Today, AI and Cloud technology are the words which represents the future. Together, these technologies possess the potential to improve the quality of life for millions. Every industry is now incorporating these cutting-edge technologies to achieve desired their goals.
Meet Chaitra Vedullapalli, Co-Founder & CMO of Meylah, an enthusiastic women entrepreneur and an IT adept who is using AI and Cloud technology to help customers in attaining success. She is known for her expertise in Digital Strategy, Leading Digital Transformation, Cloud & Mobile Transformation, Channel Management; Strategic Partnerships; Product Innovation; Mergers and Acquisitions, eCommerce Excellence, Digital Marketing.
Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Insights Success and Chaitra Vedullapalli:
Kindly take us through your journey on becoming a proficient leader in the IT and Cloud sector.
Fashion, Sports, Music and Creative Arts were my groove. Engineering and Technology was a stretch for me. My initial encounter with Cobol programming in college assured me to never look in that direction. I was convinced I lacked the imagination to develop technology code until I learnt about Oracle Databases and Windows. The colorful and effective interface intrigued me to explore more. I could see the invisible with technology and I decided to defer my plans to pursue post-graduation in music to explore technology as a pathway for career opportunities. However, I desired to work with Microsoft since they were able to impact a billion lives with technology.
When the opportunity came calling, it was beyond exciting since there was a sheer enthusiasm to learn about creating a billion-dollar strategy which Microsoft mastered. The shift from dismissing technology to now operating in the largest industry has been extraordinary. Today, at Meylah, my husband and I are striving to build an enterprise-ready business to serve our customers with Cloud & AI solutions.
How do you diversify your organization’s offerings to entice the target audience?
I run two organizations: Meylah and Women In Cloud. Both the companies strictly follow the motto to serve people and customers and are advancing their innovations with Cloud technologies.
Meylah is a Cloud Solution Provider, with a mission to help companies have access to the digital economy. As Microsoft Gold Partner, we serve customers in two-fold,
- SaaS Solutions – Our unique solutions such as SpeakerEngage, Merchant Management System help planners and decision-makers to automate their business.
- Cloud Services – We provide digital transformation services starting from consulting, Cloud development, digital marketing to managing services in the enterprise market.
Women in Cloud, is a community-led economic development organization, with a massive mission: to take action with global leaders, corporations, and policymakers to help women entrepreneurs create $1 billion in economic impact and opportunity by 2030. The intent of this organization is to help drive equity, economic parity and access to an inclusive economy.
Both companies are designed to help customers create more access, value, opportunities and impact in the marketplace. Our signature Cloud automation framework allows any company to transform their business with ease.
How do you strategize your game plans to tackle the competition in the market?
Every company in the market supports digital transformation. The key to being successful is to differentiate your offerings and services. I defy from competing on the basis of price and capabilities. Value, impact and access are our core pillars looking to benefit purpose-driven leaders and companies that drive inclusive growth and impact in the marketplace.
Hence at Meylah, we focus on 3 core things:
- SaaS Solution offering for enabling digital transformation within days instead of months.
- Invest in public-private opportunities to build smart communities to accelerate economic development.
- Enterprise-ready services to help enterprises to digitally transform their business through Blue Ocean strategies.
What are the vital traits that every businesswoman should possess?
The technology industry has not only taught me to adopt change but also embrace the rate of change. The rate of change in the industry is increasing by the hour and demands constant oversight of current trends. To combat stress and feeling overwhelmed, there are three key traits I believe each business woman should possess:
- Situational leadership: This leadership strategy is extremely beneficial to be present and take decisions that a certain scenario requires.
- Economic Access Creation: Access creation is another characteristic I passionately practice to unlock economic opportunities for people around me. My mantra is to help people achieve their highest level of growth on Maslow’s pyramid.
- Ultimately, acquiring emotional and relationship currencies to understand people and unlock blockers for them to realize their ultimate potential. I believe a leader’s capabilities and achievements lie in the contentment of the people they are leading.
As per your opinion, what roadblocks or challenges were faced by you in a corporate business? And how did you overcome them?
During the early years of my career, in the midst of learning technology, I struggled with a lack of equity. The lack of financial, leadership, and relationship equity led me to contemplate my decision to pursue technology. Furthermore, this contributed to no invitations to certain conversations. As an Indian-American woman, this experience had me question my capabilities as a technologist and a contributing member of the organization.
In hindsight, however, these roadblocks helped me to acquire and structure my leadership style and qualities. Over the years, I have made conscious decisions to serve people and add value. I function with clarity and am critical about analyzing a situation if I am invisible. I believe in understanding ‘why I was not invited’, ‘why do I lack certain equity’, and ‘how can I do better to overcome challenges.’ Some scenarios simply require the courage to walk away. More often than not, the answer lies within you. Your dedication and determination will unlock almost any door if a growth mindset is employed.
Have you in any way contributed towards the cause of Women in Cloud?
My entrepreneurial journey revealed the lack of funding, customers, sponsors and community for companies like Meylah to access. This prompted me to propose a Cloudready program to educate companies about Microsoft channel opportunities as I had acquired a lot of tribal knowledge around tech channels. The pan-US program allowed me to interact with over 5000 companies, however barely 5 percent were led by women entrepreneurs or leaders; all hesitant, and shy to interact. A conversation with these women revealed a broader problem in the system, biases against women in technology. My instant response was, ‘We need change.’
There on, I and Karen Fassio, who collaborated on the Cloud-ready program with me, decided to build a community for women leaders, entrepreneurs, and technologists providing access to economic opportunities. Women in Cloud was born from ideas written on a napkin in a cafe by women who desired to create a different path in the fastest growing industry.
Women in Cloud has an empowering effect on my personal journey. My passion for technology, my dedication to defeat ‘What ifs’ that I constantly encounter and my desire to transform the industry to be inclusive have increased over the last three years. The constant energy I had to pour into this community initially, is now a way of life.
What are your insights on “The myth of meritocracy”? And how it could bring a change in today’s business arena?
A merit-based system does not exist in reality across all factions of life. Success is measured with two different elements; what and how. ‘What’ comprises the contribution, addition and impact through the work you put in. On the other hand, ‘How’, is the invisible factor which incorporates relationship dynamics, emotional currency, sponsorship aircover and the access creation. Ultimately, it trickles down to the significant inclusion you have designed for others through your work. I believe this holistic approach outdo plain hard work.
Leaders, today, look for their representation or an individual to represent their company; the goal is to advance the company’s ideals while successfully climbing the corporate ladder.
What are your future endeavors/objectives and where do you see yourself in the near future?
The Covid-19 pandemic allowed me to introspect and restructure the goals for both Meylah and Women in Cloud; we are now very focused on our objectives and impact. At Meylah, we are committed to providing innovative solutions to our customers to accelerate their digital transformation and drive societal impact to achieve UN Goals.
Women in Cloud is a mission to transform the industry inclusivity, hence we are developing sustainable programs and solutions to equip women to access economic opportunities. Optimization is also on the agenda going forward. Mostly, I am determined to add value to our existing members rather than just grow the community in number.
On my personal journey, I am looking to serve the people who put their faith in our expertise and add value to their journey.
