Masters Decoded

Masters Decoded

By Anees MerchantBusiness
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Masters Decoded episodes

  • SP11: Crisis Management Framework: Define your North Star

    I am glad to announce a new special series - Crisis Management framework for businesses during scenarios like Covid-19. The last three months have been roller coaster ride for the entire world. Economies and markets are planning to open up and trying their best to resort to normalcy. However, the last three months have changed how the world, individuals, and businesses have shifted their preferences, habits, needs, and wants. It is imperative that organizations relook at their priorities and how they look to drive their business ahead. Keeping that premise in mind, I have to invite Gregory Shepard to collaborate and see how organizations can think about pivoting or relook at the crisis and build a plan to come out as a winner. Listen to our multi-series over the next few weeks to uncover a framework that can be applied for businesses to be successful. North Star definition in any business is critical, the episode helps you decode with example on definition or if you thinking of pivoting how do you treat the North Star for business. 

    You can fine more details on the BOSS Framework on - https://www.gregoryshepard.com/about-boss



    34 min
  • EP14: Vikas Gupta: Decoding the knowledge world

    In today's episode I invited Vikas Gupta. Vikas is a recognized and award winning thought leader in the publishing and knowledge industry. In a career spanning over 20 years, Vikas has been a forerunner in leading many innovative products and business models in the space of technology-driven learning solutions, research and faculty development, professional certifications and skill development.

    As an award-winning serial entrepreneur, Vikas co-founded and led ventures in the fields of IT, Publishing and Medical Electronics. He is an ardent promoter of the spirit of entrepreneurship and encourages students as well as professionals to constantly strive towards perseverance coupled with innovative thinking.

    He has authored/co-authored 15 books till date, and his books in the field of IT has sold over two million copies worldwide.

    At present, he is the Managing Director of Wiley India and is the Former President of the Association of Publishers in India (API). He is also the promoter-member of the Education Promotion Society of India (EPSI).

    He is the recipient of ‘Business Excellence and Innovative Best Practices Academia Award-2019’ by Dr. Manmohan Singh, former Prime Minister, India for Innovative Strategy in Digital Content, Contribution to Entrepreneurship Ecosystem, Exemplary contribution to Academic Knowledge and Building Brand India through Business.

    Vikas holds a bachelors degree in Electronics Engineering and an Executive MBA from ISB in association with Kellogg School of Management the Wharton Business School and Fundação Dom Cabral, Brazil. He also holds a PG Diploma in Printing and Publishing from London.

    49 min
  • EP13: Scott Brinker: A man who defined Martech

    In today's episode, I invited Scott Brinker. Scott is currently VP Platform Ecosystem at HubSpot. Before that, Scott was the co-founder and CTO of ion interactive, a SaaS company that pioneered interactive content for global enterprises (Cisco, Dell, DHL, General Mills, Microsoft, etc.) and was acquired in 2017.

    Since 2008, Scott is also running the Chief Marketing Technologist blog, chiefmartec.com, with over 50,000 readers, analyzing topics at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. One of his famous projects on the cheifmartec.com is the Marketing Technology Landscape, mapping the growth of the marketing technology industry from a few hundred vendors to 8,000. In 2014, he launched the MarTech conference, where Scott currently serves as the event's program chair, bringing together a community of thousands of senior marketing operations and technology professionals.

    Scott also has written the best-selling book "Hacking Marketing," published by Wiley in 2016, and co-authored the article "The Rise of the Chief Marketing Technologist" published in Harvard Business Review. Scott is also a frequent keynote speaker at conferences around the world on topics of marketing technology and agile marketing.

    53 min
  • SP10: Digital Transformation Myths (Part 6)

    SP series are individual episodes where

    • I either get interviewed or   
    • Focus on topics which are requested by my listeners or   
    • Just have fun covering areas that are interesting to me personally.

      • The COVID-19 scenario has challenged the government, societies, organizations and all of us on our thinking. Digital Transformation as an agenda which was a long drawn plan for many has now become a reality in the last two months. Many organizations have struggled to embark on the journey due to many misconceptions or myths surrounding Digital Transformation. In this new special series, post my research I would cover

      1. Digitization is another name of digital transformation
      2. Profitable companies would only be successful in driving digital transformation.
      3. The program has a significant component of financial risks
      4. Faster delivery would lead to quality issues

        5. The intention is to enable organizations with an adequate proof point to executes to draw and embark on their plans.

        Some of the references which I have leveraged are from Satya Nadella's book 'Hit Refresh', HBR, CIO.com Articles, and many more.

        If you like the special series, then do share your feedback and opinions on what else you would like me to cover in the special series.

        11 min
      5. EP12: Dr. Rohini Srivathsa: The dots connecting back

        In today's episode, I invited Dr. Rohini Srivathsa. Rohini currently serves as a National Technology Officer for Microsoft India, Rohini is responsible for helping our customers and partners across industry and the government drives innovation and growth through ‘tech-intensity’ in the age of Industry 4.0. Her 25+ years’ career spans business and technology – with strategy consulting at the Boston Consulting Group and IBM Global Business Services, operations and sales at start-ups, and R&D at AT&T Bell Laboratories.

        Rohini is a member of the Wiley Innovation Advisory Council, is on the Advisory Council of the ECE Dept at CMU, and serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee for NM-ICPS, Dept of Science and Technology, Government of India.

        She was recognized among the ‘Top-10 most influential analytics leaders in India in

        Rohini holds an MBA from Wharton and earned her PhD in Computer Engineering from UT Austin.

        58 min
      6. SP9: Digital Transformation Myths (Part 5)

        SP series are individual episodes where

        1. I either get interviewed or  
        2. Focus on topics which are requested by my listeners or  
        3. Just have fun covering areas that are interesting to me personally.

          4. The COVID-19 scenario has challenged the government, societies, organizations and all of us on our thinking. Digital Transformation as an agenda which was a long drawn plan for many has now become a reality in the last two months. Many organizations have struggled to embark on the journey due to many misconceptions or myths surrounding Digital Transformation. In this new special series, post my research I would cover

          1. The program is a one-off and delivered by a SWAT team (I.T. Team largely led)
          2. Digital transformation is for B2C companies.
          3. You would be able to get short term wins quicker.
          4. The program can be driven for large companies only

            5. The intention is to enable organizations with an adequate proof point to executes to draw and embark on their plans.

            Some of the references which I have leveraged are from Satya Nadella's book 'Hit Refresh', HBR, CIO.com Articles, and many more.

            If you like the special series, then do share your feedback and opinions on what else you would like me to cover in the special series.

            12 min
          5. EP11: Shivanku (Shiv) Misra: A planned Mathematician

            In today's episode, I invited Shivanku (Shiv) Misra. Shiv is a senior analytics and insights executive with 12+ years of leadership experience in developing and implementing transformational solutions with quantifiable business impact - across multiple domains including CPG, Hospitality, Financial Services, Gaming, Technology, Retail Sales, and E-commerce. He has proven expertise in starting, and successfully growing data and analytics function ground up, at multiple Fortune 500 companies. Shiv has till date delivered the business impact of more than $2 billion over the last decade, leading high-performance global distributed, and functionally diverse teams


            Currently, Shiv leads the marketing and digital analytics at Hilton Worldwide. Prior to this, he started and led the ‘Data Science & Analytics’ function for the US business of Heineken. Worked with PayPal on delivering quantifiable value through real-time decision science. Institutionalized analytics at the world’s largest lottery operator helping achieve record revenue growth for $2.5 BN business, using actionable insights & innovative product design backed by machine learning, and predictive modeling.

            50 min
          6. SP8: Digital Transformation Myths (Part 4)

            SP series are individual episodes where

            1. I either get interviewed or 
            2. Focus on topics which are requested by my listeners or 
            3. Just have fun covering areas that are interesting to me personally.

              4. The COVID-19 scenario has challenged the government, societies, organizations and all of us on our thinking. Digital Transformation as an agenda which was a long drawn plan for many has now become a reality in the last two months. Many organizations have struggled to embark on the journey due to many misconceptions or myths surrounding Digital Transformation. In this new special series, post my research I would cover

              1. Have a complete understanding of customers.
              2. It is department-specific, mostly Marketing and Sales.
              3. Digital transformation has an end game.
              4. Customers need it, and hence digital transformation is key.

                5. The intention is to enable organizations with an adequate proof point to executes to draw and embark on their plans.

                Some of the references which I have leveraged are from Satya Nadella's book 'Hit Refresh', HBR, CIO.com Articles, and many more.

                If you like the special series, then do share your feedback and opinions on what else you would like me to cover in the special series.

                11 min
              5. EP10: Jaydeep Mukherjee - In Pursuit of Excellence
                My next guest on today's episode is going to make you feel hungry as he takes all of us on a gastronomical and fun trip down the memory lane. I am pleased to have a conversation with Jaydeep Mukherjee, also known as JD, in the food industry. 
                An alumnus of IHM Mumbai, Jaydeep started his career as a trainee chef at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai. It was at the Zodiac Grill – then considered the premium European food restaurant in the country – where he mastered the principles of fine dining cooking. A long and splendid spell on board the iconic luxury liner Queen Elizabeth 2 followed a few years later.
                In 2002, he took on the mantle of Chef de Cuisine, then that of Executive Chef and finally Corporate Executive Chef of deGustibus Hospitality, the maverick company gave the country the iconic Indigo and rewrote the rules of fine gastronomy in Mumbai. In the 16 years spent with the company, Chef JD was instrumental in opening every new restaurant owned and operated by DHPL. From the iconic Indigo to the super popular Indigo Delicatessens, the limited service and casual D:OHs, to the very traditional Indian restaurants Neel, Tote Bar and Banquets, and also their premium outdoor catering division Moveable Feast, JD designed both outstanding food across cuisines and genres and also stellar hospitality.
                While at deGustibus, JD started and headed social outreach programs with the Salaam Baalak Trust, an Indian non-profit that provides support for street children, and SPJ Sadhana School, an academic institute and resource center for training people with autism and special needs. He has mentored many young chefs from both institutions on structured training programs and is very happy to share that a lot of his mentees are professional chefs today – some still at deGustibus, and many with other restaurants of repute.
                In August 2018, Chef JD joined Impresario Handmade Restaurants as Brand Head for the decade-old Smoke House Deli and was instrumental in revamping the brand into a fresh new avatar. From refreshing the menu to introducing new techniques and styles of cooking, JD has even kickstarted the Goodness To Go vertical that will focus on healthy, organic food, freshly made for patrons to grab a quick meal.
                A man of varied interests, JD is an avid traveler and biker, a talented photographer, and a reasonably skilled musician, but yes, the kitchen remains his first love.
                Excellence in hospitality is all about an eye for the little details, and that is what JD holds dear after having spent many fun years in the industry.
                59 min
              6. SP7: Digital Transformation Myths (Part 3)

                SP series are individual episodes where

                • I either get interviewed or
                • Focus on topics which are requested by my listeners or
                • Just have fun covering areas that are interesting to me personally.

                  • The COVID-19 scenario has challenged the government, societies, organizations and all of us on our thinking. Digital Transformation as an agenda which was a long drawn plan for many has now become a reality in the last two months. Many organizations have struggled to embark on the journey due to many misconceptions or myths surrounding Digital Transformation. In this new special series, post my research I would cover

                  1. Bringing in a new breed of team members
                  2. There is a standard maturity framework to adopt digital      transformation
                  3. Machines would be able to replace individuals
                  4. The company would be new post-digital transformation

                    5. The intention is to enable organizations with an adequate proof point to executes to draw and embark on their plans.

                    Some of the references which I have leveraged are from Satya Nadella's book 'Hit Refresh', HBR, CIO.com Articles, and many more.

                    If you like the special series, then do share your feedback and opinions on what else you would like me to cover in the special series.

                    14 min

                  About Masters Decoded

                  From the publisher's feed

                  Hello listeners. Through this Podcast, I would bring in guests who are successful in a different walk of life to decode and map out their careers and journeys with the hope that we all gain our…