By Mark Emmons
Boomi highlights business thought leaders, the market trends they see, and the work their organizations are doing. And their hot takes on food integrations, too.
It’s common when Vinit Verma meets with businesses that he hears they want to solve a specific technology problem, like maybe connecting the CRM to the ERP. That’s when he will ask them to take a step back. He encourages them to consider a broader perspective.
Connecting your customer relationship management system to the enterprise resource planning software is a means to an end. What’s the ultimate goal?
“Real-world business outcomes are not about integrating CRMs and ERPs, but rather what they want to achieve,” said Verma, the Vice President and Head of Intelligent Data Solutions Business Unit at Jade Global. “We try to understand the business value for them. What will they get out of that? Add more products? Reduce manual tasks? When we get those answers, we can begin to help.”
Jade Global helps lots of businesses. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, the firm has 13 offices worldwide with over 2,000 employees, providing IT consulting services across multiple technology platforms. It has domain expertise in a broad range of industries, including technology, health and life sciences, manufacturing, retail, energy, pharmaceuticals, and warehouse distribution.
Verma leads a business unit of about 250 people, including 150 Boomi developers. They focus on providing end-to-end solutions around data strategies, integration, and automation so companies can modernize their digital architecture and use advanced analytics. His team also specializes in solutions powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning to ensure customers get the most from data and technology to transform their businesses today – and in the future.
Consider that CRM-ERP example.
“We may say, ‘You’re asking us to integrate your CRM and ERP, but our evaluation determines that to reach your intended business value, that might not be the right solution. There are some other things you can do.’” Verma said. “Our goal is always to make sure we align the ‘how to do it’ with the ‘why to do it.’”
Verma recently talked about trends he sees in integration, the growing impact of AI, and the Jade Global-Boomi partnership. Here are some lightly edited portions of our conversation.
Tell us a little bit about Jade Global.
Vinit Verma: We have a broad portfolio of services. We focus on three main areas. First is enterprise cloud apps, where we help our customers implement and migrate business applications like Oracle, Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow, and SAP. The second is intelligent data solutions, which I head. That helps businesses with data, whether it’s integrations, advanced analytics, or hyper-automation. The third business unit is cloud application development and maintenance, focusing on AWS, Azure, testing and quality assurance, product engineering, custom development, and so on.
How would you explain your role to friends and family?
Vinit Verma: My son is in the fourth grade, and my daughter is going to college next year. They both ask, “Dad, what do you do sitting on the computer?” I’ve only come up with one cool answer. I tell them I’m like a coach for businesses. Just like their sports coaches help them play better, I help companies perform at their best. This means making sure the businesses are strong, their people and teams are happy, and they’re scoring goals in their industry. To them, it’s like I’m part of a team that trains companies to win big games. They like that answer and think it’s a great job helping people. At Jade Global, we’re committed to coaching our clients towards rapid growth and major victories, making a significant and positive impact in the business world.
The firm believes strongly in making a difference, doesn’t it?
Vinit Verma: The Jade Global Foundation does some amazing work. For instance, we help kids with their educations and quality of life in poorer parts of the world. And it’s not on paper. Employees like me have met with so many of the kids we’re helping. It all starts with our CEO, who has committed the organization to contribute whatever resources they need to be successful. There’s a real human touch.
Why is integration so important?
Vinit Verma: Every company depends on data. If you don’t have the right data, the company will really struggle. Think about a retail store. If they don’t have customer data, they can’t send messages to their customers about what they’re selling. Data is the fuel. Companies have data sitting everywhere, and we help them bring it all together through integration so they can find the insights they need. We see integration as the core centerpiece for any digital transformation. The main benefit of integration is you connect every part of the business. Without it, you won’t get those insights because everything is in a silo. Boomi helps us overcome these data silos.
Why do Jade Global and Boomi work well together?
Vinit Verma: We started using Boomi to help our customers about seven years ago. We saw the great synergy between both companies. We chose Boomi as our partner because it’s a low-code-based platform where you don’t have to write thousands of lines of code to connect your business. It has unified features, whether you do integrations or connect with your partners through EDI or API management. Everything is there in one platform. That’s why we’re also a customer of Boomi to integrate our own applications. So, it’s very easy for us to tell our customers, “You should try Boomi to see how it can change your business and give you the outcomes you want.” We’ve helped businesses migrate from TIBCO, MuleSoft, and Celigo to Boomi. Also, Boomi recommends us to many places. We are happy, and our customers are happy. It almost feels like we’re one company.
What is the impact of artificial intelligence right now?
Vinit Verma: Every CIO we talk to says only one thing. “If you bring an AI solution or idea to the table, I’m all ears. Otherwise, my schedule is packed.” That’s why at Jade Global, we have already concentrated on developing Gen AI applications for our customers. It aligns with the high demand and interest in AI-driven solutions in the industry.
What are some examples?
Vinit Verma: When a CFO is on an earnings call, the stakeholders are asking, “Where do you see your company in the next five years? How will you build on your current performance?” The CFO needs accurate data. We have already developed numerous solutions leveraging Gen AI to enable businesses to access and interpret data that was previously challenging to reach. We’re focused on constructing a variety of Gen AI-powered solutions to unlock and utilize data that businesses often find elusive. Boomi plays a role in bringing the real-time data together in a central place where we can apply that Gen AI application to get insights. Another example is a prototype we’re building for a high-tech industry customer where they have a lot of customer-related documents. You don’t need to search through PDFs for something. You ask any question, and it will automatically find wherever it is and get you that answer – within seconds. Again, Boomi is bringing the data together.
Can you describe your career path?
Vinit Verma: I have always wanted to be a software engineer. So, that was my path from my school days. I was fortunate to start my career with a large company called Infosys and then at Wipro. I started with mainframe development, and then, as technology changed, I educated myself. I just love technology and keeping up-to-date with what’s new. It definitely was my dream to come to the U.S. because there are so many opportunities. After a few years here, I almost decided to go back to India. But my kids love this place, and it made me realize how much we all love it here.
We saved our best question for the end. Do you have a favorite food integration?
Vinit Verma: I definitely like Indian food. But what makes that more interesting is integrating it with Chinese cuisine. Indo-Chinese is my favorite. It’s like integrating Indian spices with Chinese cooking techniques. That creates a unique, flavorful experience. I would say it’s a bit like data integration. You’re blending the best of different worlds to create something innovative and delightful. It’s like what Jade Global does with Boomi. We’re blending the different application systems to create something innovative and delightful for our customers.
Up Close With Vinit Verma
Home: Tracy, Calif.
Family: His wife is a teacher. They have two children.
Education: Graduate computer science and engineering degree from B. R. Ambedkar (Agra) University, MBA from Sikkim Manipal University, postgraduate program in AI and Machine Learning from Purdue University, and certificate program from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi).
Career: He has more than two decades of experience in IT consulting, including over seven years with Jade Global.
Cool Thing About Vinit: “I definitely want to spend time with my family. I am not the person who will just sit all night in front of the computer. I try to finish my work on time so that I can spend my time with them.”
Learn more about how Boomi and Jade Global work together to help customers on our Jade Global partner page.