Analytics Head at Gramener, Sundeep Reddy Mallu, engages with Hilton Supra, Vice Chairman of ztudium Ltd., at the latest episode of citiesabc podcast for Dinis Guarda. They talk about the application of data analytics, realising the ESG goals, and data relevance and security.
Sundeep pursued Electrical Engineering at the undergraduate level and began his journey by selling seeds to the farmers in his native place. Grasping the basics from his early years, he postgraduate in management and business administration with Marketing and IT as his majors. He gives credit to this stellar journey that made him adept with Data Science skills and being able to deliver business values to Fortune 100 clients globally.
Sundeep is currently serving as SVP Analytics at Gramener to advise executives on aligning their data science strategy with business vision. He is also responsible for building teams to apply analytics and data visualisation, while also helping businesses adopt a data-driven culture. His keen interest in the application of Data Science and Machine Learning in ESG makes him believe that the action of humanity in the next decade would be critical.
“It’s no longer within 1.5ºC of temperature rise. It’s the case of how far are we overshooting it. This means ESG, as an overall ecosystem is gaining traction. This is evident in the number of companies who are making public commitments to carbon-neutral initiatives. This means that the climate effects are slowly starting to show up in the company top lines and bottom lines.”, he indicates.
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Hilton asked Sundeep about the drivers that helped him apply his skills to agriculture in India. He fondly replies that though India is a country with its own share of challenges, he has been able to provide leverage by introducing simple yet effective technological concepts to farming.
While citing the exemplary work he has done in the country, Sundeep adds, “The kind of solutions that we could bring into the Indian context was way different from the ones in the US, particularly due to the huge difference in the percentage of population dependent on farming as their primary source of income. Therefore, while the AI and ML applications have been in practice for a very long time in the US, India is still experimenting with tailor-made solutions. With startups budding up in the country, there seems to be a whole lot of optimal progress being made here”.
On this note, Hilton was interested to know what prompted Sundeep to join Gramener. In the words of Sundeep, “The vision of Gramener is about the public impact. While the organisation is a commercial entity, the underlying goal that the founder’s support is the impact it makes on society. The intent is to take the help of data to narrate inside stories to create action so that impossibilities can come to life. Gramener focuses on custom solution-building in pharmaceutical and life sciences, logistics, and ESG.”
He further adds, “Given that our ESG solutions span not just across climate or agritech alone, it’s the fusion of these multiple problems that interlap with each other. And we, being at a position, where we can understand the science part of it the climate standpoint, understanding the solution point of it from a technology standpoint, we are fortunate that we are able to play a small role in this big picture of assisting in the ESG space to our clients.”
On being asked by Hilton about how data is managed, Sundeep tells him that to reduce the noise and create relevant data, technology helps them connect to various data sources. They are also able to aggregate the data, and standardise the data cleaning access and data quality checks, thus reducing the manual effort.
Sundeep told Hilton that three basic ways to maintain data ethics at Gramener involve the collection of only the required data, maintaining standards even while procuring the data from the third party, and aligning the policies while complying with industry regulations.
Explaining the challenges while providing solutions that meet ESG goals, Sundeep says, “The popular culture, folklore, is for companies like big companies consuming every data that they can collate and use it. They have the means and resources to spend on these. When it comes to the ESG space, you already have a limited monetary means that you have. That is a space where we invest a lot of time to optimize that stretch the dollar to the longest possible impact. And getting the data right is a big step in how much you invest. Because each of these solutions has to be maintained in a longer haul. It’s n0t that you built that and it’s done. These are the systems that have to survive and fight any of the windows. Unlike other engagements, ESG engagements don’t give you results in a quarter, they have their long tail where they play and out and they generate value, which means every system that you build has to withstand the test of the time. And that’s where creating a long pull- the total cost of ownership of a solution goes a long way. And hence, starting with data is key”.
Concluding the interview that promises to enlighten the audiences with its deeper impact and awareness about the challenges in creating a sphere of intersection between technological advancements (AI, Data Sciences, and ML) with ESG, Hilton asks Sundeep to give his views on the future that lies here. “The hunger for data is constant. What we will see increasingly happen in my view is that the access to data would become uniform. The differentiation would not be a lot more different. How data gets put to use for digital making is what will go into a drastic change”, he shares.
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Hernaldo Turrillo is a writer and author specialised in innovation, AI, DLT, SMEs, trading, investing and new trends in technology and business. He has been working for ztudium group since 2017. He is the editor of openbusinesscouncil.org, tradersdna.com, hedgethink.com, and writes regularly for intelligenthq.com, socialmediacouncil.eu. Hernaldo was born in Spain and finally settled in London, United Kingdom, after a few years of personal growth. Hernaldo finished his Journalism bachelor degree in the University of Seville, Spain, and began working as reporter in the newspaper, Europa Sur, writing about Politics and Society. He also worked as community manager and marketing advisor in Los Barrios, Spain. Innovation, technology, politics and economy are his main interests, with special focus on new trends and ethical projects. He enjoys finding himself getting lost in words, explaining what he understands from the world and helping others. Besides a journalist, he is also a thinker and proactive in digital transformation strategies. Knowledge and ideas have no limits.
