KIIT School of Management (KSOM) organized the 3rd National Business Analytics Konclave on 20th August 2022. The conclave was also the first physical conclave to be held at the institute post-pandemic.
Speaking at the inaugural session, Prof. Sasmita Samanta, Vice Chancellor, KIIT-DU stressed the importance of inclusiveness of the young generation to boost national growth and development. Many top-notch corporate names are using data and analytics to boost productivity and business, she added. Highlighting the importance of business analytics in entrepreneurship, Prof. Saranjit Singh, Pro-Vice Chancellor said, he was overwhelmed by the extent to which the current generation is involved and curious about business analytics.
Prof. Saroj Mahapatra, Director, KSOM stated that India is emerging as a stronger nation and the use of Analytics and AI based strategy will help businesses grow paving the path for a robust economy. Prof. Manoj Jena, Convenor of the Konclave set the context by presenting a brilliantly conceived AI-based video explaining the importance of AI in the sector of agriculture, sports and healthcare industry.
In his keynote address, Mr. Srikanth Velamakanni, Co-Founder, Group Chief Executive & Executive Vice Chairman, Fractal explained how AI works. It involves building machines that can perceive, process, act and learn. He elaborated that machine learning is a subset of AI, a set of mathematical methods to learn automatically from data. He enlightened the audience about career opportunities in the area of AI, and assured that MBA students can build careers in data by learning basic algorithms and being strong in quantitative analysis.
The second keynote address was delivered by Mr. Debasish Panda, MD (Asia Pacific), Trans Union. He emphasized, one must not only understand the nuances of data analytics, but also the concepts of technology and business strategy. If one doesn’t understand the usage of the analyzed data, it will have little impact on business, he added. Prof. Sumita Mishra, Dean, KSOM proposed the vote of thanks at the inaugural session.
The inaugural session was followed by two panel discussions. The first panel discussion was on the topic – “IT and Analytics – Dissecting the Difference.” The panel deliberated on how the internet has changed the ways of doing business in India. The panelists at the second panel discussion on the topic “Overcoming the Demand-Supply Gap between the Academics and Analytics Industries” opined that data is “the new oil” and there is an imperative need to mine it. They agreed that coding is not a prerequisite to enter the analytical world and that bridging the gap between academic and industry is critical.
The second half of the conclave consisted of seven interactive workshops on topics related to Analytics in Financial Markets and Fintech domain, Pre-sales and Marketing Analytics, People Analytics – Applications in HR Management & Supply Chain Analytics – Applications in Operations Management. The Business Analytics conclave provided students with an opportunity to interact with business leaders from the industry. It created a platform to connect industry professionals, academia and students.