Nisha Dulhani stands as a driving force in the dynamic landscape of telecommunications, where data is not just a commodity but the key to unlocking innovation. As the VP of Big Data and Advanced Analytics at Vodafone Idea Limited, Nisha leads the charge in harnessing the power of data for strategic insights. Specializing in Big Data, Python, R, SAS, SPSS, STATA, Tableau, Power BI, and SQL, she manages a variety of technologies to transform raw data into actionable intelligence.
In a corporate scenario where every byte of information holds the potential to redefine the industry’s trajectory, Nisha is emerging as the luminary, seamlessly blending statistical prowess and technological finesse to navigate the complexities of the telecom realm.
At the helm of Vodafone Idea Limited’s analytics endeavors, Nisha’s expertise illuminates a path towards data-driven excellence, where her skills become the compass navigating the company through data-driven decisions and revenue optimizations via advanced analytics.
Let’s delve into the transformative world of Big Data and Advanced Analytics led by Nisha at Vodafone Idea Limited!
Journey to Impact
Nisha is a seasoned data science leader and attributes her success to her mother’s inspiration, love and blessings. Honoured with a Master’s and M.Phil. in Statistics, she embarked on a journey that transitioned from academia to impactful real-world applications. “My journey has been profoundly transformative, characterized by a relentless commitment to continuous learning, fostering exponential growth in my skills and expertise,” she reflects.
Beginning as a Statistics professor in India, Nisha felt a void in applying her skills to tangible challenges. Joining a public health research institute marked the onset of her data analytics journey. “Here, I delved into predictive analyses on critical issues like HIV/AIDS, gender-based discrimination, and more,” she notes. Her work graced prestigious journals solidifying her expertise.
Subsequently, destiny unfolded opportunities as a data science leader in three reputable organizations. “I transformed from a core researcher to a business leader,” she states. Nisha’s expertise spans Telecom, BFSI, IT, Retail, and Healthcare. “I’ve served my expertise in various industries,” she affirms.
At Vodafone Idea, her current role underscores AI-driven projects to make the world smarter and more automated. “My focus is on accelerating AI to identify the right customers, ensuring ROI and understanding AI’s vision in Telecom,” she elaborates. Mentoring her team, Nisha steers towards delivering AI-driven solutions. For Nisha, it’s more than a career—it’s a journey rooted in gratitude and driven by a passion for leveraging AI to shape a smarter, faster world.
Monetary Gains and Social Impact
As a leader in data and analytics, the opportunity to uncover valuable insights, drive informed decision-making and contribute to the organization’s success through data-driven strategies is particularly motivating. Nisha feels satisfied when her data solutions give a substantial monetary benefit and social recognition to her organization. Also, the ability to harness the power of information and guide the team in making impactful contributions keeps her engaged and inspired.
Strategies for Success
“I’ve faced challenges like lack of advanced data infrastructure, unsuitable and inadequate hiring and data illiteracy in organizations,” Nisha reveals. Yet, strategic approaches proved key to overcoming these hurdles. “I articulate the value of data science, demonstrate ROI and advocate for a budget reflecting the importance of data-driven decisions.”
Managing large and complex datasets posed another hurdle in her data analytics journey. Developing strong data pre-processing skills, using efficient tools and employing techniques like data sampling helped me analyze data effectively. Data quality is ensured through robust governance practices. Continuous learning is Nisha’s mantra for navigating the evolving field. “Staying updated on emerging technologies enhances my ability to tackle challenges,” she affirms. Nisha reflects resilience, strategic thinking and a commitment to staying at the forefront of the dynamic world of data analytics.
Revolutionizing Telecom
Nisha is a data science leader highlighting her impactful contributions. “I’ve successfully implemented solutions in Customer Analytics, Digital Transformation, Collection Models, Up-and cross-sell modeling, Recommendation engines, and Social Media Analytics (NLP),” she shares.
In the UK, leveraging machine learning, Nisha’s team developed an AI-enabled chatbot for a Telecom client, elevating customer service, reducing costs by 20%, and boosting additional revenue. In India, a collection analytics solution for a retail bank led to an impressive 8% increase in debt collection.
Her data solutions directly influence organizational strategy. “Optimizing the marketing budget based on my predictions resulted in a 3% increase in annual revenue,” Nisha notes. This showcases tangible outcomes emphasizing the transformative power of data science in driving efficiency, revenue and strategic decision-making.
Leading with Impact
Nisha embodies the mantra of ‘leading by example.’ “I demonstrate a commitment to innovation through my actions, sharing success stories to inspire my team,” she affirms. Fostering a culture of independence is pivotal in her leadership style. “I create an environment where team members feel free to experiment with new technology and approaches,” Nisha explains. Empowering her team to take risks and explore unconventional methods is fundamental to pushing boundaries.
Continuous learning and curiosity are the cornerstones of Nisha’s approach. “I encourage a mindset of exploration and experimentation, celebrating the journey even if setbacks occur,” she states.
In the dynamic Telecom Industry, Nisha emphasizes the uniqueness of each problem statement, advocating for novel and creative approaches. She asserts that old solutions won’t suffice for new challenges. Her leadership ethos revolves around inspiring innovation, empowering her team and fostering a creative mindset to drive the expansion of the company.
Innovation Within Structure
In fostering a harmonious blend of creativity and structured data analysis, Nisha emphasizes setting clear expectations while encouraging innovation. “I focus on establishing a framework outlining data analysis processes, ensuring clarity on methodologies and goals,” she shares. While maintaining structure, Nisha provides flexibility allowing her team the freedom to explore creative solutions.
Transparency is key in her leadership style, as she connects the team to broader goals, executive agendas and futuristic aspirations. Nisha notes that this elevates their thinking and creativity within their domains. Her approach strikes a balance, creating an environment where structured analysis coexists with a culture of creativity and forward-thinking ensuring a dynamic and effective team.
Agility in AI
Nisha champions continuous learning and experimentation to keep her team at the forefront of AI. “I encourage staying informed through training, workshops and conferences,” she emphasizes, fostering a culture of upskilling. Participation in hackathons and data-thons enhances team confidence and industry knowledge. Regular knowledge-sharing sessions within the team promote a collective understanding of emerging trends.
To stay ahead in the expansive field of artificial intelligence, Nisha advocates publishing work as white or research papers. This builds credibility and trust in turn inspiring young AI learners. Nisha’s strategy not only keeps her team agile in a rapidly evolving landscape but also positions them as contributors and inspirers within the AI community.
Skills, Equality and Transformation
Nisha is a fervent advocate for diversity within her team embracing two dimensions. “First, diversity in social origins, genders, pay scales, cultures, and geographic regions,” she affirms, recognizing the richness it brings. The second dimension focuses on educational backgrounds and skill sets. A diverse skill set is crucial for any data science team and this explains her strategy of recruiting individuals with various qualifications.
Her team reflects this diversity, comprising Statisticians/Economists for modeling, Engineers with programming and AI/ML skills, management professionals for business acumen, software developers for AI tools, and visualization experts for reporting. Nisha believes this diversity is essential for holistic problem-solving.
Beyond skills, Nisha champions equality in gender and compensation. She addresses global gender disparities, citing statistics that highlight the significant gender pay gap. Promoting diversity is essential to overcome these social issues. Encouragingly, she notes a positive trend in the data science field, with around 15% of data scientists being women, showcasing a shift driven by committed AI leaders. Nisha’s approach not only strengthens her team but also contributes to broader societal changes in gender and pay equality.
Decoding Data
Nisha underscores the importance of effective communication in data science. Communicating analytical results is a vital duty. In a role that involves interactions with CEOs, stakeholders, managers, data engineers, and legal professionals, Nisha recognizes the need for cross-cultural communication. She emphasizes that utilizing visual aids like charts, graphs and dashboards makes information more accessible and engaging.
Nisha adopts a communication approach grounded in simplicity. Using simple and straightforward language while also avoiding AI/ML jargon and technical terms whenever possible is essential. Drawing from consulting experience, she structures her communication in a narrative format creating a compelling narrative around the data. This approach provides context and highlights the implications of findings, ensuring that analytical insights are not only understood but resonate across diverse audiences.
Embracing Failures, Fostering Growth
“In the technology sector, challenges are inevitable,” acknowledges Nisha. Common issues like interoperability, computational failures and data-lake overload are addressed through proactive planning. “I encourage my team to accept failures and learn from mistakes,” she notes fostering an environment where sharing challenges and mistakes is embraced without fear.
Transparency is a key principle as Nisha teaches her team to keep business stakeholders informed about challenging situations. This approach not only enables effective problem-solving but also cultivates a culture of continuous improvement and open communication within the team.
Privacy First
Nisha underscores the importance of ethical considerations in advanced analytics. “We comply with GDPR criteria and set explicit ethical standards within our team,” she asserts. Strong data governance procedures ensure that data is handled in accordance with laws.
Transparency is a priority in analytics processes with stakeholders kept informed about data use and potential ramifications. Working with personal information data, Nisha’s team prioritizes privacy, always masking personal information before disclosing propensity bases to prevent data leaking. With the onset of data to be treated as currency, it is important to standardize and widespread the use of anonymization so that data can be collected with transparency and with trust leading to quality samples driving better value.
Beyond the Hype
Nisha highlights the pervasive use of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyone’s daily lives with generative AI being a significant recent development. “As generative AI advances, we can expect new tools for creating text, video, images, and audio to emerge,” she notes. Responding to claims about these tools replacing humans, Nisha asserts, “Technology and tools greatly assist us, but they cannot completely replace us.”
She finds the recent strides in AI, such as non-invasive language decoders using brain activity to decode images, particularly intriguing. “Patients unable to speak within the healthcare system can greatly benefit from this and numerous other fields will also benefit,” she explains. Nisha’s excitement about advanced analytics opportunities reflects a positive outlook on the future where AI continues to enhance various aspects of our lives while coexisting with human capabilities.
Fusing Technologies for Success
Nisha emphasizes the need to stay competitive by pushing boundaries and adopting new technologies. “In addition to mainstream projects, I encourage learning and development,” she affirms.
Leveraging unstructured data during this time, her team aims to create a novel use case for the customer support team. “We’re fusing the power of large language models with Bayesian networks,” Nisha states. This proactive approach not only keeps the team abreast of industry advancements but also positions them at the forefront of innovation, showcasing a commitment to continuous improvement and staying ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Fusing Research and Corporate Excellence
Nisha envisions the widespread use of data science and artificial intelligence across all industrial sectors in the long run. “I aim to keep driving innovation, using AI, machine learning and statistics to solve real business problems,” she states.
Additionally, she has a goal to create frameworks that make data science and AI more accessible to everyone. With roots as a researcher, Nisha intends to continue publishing work, conducting research in her free time and bridging the gap between corporate and research fields. Her vision encompasses not only advancing technology but also ensuring inclusivity and collaboration in the evolving landscape of data science and artificial intelligence.
