Rajalakshmi Hegde, Sr Director – Product Engineering: Manufacturing, LTIMindtree.

Can you share a bit about your journey in the business world and how you got started in your current role?

I have spent more than two decades in industrial automation on the OT side and worked on various verticals in the Manufacturing industry and in different roles enabling digitisation on the OT side. I was always fascinated about the IT side of the industry and was very intrigued in exploring the IT world, but from a domain perspective. I wanted to see how the experience I have gained in the OT world will help the IT side of the industry. Manufacturing and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is an area where the OT and IT world will merge more and more each day and is currently undergoing major transformation. My present role at LTIMindtree as a Sr Director – Product Engineering: Manufacturing is to focus on aspects of Manufacturing and IIoT from IT, and add my expertise and experience from OT to offer the right solution to the client.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the manufacturing industry?

Being on the shop floor, understanding the working of machines, the mechatronics part, automating machines, learning the process to bring in intelligence into machines and its working all came as a part and parcel of working in the Industrial Automation environment. Then came along an avenue to create, explore products and platforms in the IoT space more from a manufacturing domain perspective, which is my current job. Manufacturing teaches you a lot of things in life and is very inspirational. It is a much disciplined industry with a lot of processes and workflows in place to achieve required targets. Every event is logged and traced back to see how a process, a function can be improved to bring in more efficiency. How we can minimise human errors by creating standard operating procedures, steps that operators can follow with a click of a button. Manufacturing is an ever-evolving area and it is a continuous learning process, which has been a driving force for me personally. 

How do you foster a positive and inclusive work culture within your team or organisation?

For me it’s very important to treat everyone in my team and organisation with equity. We all come from different backgrounds, different demographics, maybe with different constraints. Each one comes with skill sets they have inherited or learnt on their work journey. Understanding these areas of differences and opening up opportunities where the individual skill sets can be mapped to bring about a successful outcome is how we can embrace Equity. Support individualistic efforts, celebrate inclusive work culture and your team will enjoy the work. Secondly, work with empathy, before you pass a remark or judge someone, put yourself into the other person’s shoes and see their perspective, their point of view – that has always been my style of working. Inviting view points from all members of the team helps to build a strong solution for the problem at hand, including the new entrants.

How do you stay updated on industry trends and develop your skills?

I have always believed that learning never stops; hence I grab every opportunity that comes my way to attend a training or webinar or read on the current trends in the industry.

Moreover, I work on a volunteer basis with the International Society of Automation (ISA) and interact with leaders in the industry, network and attend conferences, which help me to stay updated on the current happenings in the industry. Society of Women Engineers is another volunteer activity that I support as a Global Ambassador and these forums help me connect with women across the globe in STEM. This is by way of interacting with them on various topics, not just relevant to manufacturing, IIoT or Industrial Automation, but any other topics that would be important to stay relevant in the industry. Also, one must have a mentor or a coach who will help understand the gaps and coach/mentor on how to bridge these gaps.

There is always a talk about gender equality and diversity in the workplace. How do you promote gender diversity and inclusion in your workplace?

The global arena is pushing to have a percentage of women in every department in leadership roles; this will bring along with practical aspects an Emotional IQ and empathy to the team. Each problem will be looked at from various angles, allowing the flexibility and capability to work together and bring out results. Having diverse backgrounds brings about innovative thinking and aspects from varying angles. The competitive spirit is more and each one strives towards a healthy competition. Women have excelled in supply chain management, operations, and on shop floors, bringing performance to the forefront and structuring systems and processes to a large extent.

I always emphasise on looking at diverse backgrounds, and provide equal opportunities to men and women in my team.

How do you see the manufacturing industry in the next few years, and how are you preparing for those changes?

We hear of flexibility in Manufacturing, Agile Systems, Connected Factories, Connected Machines and Adaptive Manufacturing. All of the above and many more indicate the future of manufacturing and digitisation becomes a key element to achieve them, to help improve productivity and efficiency. Automating the operations, electronic workflows, paperless operations, GenAI transforming manufacturing use cases, process and resource optimisation, artificial intelligence, manufacturing sustainability are few new areas manufacturing will have to focus on.

 Early adoption to new technologies like GenAI, cloud based products, creating platforms and products that can easily adapt the above technology and accelerate the digitisation process in the manufacturing industry will be key areas to focus on.

Outside of work, what activities or hobbies do you engage in to maintain a work-life balance?

I continue my classical singing practice and attend concerts as and when possible, along with family and friends. Supporting handloom and handicrafts has always brought me joy. Promoting weavers and artisans in my capacity is a hobby I carry forward.

How do you personally define success and happiness in your life?

Happiness is how you see it, for me it is important to be grateful for what you have and express gratitude each single day. Appreciating someone’s efforts brings me great joy in life.

If you could choose any fictional character to describe your leadership style, who would it be and why?

My leadership style greatly inclines towards Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts who takes on a powerful corporation that has been secretly polluting the water supply in Hinkley with her perseverance and tenacious nature. She fought with courage for her clients.

What advice do you give to other women aspiring to leadership positions or entrepreneurship?

Woman employees are now looked up to be working at equal levels as male employees. More and more leadership positions are opening up. If you have a dream and you get an opportunity just jump in and make full use of the opportunity. Do not wait for all the experience and expertise to be gained before you take the plunge.

How would you describe your life in 3 words?

Family. Work. Hobby.

What would you write on your own fortune cookie?

Express gratitude for who you have today and aspire to capture new targets for the future!

Rajalakshmi Hegde is a Sr Director – Product Engineering: Manufacturing, LTIMindtree. She has significant contributions in the areas of Industrial Automation, Industrial Internet of Things, and Manufacturing. Mrs Hegde has BE Electronics and Executive MBA qualifications.

With over 25 years of experience in Industrial Automation, Product Engineering, Sales, Business Development, Key Account Management, and Application Development, Mrs Hegde has motivated many women to join the Industrial Automation and Manufacturing workforce.

Prior to joining LTIMindtree, Mrs Hegde worked in Global Strategic Account Management at B&R Industrial Automation Pvt Ltd. Mrs Hegde has been honored with numerous accolades. She has been conferred with Women Leader in Manufacturing in 2023 by WOMANUFACTURING and Machine Maker. She was featured in Machine Maker as one of the top 30 Women in Manufacturing in 2023 and recognized as the Corporate Star in 2021 by Inspired Beyond Motherhood.

Mrs Hegde was also featured by IED, and Machine Maker Magazine, and received Women Leader of the Organization in 2019 from the Global Institute of Women’s Leadership (GIWL) and UBS Forum. Furthermore, she has been involved in mentoring programs whenever possible, Via SWE, and ISA. Mrs Hegde is working with SWE, the World's Largest Advocate for Women in Engineering, as a global Ambassador.

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