Ritu Jyoti: Transforming the Enterprise Industry with Market Research and Advisory Services On Artificial Intelligence

Founded in 1964 and owned by IDG, International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global market intelligence provider of advisory services and organizes events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets. With more than 1,100 analysts worldwide, IDC offers global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries. Its analytics and insights-based solutions help IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make fact-based technology decisions and achieve their key business objectives.

An Insightful Young Leader

Ritu Jyoti is the Program Vice President, Artificial Intelligence within IDC's worldwide software market research and advisory practice team. Her research is focused on global market trends for rapidly evolving AI, machine learning and intelligent automation innovations, and ecosystems. She also addresses the needs of the AI solution providing vendors and offers actionable guidance on how to crisply articulate their value proposition, differentiate and thrive in the digital era.

Ritu is a trusted advisor to some of the world's largest technology firms and end-users. Prior to her current role, she was the Program Vice President of Systems Infrastructure Research Portfolio for IDC's cloud IaaS, enterprise storage and server team. Ritu expanded IDC's research on Infrastructure for AI & Analytics, launched competitive market data services for hybrid cloud, and delivered a compelling 'Digital Transformation – IT Transformation' framework for Data Infrastructure Services. She also provided ground-breaking research to drive business transformation, re-enforcing IDC's position as the industry's go-to thought leader.

Ritu completed her Bachelors in Electronics and Communication from Ranchi University, India. She then did her executive education in Corporate Strategy & Strategic Marketing from MIT Sloan School of Management, USA.

Before joining IDC, Ritu held various executive-level positions in product management, marketing, solutions, technology alliances, and consulting at Kaminario, EMC, IBM Global Services, and PwC Consulting. She also has over two decades of experience covering business applications (ERP, CRM), databases, big data analytics, and enterprise infrastructure services, driving big picture for corporate growth and strategic direction by identifying the potential business, market, and partnership opportunities. Ritu is a proven innovative thought leader who is adept at leveraging strong technical background to uncover and meet business/customer needs with on-the-ground solutions engineering. She was also the Chief Product Officer at Kaminario.

Moreover, Ritu is a speaker, presenter, and moderator at IDC's industry and customer events, and provides analysis for multiple media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Wired, CIO Techie, and CIO. She is often quoted in leading business and technology publications.

Challenging the Male-dominated Industry

Ritu shares that blending in a male-dominated industry was not easy in the initial phase. Being the only female in her batch when she was pursuing B.Tech prepared her for the future challenges of being a woman leader in tech. Many times, Ritu experienced a lack of inclusion based on ethnicity and gender.

Besides, it was not easy for her to get mentors who could provide guidance or social support. Ritu recollects about one substantial consulting engagement where she was the lead and where even some women doubted her leadership. "It took some time to win everyone's confidence and succeed," Ritu says.

Overcoming the Hurdles through Communication and Integrity

Ritu believes that an ideal leader should be communicative, resilient, accountable, and highly ambitious.

Effective communication entails relentless, direct, and affirmed actions. She quotes C.S. Lewis, "Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching." Having a good conscience is essential, and integrity is the cornerstone of all leadership qualities. Although it is rarely seen personified, when it is, it is truly magical.

Ritu feels an effective leader needs to give credit when – it is due and take responsibility for blame when necessary. She has met only a few such leaders in 25 plus years of her career.

Ritu expresses that in today's disruptive and unpredictable world, a leader's true grit is not how the individual performs during good times but how the leader reacts to challenging situations. Start-up experience proved helpful for her to deal with such challenges.

As per Ritu, "Being ambitious can inspire loyalty, enthusiasm, commitment, and challenge people to outdo themselves."

Surviving Competition with Solid Strategies

The two areas Ritu gravitates to are observability and simplicity. In her opinion, the results or benefits of using innovation should be visible to the adopter. Embracing it should be simple and as seamless as possible. She recalls being confronted with a nasty competitive situation while working for a large technology vendor as worldwide solutions product management and marketing lead. The company had an innovative offering but was challenged to appeal to the target audience. Recalling the old days, Ritu quotes her then CEO, "We do not need to build an engineering castle, but provide something that the customers can adopt seamlessly with tangible business benefits."

Achieving Organizational Goals by Leveraging Disruptive technologies

Ritu says disruptive technologies are impacting every aspect of business and lives. These innovations can directly influence both the production and the characteristics of a wide range of products and services with important implications for productivity, employment, and competition. But, as necessary as these effects are likely to be, AI also has the potential to change the innovation process itself, with consequences that may be equally profound and which may, over time, come to dominate the industry. She cites that developing novel technology can identify potential drug candidates using neural networks to predict candidate's molecules bioactivity.  The learning algorithms that are now being developed indicate that artificial intelligence may ultimately have a vast range of applications.

Today, we live in a world driven by commercial and technological disruption. Ritu believes that with a constant change, leaders need to be both attuned to the impact of technology on their business and highly adaptable as a result. Also, there has been a shift from the autocratic leadership style of the 20^th century towards a more collaborative approach. Today, work is no longer ordered from above but powered from within. It has opened the door to innovation and creativity, which is crucial for organizations to gain a competitive advantage. It has also brought teamwork, productivity, meaning, and purpose to every aspect of the work. There is also a greater emphasis on soft leadership skills. Leaders are more people-oriented than task-oriented.

"The impact of technology has also brought new challenges that have triggered a change in how we lead," Ritu adds. "The rise of remote working, for instance, has emphasized the importance of leaders trusting people to work towards organizational goals without constant monitoring or guidance. This notion of empowering rather than smothering your employees is fundamental to 21st-century leadership."

AI will Transform Traditional Market Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most disruptive innovation to date and has a significant and imminent impact on everything from company strategy, to business operations, to job functions. IDC is changing the way the world thinks about the effects of technology on business and society. Ritu envisions the incorporation of AI in market research data collection as data collection areas will become more seamless and automated, including analysis of open-ended text responses. These capabilities will enhance researchers' time-efficiency and create more value for clients, and break down the 'why' when purchasing behaviours.

Citing another example, Ritu mentions that sentiment analysis can better decipher positive or negative responses. Besides, market researchers will focus on insights that can carry over into clear and confident decision-making. Research has shown that customers value and appreciate it more when brand experiences are more curated or customized.

Mapping Out the Corporate Dynamics

Ritu advises emerging leaders to find a mentor that inspires them with specific goals and tangible outcomes, investing time and wisdom judiciously. Taking charge of the initiatives, they can be confident and have a clear vision. She adds, learn to navigate the corporate dynamics, but "never give-up," be relentless, instead.