Prasad Palla: Transforming Automotive Transactions - Simple, Efficient, & Equitable
Achief technology officer (CTO) is the highestranking executive in an organization's technology or engineering department. The individual enhances customer-facing products and services through the application of relevant technologies, policies, and processes. Similarly, Prasad Palla, CTO at Mahindra First Choice, revolutionize the car industry by standardizing processes and ensuring that everyone involved benefits. And to achieve this, Pallav implements new business strategies through the right combination of people and machinery. And as the CTO of one of India's largest used car retailing networks, Prasad has a goal of making Mahindra the country's largest, fastest-growing, and most customer-centric autotech company.The CIO Tech Outlook magazine engages in a conversation with him in order to know more about the development in the sector.
In what ways have you witnessed the market for automobiles change over the past few years?
Over the past five to seven years, technology and its integration into the business ecosystem, including the automotive industry, have changed the market. This period saw major advances in computer vision and AI. AI is now mainstream and essential for businesses to compete. And this technology's accessibility and maturity shaped this evolution. Businesses can now integrate large language models and other technologies into their products and internal applications as AI adoption has increased across industries.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic also influenced market change. The pandemic's physical restrictions, such as remote work and fewer in-person interactions, have spurred innovation and technology adoption. We are observing that customers are comfortable with decision-making based on digital information and are making high-value purchases online. This is true even in industries like automotive, where physical touch and inperson experiences were traditionally important. Hence, these major two market trends in the automotive industry have reshaped the market and are driving innovation.
Please tell us a brief summary of your professional background and experience.
I have more than two decades of managerial, executive, and technical experience. After graduating from IIT Kanpur and IIM Bangalore, I got a chance to work in a variety of professional fields throughout my career. My experience is working with large multinational corporations (like Microsoft) as well as start-ups and established businesses. Notably, I had the opportunity to be part of the remarkable growth journey of Informatica which achieved revenue growth from approximately $100 million to $1 billion in just eight years. During my early years as a tech executive, I also had the honor of working with and receiving mentoring from outstanding industry leaders.
Another invaluable aspect of my professional background is leading large and diverse teams spanning eight countries which helps to instill respect for diverse cultures. My areas of expertise include enterprise architecture, digital transformation, product management, and analytics. Some of my leadership roles include serving on boards, co-founding startups, providing technical advice and mentoring, and demonstrating my ability to influence a variety of organizations.
At present, I work as the Chief Technology Officer of Mahindra First Choice Wheels, a Mahindra company and I am also a member of the Technology leadership team of Mahindra and Mahindra group. Prior to this stint, I worked as Group CTO and board member of QS which is a London-based multinational.
Kindly enlighten us about Mahindra technology innovations and advancements in the field of automobiles.
Mahindra’s first choice wheels operate in enterprise and retail segments that deal with various businesses that cater to the needs of enterprises after the vehicles are sold. On the enterprise side, we deal with vehicle inspections, price discovery, and insurance aspects. We also deal with technology and/or services related to repossession, yard management, auctions, and more. Additionally, we have IBB pricing which is the gold standard for various insurance companies to discover the residual value of the vehicle to provide insurance. On the retail side, we have a large distributor network of used car dealers under the brand names of car and bike brands.
We also have one of the largest auto portals on carandbike.com. The role of technology is to ensure we can scale business operations with very little extra cost. Automation streamlines the management of three lakh inspections per month. We also enable tech interventions that fundamentally transform user experience and allow for new business opportunities. In addition to various applications, we use AI and computer vision heavily to innovate the user experience and information dissemination. Our systems record car details, capture 30-second audio clips, and perform quality checks using AI and computer vision to give each vehicle a quality score that informs customers with trustworthy non-subjective data to make a decision.
Tell us about your long-term objectives and where you see yourself in five years.
In the next two to three years, I want to support our company to become the number one used car retailer in the country. As part of Mahindra’s technology leadership team, I am keen on supporting the organization’s goal of creating tech teams that can ensure that tech is at the core
of every business of Mahindra group.
At present, I work as the Chief Technology Officer of Mahindra First Choice Wheels, a Mahindra company and I am also a member of the Technology leadership team of Mahindra and Mahindra group. Prior to this stint, I worked as Group CTO and board member of QS which is a London-based multinational.
Kindly enlighten us about Mahindra technology innovations and advancements in the field of automobiles.
Mahindra’s first choice wheels operate in enterprise and retail segments that deal with various businesses that cater to the needs of enterprises after the vehicles are sold. On the enterprise side, we deal with vehicle inspections, price discovery, and insurance aspects. We also deal with technology and/or services related to repossession, yard management, auctions, and more. Additionally, we have IBB pricing which is the gold standard for various insurance companies to discover the residual value of the vehicle to provide insurance. On the retail side, we have a large distributor network of used car dealers under the brand names of car and bike brands.
We use AI & computer vision heavily to innovate the user experience & information dissemination
We also have one of the largest auto portals on carandbike.com. The role of technology is to ensure we can scale business operations with very little extra cost. Automation streamlines the management of three lakh inspections per month. We also enable tech interventions that fundamentally transform user experience and allow for new business opportunities. In addition to various applications, we use AI and computer vision heavily to innovate the user experience and information dissemination. Our systems record car details, capture 30-second audio clips, and perform quality checks using AI and computer vision to give each vehicle a quality score that informs customers with trustworthy non-subjective data to make a decision.
Tell us about your long-term objectives and where you see yourself in five years.
In the next two to three years, I want to support our company to become the number one used car retailer in the country. As part of Mahindra’s technology leadership team, I am keen on supporting the organization’s goal of creating tech teams that can ensure that tech is at the core
of every business of Mahindra group.
