There is no better time to be in the intersection of Business and Technology. So keep learning, keep failing and keep adding value!
This is an exclusive interview conducted by Santosh Vaswani, Content Writer & Editor at CIO News with Mitali Biswas, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at CK Birla Hospitals, India on her Professional Journey
When asked how she planned her career path to be a successful CIO, Mitali Biswas, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at CK Birla Hospitals, India, in an exclusive interview with CIO News, said, to be honest, I did not plan my career path to be a CIO. In fact, coming to IT industry was by chance. But once I joined, I was amazed to see the value technology can bring in almost all areas of business and fell in love with technology. My journey started as a developer and I worked on multiple technologies in the last 20 years of my professional journey. I was fortunate to be exposed to different types of technology projects across varied business domains and geographies, that increased by breadth as a technology professional. I continuously kept learning and always accepted challenges that pushed me to move outside my comfort zone.
When asked about challenges she faced in her career path and how she overcame them, she said, managing the balance and time across personal and professional fronts is always a challenge. I am a very planned person and plan my days and work well in advance.
When asked about challenges faced by CIOs today in a similar industry while implementing digital technologies, she said, I would say that there are three challenges faced:
Getting the right talent:
- With technology, changing at such a fast pace, it is very difficult to attract and retain the right talent. This makes it difficult to create, enhance and maintain the IT Solutions.
Speed of Implementation:
- The expectations of the business have increased. Whatever you implement needs to be done with speed to adapt to the market. The business needs speed and agility and the fact that we are implementing new age technologies makes it more difficult.
Change Management:
- This is a big issue in the Healthcare industry. The biggest challenge faced is in the adoption of a system. Since the onset of pandemic, the healthcare industry is witnessing a huge shift in the way care has to be delivered and technology is playing a key part. Adapting to this shift is not easy, as it also needs change in ways of working which the people have been using for many years.
When asked how CIOs can overcome the challenges faced, she said, the role of a CIO has changed over the years. It has seen a shift from “Keep the Operations running” to “Add value to business”. The CIO has to work very closely with the business in all aspects. It is important that we put ourselves in the Business shoes and try to talk their language. I have experienced that most of the projects fail as they are seen as only “IT” Projects. This perception has to change and can be done only through close collaboration.
Another focus should be to train the employees of your organization and make them aware on how technology can help them to be more efficient and improve the patient experience.
When asked about best practices/industry trends/advice she would like to suggest to fellow CIOs for their successful professional journeys, she said, the difficult part is to keep pace with the technology evolution. You have to be always on your toes and keep learning the new technologies and see how they can add value to the business. Also we should keep trying out new things. The fear of failure should not keep you away from trying out new things.
She highlighted, there is no better time to be in the intersection of Business and Technology. So keep learning, keep failing and keep adding value!
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