Umed Kejariwal: A Seasoned Techno Commercial Professional With Over 15 Years Of Experience In Digital Transformation
Umed Kejariwal
Associate VP - Product Management, Digital & Innovation
Umed Kejariwal, First Credit Services’ Associate Vice President of Product Management, Digital & Innovation, is a seasoned Techno-Commercial professional with over 15 years of experience in Digital Transformation, Digital Strategy, Business and Technology Consulting, Data Management, Product Strategy, Product Management, Program Management, Delivery, Pre-Sale, and Business Solutions. In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Umed spoke about the digital reforms he has undertaken throughout his career.
Tell us about your professional background before First Credit Services.
After graduating from IIT Kharagpur, I started my professional journey with one of the mid size company. Later on, I have worked in roles like business analyst, product management, and digital transformation while working in various other companies. In my 15-year career, I have worked for startups before moving to a large corporation like Core Logic. I have also worked with the Government of India’s UIDAI (the Aadhaar Team). After that, I worked for the American International Group, Infosys, and Standard Chartered.
And over my career, I have had the opportunity to work in a variety of industries, including BFSI, Manufacturing, Healthcare, FinTech, Retail and Automotive. So far, I have worked with CXOs of large worldwide corporations in countries such as Japan, US, UK, Ireland, Singapore and the Middle East, where I assisted them in defining their digital strategy
roadmaps and achieving digital transformation. In addition, I have provided technical and business consultancy to huge corporations to help them reach their next level of success. I have extensive product ideation experience, having given life to ideas and developed solutions from the ground up to solve business problems.
Being an Associate Vice President, what different roles have you been undertaking at First Credit Services and how do you keep your team motivated to successfully complete an assignment?
As an Associate Vice President, I am in charge of establishing the digital strategy roadmap and assisting with the technology transformation of the existing business, as well as developing a new digital platform to propel the company to the next level of growth.
Also, to keep the staff motivated, I convey the organization’s vision and objective, which is critical. I have established a collaborative work culture and a healthy working environment, and I never punish my employees for their mistakes; instead, I offer growth opportunities and provide positive feedback and rewards. So, these are the 5-6 characteristics that assisted me in motivating my team.
What kind of talent is needed as you build and develop the digital and innovation operations team? As an Associate Vice President, how do you think Digital transformation strategy should evolve as the business evolves?
To begin, when I hire talent for my digital transformation and innovation projects, there are a few characteristics that I consider, one of which is that each individual contributor must have the appropriate attitude.
Technically, if you have the correct attitude, you can gain the required abilities even if you don’t have them, but if you don’t have the right attitude, it will be extremely difficult for the team to work with you. And when it comes to data governance and expanding as a business, it is critical to keep-up with the fast-paced, exponentially changing environment, as well as emerging client demand for digital transformation. It enables a business to compete more
Being an Associate Vice President, what different roles have you been undertaking at First Credit Services and how do you keep your team motivated to successfully complete an assignment?
As an Associate Vice President, I am in charge of establishing the digital strategy roadmap and assisting with the technology transformation of the existing business, as well as developing a new digital platform to propel the company to the next level of growth.
When I hire talent for my digital transformation and innovation projects, there are a few characteristics that I consider, one of which is that each individual contributor must have the appropriate attitude
Also, to keep the staff motivated, I convey the organization’s vision and objective, which is critical. I have established a collaborative work culture and a healthy working environment, and I never punish my employees for their mistakes; instead, I offer growth opportunities and provide positive feedback and rewards. So, these are the 5-6 characteristics that assisted me in motivating my team.
What kind of talent is needed as you build and develop the digital and innovation operations team? As an Associate Vice President, how do you think Digital transformation strategy should evolve as the business evolves?
To begin, when I hire talent for my digital transformation and innovation projects, there are a few characteristics that I consider, one of which is that each individual contributor must have the appropriate attitude.
Technically, if you have the correct attitude, you can gain the required abilities even if you don’t have them, but if you don’t have the right attitude, it will be extremely difficult for the team to work with you. And when it comes to data governance and expanding as a business, it is critical to keep-up with the fast-paced, exponentially changing environment, as well as emerging client demand for digital transformation. It enables a business to compete more
effectively and strategically reposition itself in an economic climate that is continuously changing in reaction to technological advances. As a result, I believe that a digital strategy is necessary when your company is involved.
How does your vast experience help you to chalk-out business operations for First Credit Services?
Being a techno commercial expert with experience in product design, product management, and digital transformation in the banking and FinTech industries, it assists me in repositioning my company in this rapidly shifting economic environment.
Also, under the direction of our CEO, we are establishing an innovation lab in India, where we will be able to develop digital and intelligence collection platforms using open source technology to propel our organization to the next level of development. Parallel to that, we have already set our digital strategy and roadmap for our existing and new businesses, and we have already begun working on and developing use cases based on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Blockchain. This incorporates the better consumer experience through omni channel and allows for data-driven decision-making.
What are the most important attributes of successful Chief Innovation leaders today, and what are some of the successful mantras that can you recommend on leadership?
My mantra is, leaders are created rather than born. The ability to see and convey the future is critical for any leader, as is the ability to drive ideas to achieve the vision and be a champion, as well as to encourage creativity and innovation. Leaders who are disruptive thinkers must work together. So, these are the most crucial characteristics of a chief innovation leader or for a leader’s success.
Umed Kejariwal, Associate Vice President - Product Management, Digital & Innovation, First Credit Services
Umed graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a a master’s degree in 2005. He has completed Executive MBA from Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining First Credit Services, Umed worked for firms such as HCL, CoreLogic, Mindteck, AIG Data Solution, Standard Chartered Bank, Standard Chartered Venture, and Infosys. He has also served as a Product Manager for the Government of India’s UIDAI (Aadhaar) and was part of panelist for many fintech summit in India and aboard such as 2019 Chain Plus Asia Pacific Blockchain New Finance Summit, Singapore.
Location: US & Mumbai
How does your vast experience help you to chalk-out business operations for First Credit Services?
Being a techno commercial expert with experience in product design, product management, and digital transformation in the banking and FinTech industries, it assists me in repositioning my company in this rapidly shifting economic environment.
Also, under the direction of our CEO, we are establishing an innovation lab in India, where we will be able to develop digital and intelligence collection platforms using open source technology to propel our organization to the next level of development. Parallel to that, we have already set our digital strategy and roadmap for our existing and new businesses, and we have already begun working on and developing use cases based on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Blockchain. This incorporates the better consumer experience through omni channel and allows for data-driven decision-making.
What are the most important attributes of successful Chief Innovation leaders today, and what are some of the successful mantras that can you recommend on leadership?
My mantra is, leaders are created rather than born. The ability to see and convey the future is critical for any leader, as is the ability to drive ideas to achieve the vision and be a champion, as well as to encourage creativity and innovation. Leaders who are disruptive thinkers must work together. So, these are the most crucial characteristics of a chief innovation leader or for a leader’s success.
Umed Kejariwal, Associate Vice President - Product Management, Digital & Innovation, First Credit Services
Umed graduated from IIT Kharagpur with a a master’s degree in 2005. He has completed Executive MBA from Anderson School of Management at University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to joining First Credit Services, Umed worked for firms such as HCL, CoreLogic, Mindteck, AIG Data Solution, Standard Chartered Bank, Standard Chartered Venture, and Infosys. He has also served as a Product Manager for the Government of India’s UIDAI (Aadhaar) and was part of panelist for many fintech summit in India and aboard such as 2019 Chain Plus Asia Pacific Blockchain New Finance Summit, Singapore.
Location: US & Mumbai