I was born and brought up in Hyderabad. Sports was a huge part of my childhood; I loved participating in many different sports. Growing up, I was a naughty kid, but was always a good student.

In college, I pursued a Bachelor of Technology in computer science. That’s when I was introduced to the programming world. It was the sheer excitement of solving complex problems after spending hours racking your brain and seeing an outcome that drew me to programming. Programming helps sharpen one’s ability to think logically.

Today, I apply my programming skills to build CCM (Customer Communications Management) solutions that enhance customer communications. The solutions I build help our clients manage and optimize their communications by delivering personalized, consistent, and compliant messages anytime, anywhere, and through the desired channels.

What do you work on within the Customer Communications Management team at ValueMomentum?
Currently,I’m a Project Lead,leading a Customer Communication Management (CCM) project for one of our insurance customers. The primary focus of my team is to provide solutions to help the client deliver highly personalized and optimized customer communications.

The deliverables of my team add value to our clients’ business by improving the design, delivery, storage, and retrieval of customer correspondences like Invoices, Billing, Declaration Letters, etc. We strive to provide the best services/solutions to our clients based on their requirements and proactively work on optimizing their applications.

At ValueMomentum, we have a well-established CCM Center of Excellence, which provides us a platform to explore advanced modules like OpenTextExstream Communication Server, OpenText Content Author, integrating CCM products with digital signatures, email and SMS service providers like DocuSign, ExactTarget, SparkPost, etc. These all enable us to fulfill our clients’requirements.

We also work closely with the Policy Administration System (PAS) tools such as Guidewire and Duck Creek to integrate with CCM solutions, both On-premise and in the Cloud.

What does a typical day look like for a Technical Lead at ValueMomentum?
My day starts with a good cup of coffee, skimming through emails, and responding to the ones that need immediate attention. I prioritize my tasks based on their importance and start assigning them out to the different team members.

Our team has a daily stand-up meeting where everyone is updated on what has been done and what needs to be done today and tomorrow. We identify any impediments and together brainstorm solutions to address them.

I realize that people management is not easy. I make sure to communicate with everyone on the team daily, and to discuss their work and the progress of their work with them.

Then, I would interact with the project stakeholders to discuss any outstanding issues and roadblocks of the project, as well as the resolutions. I would make sure to pass on the updates to my team on our next stand-up meeting. We also have monthly project management connect meetings where I share my experience with the team regarding anything new in the account to keep everyone engaged.

I regularly interact with the CCM practice team to keep myself on top of changes and challenges across CCM projects at ValueMomentum.
My day usually ends with client calls, followed by jotting down a to-do list to help manage my work for the next day. During my free time at work, I would try to read a random article - these days either on CCM updates, nutrition or cooking.

What technologies are you most excited about in your current projects?
I’m excited about two projects that I’m currently working on – 1) integrating Guidewire with CCM solutions (OpenText Exstream and SmartCOMM) and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) products (Filenet, OnBase) and 2) integrating CCM solutions with omni-channel communication modes such as WhatsApp and social networking sites.

We are also trying to automate the process of designing simple templates in SmartCOMM using Robotics Process Automation (RPA). This might save us a good amount of development hours.

What does it take to become a good Tech Lead?
I’ve been very fortunate to work under great mentors, both at ValueMomentum as well as my previous employer. I have learned a lot from them, which have helped me to manage my team today.

However, it all boils down to individual leadership style. Every team is different. More resources on a team mean more perceptions and mindsets. I believe the key to becoming a better manager is to connect on an individual level and to understand everyone’s aspirations.

The second is to be transparent and honest with the team and the stakeholders. Sharing the account-level and organization-level updates are important to keep everyone engaged and motivated. I’m glad that ValueMomentum has a very good Reward &Recognition program to keep our employees motivated and boost their confidence.

What is the most challenging part of your job?
As mentioned earlier, I find people management as the most challenging part of my job. Different people have different opinions, so one must work on finding the universal language to connect with everyone. I believe what drives and binds us together as a team is our customer-first culture; we are committed to delivering great solutions to customers!

What’s the favorite part of your role?
I have always enjoyed interacting with people and helping them solve problems; I love communicating with the customers to understand their business challenges. I empathize with their pain points and enjoy delivering the right solution to help them overcome their challenges. It gives me a high if I am able to translate the complex business requirements into a solution that addresses the customers’ challenges and eventually creates an impact in their business outcome.

What's something that you've worked on at ValueMomentum that you're proud of?
A while ago, we worked on a very complicated application that had more than 200 documents which ultimately created a load on the downstream systems. We brainstormed and optimized the application and it is currently being used as a reference for other applications with similar complexities.

Recently, we also had to propose a demo on SmartCOMM letters. The challenging part of the project was the interactive requirements and timelines. My team and I jotted down a plan of action and executed it successfully. The client was very impressed and appreciated our work.