Observability Talk

We are excited to have K. Subramanian, a seasoned banking leader with three decades of experience across the Middle East, in this episode of Observability Talk.

Subramanian walks us through the evolution of transaction banking—from paper-based workflows to real-time digital ecosystems—and how banks today are managing complex architectures, interconnected APIs, and rising customer expectations.
He shares valuable lessons from implementing multiple core and internet banking rollouts, highlighting why business alignment, leadership sponsorship, and customer-centricity are vital to successful transformation.

We also delve into how observability, traceability, and transparency are becoming pillars of trust in digital banking, the promise of automation and GenAI in scaling transaction processing, and how the Middle East is leapfrogging in real-time payments and CBDC innovations.

Show Notes

• K Subramanian on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/subramanian-k-59379519/
• UAE Central Bank’s M-Bridge (https://www.centralbank.ae/en/our-operations/fintech-digital-transformation/mbridge/)  and Aani Payment System (https://aep.ae/)
• Swift GPI for real-time payment traceability - https://www.swift.com/products/swift-gpi

Book Recommendations

• The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/68984.The_Power_of_Your_Subconscious_Mind
• Books by Neville Goddard - https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/53919.Neville_Goddard

We welcome Krishnakumar Natarajan (KK), co-founder of Mindtree and managing partner at Mela Ventures in the latest episode of Observability Talk. KK shares key leadership strategies for successful digital transformation, emphasizing top-down strategy, stakeholder alignment, and cross-functional execution. 

He highlights the pitfalls of a tool-first approach and the need for observability to ensure a seamless customer experience and regulatory compliance. We explore the future of IT operations with AI and automation, predicting a hybrid model of self-healing systems with human oversight.

Show Notes

• Krishnakumar on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishnakumarnatarajan/ 
• About Mela Ventures - https://melaventures.in/

Book Recommendations

• The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18176747-the-hard-thing-about-hard-things 
• What I Learned About Investing from Darwin by Pulak Prasad - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62792694-what-i-learned-about-investing-from-darwin
  

In this insightful conversation, Ravindra Harish, Head of SRE , Kotak Mahindra Bank, shares his journey from software engineering to site reliability engineering (SRE). He discusses the challenges of shifting from traditional operations to an SRE mindset, why reliability should be treated as a feature, and the evolving role of observability in modern infrastructure. The discussion also explores key SRE principles, including toil reduction, incident management, and the importance of business-centric observability. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to build or optimize an SRE practice. 

In this insightful episode of Observability Talks, Shanky takes us on a journey through the evolution of observability, drawing from his extensive experience in e-commerce, BFSI, and large-scale digital systems. His candid discussion highlights the cultural, technological, and strategic shifts required to move from traditional monitoring to proactive, business-centric observability.  

In this episode Bharat and Anuraag Agrawal, Co-Founder and CTO, Fingpay, discuss the evolving field of observability and its critical role in the digital transformation journey of enterprises. With extensive experience across industries, Anuraag highlights the nuances of building reliable, scalable systems and the shift from traditional monitoring to modern observability practices.

As organizations increasingly rely on digital ecosystems to deliver seamless user experiences, the complexity of managing and monitoring these systems grows exponentially. Observability has emerged as a cornerstone for managing modern infrastructure, applications, and business processes. This topic explores the shift from traditional monitoring to business-centric observability, emphasizing the integration of AI, automation, and domain-specific intelligence. Join Bharat Joshi and Amit Srivastav as they discuss how observability enables businesses to gain actionable insights, reduce operational blind spots, and align IT performance with strategic objectives.

In this insightful conversation, our guest, Dhruv Dhody, Principal Engineer, Huawei Technologies India, delves into the dynamic transformation of networks, driven by the rise of cloud, 5G, and edge computing. 

Learn how traditional static networks are evolving with Software-Defined Networking (SDN), network automation, and observability to support enterprise digital transformation. Discover the challenges and innovations shaping the future of cloud and network integration, and why correlating data across layers is critical for modern network management. Watch now to explore how the line between cloud and infrastructure is blurring, paving the way for more agile, scalable networks.

Building citizen scale systems goes beyond technology and is about delivering trust, reliability, and seamless experiences across organizational boundaries.

In our latest episode, we are joined by Vamsi Madhav, CEO of Finvu and ex-COO & Founding Team member of DigiSahamati Foundation, who opens for us the foundational elements of building citizen-scale systems. Beyond talking about the underlying challenges, he explains the account aggregator framework, why Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and "Availability when you need" are crucial when evaluating Observability platforms, and how Observability has become a talking point in board rooms.

In this episode of Observability Talk, we uncover the critical challenges that startups face in building AI-enabled applications. Join us as Vinayak Hegde, a tech leader and startup advisor, shares expert insights on navigating the unique hurdles in the AI space—from wrangling data quality and compliance to balancing scalability and infrastructure costs. 

Vinayak dives into the often-overlooked role of observability in AI, explaining how real-time monitoring and design responsiveness are crucial to keeping customer trust and delivering reliable experiences. Whether you’re in the early stages of your AI journey or scaling an existing solution, tune in for practical advice on building resilient, scalable, and compliant AI applications in a fast-moving tech landscape.

Also Check out: 

• Vinayak Hegde on Linkedin
• Vinayak Hegde on X

We explore the rapidly changing world of modern application development and the critical role observability plays in navigating its complexities. Our guest, Sarika Atri, a seasoned tech leader with experience spanning across Google, Flipkart, and Hotstar, takes us through her fascinating journey from building monolithic applications to leading in microservices, cloud, and serverless architectures.

Sarika shares key insights into the challenges of managing deployments in a CI/CD environment, balancing speed with quality, and the evolution from traditional APM to advanced observability. We also dive into the ongoing 'build vs. buy' debate for observability tools, continuous monitoring best practices, and the essential architectural considerations for scaling observability in large systems.

In this conversation, Sarika offers her perspective on embedding observability from the very start of application development, and the future role of AI in shaping how we monitor and improve complex systems. Tune in for practical takeaways and thoughtful reflections on the future of observability

Also, check out

• Xmplify.tech
• Sarika Atri on LinkedIn