WE SEE AI AS AUGMENTED INTELLIGENCE

As we move into a new world dotted with new challenges and realities, it is interesting to see how we will grapple with AI bias, ethical crossroads, sentient AI and a cloud-dominated outsourcing landscape. Genpact CDO Sanjay Srivastava talks about how core IP, cloud RPA, acquisitions and digital ethics officers are going to etch a new direction in the industry as we move forward.

It has been surmised that the pandemic put digital process automation on a fast-track of as many as six years for many enterprises. Is that a good thing for the industry? What challenges or caution areas, if any, should we be alert about?

Prior to COVID-19, many companies had a five-year roadmap to digitise their operations. Now most of them want to go digital within just two years. In fact, we are seeing a 10x faster business acceleration to the cloud. Companies understand that they must accelerate their digital transformations or be left behind. However, digital transformation requires the intersection of three vectors. When all three don’t come together, initiatives fail. These comprise deep understanding of domain, digital tools, and capabilities to architect the new business framework, and large-scale programme management to orchestrate people, process, technology and data. In that way, you can drive change and deliver business outcomes in a predictable-managed fashion.

Can you tell us something more about the next-generation drug safety project in the Uk?

We are proud to work with and support companies in many parts of the global testing and vaccine value chain in the fight against COVID-19. This highly complex and connected ecosystem presents some of the greatest strategic, operational, and logistical challenges of our time, and technology innovation applied to specific pain points will be critical to how we solve them. This includes the work we do with major manufacturers in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

The use of AI is critical in managing massive amounts of data in the fight against COVID-19, as evidenced by Genpact’s work with the UK government surrounding planned adverse event reporting for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Can you elaborate on how the solution shaped up?