A: In December 2007 when Jagdish Khattar, the last Indian CEO of Maruti, retired we decided to restructure our management format and chalked out a strategy that looked into business functions that were required to be on the board level. The new structure today is a part of our managing director's agenda to develop managers in Maruti Suzuki to manage growth of the company and take top management positions.

We realised that the central functions of HR, finance and IT were different from line functions. In our understanding of the current business context, everything should be business functions and not support functions. I see technology as a business function and hence there has to be a place for it at the board level.

A: Yes. I look at my CIO to bring in a balanced perspective for two critical factors, namely, operational role of IT within Maruti and developing a strategic perspective to business. Here, speed and effectiveness of IT solutions would come within the operational factors.

We, and that includes our head of production, R&D head, the CFO and CIO, have developed a vision for the company for the next five years.

Since the CIO is part of the board now, he clearly understands the business challenges. He is aware of the strategies and should be able to provide solutions for both short as well as long term. It is the job of the CIO to take up the role of business innovation and new project implementations.

A: I think there is no point looking at IT today as a cost centre as they have earned their credibility over time. I have categorically told my CIO that we are not selling technology to anyone at Maruti anymore.

When we look at projects or proposals coming from IT the first thing that we look at is whether the need to buy or implement IT is a business need.

For example look at our rural initiative: We realised that only three percent of our cars were being sold in the rural areas. We wanted to, in the very least, double the numbers. To achieve this feat our IT team got together and provided necessary information and tools for our sales force. Today, around 18 percent of our sales come from the rural areas and this clearly highlights the potential of IT.

A: CIOs should work for the business and use their strength of technical knowledge to fill in the gaps in business processes such as HR, finance, marketing, operations, R&D etc. It is time for them to practice out-of-the-box thinking and believe that innovation is a way of life. A CIO should thinking strategically. Spotting the changing market trends and developing a winning strategy that differentiates the company from competition is essential to developing a competitive edge for the business.