India has undergone a dynamic shift

Businesses with advanced digital set-ups have been able to cope with the pandemic much better than those that haven’t feels Rao Surapaneni, VP - Engineering & Head of India Product Operations at ServiceNow.

How has the COVID-19 crisis changed the way we view technology and as a result of that, how has the future of work changed? Will most of everything now be digitized?

Digital interaction has become a much larger part of life during this pandemic. From connecting with our colleagues, to being in touch with family & friends, our day-to-day communication is now solely through digital means. Businesses with advanced digital set-ups have been able to cope with the pandemic much better than those that haven’t.

India has undergone a dynamic shift in the past few months. The country has quickly adapted to a new way of working led by digital technology, and connecting remotely has become our new normal. The recovery from COVID-19 will not be static—it will be a slow and steady healing process while we adapt to major changes in the way we work. Organisations that do not have robust digital infrastructure will need to quickly invest in building these systems, given its will be unlikely that things will return to what once was before the pandemic, even after workplaces start to re-open.

According to Deloitte, the future of work will be a combination of employees working remotely, while still coming together at the workplace for specific functions. In an effort to recover from this pandemic, companies will focus on implementing technologies that will help connect across departments and streamline workflow systems. This is an important aspect for re-engaging the workforce as organisations will now see a shift in focus to post-pandemic work priorities and routines. Recognising this, we recently announced the release of a Safe Workplace app suite, which will help organisations to examine their workforce and workplace, helping employees return to work safely.

Digitalisation will play a huge role in our future of work. This unprecedented situation has encouraged companies to embrace digitalisation, giving hope for a future which is led by humans solving and achieving complex tasks, allowing automation and digital workflows to take care of the mundane, repetitive routines, thereby unlocking employee productivity.

Are there any specific technologies that Indian companies are chasing and using more as a result of this crisis?

The pandemic has pushed companies to adapt to new technologies in order to streamline their workflow systems in a bid to ensure a smooth, remote working processes. Firms have adopted technologies like virtual desktops, remote collaboration tools, cloud based drawing boards, online interviewing tools and self-service tools like chatbots, to be able to serve a better experience to both their employees and their customers. Apart from being convenient, companies are also realising the cost-efficiency quotient of these technologies. At ServiceNow, we have seen an increased customer interest and usage in remote IT and employee service requests.

How can you improve employee experience, communication and productivity in this new WFH era?

One cannot talk about improving employee productivity without first equipping employees with the right tools to maximize their potential. Enabling employees with self-training tools, knowledge data base and virtual assistants will ease their work and increase productivity. For new employees, a smooth and seamless digital onboarding process will ensure a great experience and help them adjust to their new surroundings.

At ServiceNow, we aim to build employee experiences and workflows that are as good as the best consumer experiences. Especially now, this becomes very important for companies to remain competitive. For this reason, we encourage an environment of open dialogue and collaboration to work together and deliver for our customers. While a lot of companies are taking steps towards digitalisation, it is very important to put people at the centre of your transformation to facilitate collaboration and provide insights that improve decision-making.

With more and more companies shifting to the cloud, what about security and privacy concerns?

Security is fundamental for companies such as ServiceNow who are born in the cloud. Our years of experience and growth have been dependent on our ability to provide highly secure services. We carry out continuous testing, invest in ensuring security certifications for our data, service and infrastructure. When we handle data and critical services for customers, whether private or government-owned, we ensure that we maintain the highest security and privacy standards.

How is Artificial Intelligence being used to cope with this crisis and will it play a greater and greater role as we move forward into the post-COVID world?

AI has taken centre stage in our country’s fight against COVID-19. Scientists and doctors are using AI to predict and model the infection rates and death rates. It is being used to analyse risk factors and test treatments at the enzyme level.

At a corporate level, AI is all set to play a major role in the workplace. When the time is right for ServiceNow employees to return to the office, they will be returning to a very different office environment with a variety of social distancing measures applied. As the office space utilization patterns change, we expect to use AI to predict capacity and help workplace services teams to operate efficiently. For this, organisations will need powerful AI and analytics capabilities that will enable employees to work smarter and faster, while streamlining business decisions.

Our Orlando release of the Now Platform offers the solution to an efficient workflow. It enables employees to work faster, solve problems, find answers and automate tasks- making their lives simple and convenient. Helping enterprises deliver a great customer and employee experience, the Orlando release offers Analytics, Intelligence and Mobility solutions.

How are you personally coping with this lockdown and any specific tips to companies and WFH employees to cope?

As most of us are, I have been spending a lot more time with my family and connecting with my colleagues in the evening for chats over coffee, to cope with the lockdown. It is not an easy time for anyone but technology is helping us keep in touch with our near and dear ones.

Personally, it gives me immense satisfaction to help lead the organisation through these unprecedented times. Our employees have been working hard and making work life, work better for our customers during this pandemic. That purpose is what drives me and rest of the organization.

It is important for companies to focus on their customers in this time of need and fill in the gaps by providing solutions wherever required. At the same time, it is equally important for organisations to be empathetic to their employees’ needs. This is a difficult time for everyone and it is important to acknowledge employees’ anxiety for personal and family safety. At ServiceNow, we ensured that our employees are settled into the new way of working by supporting them with flexible time arrangements and regular fun and interactive team sessions.

Maintaining communication and constantly engaging with your employees on company and business updates during this time is very important. ServiceNow globally announced no layoffs in 2020 across its offices, to take away the stress of job loss/job risk from its employees.

COVID-19 is an unprecedented humanitarian challenge that has brought with it a new way of working. I believe that tremendous business opportunities are created when industries undergo rapid change. The whole world is undergoing a change like never before, and this is the time to recognize how we can help people and organisations and innovate to solve their problems.