Exclusive Trusted Magazine Q&A with Seetha Ramnath, Director & Innovation Project Leader.
How could you describe your career path in a few words?
My career began with early roots in technology, where I studied the importance of technology and engineering in societal change as a graduate in Mechanical engineering. More specifically, I became increasingly interested in technologies that solved business problems, whether it be in design or system dynamics. One of the more memorable experiences was my internship at a major US automobile manufacturer, which materially shaped my interests in technical software (for automobile closure systems signal processing) applied to solve big business problems. In this case, we were designing the optimal sound for a car door to produce when it is closed.
Fast forwarding 27 years later, having worked in over 75 companies across a dozen industries and several countries in and outside of the US, I now find myself at the confluence of digital transformation and the development of cultures all around the world. What has really helped has been an infusion of business knowledge not just from practical real world case studies but also global academic leadership.
What are the highlights of the key digital innovation trends for 2022? Can you give us some major examples?
In evaluating the consumer products industry this past year 2022, there were many themes that came from the technologies fields of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. They are as follows:
Workflow efficiency tools – these are products that address and produce significant time savings associated with standard operating procedures of a typical staff working in any company.
Robotics Processing Automation tools – these are products that change the way information is presented so as to simplify human task completion
Digital Product Creation tools – these are tools that focus on the way in which products are designed in real time with when and how imagined by their product managers.
Metaverse integration – these are tools used to digitize products in the form of NFTs so as to improve the reach of product beyond the sale of physical tangible goods.
Based on your experiences, what are the impactful trends in digital innovation that are becoming more important in the context of 2023?
What has become more impactful are technologies that blend the human experience with technical algorithms in an ethnical manner such that the people using the technologies does not feel a breach of trust. Ethical AI has emerged as an important field in the political treatment of solutions and the environment companies operate in. Increasingly, consumers want to buy products that go beyond simple ESG characteristics. They want products that have an ethical component that is also demanded by shareholders in this competitive global financial world.
Data visualization is another key trend that shows us that the importance of strategic vision in data collection goes beyond the numbers and characters they represent. Images bring imagination to life and technologies that focus in these areas will continue to introduce very useful techniques to the world of research and design in any industry.
In your opinion, how can they create high value for organizations?
In the end the world of digital technology is only is good as the people who build it. One example of using AI technology in workforce efficiency was studied when I was at a major US apparel manufacturer earlier this year. The product used was an automatic dictation AI bot that transcribed meeting notes for Zoom calls. The result was a minimum of 30% savings of staff time that could be reallocated to a different purpose. Staff could also then multi-task during calls that would permit better thinking and decision making during and after the calls.
Looking ahead the future is bright for those who invest in digital transformation.
