Visionet Systems, Inc. information technology and business solutions. The Company provides project and staffing services, mortgage banking, data capture solutions, finance and accounting, and hospitality services. Visionet Systems serves customers in the United States. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Alok Bansal, MD of Visionet India and CEO of BSFI Business.

1. Kindly brief us about the company, its specialization, and the services that your company offers.

– Visionet Systems, Inc. is a premier Information Technology, Consulting, and Business Process Management Company that delivers solutions to enable its clients to do business better. Visionet delivers winning business outcomes through its deep industry experience and a holistic view of business through technology. By combining digital strategy, customer-centric design, and advanced analytics. Visionet helps its clients create successful and adaptive businesses in banking, retail, insurance, distribution, and manufacturing. Visionet Systems is a company recognized globally for its comprehensive portfolio of services, a solid commitment to sustainability, and good corporate citizenship, Visionet has a dedicated workforce of over 7000, with its presence in ten countries across four continents.

2. Mention some of the awards, achievements, recognitions, and clients' feedback that you feel are notable and valuable for the company.

– Visionet Systems have won the Microsoft Partner Award in 2021, EY Entrepreneur of the Year Award, one of our colleagues has won the HW Woman of the Year 2021. Besides, we have received client testimonials who are part of the top 20 financial institutions in the US that have found Visionet as a strategic partner to help them achieve sustainable business outcomes through digital solutions.

3. Brief us about Mr. Alok Bansal, MD Visionet India, and CEO BFSI Business, and his contributions towards the company and the industry.

– Over the last 20 years, Alok has led massive technology initiatives and implemented scalable outsourcing services and delivery infrastructure. He has been responsible for bringing 7x revenue growth in over 5 years in Visionet and growing the employee base by 3.5x. He is experienced in managing strategy, global operations, optimizing and leading growth of financial services, mortgage banking, and BPO firms. He is highly skilled in general management, turning around start-up businesses, and managing multi-site operations. He has energized multiple organizations by developing comprehensive team-building programs, leadership development, organizational culture, and knowledge management.

He also aspires to make a real impact on society beyond token CSR work and believes that only when the paradigm shift happens at a collective level can the country grow and prosper inclusively.

Alok has a Bachelor's of Technology degree from (IIT-B) and Executive Education in Aligning Strategy and Sales from Harvard Business School. A marathoner, fitness enthusiast, and an avid reader, which helps him to become an effective leader.

4. What is your biggest USP that differentiates the company from competitors?

-Superb Performance in the US market amongst mid-sized banks, credit unions, retail, and e-commerce segment. Visionet has built expertise at entering new markets and making a success of them. The expansion has helped the organization build a new revenue stream and diversify the economic cycle risk in its markets.

Strong Brand Portfolio – Over the years, Visionet has invested in building a strong brand portfolio.

Highly successful at Go market strategies for its products.

High level of customer satisfaction – with its dedicated customer relationship management department, the company can achieve a high level of customer satisfaction among present customers and good brand equity among potential customers.

Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation.

5. How is IoT/Big Data/AI/Robotics evolving today in the industry as a whole? What are the most important trends that you see emerging across the globe?

– In light of growing uncertainty, banks today are focusing heavily on using technology to enhance their risk monitoring and management capabilities. 2021 will be reimagined by some of these advanced technologies and their impact on all aspects of banking and enterprise risk management. Key technology trends driving banking and financial services in 2021. The events of 2020 forced transformation into the banking sector, which was already at the cusp of change. This transformation will be underpinned by public and hybrid cloud space developments, blockchain, microservices-based architecture, and artificial intelligence in 2021.

Architectural transformation: Globally, the banking sector is gradually moving away from the clumpy rigidity of a monolithic setup. The banking architecture of 2021 will be remarkably distinct from that of the previous era. With customer experience gaining traction in the industry, next-generation banks need to be fluid and highly responsive. The adoption of a lighter and flexible microservices architecture will be critical to achieving this.

Exploring new horizons with Cloud: There are many flexible options to choose from for banks that are still on the fence about cloud adoption. Hybrid cloud, for one, offers the convenience of lower Capex, along with the security of on-premise setup. With the advent of better cloud security, banks could even look at public cloud ecosystems as viable, long-term options.

Blockchain to safeguard data sanctity: We are also seeing trends favoring the inclusion of blockchain in banking. The shared blockchain infrastructure ensures the veracity of information, making it easier for banks to detect fraud and eliminate risks. With the potential to reduce operational costs while improving efficiencies, blockchain will be a potential gamechanger in the near future.

Open banking gains in popularity: As customers explore ways to the bank as per their preference and convenience, we expect radical developments in the open banking space. API banking is already accelerating processing times, reducing go-to-market cycles, and improving decision-making and responsiveness. All roads in open banking will eventually lead to data democratization and socioeconomic upliftment.

6. How do you plan to revolutionize the Indian and US market and what are your plans to tap the market?

– Our vision is to make India a global financial hub in the Asian market and develop it into a center of excellence for automation, analytics, cloud and data technology, and innovation and deepen our talent pool to provide comprehensive, high-quality banking/fintech advisory solutions. Facilitate and invest in R&D to develop new solutions, including the use of distributed ledger technology for inter-bank payments and trade finance. Visionet will continue to enhance its regulatory approach, to support enterprise and innovation while maintaining financial soundness. Key priorities include ensuring that regulations support innovative business models and strengthening the cyber resilience of financial institutions. Complementing the business strategies and innovation agenda will be an active skill development program to help the financial sector workforce build world-class skills. With digitalization and automation, job roles will evolve, and existing professionals must be equipped with new skills and competencies.  Visionet will continue to collaborate with financial institutions, the tripartite partners, and institutes of higher learning to:

• Build a solid local pipeline of specialized talent particularly in information technology
• Reskill and redeploy professionals into job growth areas through professional conversion programs
• Facilitate job placements through enhanced career advisory services.

7. What is your roadmap for the BFSI market?

-The BFSI Industry Transformation Map is enabling us to be prepared for higher-tech investments and to make the best out of these changes – to grow with the sector, to harness innovations, and to create a future-ready workforce.

8. What is your Leadership Mantra?

– I have always believed that a true leader does not create followers but leaders. We must acknowledge not just the challenges but create a sustainable ecosystem where people can grow to their fullest potential. When leaders delegate, mentor, affirm, motivate and inspire, they create a legacy of empowerment. Putting people at the heart of the organization, investing in them, appreciating their achievements with an email or a call or during meetings, listening to them, being accessible, demonstrating transparency in all decisions creates a culture where people feel inspired to do their best. A true leader is never touchy about feedback. Especially during the pandemic, employees must feel confident enough to express what is working in the organization and what is not. Tomorrow, when they lead their teams, they will remember how it felt to be seen and heard and they too will be good listeners.

9. Can you throw light on the latest employment trends in Indian IT sectors?

– Hiring activity has seen a tremendous upward trend in the IT/ITes sector. This indicates that India is strongly working on the revival of economic growth and recovery from the impact of the pandemic. Rapid digital transformation has driven the demand for jobs in this sector. As per the latest, Naukri JobSpeak report hiring activity in India has touched an all-time high in July 2021 led by the IT/ITes industry. Prominent economic and IT hubs Bengaluru (17%), Hyderabad (16%), and Pune (13%) have seen double-digit growth in hiring as per the report.