Women participation in technical field  on the rise: Harsha Solanki

Infobip ,The London-based company has started offering secured SMS services, especially on financial transactions.
Infobip opened its Dhaka office as a part of its plan to expand its footprint in Bangladesh and provide dynamic mobile services in the country.
Harsha Solanki, a proficient professional with an experience of over 16 years in the industry, is the Managing Director at Infobip, supervising India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. She is an alumnus of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, from where she completed her PGDM in Telecommunications & IT Management, and a computer science graduate from Fergusson College. Harsha's expertise in the Application to Person (A2P) messaging space has been proven by her eminent track record.
Harsha's rise in this sector is inspiring for the women, specially in Bangladesh, where very few ladies are seen to work in such a technical environment.
What were the goals behind expanding your services to Bangladesh?
Between 2020 and 2021, the number of internet users in Bangladesh rose by 19% while the number of social media users in the country grew by 25%. We extended our omnichannel customer engagement services and expertise in Bangladesh to help the country's increasingly digital-first companies to tap into this burgeoning opportunity and maximise the effectiveness of their customer outreach campaigns.
Any significant experience while working in specifically Bangladesh?
Social media users in Bangladesh account for nearly 27% of the entire population. A recent research found that the younger demographic consisting of people between18-23 years old are more active when it comes to online shopping. This demographic is further dominated by people who identify as male. Further, the research has found that Facebook Pages are the most common online shopping portals for online buyers.
We are also seeing that not just the younger generation but also those more advanced in age are increasingly onboarding the digital bandwagon especially following the pandemic-induced online shift.Like other regions in the Indian subcontinent, the growing digital push is transforming customer behaviour and expectations in Bangladesh. Modern customers want engaging and memorable experiences from brands. They dislike being treated as disembodied "consumers." The onus then falls upon enterprises to identify the evolving sensibilities, preferences, and expectations of customers and deliver satisfying experiences.
What are the differences between Bangladesh and other countries regarding your respective field?
Facebook is the most popular social media channel in Bangladesh, followed by YouTube. Unlike in India, WhatsApp and Instagram are yet to gain traction in Bangladesh - it being not a matter of possibility but merely that of time. Against this backdrop, brands need to create customized campaigns to reach out to their customers over Facebook Messenger or Viber channels while being prepared for the rise of newer engagement channels. Discerning enterprises in Bangladesh are slowly and steadily recognizing this need-gap as demonstrated by the reception our products are receiving since our launch in the country.
Is there any specific industry in Bangladesh that you would like to work with in future?
We are keen to collaborate with any enterprise looking to augment its customer engagement strategies and diversify its reach. Having said that, BFSI, retail, and services are among the most prominent sectors in Bangladesh. These also comprise the business verticals that are increasingly reaching out to their customers over digital channels, especially in the post-pandemic landscape. We look forward to leveraging our service suite to unlock improved customer experiences and better recall value for our clients in Bangladesh by helping them acquire new customers while engaging and re-engaging their existing customers using a personalized approach over the communication channel of their choice.
Tell us about the cost-effectiveness of your solutions.
Infobip's product suite provides customers with a comprehensive picture of their portfolio while giving them complete control over their operations via a simple and powerful user interface. Our AI-enabledSaaS products are incredibly simple to use and can be implemented without any additional hardware. Enterprises can, therefore, optimize the costs as well as the effectiveness of their communication operations without investing heavily in setting up a tech infrastructure.Our client Raiffeisenbank, for instance, witnessed a 19% increase in their NPS score and a 10x reduction in customer service costs after using our WhatsApp API solution.
Moreover, our marketing solution includes a smart marketer feature that primarily focuses on replacing manual tasks and processes by enabling automated messaging campaigns, thereby saving tons of money for our clients. Clients continue to praise the customer satisfaction, ease of use and maintenance, documentation and clarity of communication enabled by our platform. The practicality, seamlessness, and customisation of our solution portfolio make Infobip the preferred brand communication partner among our clients. We aim to continue to raise the bar even higher.
Have you faced any difficulties or benefit as a woman working in this field?
The participation of women remains disproportionate in STEM fields across the globe as compared to their male peers. The gender ratio is even more skewed when it comes to senior leadership positions. However, optimistic developments are taking place and we are going to witness the playing field becoming level for not just women but also people across the gender spectrum. Personally, I have had the advantage of working in a progressive, values-driven company where women are already present in decision-making positions and male professionals are committed to fostering a nurturing environment for all.
Where do you see yourself in a decade in this line of career?
It is no secret that business interactions and strategies across the globe are constantly enhancing and evolving with time. Modern businesses are utilising new technology and innovations to meet the present and developing demands of their customers. In this scenario, we as a global omnichannel platform have the responsibility to cater to the multi-layered requirements and issues of our clients with our CCaaS, CPaaS, and SaaS-based solutions.
The future of business communication is omnichannel, connected, and empathetic. Aligned with this development, we are committed to consistently innovating to broaden our reach and service offerings to better serve organisations across a wide range of use cases and sectors. Moving ahead, we envisage assisting digital-native businesses in delivering engaging, empathetic, and memorable user experiences at every step of the engagement journey.
What solutions do you offer to improve Security and Client Trust for financial institutions?
Recently we launched the Mobile Identity solution that enables businesses to authenticate users' identities by confirming their phone numbers unobtrusively and safely. Now, a mobile user no longer needs to wait for an OTP or a phone call from the operator to install or log in to a secure application. Following our partnership with two of India's leading telcos, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, more than half of the country's mobile phone customers will now enjoy smoother, faster, and more secure access to their favourite websites, social networks, mobile apps, and digital services.  We also provide a robust firewall 'sGate', and recently acquired top firewall provider Anam to bolster that capability. sGate works as a "gatekeeper" to an operator's network, monitoring and filtering SMS, USSD, and HLR, and detecting abnormal traffic flows indicating fraudulent activity.
Through the Digital India initiatives, the government of India has already stated its intention to make India a digital-first nation. We believe that by making it easier and faster for mobile consumers to start their digital journeys, the aforesaid collaboration will contribute to India's growing digitalisation momentum. It will also have other knock-on effects, such as promoting financial inclusion across the country by making fintech services faster and more accessible and boosting the adoption of online learning tools, to name a few.
The Silent Mobile Verification (SMV) service gives the phone number verification process the speed and seamlessness that today's customers demand. The integration of the Mobile Identity in the fintech space can fast-track digital transactions as users will not need to wait for an OTP to get a transaction approved.