Farhana Haque, Group Director, Device Sales India, Microsoft
Farhana is the Group Director, Devices at Microsoft India. Her responsibilities include empowering an ecosystem of partners who leverage Microsoft Platforms to build solutions that power the intelligent edge.
Podcast
Overview
Microsoft is one of the top tech companies of the world engaged in developing global products that enable businesses and the general public to do their tasks easily, efficiently, and smartly. IT sector was one of the few in the world that continued innovating with new technologies to help sustain the world carry their business during the pandemic.
With digitization growing exponentially, the future of technology and its impact on human lives become paramount to understand. We discuss the same in today’s episode of The Brand Called You, with Farhana Haque, the Group Director of Devices Sales of Microsoft India.
Let’s tune it to learn about India in the global market, digital economy, technology, and future.
About Farhana Haque
Farhana works for Microsoft and is the Group Director for device sales in India. She selected technology as a career because she was fascinated by Maths and Science.
She has worked in the field for more than a decade now with technology giants like Vodafone, Infosys, and IBM.
Discussion
As Microsoft’s Group Director for device sales in India, Farhana explains how her company’s products follow the organisation’s mission statement of enabling to do more. Microsoft Edge solutions are those areas where consumers or organisations interact with the technology that we use on a day-to-day basis.
She gives interesting examples of how Microsoft works in broad areas with their partners by developing hardware for them and also by supporting their hardware with personalised software innovations. They strive to serve as a point of communication for both B2C and B2B.
India on Global Market
Talking about India’s position as a tech giant in the global market, Farhana shares how India has a unique strength of talent and diversity of skills.
“Because of this diversity, there is a very richness to the solutions that we can bring to the table. The products that can be created. Because when you develop something which can cater to the one billion odd people in the country, then you can cater to everybody.”
She also expresses her happiness with the growing number of tech start-ups who are involved in developing globally accepted products.
Pandemic & Digital Economy
Farhana re-emphasises the widely said fact that technology has started to change the way we work after the pandemic. We will have to accept a hybrid world. We will work in the office as well as from home. The pandemic has taught us that people evolve and so does the technology which can cater to the evolving needs of the human population.
Artificial Intelligence or Internet of Things or Machine Learning are areas she is very passionate about. Technology is impacting human lives in a manner that has not been before. All these technologies are linked together and not is in separate silos. Home devices like blood pressure meters, glucometers, oximeters, and others will ensure doctors get our data very quickly. Life will become more secure, safe, and easier.
When asked about the issue of privacy, she said that our personal and professional words have become fungible. Our phones or our computers are being used both for personal and official work. Technology is now empowering us to select what we want to be shared and what we do not. We can easily change our preference to not share our data or not share the location.
Work as a Mentor
Farhana also does a lot of work in mentoring women who are interested in STEM education and is a member of the FICCI Advisory Board for Empowering Women. She shares an interesting fact how during her college, she was always reminded of being the first Muslim woman engineering student of her institution. Incidents like these, made her think and do work in educating & helping the young women of India in the field of technology.
Profile
Farhana is the Group Director, Devices at Microsoft India. Her responsibilities include empowering an ecosystem of partners who leverage Microsoft Platforms to build solutions that power the intelligent edge. She is also responsible for the OEM business in India.
With around 18+ years of experience in business consultation and P&L management, powering the intelligent edge and other tech building a better tomorrow, Farhana has held several leadership positions at business organizations of international repute. Before joining Microsoft, she was VP and Business Head for IoT at Vodafone Business Services responsible for managing the P&L for IoT. She was instrumental in launching Connected Solutions, transforming IoT from a transactional to an outcome-based business and firmly putting Vodafone into the consideration sets of digital leaders of organizations at the forefront of achieving digital transformation. During her stint, Vodafone Business Services was conferred with the prestigious IoT Business of the Year Award. Prior to Vodafone, she had a successful stint at IBM Global Business Services where she was responsible for business process transformation, revenue and profitability of key manufacturing and retail clients of IBM India. Previously, she has also held multiple roles in technology, marketing and sales at Infosys.
An accomplished painter and mentor for start-ups in the IoT, Telco and digital domains,
Farhana believes in giving back to society. As part of the IBM experience for top talent, she was part of CSC Peru, where she worked with local NGOs in south Peru involved in different social and economic initiatives. She is on the advisory board for FICCI Empowering Women – Empowering India and Women Inspired World initiatives, and on the Advisory Board for the Institution’s Innovation Council (IIC) at K. J. Somaiya Institute of Engineering and Information Technology, Mumbai. She actively supports organizations working in the field of STEM education for women and the girl child.
