We recently had the privilege of interviewing Issam Siddique, Chief Strategy Officer at HAL Simplify. In a technology-driven world of today, an efficient and intuitive ERP can make a huge difference. Issam Siddique, with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Crescent Engineering College, is optimistic and determined about the potential of this market.
As the CSO of HAL Simplify, Issam has embraced the challenges in the industry and played a crucial role in establishing the organization in its current position. In this interview, we delve deeper into Issam’s journey from his initial role at Infosys to choosing the challenging path of entrepreneurship and becoming the Co-founder of HAL Simplify. Join us as Issam Siddique shares insight from his career journey, unique services, and visions on self-learning.
Beginnings First
We started the interview by asking, “Could you share a brief overview of your career journey, including key milestones and transitions?”
Issam responded, “I began my career with Infosys and gradually started believing in the essence of training and education when I was able to build a full-fledged courier management system within 5 months of intense training at Infosys without ever having done any proper coding before that. However during this journey, I developed a liking for business and shifted my career from being a Software Engineer to a Business Analyst once I realized my passion, gaining the twin perspectives of business and technology.
After several engagements, I realized the art of understanding and capturing a business problem and effectively solving that with Software. Later, I changed track to a Sales function in a completely different industry to challenge myself and my skills only to transition back to Software and find the right team to flag off my entrepreneurial journey.”
Technology And Transformations
“How has your education influenced your career choices and growth in this industry?” We asked Issam.
“During my engineering years in college, I was fascinated with the rapid changes in technology and the transformational effect this was having on the macro economy of countries all over – especially emerging economies like India. After going through a dot com bust in early 2000, the technology industry was again taking off rapidly. I was intrigued by the advances in cloud computing and the possibilities this heralded for the future.” Issam replied.
Adaptability Amidst Challenges
Challenges are an inevitable part of any business. We were intrigued to learn how Issam overcomes the potential risks in his company. So, we asked, “How do you tackle challenges in your field amidst changing market dynamics and technological advancements?”
He shared, “Any field will be filled with challenges. In the Tech sector, the pace of change is very different. As they say, it’s the age of Amazon, where what is trending today becomes obsolete tomorrow. The only way to tackle challenges is to stay agile and be nimble as an organization to react to the changes quickly.”
Staying Updated With The Latest Trends
We further asked, “How do you ensure your company remains adaptable to emerging trends and technologies?”
He continued, “This is a very tricky challenge. We attempt to make a hypothesis on what our customers will want in the future, develop experimental solutions, and gauge user interest in adoption. This enables us to validate our thesis quickly. If the experiments take off, then we invest further and build on others, we quickly jump on to other hypotheses.”
Navigating Through Trends
“How has your company effectively navigated and capitalized on emerging global market trends or shifts in consumer behavior?”
Issam shared, “The most recent change in global market trends has been the introduction of Chat GPT and allied AI services. As a company, we always looked at changing the foundation of a business system interaction. We were working on making our product “Formless” without the need to key in data the traditional way. This strategy and technical decision helped us make the most of the latest AI trends as we quickly incorporated the latest AI-powered offerings into our services, including generative AI.”
Plans We Asked Issam Siddique
We were curious to learn about the goals Issam has for his business. We asked, “What are your plans or goals for your company?”
Issam passionately responds, “We want to be a disruptive player in the ERP industry. Our firm belief is that this Industry has been stagnant and without any major innovations for the last few decades. Our attempt at bringing innovations has given thrust to our mission of making a formless user experience for business users. We are trying to make business systems more conversational and natural language driven.”
Lessons Embraced In This Journey
To learn more about the lessons Issam embraced over these years, we asked, “What valuable lessons have you learned throughout your career?”
He said, “At every career stage, I have learned numerous lessons. While working with large MNCs like Infosys, I appreciated the power of systems and processes. As I experienced smaller organizations, I learned about the power of having the right team and teaching the right culture to let the talent propel the organization within.”
Setting HAL Simplify Apart
To stand firmly amidst the competition in the Industry, businesses need to focus on building unique services. So, we asked, “How do you differentiate your services from competitors in the current market?”
“One of our core differences is how users interact with our system. We are breaking away from the traditional means of Enterprise system building styles. Instead, we focus on a more natural language-driven solution that helps users interact with the system by simply speaking in their natural language. We want to fundamentally change the norm that business systems must be complex and necessarily need a long learning curve.” Issam Siddique shared.
Self-Learning Is The Key
We ended the interview by asking, “What are the most important qualities or skills you believe beginners should cultivate to thrive in this industry?”
“The biggest skill any beginner should possess is the ability to self-learn. This single skill will help them stand apart and make it much easier to stand tall in today’s Industry. Accepting that whatever has been learned will always change and hence always looking forward to unlearning and adopting the new changes will be the hallmark of the new style of Employees that we will see hereafter.” Issam concluded.
Connect with Issam Siddique on LinkedIn.
Find HAL Simplify on LinkedIn or visit https://halsimplify.com/about-us/