Industry 4.0: Digital Disruptions And Transformations – Mr. Arindam Mukhopadhyay, Vice President And Global Head Consulting COE, Gartner

The Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur had the privilege of facilitating Mr. Arindam Mukhopadhyay, Vice-president and Global Head of Consulting COE at Gartner for a talk as part of “Vaarta” - the institute’s flagship industry expert guest lecture series, on 22nd August 2019. A distinguished alumnus of IIM Calcutta, Mr. Mukhopadhyay is known for pushing the envelope on technology consultancy.

Keeping abreast of the current industrial trends, Mr. Mukhopadhyay delivered a riveting session on the significance of disruptive development and innovation in the digital era.

The session opened with a review of the Economies of Scale by drawing an unusual set of parallels between the growth of cities and organism development. He further deliberated on the feasibility of limitless extension of cities and the cycles of path-breaking innovations that drive this expansion. The discussion soon entered the realm of defining innovation as a commercially viable idea that solves human problems. He also discussed MIT model-based innovations and several instances associated with Industry 4.0.

Articulating the rapid advent of AI, IoT, and other technologies, Mr. Mukhopadhyay drew attention to the dawn of the age of cyber-physical systems and digital societies. He emphasized that in this dynamic economy, where every physical object has a digital twin, adaptability is pivotal and workforce up-skilling is inevitable. He also reflected upon the negative effects of digitization, including the radical shift in employee profiles, job security, and legal policies.

The session concluded on a high note with the students being enamoured by an engaging Q&A round wherein Mr. Mukhopadhyay answered several queries encompassing the future of smart cities in India, economic and societal impacts of digitization, restructuring of work-culture and reforms in skill development.

The Vinod Gupta School of Management, IIT Kharagpur, would like to thank Mr. Arindam Mukhopadhyay for enriching the students with his invaluable insights on Industry 4.0 and the value of staying relevant in this age of digital transformations.