IIEX APAC 2023 Speaker Interview with Dhawal Thaker of HDFC Bank

Disclaimer: opinions represented here are personal and do not represent those of HDFC Bank.

Question #1: Give us a brief peek into your talk. What are the key take aways?

Reduce the use of guessing and acting on anecdotes in decision making. Optimize and improve businesses based on customer needs and insights – Start now! To Innovate at scale.

Question #2: You have a great topic. Tell us the reasons you chose it?

Irrespective of the products and services that organizations is in the business of; one key element for profitable growth is Customer! Hence, I prefer reframing as “we are in the Business, because of Customers”. Rapidly anticipating and meeting customer needs and delighting them at the same time is key to sustainable growth. In order to achieve this at scale, businesses’ make data-driven decisions. In a world where everything is prefixed with “data-driven” we must build rigor on access and use of Insights effectively. In my talk, I am attempting to decode the secrets of effective democratization of research data, helping organizations in growth hacking.

Question #3: We are glad you are joining us at IIEX APAC. What are you hoping to gain from this event?

IIEX APAC is like intelligentsia – group of smart learners. Most ideas and Innovation in MR are first discussed at IIEX, it is the repository of the latest. There is so much I want to learn from the fraternity – most importantly art of championing and marketing of insights. We represent organizations which are at different stages of CI maturity – would like to learn from peers the strategies to improve adoption of CI and learn the latest.

Question #4: IIEX events focus on all things innovation in insights. What does research innovation mean to you?

Innovation in MR is now necessary, not optional. As a discipline MR enables brands to keep up with change, but to keep up with the accelerating change in consumer behavior and preferences, MR must transform. Technology has had a huge impact on new MR techniques, the average research toolkit now includes everything from automated, DIY research platforms to AI/ML and neuroscience.

Question #5: Our industry is always evolving. What is the next big change you’d like to see?

Design strategy to unleash the power of insights and be a thought partner in driving transformational change.

Question #6: Research Technology, or ResTech, is booming. How do you see this impacting us further?

Research Technology is an essential part of consumer insights engine – accelerates MR process, builds cost efficiency and enables innovative / alternative approaches to measurement. To improve business agility in Turbulent-Uncertain-Novel-Ambiguous world – insights would play a pivotal role and Technology would enable democratization of research data.

Question #7: IIEX and GreenBook focus on the future of insights. What more do you think we can contribute?

The discussion at IIEX APAC would influence the MR strategies of future. The leaders and champions of CI participate at this event with an intent to educate each other on the latest along with success stories. The content thus inspires and empowers participants with ammunition for problem solving and innovation – accelerating use of MR for generating quality intelligence.