The intersection between technology and consumers is becoming deeper and more meaningful over time. How do you envision the lives of consumers surrounding technology in the future?
I loved the question itself. I bumped into a very interesting chart at “Our World in Data” that shows – how different technologies from flush toilets to smart tablets enjoy adoption across US households. It took flush toilets 214 years to reach 99% of households, but smart tablets made it to 65% in just 10 years. The former is an essential element of any house, while the latter is probably a pure ‘good-to-have’, not as essential as a smartphone.
What does it tell us? It tells us that consumers today indulge more in personal tech, have much better affordability and hence are more mindful of the outer utility and inner purpose they seek. Along with that, today’s consumer-tech space is increasingly tilting towards the softer space, from previous harder ground, hence the flurry of cloud and application we see all around.
As an entity, and a group of entrepreneurs – we all at Dotlines (www.dotlines.com.sg) believe that technology must be humanized, simplified, and democratized for the masses. That’s why – our enterprise robotic process automation platform Pulse (www.hellopulse.io) helps brands make use of no-code AI platform to make use of Visual IVR, Chatbots, Programmatic Messaging, Smart Referrals, and thus completely humanize and scale the way their end-users interact with them for product/service query, adoption, support and customer-gets-customer programs. With Audra (www.audra.io), we made complex firewall technology so simple, that even a mother of a home or a non-tech admin staff in a small business can set internet rules, and implement security policies as they want just from a mobile app and enjoy complete peace of mind. With Ghoori (www.ghoori.com.bd), we made sure digital services are democratized, can be purchased locally, for the most marginal data users in Bangladesh, even if they are not traditionally banked, but hold an MFS account to pay for it.
For years Dotlines has been operating in multiple countries worldwide with innovative products. How have some of these products impacted the value for consumers and clients?
Dotlines works for making business and life simple. In this age, it’s never easy to build and scale initiatives that do not serve the right purpose – in a simple way, at the right mutual value. This is probably the most difficult balancing act we all need to play constantly.
At one part, each of our 22 brands is extremely diverse – if you see from a mere external point of view, across 10 verticals – Internet connectivity, to Learning, to FinTech, to Logistics, to Payments, to Empowerment, to RPA, to Telco platforms, to Infotainments, to Lifestyle. Besides that, we serve both SME and large businesses, as well as, last-mile end consumers from the same house, and that adds to the complexity of it even more.
Irrespective, we have always strived for making an impact. It’ll be a big story if I tell you about each of those 22 Dotlines initiatives. But I want to give you the example of two of the initiatives and what impact they are delivering and will only expand in the coming days.
Our loved fibre internet initiative in Bangladesh – Carnival Internet (www.carnival.com.bd) has taken a very challenging route, to bridge the digital divide between the cities and villages. With an extremely unique, never-implemented-before model, our team at Carnival has done the unthinkable – they have adopted an outside-in strategy, to connect rural villages of the country with the world over internet, not via flirting narrow-band mobile data, but with robust broadband fibre network. We have reached 54 districts in just 2 years, despite inherent challenges and doubts from others. We never sought claps, but it gives us more satisfaction, when a student, stuck in Teknaf during the pandemic, completes the semester online, attending classes being conducted from Dhaka; or when an eligible candidate from Tetulia buys a two hour internet card from the nearby tea-stall and completes job application and begins a new innings of life.
As you know, our group Chairman – Mahbubul Matin – is a proud non-resident Bangladeshi himself. After my move from regional operations in Bangladesh to the headquarter in Malaysia to look after international business expansion, I realized – how passionately he and our international business colleagues have built the migrant services initiative – Sohoj (www.sohoj.my). Combining all our technological and ecosystem capabilities, going inside distant hostels where physical delivery network doesn’t reach even in a progressive country like Malaysia, our service reaches millions of blue-collar workers to help them connect to their families. For these hardworking, dedicated individuals that is probably the only thing that keeps them going and face the next day with a reminder of what they hold sacred.
Impact – be it small or big – we as a group are committed to making a difference. Each of our 22 brands has its own glory. I personally think the crux is how we can brand Bangladesh, and take the flag to the world, wrapped with sheer competence and humble pride.
What competencies enable Dotlines, to spearhead technological leadership across countries?
As of today, Dotlines (www.dotlines.com.sg) is present in 12 capitals of the world, offering services and products across 22 verticals. At the core, we have an amazing development team, led by an uncanny and talented CTO. Around that, 10 of our senior leaders have gathered with their respective multi-disciplinary talents and capabilities. That’s our senior Team of 11. With us, we have our superbly charged team of 1,100 members with a strong head and an even stronger heart. And all of it is encapsulated by an economist by education, artist by passion, and entrepreneur by profession, as the chairman of the group. Together, we all are into this artistic pursuit of purpose to make business and life simple for our consumers.
However, we have always believed that to do better and execute more, there’s no alternative to technology. But most get caught up with the ‘spin of technology’ and forget about the real purpose. Hence, over time, we have learned where to draw a fine line between “the best” technology and “that appropriate” technology, and add other elements like robust strategic planning, impeccable financing, solid go-to-market, flawless operations, best-in-class marketing and sales, and cognizant growth-hacking to deliver the purpose. I won’t say we’re the best in it yet, but we’re on a journey where we try our best to be better today than yesterday. But in general, it’s highly rewarding.
What goal is Dotlines moving towards in the next 5 years and how do you aim to achieve it?
If you observe carefully, with our 10-vertical approach and 22-brand initiatives in those, we are building a “connected ecosystem” that leverages strength of each other to become formidable in their respective purpose drives.
We aim to solidify those verticals in and among themselves and expand those across the markets we operate. We believe – we build end-user value – for businesses or individuals in this way. And more importantly, we build an entity, sprung out of Bangladesh, to truly reflect what our country is – creative, capable and resilient.
What approach should business leaders take to ensure that their organization is innovating to meet the demands of the consumers in the future?
Seemingly it may seem that all successful organizations are trying variedly different things to innovate and do the good they do and become timeless. But in the core, there are some fundamentals that never slip on the stairway to rise. I won’t take the audacity to prescribe something. But I can tell what has worked for us so far.
One thing I find quite bold here at Dotlines is that we never celebrate mediocracy. “Good enough” is never the way, and that challenges us to seek knowledge – read more, observe others, meet customers and the list goes on.
We foster inclusivity in most of the things we do. None of us knows everything, and when we put ourselves together, we may find something to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. This makes way for collaboration easily.
Lastly, we instill humility in our approach and this applies not only to our customers and our consumers but also to our partners, our employees, and the community we belong to.
All these help us to see what others might miss, do the best we can in our capability and stay grounded to appreciate the realities. To me, this is our fuel of innovation – for today and for the future.
You have been working in technological space for more than 16 years, how do you think Bangladesh has done in terms of technological development in all these years?
I say this all the time that Bangladesh is the rare emblem of creativity, capability, and resilience. In terms of technology adoption, we as a nation are open and flexible. With the growth in per capita income, we can increasingly afford better things the world has to offer. That’s great on the receiver or buyer end. But, the question probably is – when it comes to sender or maker end, how much have we progressed, right? Yes, there are success stories here and there. But honestly, we could have done a lot better. We are still far away from being ‘a name in the map’, when it comes to the space of technology. Yes, we had our own challenges in many folds, but our reality is – we have a long way to go. On the 50th year of independence, I believe we need to revamp our (technical) education system by benchmarking more successful countries in Asia. We need to open our market for world-class players to both users and developers to get exposed and learn fast. Our investors and financers need to appreciate tech-ventures a lot more. Lastly – we need to stop celebrating mediocracy easily and conveniently.
What are some of the key challenges and learnings from your career that you would like to share with the next generation of business leaders?
Challenges are there to be won. So, to me, that’s great. But what is more fascinating is the list of learnings I had on the way to my humble journey. And I would like to highlight a few.
Your comfort zone is your biggest killer. Never settle. Never shy away from a new challenge, new opportunity, new prospect, if it makes societal and ethical sense. Seek knowledge – from searches, books, partners, peers, customers, competitors, regulators, families and friends, and sometimes – from complete strangers. You have nothing to lose.
You are as good as your team. If capability is less, that’s alright. You can always build or brush up. But select members with “the” right attitude. And once done, coach them, guide them, give them challenges, cross the bridge with them. It’s highly satisfying when your team does the unthinkable. That only makes you a legend. So make sure, they win.
The tree that bears fruit always bends down to earth. Stay humble. Stay grounded. There’s no point bragging about what you did unless your customers don’t shout about it. And that is the final testament. Nothing else matters.
And lastly, family matters. At the end of the day – you are a parent, a spouse, or a child. They need you to be their hero, as much as you need them to be your life’s meaningful part. In your life’s journey and definition of success, they are also an equally important part. So, integrate them well, and go together.
