The Real Edge in Capital Markets AI: Industry Context, Not Algorithms

 There is a temptation in AI conversations to focus on the model — which model, how big, how fast, how accurate. But in capital markets, I’ve consistently seen that the differentiator isn’t the algorithm.

It’s the context.

In one anonymized case, a client wanted to apply generative AI to automate client reporting across portfolios. The initial ask was straightforward: “Can AI generate reports faster?” The deeper question we explored was far more valuable: What should the report actually say — and why? That led us into understanding client personas, regulatory expectations, and the nuances of portfolio performance narratives.

We designed an AI-driven reporting capability that didn’t just generate text — it generated context-aware insights. For example:

• Explaining performance attribution in line with investment strategy
• Highlighting risk exposure changes in a way clients actually understand
• Tailoring tone and depth based on institutional vs retail audiences

This was not an AI problem. It was a domain intelligence problem enabled by AI.

As consultants, especially in capital markets, our credibility comes from this layer. AI amplifies expertise — but it cannot replace it. The more we invest in understanding the business, the sharper our AI solutions become.

There’s a moment I often see in AI conversations: A client leans forward and asks: “Which model should we use?”

It’s a fair question — but rarely the right starting point.

Because in capital markets, the real differentiator isn’t the model. It’s the context around the decision the model is supporting. And that’s where I’ve seen the biggest gap — and the biggest opportunity.

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Where the Conversation Usually Starts… and Where It Should Go

In one anonymized engagement, a client wanted to use generative AI to automate portfolio reporting. The initial ask was simple: “Can we generate reports faster?”

Technically — yes. That’s the easy part.

But when we stepped back, I asked a different set of questions:

• Who is the end reader, and what do they actually care about?
• What decisions does this report influence?
• Where do clients typically question or challenge the content?
• How do regulators expect these narratives to be structured?

That shifted the conversation completely.

We moved from “automating report writing” to redefining how insights are generated and communicated.

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What We Built — And Why It Mattered

Instead of a generic text-generation solution, we designed a context-aware reporting capability:

• AI-generated narratives aligned to investment strategy and benchmarks
• Dynamic commentary on performance attribution and risk exposures
• Tone and depth adjusted for institutional vs retail clients
• Embedded controls to ensure consistency with compliance language

What made the difference wasn’t the AI itself — it was the layer of financial intelligence and business context wrapped around it.

And this is something I’ve seen consistently:

AI without context produces output.
AI with context produces insight.

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My POV: Domain Intelligence Is the New Competitive Moat

As AI becomes more accessible, the barrier to entry for building models is lowering quickly.

So where does differentiation come from?

Not from the model.
From how well you understand:

• The business problem
• The decision-making process
• The regulatory environment
• The client expectations
• The data ecosystem

In capital markets, this matters even more because decisions are nuanced, high-stakes, and often subjective.

I often remind my teams:

“If we don’t understand how a portfolio manager or risk officer thinks, we’re not building a solution — we’re building a tool that will be ignored.”

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Practical Recommendations I Bring Into Every Engagement

Over time, I’ve shaped a few principles that I consistently apply to make AI solutions truly impactful.

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1. Anchor Everything in Decision Context

Before writing a single line of code, define:

• What decision is this supporting?
• What inputs matter most?
• What level of precision vs explainability is required?

This prevents solutions from becoming disconnected from real business value.

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2. Design for Personas — Not Just Use Cases

A single use case often has multiple stakeholders.

In portfolio reporting, for example:

• Portfolio managers focus on attribution and strategy
• Relationship managers care about clarity and storytelling
• Compliance cares about consistency and defensibility

AI solutions need to adapt to these personas — not treat them as one.

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3. Embed Industry Language Into the System

Generic AI outputs are one of the fastest ways to lose credibility.

We intentionally design systems that understand:

• Financial terminology
• Market conventions
• Regulatory phrasing
• Organizational tone

This turns AI from “assistive” to aligned with how the business speaks and operates.

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4. Don’t Just Automate — Enhance Insight

A common trap is focusing on efficiency alone.

Instead of asking: “Can we do this faster?”

Ask: “Can we do this better, more consistently, and more insightfully?”

In many cases, AI can surface patterns or narratives that weren’t visible before — and that’s where real value lies.

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5. Build Feedback Loops From Day One

AI systems improve when users interact with them.

We design for:

• User corrections feeding back into the system
• Continuous tuning based on real-world usage
• Audit trails capturing how outputs evolve

This ensures the solution doesn’t remain static.

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A Consulting Mindset That Makes This Work

This is where I believe our role, as consultants, becomes critical.

Move Beyond “Answering the Ask”

Clients often articulate a problem in operational terms.
Our role is to translate that into strategic opportunity.

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Bring Industry Perspective — Even When It Challenges the Client

Some of the most valuable conversations I’ve had start with:

“Here’s what we’re seeing across the industry…”

This helps clients step outside their internal lens and consider what’s possible.

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Balance Respect With Challenge

It’s important to honor where the client is — their constraints, their priorities, their pace.

But it’s equally important to push the conversation forward.

Not aggressively — but thoughtfully.

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Think in Systems, Not Features

The best AI solutions are not isolated capabilities.

They are:

• Integrated with data ecosystems
• Embedded in workflows
• Governed responsibly
• Designed to scale

That requires architectural thinking from day one.

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What I’ve Learned Personally

If I reflect on my own journey in AI-led transformation, one thing stands out clearly:

Technology gets attention. Context earns trust.

I’ve seen technically sound solutions fail simply because they didn’t “feel right” to the business.

And I’ve seen simpler solutions succeed because they were deeply aligned to how decisions are made.

That’s the difference.

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Final Thought

As AI becomes more embedded in capital markets, the conversation will continue to evolve.

There will always be better models. Faster tools. New capabilities.

But the organizations that will lead are the ones that understand this:

AI is not just about generating outputs.
It’s about generating the right insights — in the right context — for the right decisions.

And as consultants, that’s where we create real value.

Not by bringing the most advanced AI.

But by bringing the most relevant, contextual, and thoughtfully designed solutions — grounded in industry, guided by experience, and built to scale.

From POCs to Production: What It Really Takes to Scale AI in Capital Markets

 Over the past few years, I’ve seen no shortage of AI pilots across capital markets firms. From trade surveillance to research summarization, the ideas are strong, the demos are impressive, and the intent is clear. But the reality? Very few of these pilots translate into scaled, enterprise-grade capabilities that drive measurable business impact.

In one engagement, we worked with a front-office team exploring AI for investment research synthesis. The pilot delivered strong insights — summarizing earnings calls, analyst reports, and macro signals. But the moment we pushed toward production, challenges surfaced: fragmented data sources, lack of lineage, and no clear governance on model outputs. What looked like a “use case” turned out to be a workflow transformation problem.

As a leader, my focus is always to step back and ask: where does this create real value? Not just for the analyst using the tool — but for the firm’s decision-making process. We redesigned the workflow to integrate AI directly into the research lifecycle — embedding it into knowledge portals, aligning outputs to portfolio decision checkpoints, and ensuring traceability for audit and compliance. That shift — from tool to workflow — made all the difference.

Scaling AI in capital markets is not about building more models. It’s about building repeatable, governed, and integrated systems. That’s where curated architectural patterns — knowledge mining layers, secure data pipelines, and agent-driven insights — become critical. And that’s where consultants need to lead differently.

Smart AI, Real Conversations, and the Future We’re Walking Into...

 

There’s something fascinating happening right now.

Not loudly. Not always dramatically. But steadily.

AI is becoming part of our everyday rhythm — the way we think, write, respond, analyze, and decide. It’s showing up in small moments: summarizing a long email before a meeting, helping untangle a messy thought into a clear message, giving you a starting point when you’re staring at a blank screen.

And if I’m being honest — I don’t see AI as just another technology wave anymore.

I see it as a thinking partner.

But here’s the part that I keep coming back to in conversations with clients, teams, and even myself:

AI will not differentiate us. How we use it — will.

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The Shift I’m Seeing (& Feeling)

In my own work, the biggest change isn’t just speed.

Yes, AI helps move faster. But the deeper shift is this:

• We are asking better questions
• We are connecting ideas more quickly
• We are challenging assumptions earlier
• We are able to see patterns that used to take days in a matter of minutes

And yet — with all this acceleration — something else is becoming just as important.

Pause. Judgment. Intent.

Because when everything speeds up, what matters is what we choose to do with that speed.

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A Moment of Reflection: Are We Building Real Value?

I’ve seen teams light up with excitement around AI pilots — and rightfully so. The possibilities are incredible.

But I’ve also seen something else.

A quiet fatigue.

Too many experiments.
Too many disconnected ideas.
Too much “look what AI can do”… and not enough “why does this matter?”

Research shows that while AI adoption is widespread, most organizations are still struggling to scale and capture real enterprise value. [mckinsey.com]

That resonates deeply.

Because the gap is not about tools.
It’s about focus, discipline, and intent.

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The Part We Don’t Talk About Enough: Trust

Here’s the truth we don’t always say out loud:

AI can be powerful — but it can also be wrong.
Confidently wrong.

And in industries like financial services, insurance, healthcare — that matters.

A lot.

This is where governance stops being a “compliance checkbox” and becomes something much more human.

It becomes about:

• Trust
• Accountability
• Transparency
• Knowing when AI should step back and a human should step in

Frameworks like the NIST AI Risk Management Framework exist for a reason — to help organizations manage risks responsibly and build trustworthy AI systems. [nist.gov]

But beyond frameworks, this is a mindset.

It’s asking:

“If this decision affects a customer, would I stand behind it?”

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What I’m Learning Along the Way

If I had to pause and reflect on what this journey is teaching me — both personally and professionally — a few things stand out.

1. AI Is Only as Good as the Questions We Ask

The difference between average and exceptional outcomes often comes down to how we frame the problem.

AI amplifies thinking — it doesn’t replace it.

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2. Industry Context Is Everything

Generic solutions are easy.
Meaningful solutions are not.

What works in insurance underwriting doesn’t automatically work in asset management or banking operations.

This is where real consulting comes in — understanding the business, the nuances, the risk, the stakeholders.

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3. Workflows Matter More Than Tools

AI doesn’t transform organizations on its own.

Redesigning how work happens does.

The organizations seeing the most value are not just using AI — they are rethinking processes end-to-end. [mckinsey.com]

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4. Human + AI Is the Real Equation

We’re not moving toward a world where AI replaces people.

We’re moving toward a world where people who understand how to use AI… will outperform those who don’t.

Microsoft calls this the rise of human-agent teams — where people lead and AI supports execution at scale. [microsoft.com]

I like to think of it more simply:

AI helps us think faster.
Humans decide what thinking matters.

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A Consultant’s Mindset for the Years Ahead

If I reflect on what will define successful consultants in this next phase, it’s not just technical knowledge.

It’s how we show up.

Be Curious — Not Just Knowledgeable

Ask better questions. Explore beyond the obvious.

Be Grounded — Not Just Excited

Not every problem needs AI. And that’s okay.

Be Responsible — Not Just Fast

Just because we can build something doesn’t mean we should — at least not without guardrails.

Be Outcome-Focused — Not Just Delivery-Focused

Clients don’t need solutions. They need results.

Be Human — Always

At the end of the day, we’re working with people making real decisions that affect real lives.

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What I Would Be Cautious About

If I had to share this candidly — almost like advice I would give my own team — it would be this:

• Don’t chase AI for the sake of it
• Don’t underestimate data challenges
• Don’t ignore governance until later
• Don’t assume adoption will just happen
• Don’t oversell what AI can do

Credibility in this space will come from being both optimistic and honest.

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What I’m Personally Betting On

If I had to place a bet on what will matter most in the next few years, it would be this combination:

• Deep industry understanding
• Strong AI fluency
• Thoughtful governance
• Workflow transformation
• Measurable business value

Not one of these alone.

But all of them together.

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Final Thought

I don’t think AI is here to replace what makes us valuable.

If anything, it’s exposing it.

Our judgment.
Our empathy.
Our ability to connect dots.
Our responsibility to do the right thing — not just the clever thing.

So maybe the real opportunity in front of us isn’t just to become better at AI.

Maybe it’s to become better humans who know how to use AI wisely.

And for me, that’s what makes this moment exciting.

Because the future of consulting — and honestly, of work itself — won’t just be defined by intelligence.

It will be defined by how thoughtfully we apply it.

The Power of Hybrid Cloud: Where Strategy Meets Reality

 If there’s one consistent pattern I’ve seen across enterprise transformations, it’s this: cloud journeys are rarely linear—and almost never “all-in.”

Organizations often start with a bold vision of moving everything to the cloud. But as programs progress, reality sets in. Regulatory constraints, legacy dependencies, performance considerations, and cost dynamics make it clear that a single-cloud or fully public cloud strategy isn’t always practical.

That’s where hybrid cloud becomes not just relevant—but strategically powerful.

Hybrid cloud is often misunderstood as a temporary phase. In reality, it is the steady state for most large enterprises.

At its core, hybrid cloud allows organizations to:

• Place workloads where they make the most sense
• Balance innovation with control
• Modernize without disrupting mission-critical systems

It’s not about compromise—it’s about intentional design.

A Real-World Perspective

In one engagement with a large insurance organization, the goal was to modernize underwriting and introduce AI-driven decisioning. However, core policy administration systems were deeply embedded and governed by strict regulatory requirements.

Instead of forcing a full migration, the approach evolved into a hybrid model. Core systems remained in a controlled environment, while AI models and analytics capabilities were deployed on the cloud.

The result wasn’t just technical success—it was business impact:

• Faster underwriting cycles
• Improved decision accuracy
• Compliance maintained without disruption

In another case with an asset management firm, the challenge was driven by data. Massive volumes of historical market data sat on-prem, while new demands required faster analytics and improved reporting for clients.

A hybrid approach enabled:

• Retention of large datasets in existing environments
• On-demand cloud-based compute for analytics
• Cloud-native reporting and visualization layers

This shift unlocked:

• Faster insights
• Better client reporting
• More efficient infrastructure usage

What Makes Hybrid Cloud So Powerful: True strength of hybrid cloud lies in flexibility with purpose.

Rather than forcing everything into a single model, organizations can:

• Keep regulated and sensitive workloads secure
• Leverage elastic compute and AI capabilities in the cloud
• Integrate systems through APIs and modern data platforms

It becomes a business-aligned architecture, not just a technical one.

In closing: 

The power of hybrid cloud lies in its ability to simplify and integrate cloud capabilities, delivering broader access to a wider range of value propositions. With hybrid cloud, organizations can innovate anywhere, with anyone's technology, and drive business value by expanding innovation. 

By promoting openness and cohesion across the ecosystem, hybrid cloud opens the door to increased business value. 

According to recent data, 97% of organizations now operate on more than a single cloud, and spending on hybrid cloud as a share of IT spend has increased by double digits. Mastering hybrid cloud has become a central driver of transformation, with the potential to multiply the value of hybrid cloud investments up to 13x

The AI Mindset Shift: From Optimization to Transformation

 

Over the past several years, I’ve had the opportunity to work closely with business and technology leaders on large‑scale Data & AI transformations in highly regulated financial services environments—focusing on turning emerging AI capabilities into measurable business outcomes. One consistent lesson from these experiences is that the real challenge is not understanding what LLMs, RAG, or AI agents can do, but where and how they should be applied to create value. Too often, organizations approach AI by trying to optimize existing workflows—automating steps without questioning whether those steps should exist at all. In reality, meaningful transformation requires a fundamental shift: moving beyond incremental optimization to rethinking processes end‑to‑end, organizing around outcomes, and embedding intelligence directly into decision points. The most successful transformations I’ve observed do not start with models or tools—they start with well‑defined use cases grounded in real business workflows, which act as the bridge between AI strategy and execution.

In this post, I’m sharing a simplified view of these learnings through two common industry lenses—Insurance and Asset & Wealth Management—illustrating how capabilities like LLMs, RAG, AI agents, and agentic AI can be mapped not just to tasks, but to redesigned, outcome‑driven processes. My goal is to provide a practical perspective to the AI community on how to move from isolated experimentation to scalable, governed, and truly optimized AI-driven operations.

The real transformation with AI is not about doing existing work faster—it’s about fundamentally rethinking how value is created so that faster outcomes are achieved. Traditional approaches focus on improving processes, automating individual steps, and optimizing within functional silos. However, in an AI-driven world, this mindset no longer delivers meaningful impact. Leading organizations are shifting toward redesigning workflows end-to-end, eliminating unnecessary work altogether, and embedding intelligence directly into decision points. This shift enables a new operating model where humans and AI work together seamlessly, and static workflows evolve into adaptive, agent-driven systems that continuously learn and improve.

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Here's my assessment of how the old traditional thinking model is transforming to the new way of thinking: 

Old Thinking	New Thinking
Improve processes	Reinvent value delivery
Automate steps	Eliminate + redesign workflows
Optimize locally	Optimize end-to-end
Support human work	Blend human + AI execution
Static workflows	Adaptive, agent-driven systems

It’s not about LLMs, RAG, or Agents. It’s about where they actually create value, some use cases that have added value to my learnings are below 

Power Platform > RETURN TO WORK App

Get back to work after COVID lockdown in a smart & safe manner

Over the past few months I have started getting more involved into the world of Power Platform. I have a natural instinct to learn more about the No-Code Low code solutions that are out there for the citizen developers. Power Platform is a very promising Microsoft offering out there, and being involved heavily in the design, architecture & implementation in Neudesic's RETURN App to get out to MS marketplace I wanted to share it on my personal blogspace to raise awareness in my IT community. Please reach out to me  pallavi.sharma@neudesic.com to learn more or If you have any questions. More details here RETURN is part of Neudesic’ s COVID-19 response initiative to deliver new technology-based solutions to help organizations stabilize, adapt, and thrive during the current pandemic times. The primary goal behind building this accelerator was for internal Neudesic employees and build an IP / accelerator that can be utilized by other companies with minimal effort.

It is an easy to use digital Mobile ready solution that enables employees to support a safe return to their workplace. This solution is built on Power Platform – Namely Power apps and Power Automate. 

More details here

So, why RETURN: Companies can get a head-start with a pre-built framework based on the most current CDC and public health guidance to support a return to the workplace. Some of the value features are listed below for your quick reference:

• Free and easy to scale on Microsoft PowerApps.
• Mobile Ready - available over any mobile device, browser and as a mobile app as well.
• Configurable - Simple to configure workflows to the specific needs of your facilities and business.
• Accelerator Development - Ability to produce powerful functionality at a fraction of the cost compared to the development of custom code for the same purpose. 
• Automated Solution - An efficient way to shift away from manual, paper-driven work within HR and other departments.
• Secure & Efficient - ability to leverage the user’s secure environment from the start, no PII data is hosted by the RETURN framework.
• Ready to use with minimal config. - facility management, Policies, FAQ's, each screen header text, questions for Health assessment, and Check-in can be easily configured.
• Robust Real-Life Use cases in MVP since it is going to be used internally by Neudesic.

We are targeting 3 personas here in the RETURN APP

• Employees who wish to come to the workplace and they will have the ability to reserve workspace for a particular date in that facility
• Next is the Compliance team is responsible for executing policies, perform check-ins via health screening , send out announcements and manage supplies i.e. masks, Sanitizers etc., per facility.
• Finally, the Governance Committee or a set of Admins – i.e. HR legal and C-Team responsible for establishing & enforcing the Neudesic Policies as related to COVID-19 

Features Supported:

              

Watch a quick video! 

Working from Home ...

A lot has changed over the last couple of weeks, most of the world has been summoned to be at home and stay safe. COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way we operate, face to face and inter-personal social interactions have deemed to be of absolutely no importance against our health safety and remote is the new normal for non-essential business.

Some of us are realizing now, remote work is not as easy as it seemed before. It's a challenge to transition from face to face and being physically in an office to accomplish targets vs being remote and try to achieve the same.For some job roles it't not even a possibility and for some we need to create innovative solutions.

In the current era of digital transformation, remote work provides us with the wide spectrum of opportunities to achieve our work goals from the comfort of our home.

while there are a lot of benefits there are equally challenging times, I say this from my experience of working from home for the past 4-5 years. Most of my projects in the last couple of years have been remote. I live in Chicago and I have successfully lead the projects for NY, PA, AZ, TX etc. from my home base office here, with almost NO travel or travelling when absolutely needed.

I am sharing my personal experiences for others to benefit from in my community. I work in the IT services industry and the below may/may not be applicable for other work streams but my hope is that everyone can have some takeaways. This is my small contribution in times of need to my friends, family and my community.

Benefits:

1. Time time.. more time  - my workplace was 40+ miles away and when I used to drive to my office in Lombard a few yrs back, at times traffic was a nightmare with 2.5-3 hrs stuck in peak traffic. Later our office moved to downtown Chicago and my train commute was about 3 hrs. round trip. In cases when I started taking the train downtown I was somewhat productive by completing part of my work during my commute. This was however subject to laptop having enough power, I was seated in a Quiet car or not, and if I could contribute to some critical calls due to security and NDA's of others overhearing what I had to say!! Sometimes there was just a lot of background. It was not always a good experience for other attendees while I was speaking, not to mention when the network was lost while we switched cell towers. When I started working from home, I just had so much more time in my hands!!
2. Productivity - I felt my productivity increased drastically since I was able to manage my time better
3. Discipline - I found myself more disciplined and that went a long way in finalizing my routine and my well being. I had time to invest in my hobbies and family. We also adopted a puppy recently from a rescue shelter. Let me just say that life is hectic and busy, with ample time in my hands to reflect and streamline my thoughts.
4. Flexibility - with the flexible hours from some clients when possible, I have managed my time well (started Yoga and Zumba classes), learnt some good smart working techniques and improved drastically in my time management skills, I am planning to get work certifications, I have revisited my hobbies - started blogging again.. the list is endless!! 

This new new world of quarantine life has so much to offer, please visit my blog to get some pointers on how to adjust to the new normal 

A Dummies Guide to Quarantine Life

I have currently observed how my hubby is trying to adjust to working from home (he is in IT consulting services as well) and my daughter was trying to adjust to her e-learning from school! My suggestions for both of them showed improvements and i am witnessing more progress everyday as they are evolving as a better remote worker/learner.

Here are my foolproof mantra of working remote and how to setup yourself for success. If you have any more pointers, I am very interested to know so, please leave a comment below.

Discipline - This is #1 on my list, it’s very important that you understand that remote work does not mean you or another remote worker will be available 10-14 hrs. a day, early mornings and late evenings.

• Set expectations on the time you will be available based on the needs of your work and role you are performing.  
• Always publish your phone number you can be reached at after hours during a critical need, and setup your out of office or message on your IM status reflecting the same when you are not working or on PTO. 
• Understand the boundaries of your team members as well.  It’s important to be able to differentiate your work from your personal life, it is often easy to get distracted and derailed during the day for you.
• It is not ideal if you have a portable workplace with you wandering all over your house as a functional long term solution. Soon you will find how ineffective that is. Dedicate a good space in your house to act as your functional workplace, I certainly prefer mine with a view and good lighting.
• Needless to say try to keep your home workstation clean and uncluttered, believe me - it goes a long way. 
• Beware of your pets / children / spouse interruptions when you are working towards a deadline or on an important call. Try to manage and set expectations with them early on and make arrangements with their routine for the day. Things will fall in place eventually.
• Follow discipline of what activities to do before you start work and after. i.e. gym, morning walk, coffee, even an afternoon 30 min power nap after lunch or after work is over is recommended for being re-vitalized for later :-) 
• Find a routine that creates a good balance between your personal and your work life. After all, one of the great perks of working remotely is having more flexibility!
• Audio/Video calls - Let's hope your organization uses a good tool for calls - both audio and video. This is key, if you face challenges in this area - raise a ticket with your help desk and help your company understand what needs to be done for you to be successful doing remote work to perform your job function.
• Invest in a good headset and microphone with excellent sound quality with a noise-canceling feature to cut down on background noise and those non so welcoming heavy breathing sounds. My recommendation is mute yourself when not speaking!!!
• Web Cam - If your laptop cannot handle the needs of getting a high quality video,  research online and get a good web cam for your video calls, video calls are becoming the new normal for meetings now a days! Learn the option to blur the background if it is possible. My company Neudesic uses MS Teams as its collaboration software and we utilize that option. 

Making Teams available for everyone

With COVID-19 continuing to impact people and countries around the world, teams and schools everywhere are moving to remote work and distance learning. 

Get Teams for free and learn how to get started.

My personal experience is to gradually start the culture of video calls, don't force people to this, a lot of people specially the first time remote workers do not feel comfortable in front of the camera or being recorded. Give them some time to adjust to the new working conditions and train them if needed. It's a fact that calls where people can see each other, makes for more inclusive meetings and helps you to be present and engaged in the meeting with others. You can clearly see facial expressions, this increases your connection and understanding and at times helps you take corrective actions to make a positive impact in the meeting.

Some notes for web cam enabled meetings :

• Point the camera just to your face in a way your face is visible clearly.
• Dress up well with neatly done hair so you don't have that "I just got up" & "I am in my pajamas" look. 
• Be professional and try to maintain eye contact with your camera when talking.
• Consider turning off your camera if you have connection issues (Video streaming consumes bandwidth) 
• It is a good thing to NOT multitask during these meetings, it is clearly visible in the camera and does not create a good impression.
• Try to give speaking time to everyone and if possible, have a moderator (this role can be played by any capable team member) facilitate the meeting for an an important discussion or a critical meeting.

• Invest in a good ergonomic Chair and Stand up Desk -  Comfort is crucial for you to have a positive work experience, invest in a good chair and desk , some pointers below. But let's not get too comfortable that we start taking unwanted naps :-)

        

• Get a good Monitor, Keyboard & mouse - these are early on investments that help you with the setup and go a long way. A LAPTOP can suffice for a few days but trust me when I say that it just boosts your motivation to type and code when you have a good monitor with the correct brightness level extending your laptop. I personally am a fan of 2 monitors side by side which is raised to the right eye level and my Laptop just serves as a source of extension of display. I do not recommend using a combination of different size of monitors. It is a painful experience for your neck to use multiple monitors with diff dimensions & resolutions, you will thank me later for saving on those chiropractor bills. Wireless versions of keyboard and mouse go a long way in reducing the clutter in small work spaces.
• WIFI & Bandwidth - Please please please.... do some research for the best network provider in your area and get the WIFI and bandwidth that you think is applicable for your job function. Get in touch with your Infrastructure guys at work to find out the specifics if needed. I use Comcast Xfinity and it works great for me. 
• Security - This should be primary consideration when working remotely. If this is not done right, you may end up even losing your job and get penalized heavily. I recommend always use your work's virtual private network (VPN) outside of the office. When you are taking calls try not to be on speaker. In current times when both spouses are working from home, maintain the security protocol that is needed for sharing essential work info (yes .. even from your spouse... remember the NDA you signed with your company???) You should avoid using unsecured home computers or networks, if needed get in touch with your help desk to understand if your home setup is per the remote policy! 
• Mobile - In situations when you are away from your desk and need to work / take calls make sure you have a good mobile device to support the apps that your company and client needs. Download and configure them before hand and troubleshoot issues if any well in advance! If you do not wish to use your personal mobile number for office calls, research and find options for vanity numbers, thee are some options available for WiFi calling, set up your business greetings and more. You can choose a phone number of your choice and have it in your email signature and contact card. 
• Communications with team & manager - VISIBILITY is important when you are remote. Find out your own creative ways to be visible. 
• Staying connected is the biggest piece of advice I would like to give to all!! Make sure you regularly check in with your team members to get updates ( Please do not start micromanaging suddenly!) Rely on a good software like MS Teams for transparent and clear collaboration. 
• Ask questions and DO NOT assume anything, when in doubt... always validate what your understanding is. 
• Check in with your colleagues and manger occasionally to see how things are going, if they need any help or guidance. 
• Share what works good for you in your remote working style. Be open to take suggestions from others and make amends. 
• Do not hesitate to have the hallway/water cooler conversations on the side bar with your colleague friends and other employees regularly to keep yourself up-to-date!!
• Start getting used to the tools out there for creative collaboration and mimic real life office scenarios for brainstorming and producing value added outcomes.
• Start doing some lunch and learns at your work to a smaller group first and then to a bigger audience for anything that you are passionate about. Believe me every organization loves the entrepreneur mindset, think outside the box.
• Have brainstorming sessions with your internal team members before you go ahead to try them with your client. 

Remember: In consulting world you are the expert, so do your homework.

Some good tools to consider for your productive calls and work sessions are listed below, as I mentioned earlier we use MS Teams which is now FREE.

Always dry run your important meetings !!!

Test your video, audio quality in a dry run with one of your colleagues before any important meeting if possible, mimicking the client scenario. This will avoid the challenges one faces after joining the call, this will also save you from your apologies to attendees during the call and later! If this happens on a regular basis you undoubtedly will be tagged as the employee whose audio always echoes or whose audio gets cut off .. 

Virtual Happy Hour 

Go ahead and encourage virtual happy hours culture with your team members in these trying times and have a beverage of your choice for a virtual cheers .. cut a cake, celebrate birthdays, recognition & awards.. Innovation is key!

Relax & Take Breaks

 Find effective ways to relax yourself (chair yoga anyone! ) and get away from your computer for water and bio-breaks from time to time,(well you always can put a reminder on your phone!!) Health is most important & critical part of our life and no times like the current corona virus times reflects that. 

This is one of my favourite video for doing light yoga at your desk! 

                    

Enjoy remote work.. stay safe and maintain safe distancing everyone.