On International Women’s Day, we sat down with Raji Sivakumar, an extraordinary woman in tech and COO of Appearition. We gathered valuable insights on company culture, immersive technology, innovation, and the key to succeeding as a woman in the field.
1. Since this spotlight will be on International Women’s Day, do you have any advice for women in tech?
“I would just like to wish them continued success to power on. It is important we set the ground rules for the generations to come and we have the chance to shape the industry to be inclusive and diverse on all counts. To help each other succeed is important. I strongly believe that success for one should not come from the failure of others.”
2. As a COO, what do you think is unique about Appearition’s company culture?
“I don’t want to think of it as unique but rather a necessity. We are all humans and we all want the same thing – a strong value system that drives decision making without any compromise to that. When in doubt, a value system is what gives us the frameworks and courage to make decisions and be resilient in our decision making. I would like to think we are building a resilient organisation no matter what. Perhaps that is what is unique – our focus on sustainable and resilient business through people.”
3. What are the best ways in which immersive tech can help the workflow of companies?
“Immersive tech is more than enterprise technology, it is a medium. So, it is more about where in the workflows it can help people, make contextually relevant decisions, get assistance when they need it, learn better and faster to reduce errors, get trained easier even for soft skills like empathy, engage with products and people more collaboratively. I believe that each enterprise will craft their own digital tools that makes sense to them with immersive tech – a blanket approach or the tool will not work.”
4. What is the key to successful innovation for a company focused on immersive technology?
“For any technology, successful innovation is when technology goes hand in hand with the problem they want to solve. It needs to make money, save money or a solve a compliance need for them. Always start with the problem they want to solve.”
5. What is the best part of working in Appearition?
“The people and how they come together to achieve goals – even ambitious ones. Great people to work with and great customer stories to work on.”
