“Your Belief, Hard Work And Consistency Are Your Only Best Friends,” Says Saily Lad, Volksara

You can never deter a woman’s motivation once she knows she can do it. As the patriarchal world begins to understand equality, there is already a significant number of women that are breaking stereotypes. A slow but steady rise in the number of women entering the tech industry and achieving milestones is noticeable. 

As we come closer to Women’s Day, Express Computer brings to you an exclusive interview with Ms. Saily Lad,  Director of Volksara Pvt Ltd and Krystal Group of Companies.

Saily Lad is best known for her work on the Smart City Project in India that won the Best Safe City in India (Nasik, Kumbh Mela). She has worked on a wide range of national projects that include Mumbai airport, Matheran safe city, Nashik smart city, Pimpri Chinchwad smart city, Namchi smart city, Gondia safe city, Goa shipyard, Gail pipeline, securities across Gujarat and more. 

Her stance on women empowerment and gender equality has been inspiring for most and her diligent efforts have led to delivering great security solutions.

Kindly brief us about Volksara and how is it helping solve security concerns for businesses?

Volksara techno solutions is a 4-year-old company, which started with a passion of building a better tomorrow and a brighter today in the era of technology, targeting India as the largest market of growth and fastest adapter of technology.

 Despite the fact that many multinational companies have entered India to build on the demand of IT infrastructure, being an Indian company, we have an added insight into the minds of our consumers. This has helped us understand that in the nation, price holds a higher level of importance, and is followed by other factors and challenges that hinder technological advancements from sustaining and developing further. 

What technologies are you using and how is it impacting your business operations and model?

Since we are a system integrating company, we have a certain level of freedom to use different types of technology to pursue our goals. Every project we take is special and unique in its own kind. This gives us a chance to explore different technologies in software and hardware to find innovative solutions. 

As businesses move strategically towards automation, what security concerns do they raise?

New technology means new learning and new skill sets. Even though we have a high range of skilled people, sometimes it does get difficult to keep up with the developing technology and hire the right new skill set to keep up with providing good service to our consumers. 

Could you tell us about your work for the Smart City project in India? How important is the security strategy for smart city projects? 

Being a system integrator, we as a company are involved in end to end solutions of the developing smart cities. Right from the design stage to executions, the maintenance of the technology and also training the right authorities for understanding and using same technology, we are aiding these efforts. 

This will help in developing better security measures in these cities, with the help of technological advancements like CCTV cameras, drones, sensors and more.

There is a certain apprehension when women work in the technology industry. What made you pursue this field and what makes you stay? 

The duration of 4 years of engineering education was an apprehension back in the days for women looking to pursue professions in the technology industry, especially when it came with field jobs. But now that isn’t the case anymore as a large number of women are currently pursuing the same. However, I personally am not an engineer, but had the passion of doing my own business. At the time of starting this business, analysing the market and understanding the demand which is a never-ending demand made it feel like the right industry for me. The continuous rapid growth helps me stay motivated to tackle the never-ending work.

What kind of challenges did you face being a woman in the tech space? How did you overcome them? 

Initially, there were many challenges, but they were never because of being a woman. In fact, it was always appreciated to see a woman working so passionately, in a field where there were hardly some women to begin with. The challenges particularly were due to being a young new entrant in the field, in competition with giants and the who’s who of the world, who have established their base not only in India but have become the pioneers of the field.

What ‘words of wisdom’ would you give to young women entering the IT industry or any other industry? 

There is no tomorrow. Today is the right time, and there is no place for fear. Your belief, hard work, and consistency are your only best friends and will help you achieve your goals if you persist.

What does 2020 look like for Volksara and data security? 

2020 is a very big year for Volksara. We have a lot of huge projects in smart cities that are projected and are also venturing into Electric car chargers along with cybersecurity projects for states like Maharashtra, Gujrat, Sikkim and more in India.