Sambit Rout
Chief Technology Officer
In a candid conversation with the CEO Insights, Sambit takes us along on his life journey from being a young IT professional to becoming the CTO of a global technology service & digital solutions company.
Delineate on your educational & professional background prior to joining BlueRose Technologies.
Technology was nowhere in my mind when I started my vocational career. However, I was keen to study science, hence, secured a Degree of Science from Utkal University, Odisha. The boom of IT in India in late 90s got me sucked into the passion of studying computer science. Conclusively, I pursued a three year Post Graduate Programme in IT Management, and at the time, I was exposed to building complex programmes using languages like C++, VC++, VB, Java, Pl/SQL, and more. This learning got me my first Job in Bangalore as a Software Engineer (an extensive work on Visual Basic Program development). Also, as the year 2002 witnessed two significant changes in the global IT landscape the fall of DotCom Era, and the rise of CRM as a key differentiator in business world wide, and across all industry verticals. Being a young IT professional, and having an appetite to learn, I knew CRM was the next big destination. I got a chance to learn Siebel CRM and started implementing CRM solutions for FMCG and Telcom verticals. There after, I played multiple roles from a CRM Siebel Designer to a Pre
sales architect for major MNCs like IBM, ITC Infotech, Oracle, Accenture, and others for over 15+ years with implementations for clients like Deutsche Telecom, Vodafone Spain, Nextel Telecom, British American Tobacco, Church & Dwight, Mobilink, ANZ Bank, and others. Fortunately, in 2009, I got an opportunity to study Management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). This provided me an insight into blending my technology skills to recently acquired business acumen, and I eventually started off with my entrepreneurial journey into IT. I joined hands with BlueRose leaders to take my appetite further, and built a world class IT delivery company with technology areas like CRM, Telecom OSS/BSS, Digital, Blockchain, Data Science, BPM, and more.
The CTO of a company is one of the most undefined positions among C-level management. What kind of roles you have been playing at BlueRose Technologies?
My association with BlueRose started with a very difficult objective of transitioning the company from a pure play manpower consulting to Global IT Services based entity. I must say, this journey was hard and a roller coaster ride at all points. A good mix of my prior industry experience in IT delivery, with multiple international client touch points, BRT Leadership’s strong commitment and an already acquired talent pool helped us to prepare the right ingredients for going to the next level of winning bigger deals. My role has been multi fold in BRT, ranging from playing a strategic role in customer acquisitions to developing technology and delivery platforms like CRM,OSS/BSS, Digital, Product Development and more.
Your overarching professional journey has led you through several phases of ups and downs. What have been some of the critical milestones & achievements that have impacted you the most?
There have been many, and if I were to jot down some would be being able to build a Digital team for BRT with capabilities ranging from Blockchain, Data Science to building new age UI based applications with both on premises and cloud-based solutions. BRT got selected as one of the key players in the World Blockchain Summit held in Singapore in 2019 to present first of its kind Digital Crypto based platform for music industry. It was also moving when I was able to successfully setup a Siebel Global Delivery Practice and start implementing projects for large FMCG, Telecom & Insurance customers in the Middle East Region. Further more, when I took the onus of building a full fledged Telecom OSS/BSS team to support multiple complex engagements for
Technology is an enabler, and we should always be able to verticalize technology for emerging business needs
The CTO of a company is one of the most undefined positions among C-level management. What kind of roles you have been playing at BlueRose Technologies?
My association with BlueRose started with a very difficult objective of transitioning the company from a pure play manpower consulting to Global IT Services based entity. I must say, this journey was hard and a roller coaster ride at all points. A good mix of my prior industry experience in IT delivery, with multiple international client touch points, BRT Leadership’s strong commitment and an already acquired talent pool helped us to prepare the right ingredients for going to the next level of winning bigger deals. My role has been multi fold in BRT, ranging from playing a strategic role in customer acquisitions to developing technology and delivery platforms like CRM,OSS/BSS, Digital, Product Development and more.
Your overarching professional journey has led you through several phases of ups and downs. What have been some of the critical milestones & achievements that have impacted you the most?
There have been many, and if I were to jot down some would be being able to build a Digital team for BRT with capabilities ranging from Blockchain, Data Science to building new age UI based applications with both on premises and cloud-based solutions. BRT got selected as one of the key players in the World Blockchain Summit held in Singapore in 2019 to present first of its kind Digital Crypto based platform for music industry. It was also moving when I was able to successfully setup a Siebel Global Delivery Practice and start implementing projects for large FMCG, Telecom & Insurance customers in the Middle East Region. Further more, when I took the onus of building a full fledged Telecom OSS/BSS team to support multiple complex engagements for
customers like Mobily, Celcom, Dhiraagu, ACT, and more. I built a Product Development Unit to develop a lightweight application with faster time to market, more intuitive and cost-effective CRM solution in the Telcom world. Lastly, I built a global brand for BRT as an IT Services Delivery Organization with focus on innovation, verticalized solution delivery and efficiency in achieving customer business objectives.
In order to steer your organization towards the zenith, which are the technology areas you are planning to invest in?
My slogan has been, technology is an enabler, and we should always be able to verticalize technology for emerging business needs. At the end of the day, any business is not looking for a superior technology alone, but one that generates maximum revenue potential, ease in operations and a bettersustainability with a reduced upgrade time window. So, we at BRT focused on technologies which better suit our industry focus, such as Telecom OSS/BSS, FMCG, BFSI, and others. We started developing deep skill capabilities in Oracle BRM, OSM, ASAP, UIM, Siebel CRM, Salesforce, Oracle ERP, SAP, Pega, Appian, and more. We also started developing a light weight CRM Product (BRT 360), which can be an optimized solution for most Telecom Operators, both from a cost & implementation complexity viewpoint. Blue Rose is making significant investments in building capabilities in the next generation technologies as products & accelerators, such as Data Science, Digital Platform, Cloud, DevOps, Chatbots, and others to provide a leading edge to our customers across the verticals.
For further growth, we would like to invest heavily into three key areas for next few years Billing Technologies, Telecom CRM, FMCG based analytics & predictive modeling, cloud-native based ERP, Digital Stack with more focus on our in-house CRM product(BRT 360), AI/ML, and others.
Do you participate in any mentorship programs or give keynote speeches in conferences & seminars to share your industry insights with your peers?
Yes, I have been a speaker in some of the World Summits on emerging technologies, such as Block Chain, and more.
An IIM (EGMP) graduate, Sambit is an experienced technology leader with over 19 years of experience in Telecom BSS and CPG industry. He has a clear understanding of client requirements and being an enthusiastic team player, he has successfully implemented large scale IT engagements.
Awards & Recognitions:
•IBM Bravo Award in 2008
•ITC Infotech Best Software Engineer in 2004
•Accenture - Best CRM Professional in 2012
•IT Infotech - Pre-Sales Achiever Award in 2014
•BRT - Leadership Achievement Award in 2018
In order to steer your organization towards the zenith, which are the technology areas you are planning to invest in?
My slogan has been, technology is an enabler, and we should always be able to verticalize technology for emerging business needs. At the end of the day, any business is not looking for a superior technology alone, but one that generates maximum revenue potential, ease in operations and a bettersustainability with a reduced upgrade time window. So, we at BRT focused on technologies which better suit our industry focus, such as Telecom OSS/BSS, FMCG, BFSI, and others. We started developing deep skill capabilities in Oracle BRM, OSM, ASAP, UIM, Siebel CRM, Salesforce, Oracle ERP, SAP, Pega, Appian, and more. We also started developing a light weight CRM Product (BRT 360), which can be an optimized solution for most Telecom Operators, both from a cost & implementation complexity viewpoint. Blue Rose is making significant investments in building capabilities in the next generation technologies as products & accelerators, such as Data Science, Digital Platform, Cloud, DevOps, Chatbots, and others to provide a leading edge to our customers across the verticals.
For further growth, we would like to invest heavily into three key areas for next few years Billing Technologies, Telecom CRM, FMCG based analytics & predictive modeling, cloud-native based ERP, Digital Stack with more focus on our in-house CRM product(BRT 360), AI/ML, and others.
Do you participate in any mentorship programs or give keynote speeches in conferences & seminars to share your industry insights with your peers?
Yes, I have been a speaker in some of the World Summits on emerging technologies, such as Block Chain, and more.
An IIM (EGMP) graduate, Sambit is an experienced technology leader with over 19 years of experience in Telecom BSS and CPG industry. He has a clear understanding of client requirements and being an enthusiastic team player, he has successfully implemented large scale IT engagements.
Awards & Recognitions:
•IBM Bravo Award in 2008
•ITC Infotech Best Software Engineer in 2004
•Accenture - Best CRM Professional in 2012
•IT Infotech - Pre-Sales Achiever Award in 2014
•BRT - Leadership Achievement Award in 2018