hospitals is to provide quality healthcare for all supported by the latest technologies and modern infrastructure. Mitali Biswas worked to shift from the traditional model of a patient traveling to the hospital to a model where the hospital extended beyond its boundaries to provide patient care. Mitali Biswas has led the Digital Transformation Roadmap based on the changing needs of the patient, the industry, and the compliance requirements. The organization is strengthening its infrastructure and security backbone to deliver the business requirements in an agile mode with flexibility and scalability, moved to the cloud, complying with all regulatory and security requirements, and digitizing processes to work towards becoming a paperless hospital.
Nilesh Panchal of KEC International, RPG Group | CDO of the Year:
Nilesh Panchal’s strong background in technology and excellent business acumen helped create the organization’s digital strategy with immediate, short-term, and long-term strategies in line with its growth plan. He led the development of scalable platforms tailored to KEC business internally and with partners leveraging digital technologies (AI, Analytics, IoT, and AR/VR) and implemented Digital at Scale. Some of these digital platforms are being patented and have given direct benefits: reduced costs by 2-5%; productivity increase across projects by 15-20%; decreased quality defects; and reduced safety issues. Adopting a start-up mentality, platforms are created that can be monetized in the future.
Varundeep Kaur of Spice Money Limited | CIO of the Year:
Varundeep Kaur has led Spice Money in their digital transformation journey to increase automation and efficiency – using RPA, OCR, CDC (Change Data Capture), microservices, configuration tools, and more. She also led the innovative capacity planning and movement to low-cost models of infrastructure management and a security project to implement new technologies to improve platform stability and security. With new technical architecture alignment ensuring high availability, low latency, agility, security, and business continuity, Spice Money was able to optimize business processes and take on a data-first approach bringing a reduction in errors by 15%, elevating customer experience via improvement in TAT, reduced pain areas, and improved employee experience by reducing manual work.
Digital Customer Servicing by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd.| Special Award for Digital Resiliency:
BAGIC launched the Digital Care program, an end-to-end digital platform for virtual customer services, comprising of the Caringly Yours app (one-stop solution), BOING (AI chatbot on WhatsApp), BAGICARE (CRM), and 24/7 digital communication platform. In the face of the pandemic, the Digital Care program expressed empathy towards their anxious customers and genuinely addressed all the customers’ needs & worries. Additionally, in a move towards a complete core transformation, they launched ‘Digi Swasth’, an end-to-end integration with third-party administrators for pre-medical checkups, and ‘Saksham’ aimed at automating the Mediclaim enrollment and allotment of health ecards. BAGIC took digital policy issuance a step ahead and moved digital issuance to almost 95%.
Digital Transformation in Higher Education by REVA University | Special Award for Digital Resiliency:
The University has been a frontrunner in adopting digital transformation, with its digital journey beginning in the Year 2016. As COVID-19 progressed, so did the management’s plan to increase the agility, redundancy, and resilience of REVA’s digital infrastructure. This includes improving their user experience, advancing their teaching methodology, fostering digital classrooms, creating digital notice boards, and automating the onboarding and offboarding process of the students. REVA’s cloud infrastructure optimization helped to save 70% of the costs. They have been able to adopt native cloud technology in the face of the pandemic and helped the institution strengthen its digital resiliency.
Gram UJALA by EESL and Convergence Energy Services Ltd | Special Award for Sustainability:
Gram UJALA is a flagship program of CESL, that included the distribution of Energy-efficient 7-watt and 13-watt LED bulbs at a nominal service fee of INR 10 to replace incandescent bulbs of 60W and 100W in rural areas. Convergence is leveraging the international carbon markets to discount energy-saving appliances, making them affordable for rural consumers. As part of the efforts to enhance awareness among the people in rural areas on energy efficiency and conservation and provide high-quality lighting, the project aims to distribute ten million or one crore bulbs within one year.
Forefront of Customer Centricity and Innovation by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd. | Future Enterprise of the Year:
BAGIC has been at the forefront of customer centricity and innovation – and is one of the few general insurers in the world that has moved their operations completely to the cloud. This clearly articulates their foresightedness towards the future as they have transitioned their distribution to be completely digitally facilitated. With their various digital initiatives, they are catering to their customers and employees, BAGIC continues to align their digital strategy with the changing market trends.
Pulp and Fibre – Digital Journey by Grasim Industries Limited | Future Enterprise of the Year:
Grasim developed a roadmap to re-imagine its supply chain operations and marketing with scalable IT infrastructure. The company initiated a digital ambassador program that nominated non-IT stakeholders to provide insights on key pain points in their areas of operations and jointly work with the IT and Digital team to address them. Through the adoption of AI, blockchain-based traceability, RPA, and other technologies, Grasim has observed more than 50 million in cost savings per unit and a 30% increase in productivity. Grasim plans to continue its journey – with a focus on piloting new digital interventions such as vision analytics, and data science for quality improvement, customer engagement, safety & sustainability across the business value chain.
Becoming the Bank of First Choice by Union Bank of India | Future Enterprise of the Year:
Union Bank started its digital journey in the last decade and created a separate vertical for digital transformation under Union Sambhav – to strengthen the bank’s digital footprint in the BFSI space – with an aspiration to create a Digital Bank by leveraging the strengths of the recently amalgamated entity. Bank has envisioned the potential of open banking with fintech as partners and has leveraged the benefits of APIs. Bank’s digital transformation includes exploring innovative solutions and new emerging technologies such as ML, 5G, Blockchain, and more. Union Bank will continue to invest in its digital transformation initiatives with the aim of ensuring the best customer-centric service, enhanced operational efficiency, and reduced turnaround time.
IDC’s Future Enterprise Awards follows a two-phased approach to determine the country and regional winners. Each nomination is evaluated by IDC’s country and regional analysts against a standard assessment framework based on IDC’s Future Enterprise taxonomy. Top country winners qualify for the regional competition to be decided by a panel of judges comprised of IDC analysts, industry practitioners, thought leaders, and academia around the globe.
The top 2022 Future Enterprise Awards India winners competed at the regional finals happened at the highly anticipated IDC Asia/Pacific DX Summit and Future Enterprise Awards 2022 on October 26, 2022. To view the recap of the annual regional DX Summit on IDC Arena, click HERE.
