This is an Exclusive Interview by the Editorial Team of The Mainstream featuring Mr. Hitesh Bajaj, Project Director at Infor, discussing the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
About the Guest:
Introducing Mr. Hitesh Bajaj, who comes with over two decades of Professional experience in the IT Industry. He has led and managed several large, multi-geography, and complex IT Initiatives and Programs. He is also a Microsoft Certified: AI Transformation Leader. Mr. Hitesh carries global exposure by having lived and worked in several geographies around the world – USA, Singapore, Japan, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and Germany.
Mr. Hitesh holds an MBA from Texas A&M University, USA and has completed an Executive Certification Program from
IIM-Bangalore. He comes with strong expertise in Program and Project Management, IT Delivery, Services, Operations, and Product Management across Multiple IT domains – Cloud, Enterprise Applications, Security, Software, Infrastructure, and Data.
1. AI has rapidly evolved from an experimental technology to a boardroom priority. How do you define a successful AI transformation journey for an enterprise today?
A: With the rapid technological advancements in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, AI is no longer a “Privileged” Technology. It is more of a “Democratized” technology whereby it is already reaching to employees across the Organizations.
In my view, for AI Transformation to be successful, it would require companies to build an entire Ecosystem around AI that includes meaningful and value-driven adoption, enablement, and implementation. Building the required Competencies and Capabilities and enabling the Workforce would be equally important. Eventually, AI transformation can be termed successful when companies have moved to an enhanced future state and that includes achieving operational efficiency, employee productivity, cost optimization, better cycle time, and improved customer experience.
More importantly, AI transformation achieves its true potential when it has delivered measurable outcomes that justifies not only the investments but also provides meaningful stability and acceleration for the Companies. An AI transformation should ideally be measurable, quantifiable, and standardized across the board to deliver long-term and sustainable business outcomes.
2. As organizations accelerate their AI insvestments, where should leaders begin when building an AI ecosystem, business strategy, technology, talent, data or culture?
A: That’s a good question. The true starting point for Technology Leaders is really assessing one’s AI readiness in the Organization and identifying any potential Gaps that need to be addressed. This AI readiness assessment can be in the form of building an AI culture, framework, principles, policies, structure and governance that will put Companies on a sustainable and profitable growth trajectory while leveraging and maximizing the benefits and value AI has to offer along their transformation journey.
Once those AI Readiness Gaps are identified and addressed, formulating an AI roadmap and inculcating inclusive and participation-based culture in the Company provides true Indicator of one’s strategy for promoting and adopting the AI mindset.
3. Data remains the foundation of every AI initiative. How can enterprises strengthen their data readiness while ensuring quality, security and compliance at scale?
A: That’s True. AI is only as good as the quality of data that supports effective use of AI. There are some simple to very complex Algorithms built into Machine Learning and Deep Learning models and those Algorithms rely heavily on these data thereby helping generate patterns and relationships between the data points.
Firstly, Organizations need to have the right Tools, Processes, and Procedures to collect, store, and update the data on a near real-time basis. Secondly, they need to devise robust policies to define accessibility, security, and compliance of those data while also ensuring the data remains reliable, relevant, and accurate.
4. Beyond technology, what are the key foundational elements required to build a sustainable and scalable AI ecosystem within an organization?
A: Other than Technological aspect, the other foundational factors to consider for AI scalability are following:
- Build an AI Culture
- Promote Experimentation mindset in the Company
- Manage Human Capital and any fear, concern, issues related to effective adoption
- Provide Virtual or In-person Training
- Generate a Hub and Spoke operating model to ensure required support available when needed
- Have the right Communication, Stakeholder, and Escalation Management channels in Place
- Most Importantly, have the Feedback Loop mechanism in place where feedback from Users can be reviewed and evaluated for any future Continuous Improvement Plan
5. Many organizations successfully launch AI pilots but struggle to scale them across the enterprise. What are the biggest barriers to enterprise-wide AI adoption and how can they be overcome?
A: This is actually a very practical and real Challenge.
Let me highlight couple of common barriers to effectively lift-off from Pilot to Scalable AI and how they can be addressed.
Problem: Resistance to Innovation and Change within the Organization. This results in companies getting stuck at the Pilot level for a time longer than originally planned
Solution: Conduct Organizational Change Management in the teams. Communicate both short term and long-term benefits from the AI transformation. May be, the Management can help engage with the employees and share strategic purpose, intent, and future roadmap for the adoption of AI. The key here is Communicate, Communicate, and Communicate! Have a formal cut-off date for disrupting Pilot and initiating meaningful transition to enterprise-wide roll-out while also enabling the support system along the way.
Problem: Lack of Coordination between the relevant teams – Business, Technology, Compliance, Data Security, Domain Experts
Solution: Form a small committee of stakeholders from different functions and groups who have direct influence or control over Policy and Decision making around AI. Formulate a regular cadence within this group so they meet, analyse, review, and make decisions as needed and on timely basis.
6. Creating an AI-first culture is often easier said than done. What strategies can organizations adopt to encourage employee adoption, upskilling and trust in AI-driven ways of working?
A: First and foremost, support experimentation within the Organization, support teams, motivate them, help them realize their full potential and build an environment to learn from any failures.
Of course, experimentation cannot go for indefinite period as it involves costs and company resources. But ensure that the experiment mindset and culture is developed with the Organization. What this does is enable your employees to look at different perspectives and dimensions in generating enhanced outcomes using the AI tools. Remember, the company has invested in AI so we need employees to maximize the potential and offerings from these AI tools. One way to achieve this objective is encourage active involvement and engagement throughout the Pilot phase.
Focus on Upskilling your employees with the latest trends around AI. Keep up with the industry and technological trends. Encourage any Certification and Formal Training plan. If required, tie these to employee Performance reviews to generate objective based drive and motivation in the team.
7. As AI becomes more embedded in business processes, how should organizations balance innovation with responsible AI practices, governance, accountability and risk management?
A: Since AI directly relates to business processes and outcomes, one needs to use AI “responsibly” and that requires timely and effective validation of output AI generates. Remember, AI outcomes are not perfect; they are faster, efficient, and relevant. These outcomes still need to be verified before sharing with Stakeholders, internally and externally.
Have the right Governance mechanism that includes required oversight, control, and accountability. Support peer review and may be subject expert review when it comes to some critically important decisions based on AI outcomes.
8. Looking ahead, what role will AI agents and autonomous systems play in shaping the future enterprise and how should organizations prepare for the next phase of AI transformation?
A: Great Question. AI tools are digital teammates that work together and alongside Humans. This trend is here to stay. As we see more innovations in the AI domain, I won’t be surprised to see greater autonomy executing day to day work. AI Agents will not only be automated but also have end to end value delivering capability – right from defining the goals to executing the goals.
As I would put it, AI Agents will drive Offerings from Vision to Value in tandem and coordination with Humans.
Organizations should have the right framework to define and engage effectively with the high-impact and value-add Use Cases while leading them to amplifying and augmenting their own true potential and eventually setting them up for long-term success.
The insights shared by Mr. Hitesh Bajaj underscore a simple reality:
“AI is no longer a Technology of the Future; it is already shaping Business and Technological Landscape today. The path forward now lies in harnessing its capabilities thoughtfully to drive sustainable growth and meaningful transformation.”
Also read: Viksit Workforce for a Viksit Bharat
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