CIO@2020: Interaction with Pankaj Kankar, CTO, Lenskart

Pankaj Kankar, CTO, Lenskart talks to CIO&Leader, keeping the Vision 2020 in perspective.

Excerpts from the interview:

Challenges that CTOs will face in 2020.

One of the key challenges is how we reach out to Tier-2 and Tier-3 consumers and to the rural segment because the e-commerce has solely been confined to the big cities. Another challenge which can also be an opportunity is customers want convenience and speed of services today. It’s now 24/7 operations and no longer a 10 to 8 delivery. But there are lots of enablers. The government focus on digital transformation, the pace with which it is going to happen, I think there are enablers but it is matter of how to leverage them and how quickly to do so.

What should be a CTO’s agenda in 2020?

One of the key things which we are focusing in the next couple of years is omni-channel, that is, consumers can have a very seamless journey across different touch-points. At Lenskart, we have ‘brick-and-mortar’ stores, online presence and also go to consumers’ home. If the consumer is able to start their journey at any of these touch points is one of the key thing and that drives multiple requirements: product experience, storing in online channel especially in our category where the need is there to provide near-physical experience on a digital platform. This brings about VR/AR technology.

Challenges with rapid evolvement of technology.

Being in touch with consumer needs and behavior is one of the key challenges. The same applies on the technology evolution. Today the technology is obsolete before it reaches the mass market. So staying connected to that and ability to foresee and ability to adapt to the changing user behavior, trends and technology is one of the biggest challenges I see. The other is more of operational challenge, that is, typical challenge between growth and profitability where in the Indian ecosystem, companies have grown and profitability has become an area of focus.

What are the personal goals you have set for the year 2020?

You have to move from information to knowledge to automated actionable insights and behaviors. As organizational setup changes, leadership styles also change and so needs adjustment accordingly. So these are the two big focus areas at a personal level.

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