Interview with Minal Santhosh, Director at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
As a mechanical engineer, Minal’s first job was working in the software industry with 3D-CAM (Computer Aided Manufacturing). At the time, designing and building cars was a booming industry that had yet to see countless recessions take their toll on the Michigan economy. While working with 3D CAM, Minal saw the power of software and knew that’s what he wanted to do. He also knew it was where the future was headed, because according to Minal, “I quickly realized, EVERYTHING is going to be related to computer science.”
His pursuit led him to get his Master’s in computer science, and eventually because he wanted to be able to speak the language of business, he obtained his MBA.
Minal is the Director of Process, Governance, Tools & Metrics at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), but he’s in the unique position to be able to speak on two very different program management fields: using waterfall techniques to build hardware and using Agile to build software. He gives one of the best two-minute explanations on what Agile is, and how it differs from infrastructure projects that I’ve ever heard, and if you’ve got any interest in either, you should listen to the full episode.
He makes another visionary claim that we should pay attention to: everything will become a service within three to five years. What that means is that the as-a-service business model, which started with the software model of pay for what you use, and transitioned from computer servers to physical infrastructure — with houses (Airbnb), cars (Uber), and even dinner (HelloFresh) — you name it. This trend will not only continue but consume how we as consumers and businesses purchase and interact with the world.
If things are all going the way of service, customer service will become even more of a differentiator in this world.
And maintaining a level of exceptional customer service requires great leadership. The good thing is that leadership skills can be improved, and Minal gives some great areas to start with. In fact, Minal states that building strong relationships is the key to great leadership, and although he admits it’s a lifelong pursuit, being a great leader begins there.
Listen to the podcast for all the insights and to discover his recommendations on leadership.
1:20 - Minal’s background and getting his start as a Mechanical Engineer
5:23 - Minal’s Aha moment
8:00 - The boom of as-a-service businesses
8:45 - Why software as-a-service is still not working
11:02 - The difference between public cloud and private cloud
13:13 Metrics - What it means to him, and how you need to have data set up.
14:19 - “What executives need is insights”
15:00 - The biggest challenge with data
16:40 - How to get the right metrics in place
21:00 - The best explanation of Agile I’ve ever heard
30:35 - Minal on leadership
Show Notes:
Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life
The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter