CxO Of The Week: Vivek Tiwari, MD and CEO, Satya MicroCapital Limited

Vivek Tiwari, MD & CEO at Satya MicroCapital Limited has been chosen for CxO of the week. Vivek has nearly 15 years of experience in the microfinance sector, he has helped facilitate the financial inclusion of a large number of people across both urban and rural regions of the country, through impact investments into socially-beneficial entrepreneurial ventures. As Managing Director and CEO at Satya MicroCapital, Vivek is responsible for heading the company’s business strategy and implementation, along with driving its geographic and revenue expansion.

Your top priority while making decisions to improve tech infra in your organization?

Understand business objectives and strategy.

Achieving business objectives almost always either directly or indirectly involves IT. Business objectives are the measurable accomplishments the business is trying to achieve. To achieve them, the business must undertake business imperatives or projects. IT priorities and projects should stem directly from the prioritized business objectives and imperatives. Understanding the prioritized business objectives and imperatives lead to understanding the implications for IT and setting and prioritizing IT imperatives.

Know your existing IT environment; assess its capabilities and map gaps.

To determine IT implications and imperatives, you need to understand your current environment and compare that to the needed environment to support business projects. Doing this will define your IT gaps in a manner that maps them to the business imperatives and objectives.

Use a structured approach to develop an IT strategy that aligns investment and focuses on business priorities.

Whether understanding business objectives and imperatives or assessing IT implications, use a structured methodology. Using structured methodologies can help ensure completeness and enable you to arrive at insights and conclusions rapidly. They also provide a semi-scientific approach to reaching and defending conclusions that can be discussed with the business in business language and context.

Challenges you face in driving digital transformation?

Post Supreme Court verdict, there are multiple ambiguities regarding Aadhar. This has prevented streamlined Aadhar architecture for cashless collections and E-KYC verifications, therefore, as a result, the percentage of the cashless collection has decreased.

This has further resulted in an increase in the cash risk in the field. Still, we are in the process of improving cashless collection through multiple arrangements like cash drop facility, appointment of customer service points and Business Correspondent partnership.

Do you feel that fresher’s in the industry come with only basic knowledge but don’t have the right skills to fulfil job requirements? If yes, your suggestion to students and colleges?

It’ll be supportive if SRO along with various colleges teaching microfinance to undertake a central reservoir activity wherein there is some scope of retrieval of micro-finance experience relevant candidates with a consistent track record. In the absence of such a reservoir, getting the right talent matched with the right skill and right expertise is time-consuming.

Some suggestions for students/freshers:

– Working in a Team: Being a team player is one of the most important skills employers want in freshers. Those starting a new job must be comfortable working with different personalities and taking responsibilities.

– Working under Pressure: Managing the pressure during exams is different from managing work pressure. You need to learn the art of staying calm and not getting overwhelmed during crisis situations.

– Effective Communication: Having strong communication skills means being good at both, verbal and written communication at the same time having impeccable listening skills.

– Time Management: Managing time is very important in professional life and you cannot afford to make mistakes while juggling multiple work assignments and projects. They need to be trained on adaptability of early office timings as it is essential for them to reach the field on time and do collection and disbursement as per our client’s availability hours.

– Ability to Adapt: Flexibility is another key skill employers look for in freshers as not everybody has such skills. You may have to visit various places which may not be to your liking/suitability, so you need to be able to adjust to any situation thereby showcasing your flexibility and maturity in dealing with a variety of work-related situations.

– Rural Exposure:  To understand the client base of the microfinance industry, it is extremely important for the students/new employees to get Rural exposure. This will help them understand the reality at the grassroots level and better visualize constraints and address them.

What’s your mantra to become successful in life?

Try not to become a ‘man of success’ rather become a ‘Man of Value’.

What would you like to give back to society?

To be a catalyst for the socio-economic upliftment of 5 million households by the year 2025

To be a preferred choice for the people at the bottom of pyramid in creation of their enterprise and livelihood through a holistic approach

Your favorite book and what are you reading now?

“Banker to the Poor” by Muhammad Yunus.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

I like to read books and spend time with friends and family.

Achievements (Awards & Recognitions)

The India International Friendship Society awarded him with “Bharat Jyoti Award” for playing a pivotal role in accelerating the JLG/WSHG movement.

SATYA Received Excellence Award at the MINE Conference on 22nd February 2019

SATYA Received top ranking banking & finance projects in India in 55th SKOCH Summit on 22nd Dec 2018

SATYA Received MICRO LENDING (NBFC) -SMEs Excellence Award 2018 organized by ASSOCHAM INDIA on October 24, 2018

SATYA Received MFIN Microfinance Award 2018 on 24th May 2018

First Job - In Microfinance, Cashpor Microcredit

Education - Vivek holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development and Management from the Institute of Engineering and Rural Technology, Allahabad.

Take a look at the previous CxO of the Week