Praveen Kumar Talks About Technology, Upskilling & Assisted Automation || GCC Conclave 2019

Summary

In this insightful discussion, Praveen Kumar, Co-CEO of Barclays Global Service Centre in India, sheds light on the company's evolution in India over a decade. He highlights Barclays' focus on leveraging technology for cost efficiency and revenue generation, emphasizing the importance of digital and analytical capabilities for customer engagement. The conversation delves into the future of automation, with a particular emphasis on AI and machine learning, and the challenges and opportunities in nurturing a skilled talent pipeline to maintain a competitive edge in the global market.

Takeaways

• 🏦 Barclays has a significant presence in India with a focus on operations, technology, risk, and finance functions.
• 🌟 The company is pivoting towards externally focused strategies to open up revenue opportunities and reduce costs.
• 🔧 Barclays is building deeper expertise and capabilities to simplify operations and create platform-based, industrialized services for efficiency.
• 💡 Investment in innovation, particularly digital and analytical capabilities, is key to enhancing customer insights and engagement.
• 📈 The adoption of emerging technologies is crucial for Barclays to stay competitive and provide a seamless, always-on customer experience.
• 🛠️ Barclays' Global Service Centre in India is central to the bank's technological transformation, focusing on agile development and frequent updates.
• 🏆 The mobile application developed by Barclays has received high praise and awards, showcasing the impact of the digital team in India.
• 🔄 The shift from monolithic releases to more frequent updates reflects a change in how Barclays delivers technology to its customers.
• 🤖 The future of automation at Barclays involves assisted automation through machine learning and AI, which will aid in decision-making processes.
• 🧠 The talent pipeline in India is being nurtured through continuous learning, upskilling, and fostering a T-shaped skill set for employees.
• 🌐 Barclays emphasizes the importance of top talent and expertise over the number of employees, focusing on the value and skills brought to the table.

Q & A

What is the significance of Barclays' presence in India for over a decade?

Barclays has been in India for more than a decade, establishing a significant scale in core capabilities around operations, technology, risk, and finance functions. This presence has allowed the company to build deeper expertise and capabilities, contributing to revenue generation and cost reduction.

How has Barclays pivoted its operations in India over time?

Barclays has pivoted from a traditional operational focus to thinking 'outside in' for the bank, focusing on how to help the bank open up revenue streams and drive costs down through simplification and creating platform-based industrialized services.

What role does Barclays Global Service Centre in India play in cost reduction?

The Global Service Centre in India plays a crucial role in cost reduction by leveraging its scale to drive simplification and efficiency, which in turn helps to create an impact on the cost side for Barclays.

How is Barclays investing in innovation to better connect with customers?

Barclays is investing in digital and analytical capabilities to provide stronger customer insights and improve customer engagement. This includes developing stronger capabilities in emerging technologies to enhance the customer experience.

What is the current landscape of technology absorption in the banking industry, according to Barclays?

The banking industry, including Barclays, is focusing on delivering technology faster and in a more bite-sized manner, moving from monolithic annual or semi-annual releases to more frequent updates that customers can interact with.

How is Barclays adapting to the shift towards always-on technology in the enterprise?

Barclays is adapting by changing the way it delivers technology to be faster and more aligned with consumer expectations for always-on, seamless updates and frictionless experiences.

What specific functionalities has the digital team at Barclays developed that have been recognized?

The digital team at Barclays has developed functionalities for their mobile application, which has been rated as a five-star application and has won an award for its excellence.

How does the agile team organization contribute to the development of digital journeys at Barclays?

The agile team organization allows for end-to-end functionalities to be delivered by feature teams, which are part of a common backlog and work towards delivering features into production for the customer.

What is the future of automation in the banking sector according to Praveen Kumar?

The future of automation in the banking sector is in the assisted automation space, where machine learning and AI technologies are leveraged to make assisted decisions, with the potential for models to become more sophisticated over time.

What are the challenges and opportunities in the talent pipeline for Barclays Global Service Centre in India?

The challenges include the need for continuous learning and upskilling to keep pace with technological advancements. Opportunities lie in investing in t-shaped thinking, where individuals have deep expertise and a broad understanding of the ecosystem, and creating a learning environment that fosters innovation.

How is Barclays addressing the need for upskilling its workforce in India?

Barclays is addressing the need for upskilling by investing significantly in continuous learning, creating a learning environment, and organizing hackathons to gamify and accelerate learning opportunities for its employees.

Outlines

00:00

🏦 Barclays' Global Presence and Services in India

The script introduces the significant presence of global banking and financial services firms in India, specifically highlighting Barclays' operations. Praveen Kumar, co-CEO of Barclays Global Service Centre in India, discusses the company's evolution in the country over more than a decade. He emphasizes Barclays' focus on leveraging its scale to drive efficiency and reduce costs through simplification and industrialized services. The conversation also touches on the importance of innovation, particularly in digital and analytical capabilities, to better connect with customers and enhance the banking experience. Kumar also addresses the integration of emerging technologies to stay competitive and the challenges of managing legacy infrastructure within a highly regulated environment.

05:00

🛠️ Barclays' Digital Innovation and Agile Development

This paragraph delves into Barclays' digital innovation, particularly the development of its mobile application, which has received high ratings and awards. The script describes how agile teams in India are responsible for end-to-end functionalities on both iOS and Android platforms. It outlines the collaborative model between teams in India and the UK, working from a common backlog to deliver new features to customers. The discussion also ventures into the future of automation, with a focus on assisted automation through machine learning and AI, which are beginning to influence decision-making processes. The paragraph concludes with insights on the talent pipeline, emphasizing continuous learning and upskilling to maintain a competitive edge in a global market where services could potentially be replicated elsewhere.

Keywords

💡Banking and Financial Services

Banking and financial services refer to the industry that provides various financial products and services to individuals, businesses, and governments. In the context of the video, it highlights the presence of large global companies in India, emphasizing their role in delivering services and contributing to the economy. The script mentions Barclays as an example, which has a significant scale in India, focusing on operations, technology, and finance functions.

💡Global Captive Center

A Global Captive Center (GCC) is a subsidiary or division of a multinational corporation that provides specific services to its parent company and possibly other group companies. In the script, Barclays has a GCC in India, which has been instrumental in driving the company's operations and technological advancements, showcasing the importance of these centers in today's global business landscape.

💡Scale

In business, 'scale' refers to the size and capacity of an operation. The script discusses Barclays' scale in India, indicating the large number of employees and the extensive range of services provided. Scale is important for driving efficiency and reducing costs, as mentioned by Praveen Kumar, by leveraging the size of operations to simplify processes and create platform-based services.

💡Innovation

Innovation is the process of translating an idea or invention into a good or service that creates value or for which customers will pay. The script emphasizes Barclays' focus on innovation, particularly in digital and analytical capabilities, to better connect with customers and provide insights. This is crucial for the bank's competitiveness and for enhancing the customer experience.

💡Digital Capabilities

Digital capabilities refer to the skills, technologies, and processes that enable an organization to operate and deliver services in a digital environment. The video script mentions Barclays investing in stronger digital capabilities to improve customer engagement and interface, which is evident in their mobile application development, contributing to a five-star rating and an award.

💡Agile Teams

Agile teams are self-organizing, cross-functional groups that work on projects using the Agile methodology, which emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and rapid, iterative progress. The script describes how Barclays organizes its digital teams into agile teams to develop digital journeys and deliver end-to-end functionalities, illustrating the application of Agile practices in the banking industry.

💡Legacy Infrastructure

Legacy infrastructure refers to older technology systems that are still in use but may be outdated compared to current standards. The script discusses the challenge of Barclays having a lot of legacy infrastructure while trying to deliver modern, always-on technology to its customers, highlighting the need to modernize without compromising security and regulatory compliance.

💡Assisted Automation

Assisted automation involves the use of technology, such as machine learning and AI, to support human decision-making processes rather than fully replacing them. The script predicts that Barclays and the industry are moving towards an era of assisted automation, where technology aids in making decisions but still requires human oversight, particularly in areas like lending and credit.

💡Machine Learning and AI

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are fields of computer science that deal with creating algorithms and models that can learn from and make decisions based on data. The script discusses the importance of leveraging these technologies in Barclays' operations to drive efficiency and improve decision-making processes, indicating a future where models become more sophisticated and integral to business operations.

💡T-shaped Thinking

T-shaped thinking is a concept that encourages individuals to have deep expertise in one area (the vertical bar of the 'T') while also possessing a broad understanding of other areas (the horizontal bar of the 'T'). The script mentions this concept as a guiding principle for Barclays in upskilling its employees, emphasizing the importance of both depth of knowledge and breadth of understanding in the modern workplace.

💡Upskilling

Upskilling refers to the process of enhancing an individual's skills, often to meet new job requirements or industry standards. The script discusses Barclays' investment in upskilling its employees, particularly in areas like agile methodologies, toolchains, and cloud migration, to ensure the workforce is equipped with the latest domain and technical expertise.

Highlights

Barclays has a significant global presence in India with a focus on operations, technology, and finance functions.

The company is pivoting towards external thinking to help the bank open up revenue streams and reduce costs.

Barclays is leveraging scale through simplification to drive efficiency and impact on the cost side.

Investment in innovation is key, with a focus on digital and analytical capabilities for stronger customer insights.

The adoption of emerging technologies is critical for Barclays to stay competitive in the financial industry.

GCCs (Global Capability Centers) play a crucial role in delivering technology faster and more efficiently.

Barclays is moving towards a more agile release cycle, with updates every two weeks for customer-facing features.

The digital team in India is responsible for developing and delivering functionalities for Barclays' mobile application.

Agile teams in India and the UK work on a common backlog to deliver features to production.

The future of automation is in assisted decision-making through machine learning and AI technologies.

Assisted automation will make initial decisions, with humans reviewing and finalizing them.

Robotics process automation is a simpler technology with short-term benefits but less long-term impact compared to AI and ML.

The talent pipeline in India is focused on upskilling and continuous learning to stay ahead in expertise and skills.

T-shaped thinking is emphasized, where individuals have deep expertise and a broad understanding of the ecosystem.

Investment in hackathons and learning environments is crucial for talent development and upscaling.

The pivot for GCCs is towards value and expertise rather than just the number of people.

Transcripts

[Music]

hello and welcome some of the world's

largest banking and financial services

companies are present in India but in

more ways than one

firms like Barclays normally have a

front consumer facing or an

institutional presence but they also

have a large global capability or a

global captive center and have been here

for more than a decade and that's become

large so what are these people doing and

how does that all multiply the looking

at the scales and the embedded knowledge

and the capabilities what is it

delivering today and what's the

landscape looking like well to discuss

that I'm joined by Praveen Kumar co-ceo

of Barclays Global Service Centre in

India Praveen thank you very much for

speaking with us so first question is

really that I mean when you when you

look at all these capabilities that

you've amassed in the last decade or

more than that what does it mean today

in terms of what you are doing and how

you're delivering to your end customer

which is someone who's using the

Barclays service somewhere in the world

no absolutely first of all thank you

Govan for this opportunity

so Barclays has been in India for a

number of years and we have a

significant scale in terms of core

capability around operations technology

and various risk and finance functions

so over the time you know course of time

it's really pivoting more towards you

know really thinking outside in for the

bank what are the key priorities you

know how do we help the bank open up the

jaws by that what I mean is that you

know how do we contribute towards more

revenue generation as well as driving

costs down and I think the you know if I

will first pick the cost side of

equation you know we of course have the

scale we see everything coming in we can

join the dots here we can drive scale

through simplification so I think the

journey we've been on in the last couple

of years is to build deeper expertise

and capability and call out the key

areas where we can simplify the

organization the operating model create

almost platform based industrialized

services which you know drive a

significant efficiency so that helps

drive the you know on the cost side for

us to create an impact and you know it's

of needs a level of investment needs a

level of accountability and ownership

needs the right talent to drive that on

the innovation side you know order

you said it's all about figuring out you

know what is it that we can do to help

connect us better with the customers so

digital you know capabilities stronger

analytical capabilities around you know

giving stronger customer insights you

know are the kind of areas that we are

investing in in having stronger

capability stronger way we can help our

businesses engage with the clients right

so when you look at what's happening

from the emerging tech point of view and

I'm sure you're assimilating and

absorbing a lot of this technology to

obviously be competitive to your

customer once again what what does that

entail I mean how is this absorption

happening how ready or how geared is

India particularly or Indian skill is

geared for this yeah I think we are

right at the heart of that so if you

look at what's happening in the industry

you know the over the course of last

several years the personal the

technology that we consume in our

personal lives is actually gone ahead of

what an enterprise provides you know

today we are used to having an always-on

technology it's you know the apps will

update seamlessly etcetera it's a try

you know that the experience is

seriously frictionless and how we as an

enterprise can help our customers get a

similar experience and I think the GCC's

have a critical role to play you know in

terms of you know if I were to look at a

bank

you know like Barclays you know we have

tons of legacy infrastructure we have a

lot of confidential information we are

highly regulated entity you know given

all that how do we still you know change

the way we deliver technology to be much

faster and more bite-sized so if we are

delivering functionality you know likes

it yeah maybe five years back we used to

be you know monolithic like an annual

release or a six monthly release now

it's moving towards every two weeks you

are releasing something into production

something that the cost of the end

customer can actually touch and feel so

V as a global capability Center for

Barclays have deep expertise from an

engineering standpoint we are investing

and strengthening that in upscaling

Talent so that we can help

organization pivot towards driving some

of the you know end customer outcomes

faster right and and give us an

illustration of what that could be I

mean a one illustration of what that

what is it that you've done maybe in the

recent past or working on that you can

talk of that's resulting in that kind of

you know change in maybe interface or

change in experience for that customer

yeah like you know we have a strong

digital team you know so some of the

specific functionalities that you know

our mobile application in fact for

Barclays is rated like a five-star you

know one of the best applications in

fact it won an award recently so some of

that functionality is being delivered by

the team here so we are organized into

agile teams a lot of the both on the iOS

and Android platform the digital

journeys are being developed here so you

know there would be several examples

where an end-to-end functionality is

being delivered by a feature team

sitting here you know and the model that

we move towards is that we have similar

teams in the UK out here and they're

working off a common backlog and you

know they're delivering features into

production to the customer you know

whether it's David points or whatever

the latest and greatest new features

that we keep releasing on our app so

some of that are developed in doing here

right so let me ask you a question a

little bit about the future and I felt

that a PhD in engineering is the best

person to ask that answer that so what

is the future of automation looking like

I think at least if I were to look at

you know next three to five years we are

certainly entering the assisted

automation space you know by that what I

mean is that you know clearly this

machine learning and AI there's

obviously lots and lots of talk about it

I think we are certainly starting to

leverage that technology in a way where

it's starting to make decisions not on

their own but at least the initial

assisted decisions you know so a lot of

the initial pre work that historically

was done by you know a bunch of people

sitting around is now starting to get

we still need somebody to take the final

call to review the you know the decision

that's coming through and of course the

most of these models need extensive

training and - for them to be of

practical use but I think we are

certainly entering that you that space

where a number of use cases are starting

to emerge where whether it's lending or

credit or you know many areas where

you're starting to see you know assisted

decision making there are of course

areas like robotics you know I'm sure we

hear a lot about it which I feel is

relatively a simpler technology from

your text and point and it has its space

and it will certainly you know yield you

know short term business benefits by

quick adoption but the real sort of

excitement and future of automation

where it will really impact people is in

the space of artificial intelligence and

machine learning where I think the

models will keep getting more and more

sophisticated over time right so last

question I mean when sitting in India

how do you see the talent pipeline what

are the opportunities and the challenges

or in some ways even the threats because

finally a lot of this could be

replicated elsewhere delivered from

elsewhere - absolutely I think the the

entire focus for us is on having top

talent you know both in terms of

upgrading our existing people and

therefore continuous learning is super

important I think we really believe in

t-shaped thinking in that sense that

every individual must have a strong I to

the T you know in the sense of a deep

expertise that is core to that person

and good understanding of the breadth in

terms of what the adjacent C's are how

does what you are delivering as an

individual how does it connect with the

larger ecosystem I think having said

that so therefore you know it's

imperative for us to invest

significantly in upskilling people so

whether it is you know then new ways of

delivering in terms of toolchains

agile it's a trial or a migration to

cloud you know we are really investing

in bringing in that both the domain and

technical expertise into people so

creating the right learning environment

lots of hackathons which you know in a

way gamify or create that accelerated

learning opportunity for people you know

are various ways to really upscale

people but that as you said I mean for

GCC's really the pivot is now not

towards number of people but it's about

the value and therefore it's bout of

expertise and skills I mean that's a

good note to end on thank you so much

for speaking with us thank you thank you

[Music]