25 Young Minds who say the future is IT

Manjula Nair



Web Designer, DBS


Infotech, Coimbatore










It is going to be very difficult to ignore the importance of IT, says this

25 year old Web designer. Not only does she feel that IT will be inevitable in

our lives five years from now, it will also make life simpler by making us

smarter. Already dependent on IT for designing websites for her clients, she

cant do away with its growing eminence in the way she functions, from shopping

online to connecting with her family via video chat. She also stands by her view

that no matter how overwhelming IT might become, creativity will be

insurmountable for IT.

Cherry Annaiah



Architect, WS Apkins, Bangalore









Her clients demand that their work areas be spruced up and turned into

lively places. Helical structures, bright colors, and stylish food courts are

the order of day. And this is where the challenge lies for her for this

architect. We have clients like Satyam and Infosys telling us they want

something abstract. She sees IT as an important element aiding her design

buildings that suit the changing taste of her client in the future. As her

designs get more complicated, the software aiding her design will be a class

apart. IT will certainly help her beat future challenges.

Kanika Sood



Executive Producer, Zee Business, New Delhi/NCR



There is probably nothing that goes on in our studio without a touch of IT.

Right from shooting to editing and finally airing a show, IT is involved every

step of the way. However, for this assistant producer, IT would be the power

behind her changing channels of her television set, just by calling out the name

of the channel she wants to watch, touching the remote would be a bygone. Or

better still, sitting in a boring meeting, she expects to have her favorite TV

show on her mobile phone, and she is sure IT will soon allow her to do so.

K Kiran Kumar



Team Leader IBM, Bangalore









The IT industry has not only showed me new ways of effective communication

but also has enlightened me with new strategies to deal with customers from

different geographies, says Kiran. My interaction with clients from the

developed countries has helped me understand the manner in which IT industries

function in these countries in comparison to the Indian scenario. The analogy

definitely helps in learning and unlearning a lot of things, it also offers

scope for value addition, he feels.

Chaitanya

Medikonduri



Developer Support


Engineer, Microsoft, Bangalore




Spending hours talking to clients in the US and solving their technical

problem, he knows that today, most of the IT work done in India is for the West,

and that there is a long way to go for IT in India. According to him, a lot has

changed in the last five years but even more is going to change in the next five

years with IT. IT companies have planned for the next 50 years and though new

software will be sophisticated in terms of developing it, its application is

going to be much more simpler in the future for the users. IT will bring with

it more exposure for the people. It is just a matter of time that every other

home in India will have a computer.

Silvi Shah



Junior Doctor, LNJP Hospital, New Delhi



Comparing it to the present day situation, Silvi elevates IT to a level

where it brings a sea of change for both her fellow doctors and patients who

queue-up outside the hospital in hundreds everyday. She sees herself profiling

her patients, entering their history and symptoms, fetching opinion from experts

across the country, and conducting the preliminary test, all at the click of a

button. Silvi is confident that digitization of patients records and e-medicine,

which is already happening in small capacities, will save a lot of man power

that goes in to fetching records or collection lab results.

Vaibhav Shastry



Faculty Computer Maintenance Corporation, Mumbai



The IT industry now offers diverse employment opportunities, says Vaibhav,

There are ample number of openings emerging in India for people aspiring for a

career in this sector. He has seen his classmates getting into excellent jobs

with promising careers in IT, and handsome pay packages. And all they needed was

a little exposure to basic technology education. Technology has become

ubiquitous, and hence career in technology, he feels, will never let you down.

Vasundhara Singh



Content Writer, HT Media, New Delhi



Simplifying and making life much more easier is how Vasundhara puts the

repercussions of growth of IT. Already, each one of us is so affected by it that

in the future, it will just get bigger and better. Improvement, expansion and

more usability of IT and its application is surely slated for future.

Aditi Pany



Programme Associate, Asoka Innovators for the Public, New Delhi


Aditi dabbles in two disparate worlds. One, that has people like her integrating
their lives with technology every step of the way. And the other, that has 65%

of the waiting to be the facilitator and a beneficiary of technology. She works

at the grass-root level, for the people who are untouched, leave alone being

swept by the on going IT wave, and is cognizant with the potential that IT has

for them. For her, IT is worthy of being a tool for governance for the rural

masses where IT has barely scratched the surface. There will be a two-way

communication process, where someone can raise a query, the government answers,

a reaction is generatedall using IT, says Aditi.

Neelam Kapadia



Entrepreneur, FineJewelryVault.com, New York









I expect IT to become the vital part of everyday life. In a world that is

becoming interdependent and with the rise of small businesses, the biggest

challenge will be how to make it easier for the customer, and the solution is

IT, says Neelam Kapadia. After completing his education, seeing the jumps in

e-commerce and the online IT market, he collaborated with his father to start a

jewelry website. Today, not only does he run a successful website,

FineJewelryVault.com, he has hands on experience in using the latest IT

applications. He sees IT solving two major problems for e-commerce. First is a

real-time solution to seeing products prior to purchase, and second, is a

lengthy checkout process that requires input from customers and often becomes

redundant and annoying. I also see the future of IT as a bridge between

countries across the world, concludes young entrepreneur.

Pallavi Tyagi Bhuchar



Design Engineer, Augen Technologies, Bangalore









Pallavi holds a masters in automotive engineering from Germany and credits IT
for simplifying life, making communication easier, and reducing boundaries. She

firmly believes that IT will continue to be a high growth industry, acting as a

medium for growth in other industries. Not stopping at that, she points out that

IT will bring two extremes of the same rope, the seller and the consumer closer

to each other, facilitate research across geographies and eventually, act as a

catalyst for development of new technologies. This design engineer sure has all

ITologies in place.

Pranil Dasika



Search Engineer, Guruji.com, Bangalore



The Es of the Internet revolution from e-banking to e-trading have changed

his life great deal, mainly by saving time and increasing convenience, and more

so, helped him focus a lot more on what he is best atengineering. Talking about

future prospects he says smart homes and offices will become much more easier

for individuals. Distinguishing IT as instrumental for helping save lives from

natural disasters in the near future, Pranil also feels IT to be an instrument

for educating the masses about health. In the future, IT can possibly spread its

wings to the farming community. But, information security will be an area of

focus for countries and companies, he concluded.

Caroline Castelino



Quality Control Engineer, Tarang Software


Technologies










Caroline feels that to survive in the booming and competitive IT business it

is necessary to constantly re-invent and also be in the right organization; one

that would nurture the innovations. Change is the only constant factor in IT.

Innovative ideas make path-breaking ventures possible. As IT is becoming all

prevalent, its exclusivity is now lost, which means IT is no longer the

stronghold of a chosen few. More and more people are joining the IT bandwagon,

and are forging their way with successful careers, she says.

Rohit

Janakaran



Radio Jockey, Fever 104 FM, Bangalore



Between the hustle-bustle of the city, Rohit, one of Fever 104 FM

Bangalores most popular RJ, paints the town with his smooth talk everyday. For

his every listener, he is a friend. However, Rohit befriends IT in his fully

digital soundproof studio and cannot imagine how he would ever get along without

the convenience that IT has brought with it. I think that IT will continue to

become and integral and eventually an invisible part of our lives. When I say

invisible, I mean that we will very soon just take technology for granted. It

will be in every part of our lives, from cash counters in shops to regulating of

our traffic signals, says the energetic jockey. For Rohit, the future of IT is

not just bright; it is a happy and efficient one.

Nirmal Singh Shekhawat



Legal Executive, Sahara India TV, New Delhi/NCR



Nirmal cant be more right when he says that IT will take us to a point where on
one side, there would be major labor cutting, and one the other side, there will

be remarkable improvement in efficiency. Already an essential tool for him to

carry on the days work, he also confers IT with the most fast paced growth

that, if reaches to the 65% of our populationrural India, will dramatically

change the way people function. However, the onus of bringing about this change

lies on the government. In the near future, legal recognition of online

signatures and e-banking will see extensive adoption, concludes this servant of

law.

Vasuki R



Technical Lead


Development Tarang Software Technologies










The growth of IT and its impact in the last decade has been tremendous.

Citing Internet as an example he explains how it has become an inseparable part

of peoples lives. I dont hear people talking about whether they have got the

new version of Windows. The question often heard is what someone has been doing

over the Internet lately, he says. The high growth in smart phones segment

also means an automatic addition to the Internet user base. It makes me strongly

believe that the future of IT is the network, says Vasuki.

Nalini Singh



Sub-Editor, The Asian Age, New Delhi



Nalini was not in tune with IT until her job demanded that she relies on it for
her daily functioning. Adjusting was difficult and she was hesitant. But that

was then. Today, IT has trickled down to even the basic chores like taking out

money from the ATM. However, she refused to be a slave to the technology and

turn into a machine. Nalini projects a future where at one end, technology might

be reaching new levels, but on the other, it would ultimately be a matter of

choice for the people. They would ultimately decide how much of IT they want in

their lives. IT has already given me a lot of convenience. And that is enough.

IT will see huge growth but I will see it as static, confides Nalini.

Vidya



SW Engineer Antenna Software, Bangalore









A young SW engineer, Vidya believes things will continue to change in the

coming years, thanks to technology. Very contended with her career choice, she

says IT holds a promising future for young people like us, because we know what

we want from the careers we have chosen, Death of distance, she feels, is a

wonderful advantage of the growing use of technology. She sees technology

reducing the communication gap between people in the organization, making them

work closely together, breaking hierarchy and legacy issues between the

juniors and seniors.

Nilashish Basu,



Ad Words Representative



Google India, Hyderabad









IT has changed the life of the aam aadmi, says Nilashish.

Well, the common man has done pretty well for himself since the IT industry

made a huge place for itself in the country. Though still some time away, the

common man will master technology like hes mastered the telephoneIT will be as

pervasive and as useful as the common cell phone is to the masses. As far as

young IT professionals are concerned, Nilashish feels the young work force of

India is now discharging more important responsibilities than it has ever

before, resulting in increasing aspiration levels.

Nauzur Ahmed



Software Engineer, HP, Bangalore



Being an IT professional has certainly accentuated my personality, says

Nauzur, One thing that distinguishes the software industry from the other

industries is that you have to be at your intellectual best at all timesand

that is challenging. He has no shred of doubt in his mind regarding the future

of the software industry getting only brighter with time, with more and more

sectors turning to IT for all their problem solving, which means new age

software solutions.

Priyank Kharge



CMD Proficio Geotechnologies, Bangalore









The IT industry is growing at a rapid pace. We will witness advanced

technologies and increased entry of chip manufacturers, is Priyanks take on

the future of IT.

The future of IT largely relies on a spur in research activities. Already IT

majors like Microsoft and Google are seen undertaking large scale research

activities, he says. He thinks the young IT professionals are confident and

open to risk taking, and that this ensures a great future for them.

Entrepreneurship and innovativeness will be the driving factors in the IT

industrys future with venture capitalists showing faith in the young

entrepreneurs, he adds.

Chaitanya Tatineni



Healthcare Banking, ABN AMRO, London



In response to how much IT is going to affect him in the future, this upbeat

investment banker and globetrotter, says, I want to say that I wouldnt like to

be too dependent on IT in the future; that in the worst case scenario, I would

rather leave everything and go farming. But, I dont think I have that luxury,

for I dont know nothing about growing crops and I would still need Google to

get a crash course! In the process, he has explained what the future holds for

IT. A qualified engineer from IIT, IT has been an inseparable part of him since

college days and even today, his job demands that he procures, process and act

on information before competitors. We would expect him to put IT on a pedestal

and endow the future with it, instead he quips that given the dynamic nature of

IT, it is really difficult to picturise it at any point in the future, and that

is what makes IT so exciting.

Abhishek

Thard



Student, Nirma Institute of Business Management,



Ahmedabad



He is set to enter the world of IT soon and he sure has his facts straight.

India is now outsourcing work to the third world like western Europe, Morocco,

and Indonesia, mainly due to raising manpower cost. However, IT still has a

great future due to the infrastructure we provide, tie-up with universities for

human resource and e-Governance. According to him, we are already Googling half

the time and booking our tickets online, so the dependency will remain in the

future. In fact, he appears very optimistic about the e-Governance and that

governance with IT at its core slated to be the thing of the future.

Ashwin Quadros



Content Developer



Yahoo!Search Marketing, Bangalore









IT has transformed the life of young people like us and the trend will only

continue, says Ashwin Quadros. IT has opened up opportunities for even the

non-techies, absorbing non-tech graduates. I have always loved surfing the net

but never imagined that I would be working in the IT sector. Being a graduate in

mass communication I thought the IT domain was only for techies, he says. IT

definitely holds a great future for generations to come, having thrown open a

platter of diverse job opportunities. IT has remarkably lessened the information

divide, shrinking the world to bring people from various geographies and

economies together, faster, says Aswin, though he feels much needs to be done

to take Indian IT to the scale of developed economies.

Sandhya



Associate Project Manager, Information


Systems WeP Pheripherals, Bangalore




The dot net industry will grow at a steady rate, says Sandhya. IT has

given her a new identity, and more value within the organization as well as

outside. This is true with respect to all women working in various sections of

the IT industry. IT has opened up opportunities even for people who dont have a

formal engineering or hardcore professional degree in technology, she feels. A

perfect example of which is she herself: having done a course from NIIT, today

she finds herself working on par with software engineers.

Shikha Das & H Chethana Gadiyar



shikhad@cybermedia.co.in
chethanag@cybermedia.co.in