“Data Analytics Ensures Considerable Value Proposition for Stakeholders”, Says Rajesh Mani

The first thought that comes when we think of Mastercard is that it is a global payment services company. Dive deep into its operations only to realize that it is more than a fin-tech platform for electronic payments. With changing times, as a frontrunner in digital payment services, it is well ahead in reinventing itself through its wide range of financial and consulting services at both individual and organizational levels. From providing hands-free payment services with the new Biometric Checkout Program to reporting analytics to companies providing deeper insights to companies, and supporting them in their regulatory compliance, it is ticking all the right boxes. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive conversation with Rajesh Mani, SVP, Head of India Tech Hub, Mastercard, to understand what makes the company outstanding.

1.The industry is seeing the rising importance of Big Data Analytics and AI. How do you see these emerging technologies impacting businesses?

As the world grows digitally, the amount of data being generated, exchanged, and managed continues to boom. AI and Machine Learning are the only effective ways to make sense of such mammoth datasets. Today, data facilitates innovation by delivering insights that help businesses better in understanding markets, consumers, and industry trends. Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) help to measure, evaluate, and analyze vast amounts of data quickly to drive more value for businesses, consumers, and Governments.

With the help of analytics and AI, banking and financial institutions can become more efficient in all areas, be it customer service, fraud detection and prevention, compliance, risk monitoring and even building more valuable products. Transaction data can help companies present customers with more personalized and relevant content. Insights from analytics can also help businesses make better decisions. Besides, these technologies can help make payments and digital interactions safe by identifying cyber threats at a much early stage.

These emerging technologies are making solutions and services more relevant, smart, safe, and accessible while enabling businesses to be more informed and resilient.

2.What according to you is the future of IoT/ Artificial Intelligence/ML/Cloud Computing in India?

These technologies are revolutionizing almost every industry – transforming consumer preferences, altering consumption patterns, and reinventing supply and delivery chains. Businesses across industries and markets are embracing these technologies to develop better products, make informed decisions, and delight customers. India has a vibrant and thriving start-up ecosystem that is already using and innovating on these technologies, and this presents a great opportunity for economic growth.

Moreover, India has been a pioneer when it comes to rapid digitization and innovations in identity solutions and payment technology. The adoption of these technologies by central and state governments will continue to be a game changer, driving sustained improvement in the implementation of public programs as well as enhanced financial inclusion for all. A good example is how the Indian government devised the COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) which was the digital backbone of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive – one of the largest in the world. Co-WIN facilitated the delivery of 1.3 billion vaccinations in under a year. Another example is the Telangana Govt.’s Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) platform which is helping farmers by using remote sensing and pattern detection algorithms, to identify farms that are highly vulnerable to climate change.

Tech is the biggest enabler in every industry and AI, ML, IoT, and cloud computing will increasingly find more applications and innovative implementations everywhere.

3.How does Mastercard drive innovations of new technologies?

At Mastercard, we are focused on driving innovations by leveraging our decades of expertise in payments technology. We do this through our work on cutting-edge technologies, collaboration with ecosystem partners, and empowering our workforce.

• Securing transactions: We leverage AI & ML in our security tools to analyze data from millions of cyber incidents and use it to identify potential threats. With acquisitions like Brighterion and NuData, we are building AI into various modules within our fraud assessment ecosystem as well as leading cutting-edge work in the field of behavioral biometrics to pre-empt and prevent fraud.
• Powering Start-ups: StartPath, our global start-up engagement program works with start-ups and supports them in developing next-generation, breakthrough commerce solutions. In India, we have supported technology start-ups like BharatPe, Razorpay, Tonetag, Zeta, Fluid AI, etc. through this program. We are also powering Indian start-ups like Syntizen and Pine Labs with capital and access to Mastercard’s system and expertise through the Mastercard India Investment Fund.
• Enabling grassroots ecosystems: Innovations at the grassroots are critical to unlocking economic potential. We’ve enabled thousands of micro-merchants and kirana entrepreneurs in the country to digitize their operations, access credit, and improve business efficiencies. We’ve also helped thousands of farmers across the country with digital solutions like Mastercard’s Farm Pass – connecting buyers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with farmers digitally and helping them get the best value for their produce.
• Focusing on Inclusion & Sustainability: Going beyond just payments and thoughtfully designing products that help build a more inclusive world with products like the True Name card for the LGBTQ+ Community or the Touch Card for those who are visually impaired, or the Carbon Calculator that uses AI to help consumers make more ecologically conscious purchase decisions.
• A culture of Innovation: At Mastercard, innovation is a key part of our work culture. Our policies, processes, and programs enable our employees to bring their full selves to work – whether that’s allowing them to explore emerging technologies or to fulfill their social consciousness.

4.Would you like to highlight a few use cases where Mastercard’s analytics solutions have benefitted stakeholders in India?

Mastercard’s expertise in data analytics offers a significant value proposition for our stakeholders in India. For instance, our Cyber Quant solution helps to present a bigger picture by enabling businesses and organizations to measure their cybersecurity risks, flag security gaps, and estimate the impact of new cybersecurity controls on the business.

Another good example is when Mastercard introduced Recovery Insights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, to enable governments and businesses to take better and proactive decisions by tapping into the economic recovery trends across the world.

Mastercard has also tied up with Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited (AMTRON) to help launch a Cyber Intelligence Center of Excellence (COE) in Guwahati. This center will leverage artificial intelligence and provide intelligence services to the government at various levels and companies against the rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats in India

5.What is the skill set that you specifically look for while hiring?

The technology space is dynamic, and one needs to be updated and upskilled to stay relevant and competitive in the talent pool. While technical skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Learning (ML), and others remain important, niche skills in the field of cybersecurity, cloud computing and blockchain are fast gaining more prominence.

Besides technical skills, soft and interpersonal skills such as communication, collaboration, and working across teams remain critical. One of the most valuable, and often ignored skills, is empathy – understanding others, embracing varied perspectives, and using our skills to make a difference, where it is needed the most.  The best talent wants to do well and do good.

At Mastercard, we are focused on creating an environment where our employees can learn and upskill themselves while growing personally and professionally. We have numerous programs and policies in place to enable this. The latest in this list is Unlocked, our exciting AI-powered learning and mentorship platform that enables employees to participate in global, cross-functional projects as well as find matching mentoring opportunities.

The post “Data Analytics Ensures Considerable Value Proposition for Stakeholders”, Says Rajesh Mani appeared first on Analytics Insight.

The first thought that comes when we think of Mastercard is that it is a global payment services company. Dive deep into its operations only to realize that it is more than a fin-tech platform for electronic payments. With changing times, as a frontrunner in digital payment services, it is well ahead in reinventing itself through its wide range of financial and consulting services at both individual and organizational levels. From providing hands-free payment services with the new Biometric Checkout Program to reporting analytics to companies providing deeper insights to companies, and supporting them in their regulatory compliance, it is ticking all the right boxes. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive conversation with Rajesh Mani, SVP, Head of India Tech Hub, Mastercard, to understand what makes the company outstanding.

1.The industry is seeing the rising importance of Big Data Analytics and AI. How do you see these emerging technologies impacting businesses?

As the world grows digitally, the amount of data being generated, exchanged, and managed continues to boom. AI and Machine Learning are the only effective ways to make sense of such mammoth datasets. Today, data facilitates innovation by delivering insights that help businesses better in understanding markets, consumers, and industry trends. Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) help to measure, evaluate, and analyze vast amounts of data quickly to drive more value for businesses, consumers, and Governments.

With the help of analytics and AI, banking and financial institutions can become more efficient in all areas, be it customer service, fraud detection and prevention, compliance, risk monitoring and even building more valuable products. Transaction data can help companies present customers with more personalized and relevant content. Insights from analytics can also help businesses make better decisions. Besides, these technologies can help make payments and digital interactions safe by identifying cyber threats at a much early stage.

These emerging technologies are making solutions and services more relevant, smart, safe, and accessible while enabling businesses to be more informed and resilient.

2.What according to you is the future of IoT/ Artificial Intelligence/ML/Cloud Computing in India?

These technologies are revolutionizing almost every industry – transforming consumer preferences, altering consumption patterns, and reinventing supply and delivery chains. Businesses across industries and markets are embracing these technologies to develop better products, make informed decisions, and delight customers. India has a vibrant and thriving start-up ecosystem that is already using and innovating on these technologies, and this presents a great opportunity for economic growth.

Moreover, India has been a pioneer when it comes to rapid digitization and innovations in identity solutions and payment technology. The adoption of these technologies by central and state governments will continue to be a game changer, driving sustained improvement in the implementation of public programs as well as enhanced financial inclusion for all. A good example is how the Indian government devised the COVID-19 Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) which was the digital backbone of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination drive – one of the largest in the world. Co-WIN facilitated the delivery of 1.3 billion vaccinations in under a year. Another example is the Telangana Govt.’s Data in Climate Resilient Agriculture (DiCRA) platform which is helping farmers by using remote sensing and pattern detection algorithms, to identify farms that are highly vulnerable to climate change.

Tech is the biggest enabler in every industry and AI, ML, IoT, and cloud computing will increasingly find more applications and innovative implementations everywhere.

3.How does Mastercard drive innovations of new technologies?

At Mastercard, we are focused on driving innovations by leveraging our decades of expertise in payments technology. We do this through our work on cutting-edge technologies, collaboration with ecosystem partners, and empowering our workforce.

• Securing transactions: We leverage AI & ML in our security tools to analyze data from millions of cyber incidents and use it to identify potential threats. With acquisitions like Brighterion and NuData, we are building AI into various modules within our fraud assessment ecosystem as well as leading cutting-edge work in the field of behavioral biometrics to pre-empt and prevent fraud.
• Powering Start-ups: StartPath, our global start-up engagement program works with start-ups and supports them in developing next-generation, breakthrough commerce solutions. In India, we have supported technology start-ups like BharatPe, Razorpay, Tonetag, Zeta, Fluid AI, etc. through this program. We are also powering Indian start-ups like Syntizen and Pine Labs with capital and access to Mastercard’s system and expertise through the Mastercard India Investment Fund.
• Enabling grassroots ecosystems: Innovations at the grassroots are critical to unlocking economic potential. We’ve enabled thousands of micro-merchants and kirana entrepreneurs in the country to digitize their operations, access credit, and improve business efficiencies. We’ve also helped thousands of farmers across the country with digital solutions like Mastercard’s Farm Pass – connecting buyers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) with farmers digitally and helping them get the best value for their produce.
• Focusing on Inclusion & Sustainability: Going beyond just payments and thoughtfully designing products that help build a more inclusive world with products like the True Name card for the LGBTQ+ Community or the Touch Card for those who are visually impaired, or the Carbon Calculator that uses AI to help consumers make more ecologically conscious purchase decisions.
• A culture of Innovation: At Mastercard, innovation is a key part of our work culture. Our policies, processes, and programs enable our employees to bring their full selves to work – whether that’s allowing them to explore emerging technologies or to fulfill their social consciousness.

4.Would you like to highlight a few use cases where Mastercard’s analytics solutions have benefitted stakeholders in India?

Mastercard’s expertise in data analytics offers a significant value proposition for our stakeholders in India. For instance, our Cyber Quant solution helps to present a bigger picture by enabling businesses and organizations to measure their cybersecurity risks, flag security gaps, and estimate the impact of new cybersecurity controls on the business.

Another good example is when Mastercard introduced Recovery Insights amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, to enable governments and businesses to take better and proactive decisions by tapping into the economic recovery trends across the world.

Mastercard has also tied up with Assam Electronics Development Corporation Limited (AMTRON) to help launch a Cyber Intelligence Center of Excellence (COE) in Guwahati. This center will leverage artificial intelligence and provide intelligence services to the government at various levels and companies against the rapidly evolving cybersecurity threats in India

5.What is the skill set that you specifically look for while hiring?

The technology space is dynamic, and one needs to be updated and upskilled to stay relevant and competitive in the talent pool. While technical skills in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, Machine Learning (ML), and others remain important, niche skills in the field of cybersecurity, cloud computing and blockchain are fast gaining more prominence.

Besides technical skills, soft and interpersonal skills such as communication, collaboration, and working across teams remain critical. One of the most valuable, and often ignored skills, is empathy – understanding others, embracing varied perspectives, and using our skills to make a difference, where it is needed the most.  The best talent wants to do well and do good.

At Mastercard, we are focused on creating an environment where our employees can learn and upskill themselves while growing personally and professionally. We have numerous programs and policies in place to enable this. The latest in this list is Unlocked, our exciting AI-powered learning and mentorship platform that enables employees to participate in global, cross-functional projects as well as find matching mentoring opportunities.

The post “Data Analytics Ensures Considerable Value Proposition for Stakeholders”, Says Rajesh Mani appeared first on Analytics Insight.

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