Rajeev Belani: Driven By Passion For Innovation To Make A Dent In The Indian Technology Space
Rajeev Belani
CTO
In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Rajeev sheds light on his overall industry experience, his leadership approach, and much more.
Could you give a brief account of your professional journey and what motivates your daily routines?
I have an overall experience of around two decades working primarily in various technology first roles. I had the good fortune of finding myself in an environment which are challenging and innovative for the time. As early as 2004, I was involved in complex DigiTech as part of a tiny minority building complex mobile applications. I achieved significant success with chat messengers and a music streaming application before 2007, and have consistently been an early adopter of Cloud and Deep Tech since. I also realized quite early that those environments are my happy space, professionally speaking. My journey has taken me in multiple different roles and multiple functional domains as diverse as HealthTech, e-Commerce, EdTech, and video streaming. Currently, I am working at Wellness Forever, a leading firm in the pharmacy retail and the healthtech sector.
I understand the impact that technology has on our daily lives. To
innovate something using my skillsets that can positively impact other's lives in a meaningful way is something that drives me and fuels my daily routine.
Define Wellness Forever Medicare as an organization and its position in the market.
Wellness Forever Medicare is a leading pharmacy firm with a strong market hold in the western region of India. Coming to market position, with more than 400 exclusive stores across the country, the firm is one of those few firms that has been experiencing organic growth in an extremely competitive market purely through innovation and hard work. Competing against the market leaders in the sector while holding its own is no small feat, which, I believe, is possible due to our strong capabilities in innovation. The entire team at Wellness Forever prioritizes a culture of innovation, something that makes the firm stand out from its peers in the market.
As the CTO, what are the factors you look into when developing strategies for longterm digital transformation?
I believe that developing strategies for long-term digital transformation is one of the biggest challenges that CTOs nowadays face, primarily because there is no end to vertical skill growth, especially when technology is evolving at such a rapid pace.
For a CTO in the current digital age, having a deep understanding of the latest technologies as well as the foresight to be able to filter out the noise is extremely important. By this I mean that we are constantly faced with ‘technology trends’, most of which may not survive or are premature. Picking up technology trends are always disruptive, so we constantly have to wear the hat of business and have enough of an understanding of the trends to figure out which one to pick. One example in the recent past has been on Web3 tech which also saw its time in the sun, however as we see it today was slightly premature for the adoption.
Apart from ensuring that you are way ahead of the curve, you also have to work towards instilling confidence among the team to challenge you with better solutions. As a CTO, you need to instill a mindset of acceptability toward
Define Wellness Forever Medicare as an organization and its position in the market.
Wellness Forever Medicare is a leading pharmacy firm with a strong market hold in the western region of India. Coming to market position, with more than 400 exclusive stores across the country, the firm is one of those few firms that has been experiencing organic growth in an extremely competitive market purely through innovation and hard work. Competing against the market leaders in the sector while holding its own is no small feat, which, I believe, is possible due to our strong capabilities in innovation. The entire team at Wellness Forever prioritizes a culture of innovation, something that makes the firm stand out from its peers in the market.
In the tech world, we don't just solve problems; we download solutions & upgrade reality. Remember, every breakthrough was once a crazy idea in a CTO's coffee-fueled brainstorm
As the CTO, what are the factors you look into when developing strategies for longterm digital transformation?
I believe that developing strategies for long-term digital transformation is one of the biggest challenges that CTOs nowadays face, primarily because there is no end to vertical skill growth, especially when technology is evolving at such a rapid pace.
For a CTO in the current digital age, having a deep understanding of the latest technologies as well as the foresight to be able to filter out the noise is extremely important. By this I mean that we are constantly faced with ‘technology trends’, most of which may not survive or are premature. Picking up technology trends are always disruptive, so we constantly have to wear the hat of business and have enough of an understanding of the trends to figure out which one to pick. One example in the recent past has been on Web3 tech which also saw its time in the sun, however as we see it today was slightly premature for the adoption.
Apart from ensuring that you are way ahead of the curve, you also have to work towards instilling confidence among the team to challenge you with better solutions. As a CTO, you need to instill a mindset of acceptability toward
consistent change across the organization, which, I believe, is the only way to lead a long-term digital transition in an organization.
Tell us about your leadership approach. What is the future destination you are headed towards?
I truly believe that an individual is not qualified to lead if he can't walk into another person's shoes. My true leadership strength, as I have known, is very hands-on and lies in understanding technology and its impact on other's lives. I always try to stay abreast of the latest technologies. For instance, in the case of the new wave of AI/MLW that is coming through, the use cases have become extremely important. As a technologist with a thorough understanding of the business side of the operations, I have taken it upon myself to create those use cases using the latest Deep tech.
As far as the Wellness Forever is concerned, we are a part of an extremely fascinating health tech domain. I understand the kind of impact technology enabled healthcare can make in today's world. As far as products are concerned, we are also into omnichannel hyperlocal business, which means that we shouldn't be pivotal while providing omnichannel hyperlocal wellness and services to people. Apart from that, we also have a strong infrastructure for machine learning and artificial intelligence and can use it to provide valuable health insights as well as efficient healthcare delivery to most users. So that's where we are heading towards.
Rajeev Belani, CTO, Wellness Forever Medicare
An accomplished tech professional with an extensive experience of over two decades in various senior and leadership positions across tech domains, Rajeev Belani currently works as the CTO of Mumbai-based leading pharmacy firm, Wellness Forever Medicare. A passionate business technologist driven by his sheer passion for innovation, Rajeev recently won the Digital Transformation Leader award in the Healthcare Industry at the Pharma and Health Tech Summit 2023.
•Hobbies: Swimming, Playing guitar, Play time with my daughter, having coffee
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian Coffee
•Favorite Book: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Any 'coffee table book'
•Favorite Travel Destination: Goa, The US, Places with good Coffee
•Awards & Recognition:
•Awarded Digital Transformation Leader in the Healthcare Industry at the Pharma and Health Tech Summit 2023
Tell us about your leadership approach. What is the future destination you are headed towards?
I truly believe that an individual is not qualified to lead if he can't walk into another person's shoes. My true leadership strength, as I have known, is very hands-on and lies in understanding technology and its impact on other's lives. I always try to stay abreast of the latest technologies. For instance, in the case of the new wave of AI/MLW that is coming through, the use cases have become extremely important. As a technologist with a thorough understanding of the business side of the operations, I have taken it upon myself to create those use cases using the latest Deep tech.
As far as the Wellness Forever is concerned, we are a part of an extremely fascinating health tech domain. I understand the kind of impact technology enabled healthcare can make in today's world. As far as products are concerned, we are also into omnichannel hyperlocal business, which means that we shouldn't be pivotal while providing omnichannel hyperlocal wellness and services to people. Apart from that, we also have a strong infrastructure for machine learning and artificial intelligence and can use it to provide valuable health insights as well as efficient healthcare delivery to most users. So that's where we are heading towards.
Rajeev Belani, CTO, Wellness Forever Medicare
An accomplished tech professional with an extensive experience of over two decades in various senior and leadership positions across tech domains, Rajeev Belani currently works as the CTO of Mumbai-based leading pharmacy firm, Wellness Forever Medicare. A passionate business technologist driven by his sheer passion for innovation, Rajeev recently won the Digital Transformation Leader award in the Healthcare Industry at the Pharma and Health Tech Summit 2023.
•Hobbies: Swimming, Playing guitar, Play time with my daughter, having coffee
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian Coffee
•Favorite Book: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, Any 'coffee table book'
•Favorite Travel Destination: Goa, The US, Places with good Coffee
•Awards & Recognition:
•Awarded Digital Transformation Leader in the Healthcare Industry at the Pharma and Health Tech Summit 2023