Revature began two decades ago as a company of less than 10 employees. Today, it stands as a global powerhouse helping anyone with the right attitude and aptitude – regardless of background or experience – achieve a career in technology. And, once again, the company is embarking on yet another phase of company growth.

As part of this mission, over the last few months, Revature has announced several strategic initiatives, including launching its new Total Talent Solution and appointing Tan Moorthy as chief operations officer. The latest milestone on this growth journey came last week when we announced Vivek Ravichandran as senior vice president and head of training, technology and platform. In this role, Vivek will lead our training, solutions, platform development and corporate IT teams.

We sat down with Vivek to hear his thoughts on his new role, training and technology trends, evolving skills requirements and much more. Below is our conversation.

1. Please tell us a bit more about your career path. What led you to pursue a profession in human resources (HR)/training?

I had a unique career path, actually. I received a scholarship to play cricket at university, and while I was there, I got into computer engineering. To be honest, at first, I spent more time focused on my sport than my career path. However, following an injury, I knew I needed to prioritize my profession. I earned a Bachelor of Engineering in computer science, and following that, I worked as a developer for a bit. I quickly realized I wanted to get into the management side of the house. So, I went back to school for a master’s degree in HR management. Upon completion, I joined Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Early on at TCS, there were several HR systems that needed work. I knew my technical background could help, so I began doing technology work in addition to my HR responsibilities. I set up digital transformation practices, HR analytics platforms and learning management systems, among other things. Based on this work, I was tasked with digital transformation of TCS and led engagements selling some of the innovations that we did internally around employee experience, workplace collaboration and HR to our customers.

From there, I progressed to become the head of learning and development for TCS in North America. I was responsible for the entire learning and development center of excellence (COE), including supporting more than 55,000 employees in achieving their learning goals. I also owned additional HR and product responsibilities as well.

2. What attracted you to the head of training, technology and platform position, and what are you most looking forward to in this new role?

There were a few factors that attracted me to this position. My background is a unique intersection of technology, HR and training, which I felt was an ideal fit for this role. In addition, I’ve known the leadership team here for quite some time and have had a deep-rooted admiration for the vision, work done and value offered to clients. Finally, Revature is in a new growth phase and what the company is looking to do aligns with my passion for driving digital transformation using technology to solve learning and people challenges.

I’m most looking forward to making a difference in the learning and development industry and leading Revature on its journey to becoming the No. 1 total talent solutions partner in the world. Part of this will be offering full-service partnerships with enterprises – from demand planning and training to supply and continuous learning. With this approach, Revature empowers mid-to-large enterprises, consultants and government agencies to build a high-performing, skills-first technology workforce.

3. How has technology changed the landscape of training and development?

The modern world requires a modern method of training and development, and this means offering these programs in a flexible way that meets people’s demand to participate in their preferred method on their own time. Technology has not only enabled us to make this possible, but also to do so at scale.

The other major change technology has brought to training and development is that it has transformed these programs from transactions into experiences that resonate and stay with trainees over the long-term.

4. What current trends in training and development are you most excited about?

The impact generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has on training and development. The technology has the power to further simplify training and help us scale exponentially in half the time and with half the effort.

5. How do you see the role of technology training and development evolving in the next few years?

In the next few years, I believe technology training and development will become increasingly semi-synchronous. We’ve already seen a shift from totally synchronous (e.g., classroom training) to asynchronous models, where people want complete autonomy to take training remotely on their own time. As return to work mandates become increasingly prevalent, the next evolution will be a hybrid model that is instructor supported but offers flexibility.

I also believe training and development will become hyper-personalized experiences that work in much the same way as ads on Amazon.com or social media. If you talk to your friend about a trip to Italy, there are airfare or hotel ads waiting for you when you next visit the platforms. Similarly, we’ll likely get to a point in the technology world where a worker might mention they have minimal Java experience, and when they next log into the computer, there is an intuitive learning path waiting to empower them in their aspirational journey.

6. What challenges do you face in aligning training with technological advancements?

One of the biggest challenges the industry is facing is figuring out how to use GenAI in training and development ethically and responsibility. We need to determine the necessary guardrails to make sure we’re leveraging the innovation of GenAI in the right way – and not at the expense of people’s privacy. This has been an ongoing conversation this year and will continue to be a big focus in 2025.

7. What skills do you think will be most important for employees in the future?

For the technology workforce, the hardest skills to learn are the soft skills. For example, you can put people through extensive technical training until they are proficient in skills like Java, but it’s very difficult to make someone a leader. In other words, anyone with attitude and aptitude can be trained on technical skills, but not everyone can be trained on soft skills. This is why the latter is so important.

Leadership is one of the biggest soft skills, but adaptability is up there, too. Almost every day, people are faced with new technologies and processes, and successful tech professionals will embrace this change, learn the new way and incorporate it into daily work. Collaboration is important as well – being able to work in teams, in tribes and across the company to deliver value both within and outside of the established scope of work.

From a technical perspective, it’s no surprise that being AI aware, and in fact, AI native, will become increasingly important.

8. What is your leadership style?

My leadership style is founded on three principles. First, I equip my teams with the vision, objectives and assets they need to be successful – with or without me in the picture. When things operate in this way, not only is the business successful, but it also opens the door for employee growth across the board.

I also believe it’s important to give your team the freedom to work in their own style, to trust them and to empower them to come to you with feedback, questions and concerns. I am a strong believer of being a servant leader. It allows me to better connect with people and better solve people challenges.

Third, I prioritize a sharp focus on rigor. Once you’ve agreed to something, make it happen. Continuous monitoring of progress and outcomes is required to keep you on track.

9. What is one unique thing we should know about you?

I mentioned I played cricket at university. In the U.S., I still play in the minor leagues today. I am also a certified scuba pro and love to spend my weekends snowboarding in the winter.

10. What book has had a significant impact on your life?

There are two. The first is called “Rework,” and it encourages simplicity, productivity and breaking norms to achieve business success. The other book is “How to Talk to Anyone,” which helped me a great deal personally. I’ve always been a decent public speaker but had trouble conversing with people I don’t know. After reading this book, I’m much better at connecting with people – whether I know them or not.