Q1. Could you start by giving us a brief overview of your professional background, particularly focusing on your expertise in the industry?

I’m an IT professional with 36+ years of experience in Technology, the consumer side of an industry. Got an opportunity to work in various industry segments that include engineering consulting, industrial automation, and Automotive. I am currently working with Diarough NV. Diarough is a Belgium-headquartered company and is one of the largest global polished diamond suppliers in the B2B market segment.

Q2. How do you see digital transformation reshaping competitiveness within the global diamond and jewelry manufacturing ecosystem over the next 3–5 years?

The business environment is steadily becoming more competitive and agile. This environment strongly depends on technology. In other words, technology has to be at the core to drive business.

Digitization is changing the face of manufacturing, and industries need to embrace it in order to remain competitive.

The pandemic has taught us to be more resilient and responsive in all aspects of business. With this learning, one needs to draft a short-term and long-term plan in Digital Transformation and business analytics. The focus is needed to enable data-based decision making, Smart Manufacturing, Conversion Cost, Order to Cash, and Analytics.

Q3. How are customer expectations evolving in terms of traceability, customization, and speed-to-market across the diamond and jewelry value chain?

The major pillars of brand value reside in trust, transparency, and traceability in the diamond and jewelry business, and technology plays a substantial role in achieving the same. Systems are designed to capture historical data of each manufactured product, commonly known as “The journey of diamond”.

The adoption of technology can only be successful through teamwork, right from the conceptualization, evaluation, and post-roll-out. The other important one is building and driving a culture of innovation, excellence, change, and growth. The approach needs to be trustworthy, respectable and followed by crafting a strategy that aligns well with the business’s short-term and long-term goals. Next comes is forming a team by cherry picking champions, ambassadors, and business partners.

Q4. Where do you see the biggest gap today between technology implementation and actual business value realization in manufacturing-led enterprises?

The tech investment is mostly measured by the payback period, Contribution to the revenue, and Productivity improvements.

The prominent challenges in driving digital initiatives from a tech perspective include Security, Scalability, and Technology adoption. The other notable challenges in implementing digital technologies include “resistance to change” and “fear of failure”.

Q5. How is AI-driven business intelligence influencing decision-making in procurement, production planning, and customer engagement?

Tech evaluation and adoption need to be in the DNA of any organization. The business processes and systems need to be contemporary, continuously updated with the pace of Technological advancements.

The intelligent use and early adoption of AI create a value chain across business processes, including customer experience.

Q6. How are sustainability and ethical sourcing expectations influencing digital investments in the diamond and jewelry ecosystem?

The supply chain ecosystem in the diamond and Jewellery business is fairly stable and time-tested. The market dynamics highly influence the use of technology and respective investments. In the long term, the use of tech needs maturity that supports decision-making and drives business strategy.

The success in meeting the sustainability and customers’ expectations resides in the right understanding of business and business processes, aligning tech initiatives in line with the business strategies, and having skilled resources and support partners.

Q7. If you were an investor looking at companies within the space, what critical question would you pose to their senior management?

How do you measure and monitor the market trends, and what is the turnaround time to align the supply chain and business processes to meet customer demands?

What is % of revenue contribution attributed to the use of technology?