Seemantini Godbole

For years, technology has been reshaping the workforce. But instead of fearing it, especially as we age, what if we considered the opportunities it could bring? Recent studies suggest that AI and automation could actually extend the careers of older workers by reducing physical demands and allowing them to focus on their strengths. Flexible work arrangements, like remote work, combined with new tech, can empower workers 50-plus to stay in their jobs longer, which benefits them and the economy. See how we can embrace this shift and reap the benefits: a more inclusive, experienced, and diverse workforce. Let's not fear the future; let's shape it. #AI #Automation #FutureOfWork #Inclusion #OlderWorkers

51

2 Comments

Hybrid work offers the best of both worlds IMHO—yes, collaboration thrives in person, but we don't need to go back to 5 days a week to achieve it. Research, not politics, should drive RTO decisions. Let’s prioritize balanced, flexible policies that foster connection without losing talent. #HybridWork #RTO #EmployeeEngagement

42

6 Comments

A huge shout-out to the exceptional engineering team working with me and my 'partner-in-crime' Piyush Garg for bringing this technically challenging project to life at JFL in just two years. Building a complete POS ecosystem that seamlessly integrates with our cloud-powered platforms when connected to the internet—while also functioning as a truly distributed system without a central coordinator or database during internet outages—was a monumental task that could have easily overwhelmed any other team. We faced all the challenges typical of distributed systems, such as ensuring fault-tolerance and reliability within a network of replicated in-app embedded databases, maintaining system safety and liveness under network asynchrony and partial failures, eliminating issues with distributed transactions, and ensuring consistency and availability at all times. Additionally, we had to prevent split-brain scenarios between cloud data-stores and in-app embedded databases and make the system fully observable down to the minutest details. To make things even more complex, we had to solve these challenges not just at the backend cloud layers—where these problems have been addressed for decades—but at the mobile app level, where constrained resources and the lack of ready-made solutions compounded the difficulty. Despite these obstacles, our team not only survived but thrived, delivering an amazing product that adds immense value to the JFL ecosystem. This achievement aligns with the vision of our CTO Pawan Kumar to transform JFL into a food-tech powerhouse. We will be soon posting a series of technical deep-dives here to explain how we accomplished this feat..keep tuned ! Credits : Manish Verma - for exceptional work leading the Android Team GOURAV THAPA Shashi Mehra Sumair Syed - for the wonderful work on ReactNative, ReactJS apps and the websocket gateway Vaibhav Tuteja,Deepak Sharma,Harsh kumar - as awesome backend engineers and tech leads Not to forget Ashwani Kuntal , Animesh Vibhuti and Susheela Bora for laying out some of the cloud-platforms earlier that have been leveraged in this POS journey A big thank you to Vidit Garg , Arjun Swarup , Yatish Upadhyaya, AYUSH AGARWAL guiding the product and ensuring Quality as always. Special mention for our infra and devops team under the professional guidance of Sandeep Bajpai for creating the huge infra powering this ecosytem. The exceptional UI of our in-store apps like OrderTaking, Kitchen Display, Lobby would not have been possible without Manu Pratap Singh and Darpan Bajaj Special thanks to all our junior engineers and freshers(GETs) who are the real backbone of this project :-) Jayant Sharma Hardik Tuteja Atharrva Hande T Kumar Vaibhav Akshi Chauhan and so many more If I were to name one person without whom this project would have definitely failed it would be without doubt for me my dearest friend Piyush Garg, you were the real-pillar for this project throughout its ups and downs, respect !

72

10 Comments

"The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." – Alvin Toffler I am thrilled to share that I have completed the Transformation Leadership – Accelerator program at Publicis Sapient. It is instrumental in building leadership skills and fostering continuous learning and unlearning. The program emphasized strategy development, overcoming limiting beliefs, and fostering high-performing teams and a ton of frameworks to enable and empower leadership skills. The continuous and impactful learning experience, coupled with invaluable networking opportunities, has truly been transformative. #Leadership #ContinuousLearning #ProfessionalDevelopment #Networking #PersonalGrowth #PublicisSapient

63

4 Comments

The product management world is at an interesting crossroads. Having spent years in customer focused retail analysis on the sales side I see first hand an interesting inflection point. When I first got into retail, my work revolved around solving customer problems and utilizing data for the world’s largest retailers to understand what matters at the store level and what actually moves the needle. That experience taught me a lot about value creation and impact. Now that I’m on the SaaS side of my journey I’m constantly bombarded with calls to listen to customers and solve problems but this is exactly what we should be doing not a new idea. It shouldn’t be news to anyone. I’m so surprised when people seem to be hearing this for the first time. Here’s the thing about product though: product management professionals have become a well-compensated, high-profile role, and with that comes an expectation to deliver real, measurable results. And let’s be clear, this isn’t about a talent gap. The talent in this industry is incredible. The people I see on stage at conferences—storytellers who deeply understand customers and data—are phenomenal at what they do. Frankly, they could be some of the best salespeople out there. But as I keep attending conferences, I notice the same foundational ideas being rehashed. It feels like we’re stuck on repeat. It’s not enough to just push out new features or close tickets. Unless those features drive actual value for the business, we’re missing the mark. The software side of product management, in particular, needs a shake-up—new methods, fresh ideas, a willingness to challenge the status quo. Product folks also should be sitting in on the sales call IMO. I don’t have all the answers, but I know something has to change for this industry to maintain the respect it commands. Here are a few random ideas from my side: • A Product/Feature Value Calculator to measure the real impact of each launch or feature. • Reimagined AI tools that dig deep into customer needs, capturing modern panel-style insights and not just fancy note taking tools • LTV tracking across the user journey to focus on what really drives long-term value not just a core metric So, what’s next in the world of product? Do you agree or disagree?

45

3 Comments

Thrilled to be published in Retail Tech Insights with the article, "Fueling AI Excellence". #AI will continue to gain meaningful benefits for companies as they work hard to provide clean, governed data for the models. No matter where your company is in the journey, know that the best investment that can be made to be ready for #AI is in the data governance and prep side. It's going to be an exciting decade ahead! Thanks so much to the Retail Tech Insights team for taking the time to interview, edit, and publish the article! https://lnkd.in/g9ygnMu5 #ai, #techinsights, #data, #datagovernance, #datascience, #analytics

55

5 Comments

How many of us feel this way! "I did so much, expected more but what happened is too LESS. I am sure many of us fill this bucket of thought. And why should we not - remember give and take policy, we have experienced this more often. Here are my ways to think as a proactive, empathetic and emotional yet a strong budding LEADER. For me “Less is more” or rather LESS is verbed as: - LimitLESS - BoundryLESS - FearLESS - AgeLESS - FlawLESS Isn’t it PriceLESS! What’s your take on leadership with less of expectations but high on energy driven deliverable’s. #leadership #team #delivery #vision #growth

26

2 Comments

100% Agree! Frontlines are where clarity of business problems reside. However, I’m curious how companies are fostering genuine innovation at the frontlines when it involves AI. When employees are tasked with identifying areas where AI could improve processes or customer satisfaction, there's a risk they might overlook or protect aspects of their roles due to bias or fear of redundancy. Leadership needs to actively participate in these initiatives, demonstrating their commitment to using AI as a tool for enhancement rather than replacement. This can help alleviate fears and inspire employees to think creatively or reimagine how it should be done rather than how it’s done today. Comes down to culture of the organization.

6

CEOs looking to transform their businesses in 2025 can achieve powerful results by harnessing intelligent connections—networks that leverage AI and data to deepen relationships and drive outcomes. By using AI to gain actionable insights, leaders can better anticipate valuable interactions, connecting with the right people at the right time. Intelligent connections also break down geographic and time barriers, making it possible to collaborate across the globe in ways that weren’t feasible before. Strengthening both internal and external networks—whether by aligning teams or engaging with partners—creates a foundation for innovation. And it’s not just about efficiency; this approach can directly drive revenue by focusing on data-driven networking, turning insights into measurable growth. Where could strengthening your connections create a breakthrough for your business? Perhaps the next step is to explore where you already have untapped potential—then take action. Even small steps can lead to transformative outcomes. #BusinessTransformation #AI #Innovation

22

Retail is buzzing this holiday season. What better way to start the day than a good discussion with peers from Sam's Club, Walmart, and Ping on the always hot topic - Cart abandonment and cultivating customer loyalty. Highlights: 1. #1 reason for cart abandonment: extra costs pop up at the end. 2. #2 and #3 reasons for cart abandonment: forcing customer to login and extra steps mainly related to security. 3. Analysis has shown that primarily for registration there should be 3 or less fields. Anything over 3 fields the customer bails out. 4. Progressive profiling is the key - keep asking for additional information as the transaction flows. Customers are more eager to do that as they build trust along the journey. 5. Key data: Loyalty from a new customer is attained after the 3rd purchase. 27% of the customers come back after the 1st purchase. 49% of the customers come back after the 2nd purchase and 62% after the 3rd purchase. 6. Fraud: online fraud happens before the financial transaction. Catch and stop it earlier - e.g. Customer logged in from Denver and now from Moscow. Customer entered new address and turned off notifications. 7. Security and personalization are a balancing act. It doesn't need to be. Plan and architect it in the user stories- shift left.

41

3 Comments

“On-time performance” (OTP) is our technical term for saying we deliver products really fast because we genuinely care about customers. OTP is a mindset for us at World Emblem™, and it’s something I’ve been particularly proud of. I’ve always seen it this way: no matter how complex it is for an organization like ours behind the scenes, if it feels easy for a customer to click “Place your order” and to receive it, that’s all that really matters. In the background, every order passes rigorous validation and checks. From real-time data validation ensuring accurate orders to e-commerce fraud checks, we optimize every step. A study by Metapack found that 83% of customers are more likely to return if a company offers fast and reliable delivery. Prioritizing OTP is expensive. It means leading with continuous improvement utilizing our True Lean methodology, ongoing investment in technology, and an iterative approach to processes. But what’s more expensive: having unhappy customers who can’t rely on you.

26

💡10 Questions to Revolutionize Your Leadership Approach 🌐 True innovation starts with us. Our team's behavior often mirrors questions we haven't asked ourselves yet When leaders own their impact, teams take ownership too! 1. What message are my actions (not my words) sending to my team? 2. Where am I grabbing control when I should be giving guidance? 3. What standards do I hold my team to but excuse in myself? 4. Which feedback keeps surfacing that I keep dismissing? 5. Which team member's potential am I underestimating? 6. What truth am I avoiding because it's uncomfortable? 7. Who needs a bigger challenge, not more training? 8. When was the last time I pushed myself to grow? 9. What outdated assumptions am I protecting? 10. How might I be the barrier to my team's success? Which question made you pause? That's likely where your next leadership breakthrough lies. Thanks to Pepper 🌶️ Wilson! #LeadershipGrowth #InnovationMindset #TechLeadership #AshleyFurniture #AshleyHomestores #CIOInsights #CTOInsights #Leadership #ExecutiveLeadership #Ashley #Growth #Innovation #Team #Teamwork #Success #Mission #Vision #Technology #ServantLeadership

51

4 Comments

"Pain unlocks a secret doorway in the mind, one that leads to both peak performance and beautiful silence." David Goggins I've been dealing with a significant amount of physical pain on a daily basis for the past month. I try not to complain about it or indulge in self-pity, even though I've done all the recommended treatments - physical therapy, icing, heating, etc. - without much relief. Despite the aching in my hip, I refuse to slow down. Riding horses, working out, and tackling my daily activities are non-negotiable for me. I'm determined to push through the discomfort. As I sat in my car tonight, struggling to get out due to the hip issue after a long, active day, I had a realization. This physical journey is not so different from the emotional one I've been on since being let go by Nike back in February. The daily uncertainties, the desire for change, and most importantly, the drive to keep moving forward, knowing it will lead to something better - these common threads have kept me going. It's a reminder that we should never give up, even when the path ahead is unclear. There's often a secret door waiting to be unlocked, if we just persist.  The physical pain is undoubtedly challenging, but I'm finding strength in the parallels to my emotional experiences. Maintaining that determination and resilience, no matter what obstacles arise, is key. I'm committed to continuing forward, one step at a time.  If you'd like to discuss my journey over the past few months or years, please reach out. I'm open to sharing more.

22

3 Comments

The rise of AI search engines has sparked both fascination and concern. While these tools offer advanced capabilities, they also present risks in terms of reliability and bias. As users increasingly rely on AI for information, it’s essential to maintain a critical eye and verify sources independently. Trust in AI should be balanced with human judgment to ensure accurate and unbiased information dissemination. #AISearch #TechTrust #InformationAccuracy

35

1 Comment

I agree with Jason Diegel, Jason Ripley, and Anju Kuzhimattathil that making FlexCount simple to use and intuitive was a primary goal. Some stores require weeks of training to prepare for their annual inventory which adds to the overall cost of execution and frustrates the store staff; With FlexCount we have proven that your team can be up and running in minutes! #Simplicity #Efficiency #Accoutability

22

Scaling RMN are not easy...“When prioritizing connections, key considerations are scale, inventory quality, targeting capabilities and impact. When we invest in building the connection, we want to ensure we can deliver the value customers have come to expect. Criteo’s scalable model enables Pacvue to onboard new retailers in seconds, a process that would otherwise take months with a traditional one-by-one approach, significantly accelerating our clients’ time to market.” Checkout Melanie Zimmermann's article on how she's successfully accomplishing RMN at scale at Criteo #retailmedia #criteo #pacvue

31

1 Comment

Open-source AI has the potential to revolutionize the tech industry, but it also presents unique challenges, especially around definitions and standards. The lack of a unified definition can lead to inconsistencies in development and application, impacting everything from security to interoperability. Establishing clear guidelines and collaborative frameworks will be essential to harness the full benefits of open-source AI while mitigating associated risks. #OpenSourceAI #TechIndustry #AIStandards

14

1 Comment