1. ECONOMIC TIMES ON INSTITUTE OF PRODUCT LEADERSHIP, 5 MARCH 2015
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-03-05/news/59807929_1_top-
executives-startups-software-product
Senior executives from
JPMorganChase, Cisco, Infosys
brainstorming to build new products
Krithika Krishnamurthy, ET Bureau Mar 5, 2015, 01.56AM IST
Tags:
• Sanjay Shah|
• program manager|
• Nasscom|
• Kiran Kashikar|
• JP Morgan|
• iSpirt|
• Infosys
BENGALURU: A clutch of senior tech executives from multinationals like
JPMorganChase, Cisco and Infosys is spending the weekends in the
classroom to learn how to think about building products so that they remain
relevant in a fast-changing sector that startups are disrupting every day.
At the Institute of Product Leadership in Bangalore, these executives are
expected to brainstorm ideas, conduct surveys outside malls or within
closed doors, much like the way start-ups do. Post that, they build
technology platforms and price their products, before pitching it to an
expert panel. "IT doesn't deliver, and is being disrupted. Customers don't
use about 60% of the software features. So why are we spending so much
time developing it?" said Pugal Panneerselvam, 40, technology director at
JP Morgan Chase, who has spent two decades in the software industry.
The open acknowledgement by senior executives speaks volumes about
the state of India's tech industry: Top executives have realize that it's
"game over" on the cost arbitrage episode and that it is time to switch
gears to creating new offerings.
Panneerselvam now plans to launch his own venture called CKizen, a
platform to facilitate better conversation with executives in organisations.
"It calls for a serious introspection for everyone, especially at a time when
large companies are feeling the threat of disruption from startups," said

2. Kiran Kashikar, a 33-year-old program manager at CGI who is taking the
executive MBA course at IPL.
IPL, which started in 2011, has also become a hunting ground for start-
ups. About 15% of its 800-odd alumni have shifted jobs from large MNCs
to growth stage startups.
Executives looking at newer shores are propped by the exits in the start-up
ecosystem, and newer MNCs setting up R&D centers in the country.
"Macro innovations require these 10+years executives to rethink and
redefine their careers.
They suddenly have a very juicy career path," said Pinkesh Shah,
cofounder of the IPL academy. It's a rising tide for sure: Over the past few
years, iSpirt, a software product think tank and Nasscom's product council
have continuously stressed on the importance of developing products.
"As we evolve from client-centric creation to market-centric creation, we
need people who have customer context, business context, competitive
context beyond just technical expertise," said Sanjay Shah, cofounder of
iSpirt.
Brahmanand Reddy Patil, 39, travels from Pune every weekend to attend
two eight-hour weekend sessions. The managing director of the Indian arm
of Vector Informatik, a German automotive software company, now plans
to develop products from the 25-year-old firm for the Indian automotive
market.
Juggling between work, family and school is no walk in the park, said CGI's
Kashikar. "The running joke is you either need want the mattress or
mosquito coil: the former if your wife kicks you out, the latter if your family
kicks you out," he said candidly. Equipped with newer skillsets, Kashikar is
now managing a portfolio of three products, and has an option to incubate
his ideas within the company as well.
"The service game is about making everything efficient. But in product
thinking entails a different mindset: who are you designing it for, how much
will you charge, who will pay?" said Manish Bajpai, senior product
manager at Infosys, who is implementing newer ways in the manner in
which his team works. Product thinking involves making the customer a
priority and Sushma Rai, 37, program manager at Cisco Video
Technologies India, is doing just that, hoping that this will give her career a
leg up in Cisco.