Banking and financial institutions have always been ahead in technology implementation. In most of the cases, the BFSI sector has been a leader in implementing a technology prior to others. Tech-driven innovations across BFSI are very critical as involves a lot of factors such as security, confidentiality etc. We at LogMeIn, take a lot of care while offering services to the BFSI sector, says Rahul Sharma, Managing Director, India & SAARC, LogMeIn, in an interview with Anupama Mehra of Elets News Network (ENN).
Tell us about your product and services.
We started in the year 2003 in Budapest. We spent initial years of our operations in Budapest working on remote access. This technology gives people an ability to log in remotely into a system from anywhere in the world just by using the internet. Initially, we began our journey by offering free services to the users where they can run up to two systems with our services without having to pay anything. We only monetized it when technology was used to run enterprises.
We then went to the United States and got us registered in NASDAC in 2006. We were then an organisation worth 100 million however; we had a lot of responsibility to prove ourselves. That is we started looking at the adjacent technologies which exist near remote access. It could be support, chat or online communication and we started acquiring assets in that space. This comprises the second phase of our journey.
We are now in the third phase of our operations which kick-started in 2017. We acquired a lot of technologies and then we got structured into three businesses.
We are very much focused on three types of things; we want to connect with people, connect people with technology and connect technology to technology without human intervention.
Our business is defined into three business units’ namely unified collaboration and communication:
GoToMeeting
Hold online meetings with up to 250 participants. With GoToMeeting, share screens and collaborate with HD video conferencing.
Bold360
A conversational chatbot and virtual customer assistant solution, Bold360 AI customer engagement software transform the way an organization engages with its customers by making every interaction intelligent.
LastPass
Stop wasting time writing down, remembering and resetting passwords. With LastPass, one master password rules them all and keeps the rest locked up in a secure vault.
We have 25 offices globally and around 45,000 people work under us. India is a unique market for us. We have over 200 people in India. We are headquartered in Bengaluru. In India, we do everything from product development, engineering, customer support and a lot more.
Would you like to tell us about your clientele spread in India?
Our clients range from emerging start-ups to already established brands in the market. In India, we recently surpassed 3,000 customers recently. We have an elaborate range of products, suiting the needs of a new organisation to large enterprises.
What innovations are in the pipeline for the next few years?
As far as innovations are concerned, we believe ourselves to be an Artificial Intelligence first company. We made an acquisition in 2018 of a technology firm based out of Israel which was into the AI space. In inculcated technology quickly and it became the centre stage of our products. When we think of a product, we believe it to be intelligent and AI-powered.
We recently innovate something very unique pertaining to online meetings. A meeting, in general, has three phases—Pre-meeting experience, in-meeting experience and post-meeting analysis. So, where is the innovation here? The innovation here is an AI engine which transcribes everything you discuss and keeps a record of it. This helps brilliantly if you have back to back meetings. The AI engine allows keeping a note of every meeting accurately and compiles all of it in a shorter span of time.
This AI-based innovation sounds upbeat. Do you think, India as a market is ready for an innovation of that grade?
Yes, off course. This product has a lot of takers in India, specifically in UCC business. This is primarily because there are a lot of initiatives being taken in India as far as digital adaption is concerned. It is practically unproductive to travel to a lot of places just for the sake of meetings. Physical presence should not be a limitation for meetings. So, our AI engine is truly worth across industries.
How does the company deal with the cyber threats pertaining to the banking sector, when this AI-based technology is used?
Banking and financial institutions have always been ahead in technology implementation. In most of the cases, the BFSI sector implements technology and then other industries adopt it. Tech-driven innovations across BFSI are very critical as involves a lot of factors such as security, confidentiality etc. All these problems will always be associated with the sector. We, however, take a lot of care while offering services to the BFSI sector.
With the onset of technologies like AI, Machine Learning, speculations of job loss are always there. What is your take on this?
Talking about technology overpowering humans is a question that is always be bothering us. But whenever there is a problem the first touch-point will always be a human who will then implement technology to bring a resolution. We picture this scenario as human-enabled and technology-assisted.
Elets The Banking and Finance Post Magazine has carved out a niche for itself in the crowded market with exclusive & unique content. Get in-depth insights on trend-setting innovations & transformation in the BFSI sector. Best offers for Print + Digital issues! Subscribe here➔ www.eletsonline.com/subscription/
