It’s the day after the go-live for our Digital Platform in APAC & MEA when we chat to Uday – our Digital Transformation Lead in the region.
Successfully onboarding our partners and internal sales team to a new, digital way of working is a first mission complete for Uday since he joined the company in early 2023.
Originally from India and now living and working in Singapore, he was encouraged to join Electrolux Professional Group on reading about its digital vision and felt his experience and background would contribute and be a good fit. He’s still learning a lot on the job though!
What does the role of Digital Transformation Lead entail? Tell us more about what you do!
As part of the Digital Transformation team, my role is to help with the roll-out of Digital Transformation initiatives within the APAC and MEA region. It involves promoting the company’s digital vision and working with internal customers (employees), stakeholders and external partners during the pre- and post- ‘Go Live’ activities to make the change as smooth as possible.
What route did you take in terms of studies and jobs to where you are today?
After finishing my engineering studies in India, I worked in the telecom industry for two years as a project engineer before going on to complete an MBA in Marketing and Operations in India. After that, I worked across various industries such as Industrial Compressed Air Equipment, Off Highway Construction equipment and Automotive in different roles including Aftermarket Sales, Service Marketing, Digital Product Management and as a Techno Functional Consultant.
Tell us more about this recent go-live with the company’s Digital Platform
As part of the 2023 Digital Platform roll-out wave, we onboarded our partner accounts to the platform along with users from these partner organizations in Thailand and other importer countries in SEA. The Digital Platform is like any other ecommerce platform which helps our partners with round-the-clock access to place orders, check order status, access product technical and commercial documentation, get notified for specific events and interact with our teams with a dedicated section for support request.
What do you love about your job?
I get to work with different commercial functions within the organization and help them problem- solve their day-to-day business challenges using our digital tools. Some of the technologies being used for these digital tools are also new to me and so it’s a great learning experience at a personal level too.
On the other hand, what are the biggest challenges?
Change management is the biggest challenge and it’s here that communication is key. If we are clear about what we are doing and why – what the benefit is and the value – then people who are impacted will be willing to adopt new ways of working.
What advice would you give to people wanting to work in a position like yours?
You need an agile and digital mindset along with being a good listener, problem-solver as well as being people-oriented. Having knowledge and experience in commercial functions is a plus.
Tell us about your experience of the multinational working environment and the opportunities that exist within the company?
My role involves working with regional stakeholders as well central teams in Europe. This provides me with a lot of opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in different countries and have a truly multinational working experience.
Why choose to work at Electrolux Professional Group?
During my interview process, I went through the annual report where I read about the digital vision of the company. I could relate to it when envisioning my role at the organization and how I could contribute to this vision considering my experience and interests.
Also, a professional mentor of mine had previously worked in a renowned Swedish company and always used to share a lot of positive feedback about Swedish organizations and their work culture which influenced my decision to join.
I’ve found the company culture and working environment to be inclusive, collaborative, honest and a place where people are open with feedback and make you feel appreciated. And we have a lot of trust and freedom to bring new ideas and try new things, which I particularly like a lot.
Check out our global career site, if you aspire to pursue a career similar to Uday‘s.