Technology has always been seen as a support system. For me, the turning point came when I realised it could be far more, the growth engine of business itself. Over the past two decades, across roles at IBM, Accenture, and now as Deputy CIO at Emami Agrotech, I have witnessed this shift firsthand: from automation for efficiency to embedding intelligence into the very core of enterprise strategy.

\Courage builds innovation, clarity shapes it, and purpose sustains it, thats’s how we turn intelligence into impact.\

At Emami Agrotech, this ideology has shaped our operations. By integrating intelligence across planning, execution, and reporting, we have transformed the way the enterprise anticipates demand, empowers its salesforce, and equips leadership with real-time insights. The impact has been tangible: greater agility, resilience in volatile markets, and measurable value creation. For us, intelligence is not an add-on but the foundation for strategic decisions.

The future, as I see it, lies in autonomous digital agents, intelligent systems that don’t simply respond but act proactively, capable of self-optimising workflows, managing complexity, and amplifying human creativity at scale. These agents will redefine industries, reshaping supply chains, customer experiences, and even how societies tackle sustainability and healthcare.

Yet progress without responsibility risks losing trust. That is why transparency, fairness, and inclusivity are embedded in every initiative we pursue. Governance frameworks ensure that intelligence augments human potential, never replaces it. Leaders, I believe, must act as custodians of trust-championing diversity, eliminating bias, and ensuring systems serve both business and society with integrity.

Preparing for this future will also demand a new kind of leadership; one that blends technical fluency with empathy, adaptive thinking, and ethical judgment. At Emami, we nurture this mindset through a culture of continuous learning, empowering teams to view intelligent systems as partners in success rather than as replacements.

Scaling intelligence across an organisation is not primarily a technology challenge; it is a change management journey. By tying every initiative to business outcomes, securing executive sponsorship, and fostering cross-functional ownership, we have moved projects from pilots to enterprise-wide adoption.

Let’s anchor innovation in outcomes, lead with ethics, and remain curious. The future will not be built by

those who manage technology, but by those who drive it with courage, clarity and purpose.

The Journey Into Industry

Golam Mustafa is an IIMA-certified Tech Leader and an award-winning technology executive with over two decades of experience driving enterprise transformation across manufacturing, supply chain, and customer experience. Recognised among CIO100 – The Game Changer, CIO Accelerator X, and EmergeTech 2025, he specialises in turning technology from a cost centre into a growth engine. His expertise spans SAP S/4HANA, Salesforce, AWS, and AI strategy, delivering measurable business outcomes through digital innovation. As the author of The Tech Driver and a sought-after speaker, Golam champions technology leadership built on Courage, Clarity and Code.