Parul Batra

I attribute my success to being curious and always wanting to learn. I think you always want to strive for learning and be curious, never be afraid to ask questions. Even when I'm sitting in a room, even if it's a basic question, I do ask a question because I feel like it's always good to learn. I read somewhere that it's okay to not know things and just strive to know more, because that's what helps you gain knowledge, get into that world, and be successful. I think that curiosity and willingness to learn has been the key to my growth across so many different industries.

The best professional advice I've received is about managing my workload effectively. First, it's very important to trust and delegate because you cannot do everything on your own. And if there is a task that you can do in less than 2 or 3 minutes, just do it right now. Whether it's a decision or something you need to get off your list, don't procrastinate. Just do it. I think anything that takes you less than 3 minutes, just do it. That advice has really helped me when I'm struggling with identifying what I need to do or how to move forward. Sometimes you struggle with a lot of things sitting in your lap, so the key is to start slow, take baby steps, and just do it. Personally, the best advice I've received is from my dad. He always asks me to enjoy, to take a moment and enjoy. He always gives me that advice to just take a break, enjoy, and you'll love life even more. It's easier said than done because we live in a world where we are so busy with a lot of things that we don't pause. We put everything ahead of us, whether it's our kids or our work, and we don't take that time to go out, travel, and enjoy that moment. I think it's really important to do that, especially now more than ever. Even though it's very simple advice, I feel like it's long-lasting advice.

I would say don't be afraid to experiment. It's very important to learn this world, but it's okay not to know everything as well. You need to have the right mentors, so go to people, ask questions, and connect. Networking is really important. Just be open to the opportunities. I feel like sometimes we are so closed off and but if you want to step into any field, connect with people, talk to them, and be open to whatever comes, so you are able to expand. Don't limit yourself to one box, but explore and build your portfolio across different industries.

Right now with AI, there's a lot of changes happening that are directly impacting the tech industry. I do feel like AI is going to simplify a lot of things and make it more efficient. We all need to learn AI to apply in our industry, and that's going to be non-negotiable. But I think what's going to be challenging is how do you define the ethics and what's right and wrong within the AI space, that governance and compliance. That is where we don't have channels right now to do that, and as it's going to grow bigger and bigger, it's going to be a struggle for sure. Especially in healthcare where I work, it's very important to either have a clarification that this is AI-generated or not, or AI-supported. To create that transparency, there has to be governance models, the whole ethics team, to differentiate how we can move forward. If we don't have that governance body, we're not going to be able to ensure things are optimized. People say you can write hundreds of lines of code and we don't need software engineers, but who is defining what is optimized or not? How do you ensure that it's not going to break the system in future? What is that chain of compliance? What is that model that we are going to follow? Right now we are just producing results, but I think we have to think about creating it in the right manner as well. We cannot fight against AI, and there's nothing wrong with using it if it makes our job easier. But we still need to understand the complexity of that and have a channel to direct it.

In my work life, I feel like it's really important to build trust with the folks that you're working with. Good partnerships require trust, and that's so important to have. Accountability and responsibility are also crucial because people can depend on you only if they know that they can, and again, it comes down to trust and responsibility that you're able to deliver. Having transparency is really important because a lot of complications or conflicts arise if there is a lack of trust or transparency is not maintained. There has to be discipline and work, of course professionalism, but that trust is also really important. Trust and communication, I feel like, are really big. In my personal life, the values are similar. I think it flows both ways. Even when we are looking at our kid, I see my husband and I as a team. It's going to be important for me that my kid sees us as a team, not against each other. Communication is really important because that's the baseline for me. That's where you are able to understand each other if you are communicating. If you don't, then everything pauses there, whether it's a big or a small decision. What I believe, and I think this is where my husband and I align, is that will always be problems, but there are always solutions. We just need to find it and work towards it. So we sit and talk about it. Communication and understanding are key.