Deepak Chauhan: Helping Firms Adopt Digital Transformation Initiatives
Deepak Chauhan
Director
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Deepak shares his prior industrial experience, his future roadmaps for the firm in terms of investment and expansion, and much more.
Shed some light on your professional background and experiences. What inspired you to take up the role of Director at Softlink?
After my B Tech, I worked for firms such as ABB, Netcradle, Appulse Technologies, and Hewitt Associates in client-facing roles such as Business Analyst, Lead Business Consultant etc across different geographies. In these roles, I got to work with multiple clients in different verticals who were facing some very difficult and tough challenges of those times. Later, I went on to do my MBA from IIM Indore and then in 2009, I joined Hewlett Packard as an Engagement Manager. The role at HP gave me a very challenging opportunity to create a new line of business globally for the firm’s Information Management group. I created a business which was valued at more than $30 million in 2014. For my contribution to business, I got awards in 2010 and 2013 at HP.
After HP, I helped co-create Softlink Information Systems and took the role of Director for Programs and Transformations. Here, I have had a chance to create a business from scratch in business analytics and
transformation space. I am also actively involved in spreading business agility across enterprises as well as startups, as success in digital transformation journey depends upon an organization’s ability to adopt business agility, which is the foundation for any change initiative. I am an IC Agile instructor and conduct workshops on business agility and leadership. I am also an adjunct faculty at IIM Lucknow.
Softlink takes up extremely complex and large problems to solve, and that’s what inspired me to take up the role at the firm. Apart from that, the firm also gives me complete freedom to ideate, operate, and implement brand new ideas and allows me to work with some of the best in their class business peers and domain specialists.
What are the learnings and experiences you had acquired from IIM Indore and how do you apply them in your current role?
IIM Indore was truly a transformational and life changing journey for me. Learnings from faculty and my exceptional course mates both inside and outside of classrooms helped me in developing a holistic understanding of business and the challenges they face. One very important thing I learned at IIM Indore is to reflect and improve upon when you are facing difficult situations. From under standing customer needs to creating agile strategies and understanding organizational dynamics in a highly uncertain environment, the skills I learned at IIM Indore have continued to help me as I progress in my Professional career.
Define Softlink Information Systems as an organization and its position in the market. What are some of the unique services offered by the firm?
Softlink Information Systems is a young, extremely fast-growing technology consulting company in the Business Analytics and Digital transformation space. The firm provides consulting and professional services to large enterprises and govt. agencies. Softlink Information Systems uses contemporary technology to solve some of the most compelling problems posed by the digital economy and is exceptionally positioned to be in the reckoning for the next 15 years, primarily due to
Success in digital transformation journey depends upon an organization’s ability to adopt business agility, which is the foundation for any change initiative
Softlink takes up extremely complex and large problems to solve, and that’s what inspired me to take up the role at the firm. Apart from that, the firm also gives me complete freedom to ideate, operate, and implement brand new ideas and allows me to work with some of the best in their class business peers and domain specialists.
What are the learnings and experiences you had acquired from IIM Indore and how do you apply them in your current role?
IIM Indore was truly a transformational and life changing journey for me. Learnings from faculty and my exceptional course mates both inside and outside of classrooms helped me in developing a holistic understanding of business and the challenges they face. One very important thing I learned at IIM Indore is to reflect and improve upon when you are facing difficult situations. From under standing customer needs to creating agile strategies and understanding organizational dynamics in a highly uncertain environment, the skills I learned at IIM Indore have continued to help me as I progress in my Professional career.
Define Softlink Information Systems as an organization and its position in the market. What are some of the unique services offered by the firm?
Softlink Information Systems is a young, extremely fast-growing technology consulting company in the Business Analytics and Digital transformation space. The firm provides consulting and professional services to large enterprises and govt. agencies. Softlink Information Systems uses contemporary technology to solve some of the most compelling problems posed by the digital economy and is exceptionally positioned to be in the reckoning for the next 15 years, primarily due to
the thought process, which is constantly morphing itself and adapting to the changes.
Softlink Information Systems offer services to solve problems being faced by the constantly evolving digital world. The company is small, extremely nimble, and exceptionally agile in its approach and in delivering outcomes and is never afraid to take up new ways of solving problems, mostly not being attempted by its peers or other large consulting and IT services organizations. The company works on a predictive model to build its expertise while ensuring to stay ahead of the curve in terms of delivery using the most suited and contemporary technology available.
What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes? What are the future goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
My success mantra is to look towards every journey as unique. The challenges you face, the solutions you find, the way you handle a crisis, everything is as per the journey that you are traversing and thus ‘one of a kind’. Instead of trying to look for that silver bullet or searching for a framework be agile, open to exploring new ideas and thoughts, and accept failures as learning experiences! After all, to break the glass and create some thing extraordinary you have to jump out of your comfort zone.
Coming to future goals, I would invest more time in acquiring other allied knowledge and skills that contribute to building a holistic framework for the digital enterprise. We have established a presence in Europe by opening an office in Amsterdam, the next target is the Middle East and Africa. I will also focus on building Vertical based intelligence and IP for the company as well as taking up ground-up projects and completing them.
Deepak Chauhan, Director, Softlink Information Systems
Deepak is a management consultant, strategic product-program manager, and agile transformation coach with more than 17 years of extensive experience in creating and running strategic programs for transformation, growth, innovation, market acquisitions, and retention. He has created multiple businesses at Hewlett Packard and Softlink Information Systems. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Indore, Deepak is an adjunct faculty at IIM Lucknow and IC Agile Instructor for business agility.
•Favorite cuisine: Indian & Italian
•Favorite book: The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
•Favorite Travel Destination: London Switzerland & Kerala
•Hobbies: Travelling, & reading
Softlink Information Systems offer services to solve problems being faced by the constantly evolving digital world. The company is small, extremely nimble, and exceptionally agile in its approach and in delivering outcomes and is never afraid to take up new ways of solving problems, mostly not being attempted by its peers or other large consulting and IT services organizations. The company works on a predictive model to build its expertise while ensuring to stay ahead of the curve in terms of delivery using the most suited and contemporary technology available.
What has been the success mantra that constantly helps you arrive at positive outcomes? What are the future goals that you wish to invest in and how do you plan to take them further?
My success mantra is to look towards every journey as unique. The challenges you face, the solutions you find, the way you handle a crisis, everything is as per the journey that you are traversing and thus ‘one of a kind’. Instead of trying to look for that silver bullet or searching for a framework be agile, open to exploring new ideas and thoughts, and accept failures as learning experiences! After all, to break the glass and create some thing extraordinary you have to jump out of your comfort zone.
Coming to future goals, I would invest more time in acquiring other allied knowledge and skills that contribute to building a holistic framework for the digital enterprise. We have established a presence in Europe by opening an office in Amsterdam, the next target is the Middle East and Africa. I will also focus on building Vertical based intelligence and IP for the company as well as taking up ground-up projects and completing them.
Deepak Chauhan, Director, Softlink Information Systems
Deepak is a management consultant, strategic product-program manager, and agile transformation coach with more than 17 years of extensive experience in creating and running strategic programs for transformation, growth, innovation, market acquisitions, and retention. He has created multiple businesses at Hewlett Packard and Softlink Information Systems. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management Indore, Deepak is an adjunct faculty at IIM Lucknow and IC Agile Instructor for business agility.
•Favorite cuisine: Indian & Italian
•Favorite book: The monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma
•Favorite Travel Destination: London Switzerland & Kerala
•Hobbies: Travelling, & reading