IndiaRetailing brings you a series on India’s key retail tech icons. Featuring Satish Panchapakesan, Sr Vice President and CIO, Arvind Fashions Ltd., this week
New Delhi: Today’s CIO must know how to leverage technology to create value for the business. No longer are CIOs department heads of a support function, they are in the driver’s seat and need to be more than just subject-matter experts. According to International Data Group (IDG)’s “State of the CIO Study 2022,” 58% of workers outside of IT describe their company’s CIO as a “strategic advisor who proactively identifies business opportunities and makes recommendations.”
In this special feature, IndiaRetailing showcases the torchbearers of retail technology. This week, the spotlight is on….
Satish Panchapakesan
Satish Panchapakesan is a techpreneur professional with over two decades of buy, sell and delivery services experience. Satish brings in 25 years of service delivery, end- user leadership experience, along with core consumer business knowledge in retail and CPG value chains and depth in certain digital skills.
Satish has a deep consumer and industry connect and is known for his global outlook. On the personal front, he is a long-distance runner and a yoga coach.
Roles & Responsibilities
– Business and technical leadership to service a multi-brand business portfolio
– Newer operating models
– Modernizing SAP apps and infra for scale (order to cash, fashion/core replenishment)
– Stability (platform integrations)
– Security (data fidelity and GRC)
Career History & Experience
– Arvind Fashions Ltd.
Sr. Vice-President & Chief Information Officer
Mar 2020 – Present
– Cognizant
SBU Head- Retail and Consumer Goods Vertical
July 2016- March 2020
Consumer Goods Practice
Nov 2010- March 2016
Business Development and Solutions-Consumer Goods
Nov 2008- Nov 2010
– Wipro Technologies
Retail and Consumer Goods: Client
Engagement Manager
Jan 2003- October 2008
– M&S
Consultant
2003-2004
– Infosys Technologies
Project Manager
Jan 2001- Jan 2003
Education
– Harvard Business School
Executive Program: Emerging Partners, Advanced Professional Studies: Global Leadership
2012-2013
– Bangalore University
BE, Mechnaical
1990-1994
– Great Lakes Institute of Management
PGP-AI and ML Learning, AIML, Decision Sciences
2018-2019
– Indian Institute of Science (IISC)
Masters Management
Aug 1995-Jan 1997
– Rashtriya Military School, Bangalore
CBSE Class X
Aspirations to fulfill
Serving defense
Skills & Professional Interests
– Certified AI/ML specialist
– ITSM and PMP certified
– Client relationships
– Change management
– Service innovation
Game Changing Retail Technologies
Cloud apps
Tech mantra for life
Someone who ‘humanizes’ new ways of doing things
Bigger plans on horizon
Plan to be an influencer and talk about some topics close to my heart. Plan to stand up and deliver some TED Talk lectures to inspire people and if given a chance want to express myself through some art form and/or write a book someday. But, whatever I do it will be led by my heart and my beliefs.
This article first appeared in the November 2022 edition of Images Retail.
