An insight into Krishna, the awardee of Top Women-Led Insurtech Firm’s entrepreneurial journey and the building of Manomay—an IT consulting & Insurtech solutioning firm in her own words!
Can you tell our readers about your professional journey & how you came to your current position?
Like most truth seekers, my journey began with an intrinsic hunger for finding an answer to one “WHY”!
I worked for 20 years in the Insurance Industry (both sides of the fence – biz and tech) and witnessed a multitude of technology failures, with millions of dollars invested. Why do these failures repeat, instead of successes? What are those underlying reasons? Can those be addressed?
Answer to that “Why” – that business and technology must understand each other deeply, and work together, for business to realize maximum value from technology – turned out to be the beginning of my journey as an entrepreneur. With business technology liaison, as an exclusive focus, for the Insurance Industry, I founded Manomay. With one primary lever “aligning technology right for business”; along the way, the team and I, together, built Manomay to what it is today! And a great foundation for tomorrow!
How do you think Manomay transitioned along with you in your journey?
Success by design is infinitely better than a win by chance! We’ve come a long way, evolving from Tech Consultants to Solution Providers, to solve customers’ unmet demands. We boldly ventured into new territory to simplify processes, enhance communication, ensure 24/7 availability, empower customers, and deliver intelligent insights. Rooted in the “aggregation of marginal gains,” our journey has been inspiring, with much still to achieve. If we can provide peace to customers, why not be ambitious in our approach?
How do you plan to scale your business?
About a year back, we took a step back to review all the dimensions of the Company for scale – where we are and what we need to do – offerings, market, team, processes, and technology. Gearing up for 11X growth needs all those insights and readiness for mutation! This exercise helped us set the course right for the way forward. In all this churning, the only thing that remained constant was our focus – “Technology for Insurance Industry.”
While everyone understands what’s needed for scale, our focus is primarily around – Standardization and flexibility, Organizational leadership development, and Entrepreneurial streak for new beginnings.
What’s your advice for those who want to be an entrepreneur/C-suite executive?
There’s a lot of advice out there. From my experiences, all I can say is there is no magic pill. Whatever you want in life, you have to earn it. Remember, being an entrepreneur/C- suite executive is not a game; it’s a way of life. Obstacles and adversities add to the euphoria of triumph.
Focus, pace, self-belief, learning from experiences – all are needed, in the right doses. You will figure that out – just tame your impatience if you are serious about it!
-Krishna Datla
