Virtual Assistant Technology Evolving To Ensure Privacy: Piyush Goel, Beyond Key

In an interview with BW Businessworld, Piyush Goel, founder and CEO of Beyond Key, spoke on cloud testing, talent from tier-2 and tier-3 cities and more.

Excerpts: 

Is Cloud Testing the next big thing in digital transformation?

Cloud testing can be beneficial to organisations in many ways in comparison to the legacy testing environment. It offers optimal performance, speed, availability, scalability and security of data. Moreover, organisations can reduce downtime of the associated platform or infrastructure.

Organisations test cloud-based SaaS products to ensure infrastructure, platforms and applications are functioning correctly. For companies testing other applications, using cloud computing tools instead of on-premises QA tools can help them greatly. It will cut testing costs and improve collaboration efforts between QA teams across the geographies in the hybrid work environment. Companies get access to pay-per-use pricing, flexibility, and reduced time to market.

There’s an increase in demand of talent in the field of AI, ML, and Automation. Where is the software industry of the country looking to source the best talent from? Are Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities top contenders for this?

Of course, Tier-2 and 3 cities are being seriously considered. Let's be honest, many organisations are now entering Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities because hiring from Tier-1 cities is expensive. Also, during the pandemic, many have travelled back to their homeland due to the modern work-from-home or hybrid working ecosystem. Some of the best talents used to remain untapped because they don't want to move to metro cities as it is too expensive. 

So, the current reality is rather than people moving to the cities now, organisations are coming to their cities to hire or even set-up the branch. Organisations feel it's a win-win situation for them and the employee. First is the cost to set up a business in the Tier-2 and Tier-3 areas is far less than in the big cities. Secondly, from the resources perspective as well, it is more economical than going to a Tier-1 city such as Bengaluru, where the cost of living is very high. That's why companies are extending their business in newer cities and tapping the available talent.

Further, there is a new trend visible where software companies are exploring talent in other developing countries as well, which can provide near-shore or effective off-shore experience.

What are your thoughts on virtual assistants? They are enabling a comfortable life but what happens to privacy?

As per Gartner, Virtual Assistants (VAs) assist individuals and enterprises with various tasks bypassing human interaction. Virtual assistants use deep learning and semantics (such as neural networks, prediction models, natural language processing, suggestions, and personalisation) to aid people or automate tasks. They listen to and observe behavior, build and maintain data models, predict and recommend actions based on that information. Millions already use Virtual Assistants, meaning they generate a tremendous quantity of data. One problem with voice assistants is keyword triggers. This can be sensitive, and users risk accidentally activating it and recording their private information. Advancements in technologies and increased skilled resources have helped mitigate privacy concerns to a great extent. The technology (and philosophy) is evolving to be more secured and safer in relation to privacy.

What does the outlook of the SaaS industry look like in this decade?

For a while now, SaaS has arguably been the most promising sector in the world. SaaS is expected to keep expanding, according to the forecast. Reason? More companies adopt SaaS solutions beyond their initial engineering and sales applications. According to several reports, the SaaS market will grow from USD 3.5 billion in 2021 to USD 16.8 billion by 2032, with a steady CAGR of 15.2 percent.