MAM
Working from home has never been tougher than this
Over the past few weeks, we have all witnessed adverse effects of the Covid2019 pandemic. In order to flatten the curve, a nationwide lockdown was declared by the government last month. In this current situation, for office-goers like us, work from home has become the norm to ensure business continuity.
Working from home has never been as tougher before. In our communications industry, it is all the more challenging to solely depend on digital mediums including WhatsApp Texts, conference calls, Zoom calls, to name a few, to manage work, especially when you are in charge of multiple clients, business development, and dealing with many people in a day.
In our business, communication is paramount, whether impromptu meetings with my team or brainstorming for ideas for our clients or keeping a track of our competition or catching up with clients. However, remote work needs extra communication. When you work remotely, continuous communication becomes key to ensure smoother and effective functioning, which can be stressful. However, my organisation, Wizspk Communication & PR, has undertaken various measures so that the work processes become smoother for all employees such as Monday morning calls to plan for the week and Friday calls for the weekly wrap up. Furthermore, our HR team has stepped up their game and has been constantly coming up with new ways to create a seamless working experience for us. They have been regularly organizing virtual training sessions, webinars, etc. They are hosting some fun activities too to keep us motivated and help us escape the routine drudgery of life at home.
When you look from a brand’s perspective, many brands have altered their communication strategies to reflect the current times. As their communication partners, we must help them adapt their messages to the interests of their audience and on-the-ground realities. Taking the right actions and finding the right message can be challenging, especially in a fast-changing situation. Therefore, it’s critical for us to keep abreast of the latest developments to be able to help our clients navigate this period of uncertainty. We have to have our ears to the ground in order to recommend content and communication plans to tailor them to the changing needs of their consumers right now. It also becomes utmost important for us to provide accurate information and keeping people connected.
Working in isolation can be lonely. As a remote worker, I often miss benefits like creativity and innovative thinking which occur when people are working together in the same room. Also, team cohesion suffers in remote work arrangements. What I Miss Most Working in this current pandemic is the interaction with my team, co-workers, clients and friends at workplace. I miss brainstorming in-person with co-workers, the trips to the pantry to fix myself cups of coffee, lunch and coffee breaks, fun conversations during these breaks, and the rush to finish work and reach home on time. And even, commuting to office and back home despite the heavy traffic!
However, I believe it is imperative for us to be indoors and safe, and do so especially in support to our frontline fighters who are risking their lives to fight the pandemic and ensure our safety.
I’ll stay home as long as the government and the health authorities advise. But honestly, I can’t wait to go back to work.
(The author is head – business development and strategy, WIZSPK Communication)
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
