Women entrepreneurs today are breaking the ceilings and marking their presence in Leadership roles. As they hustle through the challenges of life, they sometimes discover a never before taken path that leads them to an extraordinary journey.

Introducing Krishna Kumari Datla – Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Manomay Consultancy Services (Manomay).

With extensive corporate experience in the Insurance Industry (from Biz & Tech fronts, globally) before founding Manomay, Krishna never thought Entrepreneurship was her destiny. But the quest for an answer to just one question was the beginning– Why does technology success look (continue to remain) so elusive? What does IT take to make technology work right – in the context of both the current reality & future aspirations? And how can we unite the World of Business & Technology for that RIGHT VALUE, consistently?

Meandering through the unchartered territories of the business world, she created her place in the market through a NEW BUSINESS MODEL – one that barely existed before – with one key Mantra, aligning technology right for business.

Manomay specializes in providing IT Consulting and InsurTech Solutions. Representing the Insurance Companies & their Partners for Technology, Manomay’s focus is to help them realize maximum & multidimensional value out of Technology – the right experiences, satisfaction, empowerment, enablement, and ultimately the right return.

Their InsurTech Solution Mantra is 'Make the best use of what you already have & augment automation at the intersection of Current & Future State (Customers, Partners, and Business) – One Single Layer of Automation Innovation (empowered with AI, ML, DL, RPA, and more)'.

A 100 percent export-oriented unit, with 95 percent of the team based out of India & a Biz Dev Office in Florida, US, Manomay has the privilege of providing high-end Strategic & Management Consulting Services to the Global Market straight out of India.

At the core of this is the Young & Vibrant team of Manomay. Thoughtful & committed, with an average age of less than 30, they say, they have just one purpose together. And that is for Manomay to be the right conduit for making the 'Insurance Market a very healthy competitive place'. In this interview with Women Entrepreneur magazine, Krishna Datla shares insights about her entrepreneurial journey, her experiences, the highs & lows, what next and beyond all, the 'WHY' and the 'PURPOSE'. Let’s look at the excerpts:

What motivated you to venture into the field of technology and IT?

My experience and deep understanding of Business & Technology, across continents, in the global arena, and my passion for connecting the dots, is the reason to venture into this field!

I leveraged my Insurance Domain & Technology experience, to start the entrepreneurial journey. And the journey began with the realization that there is a need to create a safe space for organizations to know and explore their IT Choices, to educate them about the consequences of their IT Choices, and to establish a safe and structured communication channel between Business and technology operations across the verticals.

With Business technology liaison as the key focus area, Manomay’s journey started as a Technology Consulting firm for the Global P&C Insurance Industry in 2011.

What are some of the challenges you faced in the initial years and how did you address them?

If you can give peace to your customers, why will you not be aggressive? Humans are rational beings, believing only in things they know gives them the outcome they desire. Manomay in its initial days was something beyond 'typical', an idea, an unknown entity gradually gaining conscience and finding its place in the market.

And so, the biggest challenge was convincing the market about a need that was neither consistently felt nor perceived. And to make the market, customers, and team believe that what we are doing has a purpose beyond business.

At a high level, the market generally operates in the model of Insurance Companies & Technology Vendors that provide Software (as a license) with a focus on 'Tech driving business' than otherwise. The limited understanding of each other’s perspectives is generally the primary reason for SW Failures. Our realization is that Insurance Companies need a dedicated representation for ensuring the right  coverage of their interests in technology. The market did not have this model. Companies did not realize/ understand the need. While they continued with IT, without full realization of value, they did not think that they are contributing to it too. One of the primary reasons for this is their thinking that IT responsibility ends at the decision level and does not extend to the execution level.

We persisted because we strongly believed that Biz-Tech Liaison is at the heart of Technology success for Business. Holding onto our mantra, we took upon ourselves the responsibility of educating the market and aggressively pursued our journey.  Who’s to say we can’t achieve what we put our minds next to?

What are some important features of your expertise as a business leader that you want us to highlight through the article?

Building a stable, successful, self-sustained & continuously profitable business – the one that provides the customers & the team, the security for their trust & investment – requires a different level of grit!

So, instead of talking about expertise, I would like to cover the fundamentals of our value system that made us what we are today and what we aspire to be tomorrow.

At the core of Manomay, it’s about putting Organization’s interests ahead of Individuals and Customer's Interests ahead of the Organization’s How do we achieve this? What are those guiding principles?

An insight into our Value System Framework: Delivering 'consistently right & better value to the customers', being 'accountable beyond self for all of us' & consistently curious 'why do we do what do we do' Challenging ourselves with new targets 'every finishing line is a new starting line. Focusing on consistent betterment' there is always a better way to do. And above all 'Staying continuously relevant', with Innovation and Unperceived Demands at the core - It’s not what you have, it’s all about what they need.

With these in application, we have grown from Single Engagement Providers to the most Trusted Partners. We have been developing Strategic Leaders, the future of Manomay, and have scaled up to the expanse of the Caribbean, with a continuous presence in the North American market, and eyes now set on the Latin America, Canadian & Australian markets. We have been churning out New Biz Tech Consulting Services around 'Digital Transformation', 'Right Experiences – Customers, Employees, Partners', 'Value Growth' and more. As well as Innovative InsurTech Solutions, beyond the current realm for right Outside-In Customer Experiences, Inside- Out Efficiencies, and more – Focus: Value & easy to implement/use/extend.

"My experience and deep understanding of business & technology, across continents, in the global arena, and my passion for connecting the dots, is the reason to venture into this field!"

Now, you know our secret sauce – the GO & the GROW of Manomay. Not talking about the numbers as they are the byproducts, right?

Can you walk me through the various responsibilities that you are handling right now and what are the major focus areas in your current role?

I have been focusing on Manomay’s today & tomorrow, with customers & us at the epicenter. Internally, within Manomay by deepening the Top Three Culture and Institutionalizing for Scaling and Self-sustenance. And externally, for the Customers by deepening alignment, for changes (internal/external) and Continuing Value Creation/Enhancement – What next and what beyond, and lastly, Manomay’s tomorrow: New beginnings, spread wide & deep for a quantum leap.

Drawing from an experience as a business leader, what would you advise the young women and girls who aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the coming future?

First and foremost, understand winners never quit, and quitters never win. No matter what obstacle comes your way, there will never be an obstacle that’s bigger than you. There are things about you that you are yet to discover- your strengths, worth, the purpose of your being, and so much more. It is in the journey of overcoming these obstacles step by step that you’ll find the forces that make you, YOU.

Conversations around the aspirations and achievements of Women Entrepreneurs tend to be complacent. Success is never achieved by staying within the confines of what society considers the “ideal” path for women but by stepping out of that comfort zone and seeking glory past it. So, build your own standards and push yourself from within to achieve what your heart desires even if your mind disagrees in the beginning and surround yourself around people who don’t limit, but rather expand your horizon, and challenge you to think beyond in every aspect of your life.

Krishna Kumari Datla, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Manomay Consultancy Services

An Engineering Graduate in Electronics & Communications, with PG Diploma in Software Systems, Krishna’s professional experience spans across Insurance and Technology, in Domestic & International Markets (Australia, Europe, UK, US, Bermuda, and Caribbean Islands)