Sri Kanthadai explains how international talent reaps the benefits of being at the centre of opportunities and challenging roles.
As the UK technology sector witnessed meteoric growth in the past 18 months, it is an opportune time to embrace the long-term prospects in the UK. The Pandemic made sure that we stick to cultural integration, continuous learning and adaptability and how these factors build optimism in a professional environment. If current trends in the UK tech domain run a steady path, by 2030, the UK workforce will be fluid, highly creative and more international that holds the potential to do more than merely react to developments. Technologist Confidant spoke to Data & Analytics expert Sri Kanthadai about how IT professionals can reap the benefits of opportunities the UK technology sector has to offer.
Mr Kanthadai is a data management professional with 25+ years of experience in transforming the data landscape in organisations to deliver business benefits and enable the monetisation of data assets. He has travelled many geographies during his entire career and worked with several global organisations making significant contributions to the digital technology landscape. He enjoys the challenges current trends throw up, including digital transformation, data democratisation, data monetisation, data exploitation, data-centric, and data mesh approaches.
On the UK’s position in the global market concerning the technology sector, Mr Kanthadai points out that we have to recognise the flow of the tide, “the technology sector in the UK is well poised to grow, and the demand far exceeds supply.” The proliferation of technology and globalisation pushes businesses to become more resilient, giving rise to crucial innovations and jobs in the UK. “The UK is at the forefront of many industries such as financial services and information technology which fuels the demand,” - he adds.
While the UK continues to emulate Silicon Valley, a new shift in economic power can be felt by the entire world; focusing on increasing business flexibility and championing innovation; the UK technology domain has achieved growth tenfold. When asked about the benefit of joining the UK’s technology sector, Mr Kanthadai explained that marked by this enormous growth, “the UK technology sector provides very strong opportunities for growth and highly challenging roles.”
As businesses in the UK become more flexible, it is predicted that overseas employees will take on more obligations to bridge the digital skill gap. Self-management and essential business abilities such as project management knowledge, the capacity to sell their personal brand and integrate with the local culture will become increasingly important.
On being asked about what Indian technologists should do mix up with the British culture, Mr Kanthadai told TC, if one wants to integrate into the UK work culture easily, they must “learn to integrate with the local work/life culture first”, adding his inputs, he said, “You are the newcomer here, and hence it is for you to adjust. The British are reserved people, but once they get to know you, they are very warm & friendly people. The UK is a land of many cultures, and people learn to appreciate and respect each other’s cultures. Ensure you do the same. If you want to live around Indians after moving to the UK and like in India, you may as well have stayed back in India”.
Moreover, the United Kingdom is a global leader in FinTech and home to most billion-dollar tech behemoths. It will be equally renowned in the next ten years because of its open and multicultural tech ecosystem, empowering everyone with access to technology capabilities, and championing emerging verticals such as AI, cybersecurity, and e-commerce.
As for the concluding part, Mr Kanthadai stressed the importance of continuous learning and grasping opportunities, “The opportunities are out there. It is for you to grasp them and grow. Don’t stop learning and challenging yourself.” He suggests similar approaches to the technologists who are already in the UK, “to adapt, integrate and keep learning”.
More about Sri Kanthadai - Mr Kanthadai has been acknowledged as one of the leading data management professionals in the industry. His career highlights include building both European and Global MDM capabilities/ organisation for top tier consulting organisations, conceptualising, building & launching successful packaged MDM offerings and setting up & running a CDO organisation for a global consulting company.
Current designation- Data & Analytics at Deloitte Consulting
Contact him on LinkedIn
