What is this talk about?
This episode of the A to Z Speaker Series explores what digital infrastructure involves, why it matters and why human skills are as important as technical ones in a sector that most people use every day without knowing it exists. Through the experience of Indrashish Das, ISP parent and founder of Codec Technologies, the conversation examines what has carried him across a 20-year career spanning banking, telecom and IT at organisations including Wipro, Reliance and ICICI. The discussion covers how he built technical expertise from a business management background, how AI is reshaping the way his team works and why critical thinking, emotional intelligence and adaptability are the skills that will define the next generation of professionals in this field.
Who is Indrashish Das?
Indrashish Das is the founder of Codec Technologies and a digital transformation professional with over twenty years of experience across banking, telecom and IT. He has worked with organisations including Wipro, Reliance and ICICI, building expertise in large-scale infrastructure across multiple industries and geographies. He grew up in Kolkata, India, studied business management and entered the technology sector through hands-on learning rather than a computer science degree. He is also an ISP parent currently based in the UAE.
What does digital infrastructure actually involve?
Digital infrastructure refers to the physical and technological foundations that allow digital systems to operate – subsea cables, telecom towers, data centres, software platforms and the networks that connect them. As Indrashish explains, these systems underpin almost every transaction and interaction people have each day, from banking to grocery shopping, even if most people never notice they exist. A simple card payment at a shop passes through multiple layers of infrastructure before it completes. That invisibility, he says, is what makes the field function well – and also what makes it easy to overlook as a career destination.
What does working in digital infrastructure actually look like day to day?
Indrashish describes a sector undergoing constant transformation. Companies are moving from manual to online processes through three stages he identifies as digitisation (converting paper to digital formats), digitalisation (using digital tools to improve workflows and systems) and digital transformation (fundamentally changing how organisations operate). His working week involves leading projects that modernise how businesses function – helping organisations move from data entry and manual processes to integrated, technology-driven operations. The pace of change means that adaptability is not optional: it is the job.
Do you need a computer science degree to work in tech?
Indrashish addresses this directly. He studied business management, not computer science, and describes his turning point as joining Reliance – where he was immersed in telecom and learned its technical language and infrastructure logic on the job. He says the companies he worked for effectively made him a telecom engineer through experience. His view is that coding is the basic language of the software world – important to understand, but not the whole picture. Tech careers span roles focused on use cases, customer needs, project management and systems design. He also points to Coursera, Udemy and edX as platforms where students can build foundational knowledge during holidays and weekends. You do not need to be a genius coder to work in tech – his words.
What does Indrashish look for when hiring junior talent?
When asked what makes a junior candidate stand out beyond their qualifications, Indrashish identifies three things: the interest to know (genuine curiosity and a desire to understand how things work), execution ability (the capacity to take a task and follow it through) and critical thinking (the ability to break a problem into smaller steps and work towards a solution). He also uses psychometric tests in his hiring process to assess how well a candidate will adapt to change. Teamwork and a clear understanding of shared objectives also feature prominently in what he looks for.
How has AI changed the way people work in this sector?
In Indrashish’s organisation, AI is used in a form he describes as “Agent DKI” – agentic AI in which a bot is programmed to navigate from stage one to stage ten across a process, finding multiple routes to the same outcome. In practice this means AI handles onboarding new employees, distributing KPIs and managing aspects of project tracking. His emphasis is clear: this is not about reducing people. It is about creating more information – giving the person managing a project better data to make decisions with. His team applies AI across project management, HR and sales tools. The result is not fewer roles but more informed professionals. AI will change jobs, he says – and it will also create them.
What are the most important skills for entering this field – and which is the hardest to teach?
Indrashish names three, and identifies emotional intelligence as the hardest to teach. First, critical thinking: if a manager gives you a problem, you have to break it into smaller steps to reach the goal – if you do not break the problem down, it will remain a problem. Second, emotional intelligence: as teams work together, there will be disagreements, whiteboarding sessions and change. None of us can say we know best, so working collaboratively and adapting is what produces the best output. Third, problem-solving: the ability to execute – to take a challenge and move it forward even when the answer is not obvious. He describes the industry as having changed leaps and bounds, and says that adaptability and the willingness to work in coalition are what separate strong performers from the rest.
What changes would Indrashish like to see in how schools prepare young people?
Indrashish believes schools should evolve beyond traditional subject structures to help students understand the world they will enter after Year 13. He suggests young people should be exposed to how technology frameworks work, how banking operates and how lifestyle changes as they move into adult life. He recommends cross-cultural activity as a way of building perspective – students from different countries connecting to discuss shared subjects would help them grasp global scenarios and develop more informed worldviews. He also encourages students to join clubs, engage with financial literacy and explore interests beyond the curriculum.
What advice does Indrashish give to parents supporting their child’s interest in tech?
Indrashish shares what he does with his own daughter: a 30-45 minute conversation on weekends covering something interesting in technology, something in science and something in world news. His reasoning is that children build inquisitiveness when parents engage with the world around them – not just with what is in the school books, but with what is happening beyond them. He encourages parents to talk about life, technology and science in a way that creates curiosity, so that students start to ask what the next step is and how things work.
What is Indrashish’s final message to young people?
Indrashish closes the episode with a set of direct statements: the biggest misconception about tech is that it is only about coding; digital infrastructure matters because it supports the daily life of entire communities; AI will change jobs but also create them; and the one skill every student should start building today is critical thinking. What excites him most about the future of technology, in his own words: adaptability and problem solving.
Additional FAQs linked to the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025
Why is broadening digital access one of the most significant trends shaping future jobs?
The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies broadening digital access as one of the top macrotrends expected to transform the global labour market by 2030 – alongside AI adoption and the green transition. As more of the world comes online, the physical and software infrastructure that makes connectivity possible becomes more critical and more contested. Indrashish describes exactly this dynamic: the subsea cables, telecom towers and data centres that most people never see are what allow a simple grocery payment or banking transaction to function. The demand for professionals who can build, maintain and transform that infrastructure is growing directly in proportion to how much of daily life depends on it. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 8-9)
What does the WEF report say about the skills gap – and why does it matter for students considering digital careers?
63% of employers surveyed for the WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identify the skills gap as the single most significant barrier to business transformation today. Nearly 40% of the skills required in the job market are expected to change by 2030. Indrashish sees this gap at first hand in his hiring process: the qualities he looks for – the interest to know, execution ability and critical thinking – are not things a degree automatically provides. He uses psychometric tests precisely because he needs to assess how a candidate will adapt to change, not just what they already know. For students, this is a significant opportunity: the gap between what employers need and what the education system currently produces is exactly the space where motivated, curious learners can differentiate themselves. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, p. 6)
The WEF report highlights online learning as a key upskilling route – what does that mean in practice?
The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 finds that 77% of employers plan to upskill their workforce in response to the changes ahead, and that online learning platforms are among the most significant tools for delivering that training at scale. Indrashish makes the same point directly in this episode: he recommends Coursera, Udemy and edX by name as the platforms where students can build foundational knowledge in coding, innovation and technology during holidays and weekends. His own career demonstrates the principle – he entered telecom from a business management background and built his technical expertise through immersion and continuous learning rather than a formal computer science degree. The WEF data confirms what his experience shows: the willingness to keep learning matters more than the qualifications you started with. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 38-39)
How is digital transformation reshaping the kinds of roles that exist within organisations?
The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies digital and technology adoption as the primary driver of new job creation globally, with roles across AI, data, networks and digital transformation among the fastest-growing categories. Indrashish describes the transformation journey that organisations go through in precise terms: from digitisation (paper to digital formats) to digitalisation (using tools like CRM and HRMS systems) to digital transformation (fundamentally changing how the organisation operates). Each stage of that journey creates demand for different professionals – not just engineers and coders, but project managers, change leads, business analysts and communicators who understand both the technology and the human systems it needs to work within. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 25-26)
What does the WEF report say about AI and human roles working together?
The WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025 finds that by 2030, employers expect tasks to be divided between humans, technology and combinations of both – a significant shift from today’s more human-heavy division of work. Critically, 41% of employers plan to reduce their workforce where AI can automate tasks, but 77% plan to upskill rather than simply replace. Indrashish describes this balance with precision: his organisation uses agentic AI – bots that can navigate complex multi-step processes autonomously – for onboarding, KPI distribution and project management. His framing is clear: this is not about reducing people. It is about giving the humans in the team better information so they can make better decisions. The combination of AI capability and human judgement is not a threat to careers in digital infrastructure; it is what those careers will increasingly consist of. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 11-12)
Digital infrastructure needs the whole spectrum of skills – from software engineers and network architects to project managers, business transformation leads and communicators. Whether your background is technical or not, there is a role for you. (WEF Future of Jobs Report 2025, pp. 32-34)
