Hello, and welcome to a fresh new episode of Thesis Conversations. I'm your host, Priyanka Tahu. Today we have a very special guest, Balaji Ganpati. Yes, he's the global head of PSR and he's also the Chief Social Responsibility officer. Welcome to the show, Balaji. Thank you. How are you doing? I'm good to be here. So biology, straight question to you. First of all, what is CSR? From the time people started coming together as a community and living together and helping each other, the sense of. Being good Samaritans and citizenship has always been there, but then when democracy started forming and off the people, by the people for the people happened from a government perspective, businesses started developing also where you're creating companies that can provide products or services to people in the community. That is where I would say the origins of CSR really come from and in the traditional view of CSR. Initially it started with charity, where you're donating money and feeling that having those money and access to resources, they actually bridge those inequities. Then over the years, the line of thought and the way in which people have approached this changed to really think about CSR as a responsibility of organization. If organizations are contributing to or creating inequities in society, they need to actually be responsible to, first of all, not do that, but if you do that. Offset the negative impact of what they're doing, what the CSR means that MCS cure at home. So imagine 154 years ago our founder had the foresight to say that the community is not just another stakeholder, but the very purpose of existence of business. I mean so it is enshrined and inculcated into the very businesses that were created and how they grew. It was all about nation building. It is all about creating institutions. That lasted beyond people, right. So our view of CSR comes from that. I would say that TCS and the target group are probably one of the oldest purpose driven organizations in the world. We are looking at it as what kind of outcome can I create. Similar to how you can create positive outcomes for your customers and your employee in looking at how you can create positive outcomes for the community. Now why it is important. Often you can take people from where they are to a place where they are better, but unless they have access to opportunity. The paths. To progressing as an individual, as a family, as a community cannot happen and who has a better view? PCs We work with industries all around the world. We work with customers from different backgrounds, We work with people from different nationalities and cultural know. How do you use all of that knowledge to help people and communities? Get access to Opportunities. That is at the core of population literacy, education and then employment is the third area that we look at. The final one is entrepreneurship. These are the four problem sets in particular that we have narrowed our focus to and each of these can be enabled through technology. What are some of these key initiatives that we do under our CSR? So the evolution of our own CSR programs also has come to a point where today we have overarching umbrella of TCs and powers. So under literacy we have literacy CSS service which is basically democratizing access to functional literacy. So it is an entitlements digital literacy and financial literacy. Paul Military people, right That is available in 12 languages, so which covers the majority of the illiterate population in India. So that's the first example I want to share. The second one is on the education front, right? We have two programs, Go It and Ignite My Future. Maybe Goethe is basically helping students use technology to solve real world problems, right? I mean, you would have experience, we all experiences that kids nowadays have more access to digital technologies, but they are consumers of those technologies. How do you help them become creators and innovators? Right. So that they are not just consuming content, they're not just consuming applications that they can create, use their own ideas and that's what Go it does. And Ignite my future is, I would say, one of the most pathbreaking initiatives of its kind, even today, five years after we launched it, for educators around the world, It doesn't matter if you are a math teacher there, a science teacher. You're an English teacher, you are a physical education teacher. How do you help create better citizens for the world today? And the language that you need to learn to make that happen is computational thinking. That is what Ignite My Future does. So you're Covered Literacy, We're Covered education. On the employment front, we have a program called Youth Employment Program, which is the first program that I mentioned is largely based in India. Go ahead and Ignite My Future. Guilty is in 43 countries around the world today. Ignite The Future is in three different geographies. And the Youth Employment Program is in every state in India. It caters to the rural engineering and non engineering colleges where we talked about the demographic dividend. Yeah, right. How do you bridge that? Each coach, mentor, place, this simple model that we adopt and that is what youth employment program does. The final one which I would say is an answer to Chamonix mission for a Bridgital India is BridgeIT. Bridgital Nation is a book and the concept that Chairman Sandra shared with the world a few years ago. There he talked about how India can use its talent and its resources and to solve some of the largest problems facing the country and create new opportunity in different areas like healthcare, education, ecommerce, judiciary, various areas that we need to grow for India to be a very prosperous nation. And how talent can solve technologies problem, right so? And so the concept of BridgIT is, How do you empower? Marginalize you. In most cases, it is Dalit girls who are in villages to become entrepreneurs. Start their own business, learn the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and digital technologies, learn how to use a computer, how to set up a shop and provide services. And then provide a variety of services with the village. So it solves 2 problems. One is we often talk about last mile challenges in India. They can be the digital enabler to solve the last mile challenge. At the same time they become a business owner. They are entrepreneur, they are employing other people and also creating more change makers in PR in their community. So these are the programs that we are currently running here in India and around the world. Diversity and inclusion within CSR and what does it mean and what are we doing to bring in more diversity and inclusivity within our initiative? But the root of it is all of these are indicative of inequities that exist in society, whether it is social inequities, economic, gender, spatial, any kind of disparities you see reflected in the business or in the talent environment. All symptoms. Of what is happening in the community, so gaining a better understanding of how to solve that inside the organization helps inform how we can do that in the community. But more importantly, if we solve those problems in the larger community, then we won't have to, over a period of time, encounter the same challenges within organization. On the community side is all about empowerment and pathways. Empowerment, which is the root of TCS, empowers empowerment, right? It is all about the process of helping people gain confidence and power and control over creating better lives for themselves, right? So if we apply that principle and do it well. You're creating unlimited pathways for people, that young person, that family. Has Choice. Right. They don't have to be in a vicious cycle where they're born into a poverty, born into a certain set of circumstances, and no matter what they do, they can't get all of it to path to empowerments helps those families and communities go from one level to another, grow steadily. And isn't that the basis of all of our DNA and the initiatives, providing people agency, helping people have better appreciation for themselves and their teams and others, right? Absolutely. Isn't that what we say, right? Inclusion Without exception, There's one more hot topic that I really want to touch on is sustainability. And how do we integrate sustainability into our responsibility towards the communities around us? I would again ask us to go back and look at the Tata Group. Right? The average lifespan of a Fortune 500 company in the 1950s was about 50 years. Today, the average lifespan of a Fortune 500 company, which is considered to be a bottom of success, right? It's about 23 25 years, right? So are we creating companies that don't last beyond our own lifetimes or even our own careers? Or are we building institutions that will stand the test of time? Right. So that goes to the root of the principles of sustainability. So today what we talk about is sustainability, whether it is from the environment perspective. Which is having a better planet? Or from the people perspective, which is reducing inequities? Or from the prosperity perspective, where everybody has access to economic growth, upward mobility? These principles are at the heart of how businesses should have been run all along, right? But not every organization or company or country around the world adopted this approach. So it has come to a point over the last hundred 200 years where today we are at a point where as society, we are saying that. We need to be doing better and I would argue that since the pandemic. Occurred, and how companies and countries pivoted to address the needs that emerged. We have a great opportunity while at the same time a great challenge. The Sustainable Development Goals, which were promulgated by the UN in 2015. We were making very good progress against that on many other parameters. People are reporting, countries are reporting about it and then the pandemic hit and a lot of those parameters you're falling behind, but at the same time. The way to accelerate progress against those parameters also we have discovered, because of the panel, right. So today the talk about sustainability is growing more and more into the core of how organizations should help fulfill their purpose, right? Whether it is on the business plan, whether it is in the community fund, employee fund, how the operators are good citizen in terms of following the law, how they're conducting themselves from an employee's supply chain and other stakeholders. Perspective. All of these dimensions are gaining more prominence now. I would say that if all of this happens in a much better way, the job of trying to bridge the inequities from the community perspective goes down. So that's the future that we are marching towards. Not all on the same beat and not all in the same place, but I think as a world we will get there. I really want to understand something. You spent almost a decade in copy social responsibility, and I want to. And how has CSR evolved in those ten years, 1012 years? And what is the future of CSR? How do you envision it? Is my firm belief that we are in an era of purpose? Because never in history has these kind of trends all converged. At a time when companies are realizing that the way they should be run and operated is to be centered around purpose, the principles of sustainability are becoming so prominent. The focus on diversity, equity and inclusion from the people and the community aspects are also growing and the opportunity is there for us to really make a difference. So here's my prediction. That the future of the enterprise is going to be carbon negative and social positive. Carbon negative and social positive. What do you mean by that? Carbon negative is today everybody is talking about net zero goals and beyond, right? But what if all of us as companies and countries achieve our net zero goals? Will the future of the planet from environment and climate perspective get addressed? We don't know that yet, right? So instead of waiting for that to happen, carbon negative means that as soon as you are discovering ways to address climate issues through innovation, can we open source more of those approaches and share it with those? Who will be the last ones to have access to and implement this? So that kind of approach which our company and organization state, they are going to emerge as the most successful and resilient ones in the future. Similarly social positive, right. It's not just to offset the challenges that you are creating in a community because of displacement or financial resources reduction or other things based on your business models. How can you create socially positive communities through the work that you're doing. I think this is the future. Thank you very much on that part. I'm big optimist that this is going to happen in our lifetime, at least my lifetime I'm hoping. So it would be exciting. I think we live in really exciting times. We are living in a very, very fast changing world. You know, we had a pandemic and we had a major war happening in Russia and Ukraine. And you know how easy or difficult has it been to adapt? And you know, because I'm sure your strategies need to be reactive as well, is strategic. So how do you sort of. Adapt to that change. It has been difficult, right? And the most difficult part is that the people that have to work on all of these are also going through the same challenges that we're talking about, right? So it has been a very tough journey. You know, you lost many people's families and saw a lot of people get affected health wise, in addition to seeing daily the impact on the communities. But what it also showed us is that the sense of solidarity of humanity or community or service, all of these are inherent values that human beings thrive on. So that is the positive that has emerged out of this and that. Knowing that, seeing that day in and day out as examples of, you know, human service or altruism for people held up, stay on our feet. It helped us stay on our feet and shift to understand where the needs are and how we can help people in it. So rather than come at it from the perspective of here are programs and let's go run it working along with communities and people who are impacted and understanding what are the gaps, what do you need today, what do you need next week and helping address those. So moving from strategy and macro to actually looking at daily and near term was the approach we took now. In hindsight, it helped a lot because it gave access to a lot of virtual and hybrid opportunities that otherwise may not have been taken up in such a big way. Or in such a fast way that you can do it. Yeah,Balaji coming to the browsing types of it. How can someone like me or at any TCSer take part in CSR activities, I think the beauty is that we have such a rich culture, right? So you can look at it from the perspective of volunteerism and let me explain it that way because that is the path that employees take to engage with our initiatives. All of the initiatives that I spoke about, whether it is on literacy, education, employment or entrepreneurship or designed keeping the employee as a key enabler. To solve the problem that we are talking about, right. But in order to get there, you could start with your own initiatives. You have a cost that you care about, an issue that do you want to contribute to, it's not there and let us know, right. So we have purpose life as a platform where you can pledge hours and then based on those hours you can have your own initiatives and talk about and share those initiatives. Then you have CSR volunteering opportunity where based on region, based on your account, based on the unit that you are in, the location that you are in. Inaccurate opportunities for you and you can participate in those opportunities. And then from being a CSR volunteer, you can become a serial volunteer, a CSR champion where you can keep on going. For example, if you want to go and help us illiterate person learn functional literacy. You can do that for everybody in your neighborhood, right? So it could be your gardener, your maid. I mean we all come from a position of privilege, right? Because of the work that we do and the company that we are in. So can we help empower one person in your own community, in your own network is a good place to start, right? And then you could be a CSR lead actually championing these initiators. You could get others in your. Are called in your location to come together and go run a go it in a school Or, adopt A rural college engineering or non engineering and work with the students there and I can tell you day in and day out the kind of examples I hear from TCSer of impact. That is incredible because each of these are opportunities that create tangible impact. Imagine you make somebody that literate and as a result of that they get access to. Health care from the Government of India. And because of that, when their husband actually got hospitalized, their entire life saving is not wiped out. And they come and tell you, I am thankful for what you did and imagine that impact, right? Imagine that impact where you are helping a young kid use technology to solve the problem. Maybe they live in a poor community. They may not have access to all the good resources. But because you help them understand, for example, how they use drones or how they use the app or designs and they suddenly come up with the solution and they are proudly sharing that solution and local counselor or the municipality starts implementing that solution which is happening in some places in Maharashtra right now. Imagine the impact, right? I can go on and on so. Csr@tcs.com and then our on tcs.com we have our own section where we have more information about all of these opportunities. Absolutely, I urge all our viewers to go there right away and start looking for opportunities. Since we have you here, we didn't want to let you go without talking about your personal journey. And so tell us, how long has it been for you in TCs nearing my 20th year? 20 years? That's a long time. And I think we started off in a different direction, moved to a different direction, and then now you hear so and what's your secret? I wouldn't consider myself as a exemplar model to share secrets, but I think the journey has always been about. Creating something of value through service, right? So initially as an engineer it was about using engineering and mechanical skills to solve some problems with heavy machinery industries. Then, as an entrepreneur, it was. Of course, sustainability, sustainability, looking at green vehicles. As a HR professional and leader, it was about building great teams and helping our internal teams foster a good culture. And then on the business side, it was about helping customers see the value of what TCS has to offer. And today on the community front, it is using all of those experiences and the strengths that we have to address some of the largest problems in society. So you see the common thread to all of it is understanding. How you can create value and figuring out ways to do it on a day-to-day basis. What are your hobbies? My alter ego is Musafar. So I've been. A journey of life but also travel is something that I enjoy a lot. Those days probably are behind me. But yeah, climb the Himalayas two or three times in my two or three before my 21st. Yeah, and I follow sports, so sports. In cricket, CSK team was your favorite. I would say Dhoni has been a great inspiration. Looking back, if you had to, you know, talk to the 12 year old boy from Trivandrum, what would you say? You say I'm still that boy is inside of me. My 12 year old self, I would say, you know, walk on that path. Be courageous, right? So find your purpose. Be courageous. Dream big. But be grateful fondest memory of TCS when our executives were invited to the White House about 10 years ago based on the work that we did for TCS to have been recognized as having that ethos and that values and the principles in a completely different market. As a high point Balaji, it has been a privilege for us to have you here and talk about all the work that we as TCS doing here is to. World which is socially positive and carbon negative. We hope to have you soon here in previous studios. Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure.