Ravi Parmeswar is the vice president of Business Intelligence for consumer division at Johnson & Johnson. He leads analytics, marketplace intelligence, and consumer insights for the consumer business portfolios.
As an industry veteran and a Fox graduate, Ravi was invited to be a guest panelist for MS Business Analytics Panel which had to be postponed due to COVID-19. We decided to reach out to him to gain insight into his thoughts on today’s data accentuated world and the key role analytics plays in business processes and functions. “A lot has changed since then. It’s no longer a world of generalists but of subject matter experts. Digital marketing, AI/ML, Data wrangling/visualization and analytics are some of the techniques needed to create specialists,” Ravi says. “Technical knowledge can get you a foot in the door. However, soft skills play a bigger role in your career progression.”
For Ravi, the most valued skills in today’s corporate world include curiosity, ingenuity, the ability to find simple solutions for complex problems, and team building. As technology continues to evolve, industries will also continue to change. “It’s a competitive world and the demands and expectations of consumers have increased manifold,” says Ravi.
Ravi believes that brands should invest in their value chain and delight people everyday everywhere. Today, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is highly recognized by customers, who expect transparency with complete access to information and respect brands that are real and authentic. People want to be associated with brands who have strong ethics and understand their social responsibility well.
Additionally, Ravi has witnessed the drastic change in the go-to-market strategies for consumer goods. People want brands to recognize their individual needs and aspirations and access to information/data than ever before, allows us to provide customized personalized services.
This is where data becomes pivotal. Behavioral data and analytics is the game-changer.
That’s because the real power of data and analytics is to predict consumer behavior. People want personalized attention and a product or solution that can make their life easy. Companies should use data to devise solutions in this regard. A loyal brand simplifies the life of its people.
That being said, there are some challenges associated with data. It is no magic till the time a manager cannot convert the information into insights and executable actions. To hear Ravi tell it, it isn’t uncommon to have trouble achieving this. Data can be paralyzing and can get worse when sophisticated algorithms don’t provide a data set that helps executives make decisions.
The most optimum way is to connect the dots. It is about connecting your data with the second and third party data and deriving business solutions from it. That being said, there is a lot of promise in the field of business analytics. For current and aspiring students, Ravi says, “Unleash your passion. The key to your success is self-awareness and knowing your strengths and weaknesses.”