How the Challenges of 2022 will Shape our Success in 2023

As we approach the end of an eventful year, I want to take a few moments to reflect on what 2022 brought us—and look at some trends coming our way in 2023.

A little under 12 months ago, we welcomed a new year. After the trials of 2021, it felt like time to embrace the optimism of a new beginning as we finally left the worst of the pandemic behind.

A few months in, a war in Europe sparked a global energy crisis, and added to the economic headwinds that were already building. The climate emergency continues, and our minds are ever more focused on building sustainable businesses and communities for a greener future.

Here are my key highlights from 2022:

Innovation for resilience challenges

If the past few years have taught us anything, it is the need for resilience. The challenges of 2022 were a reminder that we should not forget that hard-learned lesson. The supply-chain issues of COVID-19 showed that we need more resilience - and we need it fast as we head into 2023 with rising inflation and energy costs.

In 2023 we must show organisations how best to respond to the headwinds coming our way. The key is to connect regional capabilities to build robust service delivery. TCS is focusing efforts on two main networks: the European Innovation Network, with TCS Pace Ports in Amsterdam and soon in Paris as main hubs, and the ?European Delivery Network (E-DeN).

E-DeN is one way we are helping our customers build the resilience required to survive and thrive in tough economic times. The core tenets of E-DeN are: proximity, connected, highly scalable, contextual, responsiveness and innovative. By standardising operations across territories, E-DeN ensures uninterrupted delivery of service that's flexible and future-ready.

Technology to drive progress into a sustainable future

I am proud that 2022 marked the year that TCS Europe reached the milestone of becoming officially carbon neutral. We made strides in cutting energy consumption across our operations. Where we were unable to make cuts, we purchased high-quality carbon offsets known as Certified Emissions Reductions to compensate for the impact of residual emissions.

We are determined to build on our core belief that we must be a responsible company and use our ability to solve some of the big challenges of sustainability by using technology.

Three key aspects will drive our sustainability approach in 2023: How do we make ourselves more sustainable? How do we become the leading voice on tech-driven sustainability? And how do we help wider society solve sustainability challenges?

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The TCS response to the Ukraine humanitarian crisis?

Humanity, compassion and innovation defined our response to the war. Our reaction was a reflection of our belief that the work we do every day should contribute to building better societies.

TCS and its employees together donated a total of €1.26 million to independent humanitarian organisations including UNICEF and the European Food Banks Federation. As the crisis continues, TCS employees are supporting Project Sunflower—providing Ukrainian women fleeing the war with mentoring, skills training and access to work.

Beyond the humanitarian crisis, TCS is supporting governments and organisations dealing with the consequences that the energy crisis has on their business as well as with cybersecurity threats caused by the war.

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Predictions for 2023

Looking back at the year just passed, I believe “The Financial Times” best summed up what we have come to, referring to events as [the] “Age of ‘permacrisis’ teach[ing the] EU that solidarity is arduous but worth it”.

It is clear to me that the crises—and challenges—that have affected 2022 may well continue into 2023. We have an opportunity to leverage technology, innovation and collective knowledge to build resilience for our customers and the wider society. We will need to embrace our beliefs and engage with our ecosystems to build accelerated and meaningful outcomes. That will mean that companies that have traditionally competed will need to come together to help solve these challenges.

I also believe we will see great progress on shaping the future of work. We must seek out the right model and discover how we can best bring teams back together. We all want to work within vibrant and energised teams, driven by purpose. That raises another question about the right balance between physical and virtual workspaces.

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Conclusion

My one piece of advice looking ahead is to view future challenges as opportunities to innovate on and solve with new technological solutions and to view this as an enriching time to be involved with new personal and professional growth opportunities.

2023 will be a year in which we must see adversity as an opportunity and we must truly live our belief that we have a responsibility to help solve the major challenges the world is facing.

TCS employs more than 600,000 people globally, some of the brightest minds in the technology business and we can play a meaningful role in creating a more humane, equitable and sustainable world.?