Siva G Subramanian is the Associate Vice President – Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU at Searce Inc. He has over 18 years of experience in Data Management, Data Ingestion, Data Consumption, Data Analytics, and anything on ”Data”. As a seasoned technology and business leader with global experience, Siva has built and led organizations that successfully address complex business challenges and drive growth through innovation and strong execution. He is also a sought-after industry speaker, a mentor to professionals across the globe, and an author of numerous IT blogs.
In his current role, Siva is responsible for Searce Inc’s strategic use of data so that the enterprise can perform more efficiently, boost productivity, better engage with customers, employees, and other stakeholders, improve existing revenue streams, create new ones, and develop new business opportunities.
Life Experiences that Shaped into a Remarkable Leader
Since childhood, Siva has been a bright student, blessed with intellectual curiosity. At home, a strong foundation was laid by his parents, who played a vital role in his value-based upbringing. The moral values inculcated by them continue to help him even today in making rightful decisions in any crucial situation.
For higher education, Siva pursued his Bachelor of Engineering (ECE) degree from Madras University, an international MBA (IT) from Russian Ulyanovsk State University, a Ph.D. in CS & IT from the University of Swahili, Republic of Panama, and a D.Sc. in CS & IT from Azteca University, Canada. In 2004, Siva began his career at STPI, Coimbatore, and the world became his oyster. He went on lead global IT teams, transformed businesses using technology, and drove outstanding results for clients.
As a progressive leader, Siva has had the opportunity to learn from successes and failures, understand the importance of collaboration, and develop a greater understanding of people’s complexities and motivations. He also had to adjust to different situations and take on roles in which he had to make decisions with imperfect information. These experiences have helped shape his leadership style and allowed him to be flexible and think critically while remaining focused on the team and the larger objectives. Ultimately, Siva’s life experiences have provided him with the tools and confidence to take risks, challenge the status quo, and push the boundaries of possibility.
Searce Inc: Driving Intelligent Business Outcomes
Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Searce is a modern technology consulting firm empowering clients to futurify their businesses, leveraging cloud, AI & analytics. The company serves diverse industries such as tech start-ups & digital natives, financial services & insurance, travel, transportation & logistics, retail, CPG & E-commerce, healthcare, pharma & life sciences, manufacturing, and education.
Additionally, various other practices like infra, app modernization, applied AI, location Intelligence at Searce Inc, and developing solutions for 3000+ customers globally are considered to be among the best in the market. As a result, Searce Inc continues to deliver top-notch performance year after year.
Doing Things Differently
As the Associate Vice President – Global Head of Data & Analytics SBU at Searce Inc, a role he’s held since 2022, Siva created a new practice for Strategic Business Unit to focus on the various Global Data & Analytics engagements. He began by establishing practice teams operating in main regions like AMER, EMEA, & APAC for handling technical pre-sales activities and identifying & supporting new opportunities in 14 different locations globally. He then set up a delivery team to focus on the operational activities of developing data-driven solutions and new data products. The main goal has been improving customer experience and providing innovative tech solutions to clients.
Moreover, Siva has guided his team in handling other ongoing initiatives with Google & AWS Cloud Providers, Partner Tools, Searce Accelerator Solutions, etc. He has also been leading efforts towards making Searce a premier & expertise partner of Google & AWS Cloud in Data & Analytics.
Facilitating a Culture of Innovation
At Searce, one of the first steps Siva took to facilitate innovation was to change its Data & Analytics practice culture from focusing on short-term goals to placing a higher value on long-term results. He also created an environment where everyone was encouraged to think outside the box and take risks to find creative solutions to problems. Moreover, employee collaboration was encouraged, along with rewards presented to those who took the initiative. These changes helped to create a culture of innovation at Searce and also led to the development of several new products and services.
How to Get Maximum ROI from Technology Investments?
According to Siva, it is important to create a proper plan of the desired outcomes before investing in any technology. Leaders must ensure that the vision aligns with the company’s business objectives. They must also analyze the organization’s needs to determine the technologies necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. This will help to identify the right balance between cost and ROI.
Furthermore, it is important to evaluate the available options to select the best technology solution. This should include comparing features, costs, and potential ROI, followed by monitoring the performance to ensure that it achieves the desired results. This will help ensure that the organization gets the maximum ROI from the technology investments.
CDO Challenges & Strategies to Overcome them
A Chief Data Officer of an organization faces a number of varied challenges ranging from developing data-driven solutions, providing effective data governance strategies, and managing data-related compliance risks, to establishing and managing data-driven initiatives that drive business value for the customers.
From a seasoned CDO’s perspective, Siva shares that a CDO needs to first develop a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s data, including its volume, quality, and integrity. The leaders should then create a data governance strategy that outlines the roles and responsibilities for managing, using, and securing data within the organization. This strategy should include policies and procedures for data access, use, storage, and sharing. It should also involve the development of an appropriate data architecture to ensure data is being used most efficiently and effectively.
Once the data governance strategy is in place, the CDO should focus on developing initiatives to drive value from the data. This could involve setting specific objectives for data-driven projects, such as increasing customer retention, operational efficiency, and improving decision-making. The CDO should also ensure that the organization has the appropriate data analytics tools and resources to support these initiatives.
Celebrating Milestones
Siva considers completing his master’s and his double doctorate degrees a significant milestone that helped him further develop his skills and knowledge. Another achievement that Siva is proud of is his successful completion of over 80 technical, project/business management, operations, hybrid clouds (Google, AWS & Azure), networking, AI/ML, and Data certifications. Likewise, becoming the Global Head of Data & Analytics Practice at Searce Inc is extra special to Siva.
A Day in the Life of a Leader
Siva’s typical day begins by going through the emails and checking for any urgent task that needs to be addressed. He then prioritizes his tasks and sets goals for the day. After that, most of his day is spent guiding teams for several pre-sales, project delivery & partner solutions activities. He attends customer, Partner, and Google/AWS meetings and takes care of Hiring & Onboarding the team for his practice. This is followed by a short break for lunch. He then finishes off his day by completing any impending tasks that he had started that day.
To handle pressure and stay calm all day, Siva finds taking a few regular breaks throughout the day helpful. “This helps me to step away from the task at hand and give myself a few moments to breathe, refocus, and reset,” mentions Siva. His idea to unplug from work involves taking a walk, stretching, meditating, reading a book, or doing something creative. He also makes sure to set aside time for self-care, such as getting enough sleep, eating well, and exercising.
Entrepreneurial Hacks to Stay Focused & Productive
Over the years, Siva has developed some important habits that help him stay focused and productive in his busy schedule. Prioritizing tasks at the beginning of the day and taking regular breaks in between help him to remain focused and energized. He also focuses on the process by breaking down his goals into smaller achievable milestones, which improves productivity & also helps him to successfully reach the final end goal. Avoiding gadgets like social media, unimportant calls, and texts during work hours is another useful hack he followed.
Pearls of Wisdom for the Aspiring Leaders
“I strongly believe in “Lead by Example” philosophy, rather than preaching on how to be a perfect role model,” mentions Siva. He demonstrates the values of a true leader and the ethics and behavior he expects from his team. Moreover, he is always open to receiving feedback and new ideas from the team members and encourages them to communicate and collaborate, fostering team spirit.
Siva recommends that aspiring leaders and entrepreneurs let their teams take ownership, be willing to take risks and embrace the change, and empower them by delegating the tasks and responsibilities. Having a proper vision and objectives that match the organizational needs is also imperative. Leaders must also help upgrade their teams to adapt to new technologies. Likewise, recognizing their hard work by acknowledging their efforts and celebrating the minor success of team members goes a long way.
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