ICICI Bank Beat The Curve National Runners Up Rishabh Ohri's Story

There were a lot of nerves before the result of ICICI Bank Beat The Curve was being announced. The moment we heard our names for the position of First Runners Up, it was a big sense of relief. Months of hard work had finally borne fruit. The winning moment and the visit to the digital village was something that I will cherish for a lifetime.

There were two major factors that piqued our interest for participating in the competition. Firstly, the concept of ICICI Bank Beat The Curve was unique. It allowed the finalists to perform primary research organized by ICICI Bank. The second factor was the theme around digital banking which is on its way to revolutionizing the way the rural sector banks. Such rural immersion made us jump at the opportunity to participate in this competition.

We followed a very structured approach in our preparation for the competition. By dissecting and inferring from every single experience from our visit to the digital village, we then focussed on the best practices across the world. Also, we talked to industry experts with respect to our solution. The ideation and data analysis phase panned over 2 months. It is during these 2 months that our solution was born and shaped into what it was for the D-Day.

The biggest challenge we faced was understanding the on-ground obstacles faced by customers in the rural banking sector. There was a great gap in the problems that one could potentially face and those that one actually faces in these digital villages. Understanding the problem and suggesting solutions to tackle the problem and scoping the solution to be executable and effective was the most challenging phase.

We, Team Havana, have participated in multiple competitions with great gusto throughout the year and it was a pleasure to be working as Team Havana again. In terms of conflicts, there have been differences with respect to the solution. But we always had great chemistry among ourselves. We would put our heads together and discuss the pros and cons of each suggestion and finalize on the best possible solution.

Our team relies on being a jack of all trades. Because of diverse educational background, we had developed an expertise in every possible facet for solving such live cases. Also, we were diligent with our work ethics. Besides, our stronghold on industry practices coupled with the way of presenting the solution held us in good stead for advancing into the further stages of the competition.

A total of 6 teams were competing in the finale of ICICI Bank Beat The Curve. All the teams were our toughest competitors owing to the rigor all of us had gone through to reach that stage. Moreover, each had covered diverse fields in a very exhaustive approach. So, all of them had an equal chance of winning the competition.

The competition was very transparent in terms of judging. The finale not only had a scoring format for the esteemed panel of 3 judges but there was also voting by senior leadership (around 40 in number) who were present during the finale and had also evaluated the ideas prior to the finale. The experience with the organizers was awesome and their cordial nature and flexibility in accommodating our needs are noteworthy.

There is a plethora of learning that has been garnered from the competition. It includes the strong need for technological intervention and an increased focus of banks in rural areas in India specifically.

Each Corporate organized competition is unique in its own way. From structure to judging criteria. Read more about ICICI Bank Beat The Curve and the organizers ICICI Bank.