Stay Curious and Relevant

She drives digital strategy led by the principles of design thinking and agile, for global clients across domains. Having spent her early corporate days in various countries, she has got a taste of various cultures, and this helps her drive certain strategies at work. She is passionate about management education, and conducts courses on Product, Design and Strategic Management, at multiple educational institutions. Meet Pooja Bal, Vice President – Global Strategy and Advisory, Robosoft Technologies. In a conversation with Corporate Citizen, Pooja Bal, shares her corporate journey, the importance of design thinking, her love of classical music, art, and much more

Corporate World has taught me to be extremely curious and not assume anything. I have learned that staying relevant and grounded is inevitable. It has also taught me to start from zero every day without any preconcived notions

-Pooja Bal

Corporate Citizen: Tell us about your growing up days.

Pooja Bal: To give you an idea of my growing up years-I am brought up in multiple places in Maharashtra, largely in Nashik, the wine capital of India. My father comes from an Agri -business background. His work resulted in us travelling all around the State, which showed us the many hues that it had to offer. After all the travelling and adding experience to my kitty, we finally moved to Pune for my college education.

After finishing my BCS from Fergusson College, I pursued my MBA from HNIMR College, Pune and finally completed my Diploma in Marketing Management from Indsearch institute. In essence, the little success that I have achieved in the corporate world is surely the reflection of my hard work, but also the education that I have garnered, which has moulded me into a better corporate person.

I started my career with Nihilent Technologies as their Enterprise Transformation Consultant. They had a lot of business in Africa, and owing to that I got an opportunity of a lifetime to work and explore the culture of Africa. In 2013, I moved to IBM as their Senior Advisory Consultant - Strategy and Interactive Experience. It is a scaled global organisation but focused on my area of work which is largely around digital consulting and design thinking. Later, I got a chance to work with Robosoft Technologies, where I initiated an entire practice around this and head their corporate, merge and acquisitions strategy.

I realised that I am passionate about manage- ment education, and love to conduct courses on Product, Design and Strategic Management at multiple educational institutions. I strive to strike a balance between academic and application mindsets. Being a student of Systems Thinking and Indian Classical Music has certainly burdened my horizon. I am an art connoisseur and try to bring art into daily human life, this helps me add humanity into work life.

CC: They say that the place you are born in helps in shaping your mindset. So, tell us how your hometown has played a role in this.

That saying of course is true. I actually look at myself as a global citizen. I connect more with the coastal part of Maharashtra, which happens to be my native place. That’s where my parents run a bed and breakfast place by the coast. We have a 150+ year-old house, which is converted into a bed and breakfast. Yes, my roots are here but beyond that, I’m a global citizen. There always is an excitement to learn about the diversity of people around me and how to connect with them and their culture. Owing to this my food and cultural habits are quite diverse.

This has, in turn, generated greater awareness of global issues and challenges in me. It has also increased the range of my knowledge or experience, further helping me understand the nuances of humanity and empathy. Overall, giving me a chance to grow leaps and bounds.

CC: How has the education that you’ve garnered shaped you into a better person to take on the challenges of the corporate world?

There are always two aspects to your school and college life. The education that it offers and the experience that you gain. No doubt the education that I have garnered has helped me blossom into a better corporate person, but being a part of the finer aspects of it has given me a chance to understand the humane aspect of the corporate world. More than the education, Ferguson college allowed me to enjoy the diverse culture, where we had students from different backgrounds. The conversations that we shared, and the things that I learned were purely amazing and eye-opening.

For me, education is more about learning than what is taught in the classroom. Especially for external subjects like management education, practical knowledge plays a bigger role than the textbook. During my MBA days too, I made it a point to take part in several extracurricular activities. This kind of exposure heightened my sense of knowledge and overall development and certainly developed my understanding.

CC: What made you choose to do what you do?

Since my MBA days, I was fascinated by consulting, as a career option. I always thought of myself as somebody who can ideate, create, and execute strategies. This option felt quite in between the pure play academic world vs the pure building corporate world. I found consulting a good means for the same. And I was quite excited since my early management days

CC: What are some of the parameters to consider while doing user research.

Although I have always worked for technology companies, I manage more of the human side of technology. I believe technology is supposed to and should solve human problems. That’s where user research comes into the picture - trying to understand the end user for who we are trying to build the product and to humanise it.

In the whole design thinking thought process, the word empathy is about understanding the end users from their environment without prejudges or barriers. And how can we ground ourselves as listeners to know the users and their pain points. So, empathy as I know is the biggest parameter.

In today’s context Metaverse means many things – Web 3, AR, VR, and Blockchain. I believe it will have a similar impact as that of the Internet. There will be a fundamental shift in the way we consume technology

CC: What kind of impact will Metaverse have on the corporate world?

The concept is quite intriguing, and I am sure it will have a deep impact. From a metaverse perspective, it is very difficult to define it. In today’s context it means many things – Web 3, AR, VR, and Blockchain. I believe it will have a similar impact as that of the Internet. There will be a fundamental shift in the way we consume technology

CC: Does that mean it will reduce social connection?

The way I’d like to put is, it will change the way we socially connect. As humans we will still have the fundamental need to connect, only the means will change drastically, which will lead to a change in social behaviour. In short, there is a cause and effect on how we impact technology and vice versa.

CC: Tell us about that one corporate piece of advice that changed your life

When I started my career I was inclined toward the human side of this industry. I also took marketing and HR as my majors. One of my mentors also advised me to understand finance and technology deeply so that I am not just skewed to understanding just one aspect of this industry, and rather get a more holistic understanding. I think that learning the core of technology and how to build a business case and how to make those strategic decisions, complex and strategic model building etc has added value to my corporate journey. It was a phenomenal piece of advice. Otherwise, I don’t think I would have matured to the level of holistic thinking that I appreciate now.

CC: Walk us through your experience of working in Africa

Well, that is something really close to my heart. It gave me a chance to explore the unheard and unseen. And that has helped me grow beyond imagination. Immediately after I passed my MBA in 2008, I got this opportunity. My parents were extremely apprehensive considering the way Africa was portrayed. But because of that perception that the world had, I had a preconceived notion. But, when I went there it was a whole different story. Africans are extremely loving and welcoming people. The way their diversity is appreciated is impeccable. I’ve made friends and relationships for life. Their language, food habits, and culture are heart-warming. I have met people of different backgrounds. South Africa taught me a lot about diversity. I learnt how to keep our roots intact and still appreciate diversity.

When it came to food, again I was told it was going to be difficult. However, I was always treated very special. I got a chance to taste a lot of vegetarian African food. I have also travelled to Tanzania, Kenya, and other African villages. So, I was doing a consulting project to transform the income tax department of Tanzania. There, I was fortunate enough to get a Gujarati family who offered me delicious Ghar ka khana. It was indeed home away from home. I consider myself quite lucky to find such people in my corporate journey who gave me immense love and energy.

CC: Learnings from the corporate world?

It taught me basically to be extremely curious and not assume anything. Things are continuously changing and whatever you know is going to be obsolete. Hence, I have learned that staying relevant and grounded is inevitable. It has also taught me to start from zero every day without any pre-concived notions.

It is rightly said, design thinking is a humancentred approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

CC: Design thinking is gaining momentum and organisations are investing in it. Tell us about it.

The whole purpose of design thinking was to make any product or service that is created to be human-centred. That is basically going back to the human behaviour context. It is like failing fast, failing forward, hence making everything iterated. We need to look at it as an experiment and not as an end of perfection. In fact, design thinking is an antithesis to perfection being the ultimate truth. Instead of ideation or abstraction or documenting, it’s about creating a prototype and taking it to the users, who you are trying to impact and learn from it. Other than this, the rest of the details are irrelevant. It is about connecting with the broader philosophy and mindset. It is rightly said, design thinking is a human-centred approach to innovation that draws from the designer’s toolkit to integrate the needs of people, the possibilities of technology, and the requirements for business success.

In the current changing context and recessionary discussion, business leaders need to have a continuous learning approach. A lot of global organisations have implemented it. I have worked with Japanese, European, American, and Indian companies and it is nice to see their curiosity on the same. This concept basically makes life easy. It would be named or understood differently in different regions. But the fundamental crux is the same.

CC: How to strike a perfect balance of academics and its application for business transformation across industries.

Luckily I found a niche in consulting. In a subject like management, there is a lot of theory created from actual experience and based on case studies. For instance, Harvard Business School will conduct a case study and derive valuable theory from it. So, there should be fair give and take between application and theory. That’s where practitioners should and can make a huge impact to connect these worlds. Or else in another context, unfortunately, academics will lag. All the experiments are happening on the ground where things are changing, and if we are still stuck with age-old learning, it is a problem.

Similarly, the corporate world cannot get a chance to think about a problem because there are hidden constraints. So, they are not allowed to think of an idea as deeply as an academician.

CC: How has the pandemic affected you personally and professionally?

I know many who have lost a lot during this time. But personally, I have only gained. Owing to work, I was always on the road. The pandemic gave me a chance to stay at home and spend time with my family, which otherwise was not happening.

Professionally, it pushed us to rethink on some of the fundamentals of how we function, and can we do it through tools? How can we optimise it how can we increase productivity? So, the assumption we had made, gave us a chance to rethink it. Even the work-from-home concept. It was revolutionary in many ways. The IT industry is never going back to the pre-pandemic working days. The hybrid model seems favourable for all. I’m sure people have seen merit in that.

CC: Tell us about your love for art.

This love is largely driven by my husband and my family. My husband is a classical musician and academician. He is currently finishing his PhD in music. Hence we connect on several levels, especially in humanities, arts, and music. Growing up, it was a ritual to learn music. My father-in-law is a well know artist, Pandit Satyasheel Deshpande. So, when I was exposed to how a practitioner looks at music, I started enjoying and appreciating it more. It was extremely fulfilling as it helps me bond with my family. Beyond that it allows me to think of humanities from a different perspective. In the corporate world, we are stuck with deadlines. The output of fine arts is extremely human-pure beauty, aesthetics. It shows that things need not have a capitalist outcome per se. It helps me have a much more rounded life experience.

CC: What’s your philosophy in life?

Live and let live. Everybody is fighting a battle. Be kind to them. Empathy goes a long way.

CC: Any advice for the young crop?

Stay extremely curious. As we grow up we tend to lose that. Don’t let it happen.