The pandemic has undoubtedly affected the world economy. In 2021, even as the pandemic drags on, the global economy has proven remarkably resilient. However, many countries including India are still trying to fully contain the pandemic, which is holding their economic recovery back. At the same time, many advanced economies have introduced massive fiscal and monetary stimuli to stabilize economic growth, and consumption demand has remained resilient. Education, jobs, consumer demand, healthcare continue to be severely impacted in developing countries.

In this keynote, an expert will walk us through the major macro trends that will shape the future of the New Normal and will have a major impact on both global and Indian economies in the long run.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been extensively disruptive in terms of economic activity and loss of human lives across the globe. At the same time, this crisis has presented us with unique opportunities that can be leveraged to build back differently, which is more inclusive and more just, than our economies currently are. India must take the lead to build new industries that will accelerate growth and create jobs in a way that can stay resilient in the face of such future disruptions.

This riveting keynote talk by an industry veteran will share insights on how countries around the globe are unleashing new waves of reforms for sustained economic growth for long periods and how we can change the old normal economy towards a new one, driven by good economics for the new normal economic growth of India.

The circular economy is a bold ambition for tomorrow, and today, leaders across industries can play a vital role to increase resilience, mitigate climate risks, and unlock new business opportunities. The technology sector has a vital role in delivering a net-zero world. Leading into a new, sustainable future requires businesses to rethink parts, if not all, of their business. We need new definitive actions, new ways of collaborating and open innovation among all stakeholders, if we are to reach the ultimate goal of having a net-zero world.

In this coffee chat, we hear from a global CEO who has spearheaded sustainability initiatives and touches upon what decarbonization means for companies, how the R&D value chain has evolved to facilitate sustainability, the right talent required to enable decarbonization, and how the ecosystem needs to be rearchitected to enable this.

From Kirana store owners, to chaiwallahs, to a small beauty salon owner - every street in India is peppered with entrepreneurs and yet the definition of #Entrepreneurship is limited to start-up founders and unicorns today. There is a massive ‘missing middle’ that is not considered part of the “Indian start-up ecosystem.”

Enter - Mass Entrepreneurship Movement.

But what is mass entrepreneurship? How is it becoming a movement? Why is it important for India now? Will it help address this inequity? What are the challenges and how can the Indian ecosystem come together to help create a snowball effect in terms of the impact of this movement?

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact across the board – for brands, consumers, enterprises, economy, people – on an unprecedented scale. While on the one hand, it has accelerated the adoption of digital technologies across companies across verticals, it has also put pressure on the job market and household incomes, on the other. This has brought about a transformational change in consumer behavior as well as expectations – in favor of cash conservation, avoiding crowded places, cut in discretionary spending, giving more preference to online channels, to name a few. Consumers are now trying new ways of shopping and shifting to online retail, where they expect all the perks of an in-person shopping experience virtually.

What are the disruptive trends of consumer behavior that are affecting how brands think of customer experience? How can brands leverage technology to find new ways to reach the new normal consumers? How can Retail businesses adopt and accelerate digital shopping? What are the new skills, capabilities, business and pricing models for Retail businesses to thrive in the New Normal?

The pandemic has pushed businesses over the technology tipping point and significantly sped up the adoption of digital technologies over the last fifteen months. As the global economy recovers from the pandemic, one particular area of focus that has been pushed to the forefront is financial inclusion. The growing use of digital financial services has turned a crisis into an opportunity, enabling previously unbanked people and small firms to join the broader financial system.

How can organizations adopt a holistic approach to digital transformation to deliver an efficient, effective, and sustainable banking service to all? How can leaders realign their thinking to create a financial inclusion value chain that caters to the new normal customer expectations and demands? How can traditional banking institutions build strategic partnerships with the larger ecosystem to democratize financial services?

From mobile banking to microfinance, this panel of banking and financial experts will be discussing how we can take inclusive finance to the next level.

The holy grail of innovation typically lies in the intersection of different disciplines - technology, talent, and process. A similar approach can work wonders for a better future for our planet and us. The global pandemic is a great wake-up call for all of us to pay more attention to our planet and what is happening to it. Can we learn from it and safeguard our future? What can we, not just as individuals but also as businesses, do to head towards a better future?

This Z Talk is a personal journey of the speaker and the learnings he’s had over the years - of throwing light on the power of a collective and the ability to change the world through human consciousness.

COVID-19 has fundamentally altered the world. It has significantly increased the digital maturity of enterprises, making geographical location immaterial and inconsequential in many aspects. When it comes to innovation, ideally, this shift should present an opportunity for teams across geographies to create new products and solutions and accelerate their go-to-market. However, has digital maturity actually helped in overcoming underlying barriers and been effective in facilitating innovation from a distributed environment? Can we build a Culture of Innovation that can drive meaningful innovation outcomes from across the globe? What are the underlying challenges that leaders and organizations need to overcome to build a truly innovation-first culture to improve the odds of success?

This exciting keynote talk by a Zinnov leader will set the stage for the rest of the sessions, by addressing some of the burning questions that organizations are faced with, when maximizing their return on innovation.

What is the role of data in driving innovation and building resilience? The pandemic has driven businesses to embrace a more agile, data-centric approach to decision-making. This crisis also provides a unique opportunity for leaders to focus on core strengths, find new opportunities, and build stronger, more intelligent organizations with the power of data. In this coffee chat, two industry veterans and consummate technologists will discuss how to harness the power of data to drive innovation, while also building resilience.

As enterprises look toward life after COVID, their focus must be on driving efficiencies for some and embracing changing paradigms. Today, more than ever, organizations need the grit and perseverance to stick with their ambitious goals and aspirations. In this keynote, Walid will discuss how companies who design with a digital-first mindset, gain advantages in opportunistic areas, and make incremental progress on their sustainability journeys will succeed in the post-pandemic world of business - working smarter, not harder.

On one hand, with the COVID-19 effect, global MNCs are increasing their engagement with start-ups as they look for innovative digital solutions. On the other hand, India is emerging as a globally recognized technology start-up ecosystem because of the increased support from policymakers, expanding base of niche talent, and exposure to technology applications. Over the past year, we have witnessed many Indian start-ups going global much earlier than expected, proving that location is no longer a barrier to servicing businesses and customers across the globe.

With this background in mind, is the Indian start-up ecosystem becoming a center of gravity for corporates? Can we expect more winning collaborations between corporates and Indian start-ups? How can organizations remove the barriers for greater collaboration to make innovation the central agenda? This panel of innovation experts and veterans will throw light on these aspects of collaboration and much more.

Relentless learning is an undervalued superpower - one that can provide compounding gains like no other investment can. When this learning happens over a decade - 2 failed start-ups, 3 jobs, and 3 part-time gigs - it is bound to make for some fun stories.

This session will share how connecting the dots across all your experiences can snowball into innovation.

There are seismic shifts underway, in the way organizations operate. Especially in the aftermath of the global pandemic, which has forced companies to rethink, re-evaluate, and redefine their business models, digitalization agendas, and put the focus on future-proofing businesses against disruptions. Technologies – new-age ones such as Hyper Intelligent Automation – catalyzed the acceleration of digitalization across verticals, paving the way for the next-gen enterprise, which is not only digital-ready, but autonomous in its own right. Organizations will need to traverse the journey from Automation to autonomous digital enterprise, by delivering value through organizational agility, customer centricity, and actionable insights.

But what are the challenges that organizations will need to overcome in their journey to become truly next-gen digital, autonomous enterprises? What are the tools and strategies that will help leaders traverse this journey? What role will leadership play as organizations make this transformative shift? These questions and more will be answered in this Zinnov keynote by experienced technology leader.

Even before the pandemic, many significant changes were transforming the nature of work. The recent unprecedented disruptions have led to a deeper integration of technology into the workplace and changed how employees and businesses look at work. Additionally, given the new paradigm of work, employees’ expectations have begun to change as they search for greater flexibility as well as more meaning in their day-to-day job roles.

While the future remains uncertain, innovation and technology continue to lead instrumental change in the nature of work. But is the new model and newer expectations from employees sustainable in the long run? How can companies prepare for a future that is not yet defined? How do we create a sustainable future of work which continues to use technology to build a more effective workplace while also catering to employees’ evolving needs and expectations? This riveting coffee chat will touch upon these aspects and more.

As 5G deployments are scaling, O-RAN (Open Radio Access Network) is a hot topic across the Telecommunications industry. Open RAN is reshaping the mobile network landscape, opening the door for more open, flexible, virtualized, multi-vendor networks. As a result, we are seeing the formation of a robust, diverse vendor ecosystem with many non-traditional participants. While O-RAN has tremendous potential, it is not without its challenges.

This keynote will explore these topics and more as this Telco veteran discusses the importance of taking an end-to-end approach to managing O-RAN networks, through high-value solutions that verify interoperability, performance, conformance, and security.

With the pandemic accelerating the adoption of AI, organizations are already looking at transforming their processes, people, customer experience, and data optimization to harness the power of AI. AI and Automation together, are helping organizations build new and improved capabilities for growth and scale that will enable them to have a leading position in the revamped competitive landscape in the New Normal. However, inadequate infrastructure, limited in-house talent, and the lack of relevant, easily accessible, and organized data are holding many organizations back from fully realizing the potential of AI.

How do you separate the hype from reality of what AI can do for you and your customers? How do you build a compelling business case and identify clear metrics to track ROI and deliver value? This panel with pioneering industry leaders will incite dynamic discussions to share learnings in overcoming common pressure points in scaling and progressing their digital transformation journey by leveraging AI and Automation.

Today, most cars start at the press of a button and offer adaptive cruise control and built-in navigation systems. In the not-too-distant future, autonomous vehicles will use powerful systems of onboard sensors and pervasive Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to transport passengers and proactively identify and remediate issues - from routine maintenance to emergency measures - with minimal human direction. This journey is roughly parallel to advances in IT. From punch cards to FORTRAN to AI so advanced it can write its own code, incremental increases in Automation have progressed the state of the art for IT - and increasingly freed staff from manual, tedious tasks. While still at the midway point on the Automation continuum, server Automation can already liberate resources from the day-to-day management and maintenance of compute infrastructure, so IT can focus more time and energy on digital transformation that drives innovation and business success.

This keynote talk will shed light on how Automation can help further the autonomous agenda for organizations.

Evolving security threats demand a new response from IT and security leaders, especially in the post-pandemic era. Organizations will need to pivot quickly to meet the new requirements from a hybrid workforce, while also combating newer, more malicious threats across the board. This is especially true given that organizations are now Cloud-first in their bid to bring in organizational agility. However, the new working models have created security whitespaces that need to be addressed at the earliest.

So, how can leaders re-envision their security strategy, given these newer aspects? How can these leaders address newer threats while also ensuring seamless access to real-time data for internal purposes? What are the top challenges that leaders are losing sleep over? How can they address them efficiently, and in a cost effective manner? This panel of illustrious leaders will shed light on this pertinent topic that is top of mind for most CXOs.

The pandemic has accelerated market volatility, cost pressures, tech-driven disruptions, and emphasized the need for globally connected value chains. These trends have triggered significant changes in how Global Business Services (GBS) organizations will operate in the future and the value they create for their parent organizations. In fact, in the wake of the ongoing pandemic, GBS organizations have strengthened their role as a key pillar of resilience, further cementing their role as a strategic partner to HQ. This will fuel their transformation into being more digital-oriented, value-focused, and customer-centric.

But how is India emerging as the top destination for establishing GBS organizations? How are GBS organizations leading the digital transformation for the parent organizations? What are the future opportunities for GBS in India? What’s next in the evolution of GBS to drive business objectives? Join us in this leadership session and hear from CXOs leading GBS organizations on how GBS is evolving and expanding their value proposition, enhancing the customer experience, and delivering new benefits.

To register for the session, drop an email to prashant@zinnov.com.

The pandemic has had far-reaching impact on employee psyche, expectations, and behaviour. With a burgeoning demand for high quality talent, it has become increasingly important for organizations keep Inclusion & Diversity in their line of sight. The hybrid/remote work construct has created a wider chasm in the organizational effort around D&I initiatives, making it an imperative for companies and leaders to double down on their D&I efforts.

What can organizations and the technology ecosystem do to remove obstacles for women in tech to grow and leave their mark? How can leaders within an organization and across the ecosystem be allies and advocate for those who need their support? Which technologies and tools can be deployed in ensuring unbiased sourcing, hiring, and onboarding processes? What are the potential roadblocks to leveraging technologies in an organization's D&I journey?

To register for the session, drop an email to prashant@zinnov.com.