Interview with Shashi Kiran (CMO, Quali) Speaker at Global IoT Conference April 2018 Posted on : Mar 18 - 2018

We feature speakers at Global IoT Conference - April 2 - 4 2018 - Santaclara - CA to catch up and find out what he or she is working on now and what's coming next. This week we're talking to Shashi Kiran (CMO, Quali) Topic - "A Few Innovative Approaches To Secure IoT And Industrial IoT (IIoT)"

Interview with Shashi Kiran

1. Tell us about yourself and your background.

I am the CMO of a venture funded startup called Quali.. We are into automation and orchestration of cloud and DevOps environments addressing a variety of use-cases including IoT. I've held several roles over a career spanning over two decades including most recently as the head of worldwide marketing for datacenter and cloud solutions at Cisco. I also advise a few startups and venture firms focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI), security, IoT and cloud mostly in the Silicon valley and India.

2.  What have you been working on recently?

My recent focus is on areas of automation that improve human productivity and deliver cost efficiencies for enterprise and service provider customers that are solving problems associated with environment complexity.

3. Tell me about the right tool you used recently to solve customer problem?

I've been evangelizing cyber ranges and sandboxes recently. They address a white space in enterprises today that are dealing with changes in their cyber security posture due to environment complexities. It helps them better train their staff in security best practices as well as help harden their security posture.

4. Where are we now today in terms of the state of IoT, and where do you think we’ll go over the next five years?

IoT is quite prevalent today as far as the "things" are concerned. There is still a problem of fragmented value chain with gaps in management and operational oversight. Industrial IoT is better in that sense as the management domains are much better define.

5. You’ve already hired Y number of  people approximately. What would be your pitch to folks out there to join your Organization? Why does your organization matter in the world?

I look for confident people that bond well with teams. While having the relevant experience is important, I look for people who can adapt and learn faster, as technologies change rapidly and managing change is key. I offer them a fast paced environment with a good culture and a potential to learn. There is tremendous freedom to take ownership and drive initiatives. I give them a wide canvas. Quali is doing some interesting things that are quite unique and relevant. Bringing motivated talent on board is a win-win for all.

6. What are some of the best takeaways that the attendees can have from your talk?

IoT has so much hype and some real use-cases. My talk will focus on pragmatic and innovative solutions in the context of IoT today including industrial IoT.  We'll view them with a security lens. I feel it will take time for the dust to settle on IoT

7. What are the top 5 IoT Use cases in enterprises?

The intersection of mobility with IoT is perhaps the biggest one. Wearables, autos, glasses - a number of consumer elements are coming into the enterprise. Likewise traditional non-tech enterprises are focused on bringing legacy things onto the IoT bandwagon.

8. Which company do you think is winning the global IoT race?

Hard to say. Everyone has a different angle and I feel the race has just begun. The arms merchants i.e. the chip vendors, digital manufacturers etc. are all benefiting from this trend. The value chain is still quite fragmented and monetization is somewhat challenging at scale.

9. Any closing remarks

I see a lot of entrepreneurial energy focused on IoT. I believe the companies that are attacking the non-sexy common sense elements of IoT would the first out of the gate to monetize and lay claim to success. The sexier use-cases will take a longer time coming, but will be more exciting.