Source – https://www.analyticsinsight.net/
Qandle aims to help organizations experience the advantages of next-generation technologies. Founded in 2016, the company now has about 3 lakhs of satisfied users and they have served more than 20 companies. The company functions from three locations in Delhi, Hong Kong, and London. Analytics Insight has engaged in an exclusive interview with Himanshu Aggarwal, the former IIT Roorkee student who co-founded Quandle.
Tell us how your company is contributing to the IoT/AI/Big Data Analytics/Robotics/Self-Driving Vehicles/Cloud Computing industry of the nation and how the company is benefiting the clients.
Qandle is a technology-first startup. It has leveraged technology to develop a modular and extremely flexible solution for organizations looking to deliver the next-generation experience to their teams. The platform recently launched ‘Qanbot’, an AI-enabled bot to address day-to-day queries of employees, which leads to reducing the mundane tasks for HR Managers. The product includes other AI-based solutions such as a resume parser for faster and better recruitment and predictive analytics for data-driven decision-making.
How is IoT/Big Data/AI/Robotics evolving today in the industry as a whole? What are the most important trends that you see emerging across the globe?
There was a time when even landline phones were a big hit. But things evolved, and over the period we saw its size shrinking. Today this palm-size device has converged several tasks and technologies within itself. It is very much capable of assisting us, managing tasks, keeping records, etc. With better execution of AI, this is only going to get smoother, and unimaginably wonderful. AI holds the potential to revolutionize every industry in terms of experience and functioning. In addition to this, it also holds immense business potential. Reports forecast AI annual growth rate to be around 33.2% for the period between 2020 and 2027.
This is going to shift people to more strategic and smarter roles. For instance, today an HR manager mostly exhausts his man-hours in answering employee queries, resolving mundane challenges, and keeping records. If we replace it with an AI-enabled bot, the HR Manager can now focus on the real strategic work. Contrary to popular opinion, this technology is going to unleash the true capabilities of people.
What are the key trends driving the growth in Big Data analytics/AI/Machine Learning?
Currently, it has been observed that AI-driven chatbots are getting widely adopted. A lot of B2C brands are saving big numbers by implementing this tech product in their customer service departments. B2B companies are also getting higher leads through AI chatbots on their websites.
This takes the entire customer service experience a notch up and also saves a lot of time and money while providing a superior experience and a quick resolution to customers. Talking about figures, around 40% of internet users worldwide prefer interacting with chatbots over call center executives.
How is Machine Learning (ML) shaping the IT/Big Data/Robotics industry today? How is it changing the role of CIOs and Leaders?
In recent years, a lot of new technologies have disrupted many industries, and ML is one of the most impactful ones. As the implementation of technology has increased, adapting to the continuously evolving business dynamics has become easier. With the abundance of data, earlier people needed a lot of time to process it, whereas now one can analyze and scrutinize through ML in a short period and make smart analyses. However, building the road ahead for any technology, be it ML or Big Data, is still a job that C-Suite executives and academicians need to drive. The growth of the domain is still very much dependent on the leaders.
Could you highlight your company’s recent innovations in the AI/ML/Analytics space?
We have recently launched ‘Qanbot’, an AI-enabled chat and voice bot to address day-to-day HR queries of employees, and perform basic HR tasks like leave application, raising of issue tickets, etc., on their behalf. This saves a lot of time for both HR teams and employees themselves.
In addition, we use and provide a lot of visual analytics and actionable insights to our customers across all of our 20+ modules and promote smarter data-driven decision-making.
What is the size of the analytics team at Quandle?
We are fans of building a lean startup and have managed to keep our headcount to below 50 for about 5 years now. Our analytics team consists of 2 people.
How is your company utilizing advanced analytics and big data?
We provide a lot of analytics within our solution across modules for our clients. For example, to better understand employee productivity, we share details like productivity, desk time, effectiveness, most and least productive times of day, etc.
At the organizational, location, and department level, we share analytics like headcount trends, retention rate, employee tenures, compensation trends, etc.
All these data points are provided in beautifully designed graphs and charts, while our customers can use our report builder tool to build and share their reports as well.
What are some of the challenges faced by the industry today?
As the industry of data analytics is new, it is very much beneficial when one needs to make informed decisions and have time on their side. Since it does take some time to run computations and increase the accuracy of various analytics models, it still takes time.
However, a lot of people still expect to base their ‘not so immediate’ strategies on the solution, and then face disappointment because they have invested too much and expected a quicker turnaround. It is more advisable to utilize the solutions with precision and in sync with its capabilities and asks. As the technology grows, eventually it will become less expensive and more precise.
What would you advise aspiring big data and analytics candidates?
Looking back from where we started, it is evident that it will always be a matter of surprise to figure out successful executions and wonders of technology. Given the fact that we have only scratched the surface when it comes to data analytics, we understand that there is a huge potential, and simultaneously a big need for talent. Every field runs on data and needs experts. The career prospects shall become brighter if a candidate pursues specialization in the field of analytics. There are many courses available online nowadays. More than the certifications, what matters is, what the candidates know and if they can think logically.