CxO of the Week: Mr Vikas Garg CTO and Cofounder, Kapture CRM

CxO of the Week: Mr Vikas Garg CTO and Cofounder, Kapture CRM

Online companies always strive hard to increase their Consumer experience. By encouraging SaaS and streamlining repetitive customer questions, enterprises can increase customer satisfaction. Not only that, but they can also deliver delightful experiences. In conversation with CiOL (on CxO of the Week), Mr Vikas Garg, CTO, Kapture CRM talks about how Kapture has sailed the pandemic. He also outlines how business must rise above disruption and reimagine cybersecurity in the current scenario.

How did Kapture CRM adapt to the pandemic? What were the challenges faced at an organizational and at the industry level?

As with most companies around the world, Kapture CRM was also impacted by COVID-19 pandemic. However, we quickly realized that customer enterprises increasingly focused on remote sales and customer service as the world resorted to online purchasing and interactions.

Keeping up with the overnight ‘remote work’ transition, Kapture helped several enterprises across the globe manage their remote sales and support operations without compromising on productivity or security. One of the challenges faced initially was figuring out the management of our internal teams when the pandemic was in its initial stages. However, thanks to the team effort, we scaled our efforts and I can say with confidence that 2020 was by far the best year for us. It was a year of challenges, opportunities, and new ventures.

We have seen some major cyberattacks. How are you ensuring the safety of its consumer data?

In the enterprise software space, security is of utmost importance. Our customers also have detailed infosec requirements. We are an ISO 27001 certified organization and have processes in place to detect and prevent any kind of cyberattack. We have a dedicated security team that reviews all the security policies in place. Moreover, we get a third party audit done every quarter as well. Security is and always will be our priority.

What are your Data Security goals? Is it safe to outsource consumer data even for CRM?

In a connected world, to ensure seamless services, different systems will always share data within them. However, Kapture ensures that we never store any sensitive data from our customers. We integrate with client systems closely and make sure we only access the needful data. We employ strict encryption at the transport and storage layers.

Kapture CRM is a homegrown brand. Will “Vocal for Local” impact the future of the sector and the company?

Definitely. Supporting and choosing local businesses is instrumental on multiple levels. Choosing homegrown companies like Kapture can have a significant impact on employment rates and also on the economy at large.

Given the billion-dollar players present in the SaaS sector, supporting local enterprises can help in building better infrastructure and make India more self-sufficient.

Has the Union Budget faired your expectation?

Yes, the government has taken a bold step by continuing with spending even when the revenue losses have mounted last year. We all believe India has a very bright future ahead and the government has to continue spending on infrastructure and social welfare to make sure we reach there as fast as possible with an inclusive environment.

What is the future of the Automated SaaS post-pandemic?

While SaaS has been the talk of the town for the last 20 years, the SaaS industry still has a long way to go. The future of this sector is very promising and inspiring. With predictive analytics in place, SaaS will increasingly enable us to achieve more by doing less. Artificial intelligence and machine learning, in my opinion, will power the future of automation and SaaS.

I see technology paving the way for more flexible, agile, and robust software solutions.

What technology trends will transform the MSME industry in 2021?

In my opinion, over the last one year, every organization must have realized how important it is to invest in good technology. Companies have had to enable work from anywhere seamlessly because of all the technological advancements of the last decade. I believe these technologies are here to stay. We are also seeing a significant change in the mindset of traditional businesses to invest in better solutions instead of the cheapest solutions.

I believe conversational commerce and customer support automation are some of the important technology trends that will transform the MSME industry in 2021.