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  • Dr. Prakash Chakravarthi on Industrial IoT

    30 Mar 2020
  • Dr. Prakash Chakravarthi, CEO of Machfu, discusses how Industrial and Consumer IoT have evolved differently from the original machine-to-machine communication, how companies are “connecting machines to boardrooms” and what businesses can do to stay ahead of changes in technology and market demands.

    Hosted by Jeff Kavanaugh, VP and Head of the Infosys Knowledge Institute.

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Show Notes

  • 00:09

    Your company connects machines in the plant floor to executives in the boardroom and work with dozens of companies around the world. Is there one whose story seems to especially resonate?

  • 00:11

    Dr. Chakravarthi talks about automation of gas wells.

  • 01:19

    Jeff Kavanaugh introduces Dr. Chakravarthi

  • 01:58

    Dr. Chakravarthi shares is entrepreneurial journey.

  • 02:56

    People think it's a compliment to be saying, "Oh, you're head of your time." But if you're 10 years ahead of your time, how do you hang in there, stay with it because no one's there with you yet as far as a market?

  • 04:25

    The burning question I'm sure has to be, how did you come up with Machfu?

  • 06:01

    For the benefit of some listeners, and more importantly, just to get your perspective on it, can you go into maybe a concept of industrial IoT? How is it different than the internet 1.0 now that you're talking about machines? And also for the corporate executive or director, what's special about it that's going to make the impact for enterprises?

  • 08:19

    Can you comment on how this maybe non-stereotypical, high-tech application actually plays out? Because usually you think of all the cool internet and AI types of things in these nice sterile office environments or semiconductor. What's it like out there where things are a little messier?

  • 11:06

    If you're a director, vice president, out there and you're excited about this, but you're having difficulty in getting it funded, what are some of the more exciting things that you can convey or maybe ideas you can give to someone to get these projects funded so they can start seeing these benefits?

  • 12:51

    While conventional wisdom glorifies analytics, analytics, analytics everywhere, you've expressed some reservations about blindly following it. Can you give some perspective on that?

  • 14:02

    You spend a lot of time out in the field talking with people, both venture capitalist as well as clients, and investigating the future. What is a trend that's coming up that gets you most excited about the future in industrial IoT?

  • 14:52

    You're an executive listening, what are the three things you can provide them to get a project going, or it's stalled perhaps, to make it successful? What advice would you give somebody out there?

  • 16:35

    You mentioned in passing, cybersecurity is a big thing these days, a lot of justified concerns about it. And sometimes people think that IoT is a point of failure that often isn't addressed when people think about cybersecurity. What's your take on the best way to approach to make sure that you still are safe whenever you connect with these devices up?

  • 17:14

    Taking a very Machfu specific approach, what is it that you've tried to do to ingrain it in your product and in your company that's different or distinct from maybe the way others have approached this theory of IoT?

  • 18:21

    Who or what has been a major influence on you? What's guided you all these years?

  • 19:12

    Dr. Prakash Chakravarthi shares his contact information

About Dr. Prakash Chakravarthi

Dr. Prakash Chakravarthi

Prakash is founder and CEO of Machfu, a company focused on the industrial internet of things or IoT, simplifying connectivity from edge to enterprise. He's also a successful serial entrepreneur. Prior to founding Machfu, Prakash founded multiple IoT and machine to machine businesses including Eka Systems, a smart grid connectivity company that was later acquired by Cooper Industries. Prakash's formal training includes a PhD in electrical engineering from Syracuse, an executive MBA from MIT, and bachelor's degrees in electrical engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science.