Embracing digital future with Maulik Parekh’s debut novel

Business continuity plan — these are words that have been echoed by every member of every senior leadership team and human resources because no one was prepared for 2020’s biggest disruptor COVID-19. But apart from business continuity, what the ongoing pandemic highlights is the need for businesses and industries to embrace technology to truly be prepared for what the future has in store.

Last November 14, award-winning CEO and serial entrepreneur Maulik Parekh launched his debut novel “Future Proof Your Company and Career” to help businesses and professionals prepare themselves for what is ahead, especially as the future becomes more digital. Through his first book, Maulik aims to communicate how various factors are shaping the world, and also identify the pillars of success that one must master to future proof their path regardless of what industry they are in.

“In this rapidly changing world, we have a choice to make – either we future proof ourselves or we risk becoming extinct,” Maulik said. “Future Proof Your Company and Career offers actionable insights and proven steps on how you can stay ahead of the curve and flourish in the future.”

Future Proof Your Company and Career is a culmination of Maulik’s personal and professional learnings over the years. During the launch, it was revealed that the book was written in a storyteller tone and filled with interesting anecdotes and memorable tales and does not necessarily revolve around Maulik himself. “The future belongs to those who are humble and who are learn-it-all and the future punishes those who are know-it-all,” Maulik Parekh quoted. “Yes, I have been a CEO for global companies for 10 years, but I want  to learn more. I want to be an expert student and not the expert.”

The book dives into the power of Artificial Intelligence, Digital Natives, and the Gig Economy in strengthening the future of any business and professional over the next decade. This is to enable readers to achieve success no matter what industry they are in in the multidimensional future.

To help guide his readers, Future Proof Your Company and Career covers five ways they can better prepare themselves for the future. For companies, Maulik cited that it is important to: unleash the spirit of innovation, infuse purpose, inspire learning among the workforce, transform the business digitally, and engage employees. For professionals, he highlighted the value of: thriving in an era of AI, setting oneself apart from peers, transforming ordinary into extraordinary, navigating through turbulent times, and predicting and preparing for the future.

Maulik shared that his book is not meant to impress, but inspire. He noted that it is the exact opposite of many CEO-written books with a predictable plot and models to follow for guaranteed success. “Each page is anchored in humility. Humility that what made us successful during the last decade may not make us successful during the next; humility that we must evolve, adapt and change; humility that we must learn to unlearn and relearn,” he stated.

Rationalizing the book to the ongoing challenges by the pandemic, Maulik was honest in saying that he did not see remote work to be embraced by the world, but has highlighted that we are heading that direction eventually. He further elaborated that people have come to realize that working in-person all the time is overrated as they are able to do a lot of their work even remotely.

While businesses can make the most out of innovating themselves, they would eventually require government support, especially if they are foreign investors bringing in work like that of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry. Maulik shared his observation coming into the country as part of the industry 20 years ago and have seen the collaborations formed by the government, academe, and the private sector to harness and grow the economic powerhouse that it is today.

“Governments definitely play a key role and the Philippine government needs to continue what they’ve been doing in the last 20 years in supporting these new technologies and skills that will be needed over the next 10 years.” Maulik Parekh also highlighted the importance of taking a step back to evaluate where industries will be heading to, assess what skills will be needed, and what jobs will be obsolete by then. Taking all these in, the government, academe, and the private sector must foster collaborations to strengthen future strategies.

Getting inspiration from Janet Belarmino, one of the first Filipinas to climb Mount Everest, in completing this book, Maulik Parekh said in closing, “I hope that my book will encourage people to take a step back and ask themselves what is one thing that they really want to do in life but are scared to do it because it looks unachievable, it looks impossible. If I can do it by being inspired by a Filipina, then you guys can do it, too.”

The e-book of Future Proof Your Company and Career is now available on Amazon. For a hardcopy, you can email tonichi@maulikparekh.com. For more information, visit https://www.maulikparekh.com/.