CTO Q&A
Reference: https://techbullion.com/why-the-future-of-ai-belongs-to-the-teams-who-deliver-it-qa-with-the-ceo-of-rocketlane-sri-ganesan/
Q&A with Utkarsh Siwach, CTO of Emory Pro
Utkarsh Siwach is the CTO of Emory Pro, a digital inspection platform helping organizations move away from paper-based inspections toward structured, transparent, and scalable operational workflows. Emory Pro is used across logistics, real estate, construction, agriculture, and other operations-heavy industries where inspection quality, speed, and accountability directly impact outcomes.
Q: To start, could you introduce yourself, your background, and what Emory Pro does?
I’m Utkarsh Siwach, CTO of Emory Pro. My background has always been rooted in Computer Science, starting from high school and extending across system-level and application-level engineering. From understanding how 1s and 0s flow through logic gates and CPU architecture, to working with network protocols, backend systems, and BI dashboards, my training and experience over the last two decades have focused on building robust, scalable IT systems that people can rely on in real-world operations.
That exposure shaped how I think about software: systems must be reliable under real-world constraints, not ideal conditions.
Emory Pro started as a solution to a very practical problem: documenting damages at a client’s logistics warehouse. The environment was challenging: poor internet connectivity, harsh weather conditions including rain and snow, and warehouse teams with limited technical exposure. Traditional inspection tools simply didn’t work reliably in those conditions.
Over time, Emory Pro evolved to meet and exceed those challenges. Today, it has grown into a digital inspection platform used across industries, combining elements of an inspection app with warehouse and operations management capabilities such as inventory, tasks, customers, and planning. Emory Pro’s web platform supports office teams with centralized visibility and control, while the mobile app empowers field teams to carry out inspections reliably on the ground.
Q: Digital tools are everywhere, yet many inspection processes still feel inefficient. What’s commonly misunderstood?
The biggest misconception is that digitizing inspections simply means replacing paper forms with an app. That alone doesn’t deliver real value.
Real efficiency comes from redesigning the inspection workflow end to end—how data is captured, structured, reviewed, shared, and ultimately acted upon. If you digitize a broken process without rethinking it, you just end up with digital chaos.
At Emory Pro, we focus on the entire inspection workflow within an organization. The platform is configured to reflect the real operational entities that matter for inspections, and automations are applied to reduce processing time, ambiguity, human error, and unnecessary back-and-forth communication.
Q: How does AI fit into inspections, and where does it actually create value?
AI creates value when it’s embedded into the workflow, not when it’s treated as a novelty feature.
In inspections, AI helps surface patterns, flag anomalies, and improve consistency across teams. The real benefit comes when AI supports quality control and decision-making, rather than automating tasks for the sake of automation. We view AI as an assistant—one that improves inspection speed and accuracy while keeping humans fully in control of judgment and accountability.
For example, in automotive use cases, Emory Pro can detect and categorize vehicle damages, which are then reviewed by a human inspector. In another use case, Emory Pro automatically fills relevant data fields when a reference number is scanned using image-to-text recognition, depending on whether the record already exists or needs to be created. These capabilities reduce manual effort while preserving trust in the inspection outcome.
Q: What’s blocking organizations from getting real ROI from digital inspections today?
We consistently see three major blockers:
First, resistance to change. Many organizations rely on long-standing, cumbersome processes and hesitate to introduce change, even when inefficiencies are obvious.
Second, process debt. Inspection workflows evolve organically over time, but they’re rarely standardized. Instead of redesigning workflows, teams often just keep adding more fields or steps.
Third, data debt. Photos, notes, and reports exist, but they’re fragmented—sometimes on paper, sometimes across systems—making them difficult to reference or use later.
Teams that succeed treat inspections as a core operational system, not an afterthought. They define clear outcomes, standardize workflows, and ensure inspection tools fit naturally into daily operations.
Q: Why is inspection quality becoming a competitive differentiator?
Because inspections are no longer just compliance artifacts—they’re proof of quality, trust, and accountability.
Whether it’s a vehicle handover, a property inspection, or a field audit, customers increasingly expect clarity and transparency. Teams that deliver fast, visual, and well-structured inspection reports build trust, reduce disputes, and protect revenue.
In many industries, inspection quality directly impacts customer satisfaction, operational confidence, and brand credibility.
Q: How is Emory Pro changing the way teams work on the ground?
We’re shifting inspections from isolated tasks to connected workflows.
In many organizations, field inspectors receive assignments through informal channels like texts or verbal instructions, often lacking proper context or reference information. Emory Pro replaces this with clearly defined task notifications that include the right level of detail and structure.
Inspection teams can access complete inventory data offline, make multiple edits to inspection data and photos, and have those changes synchronised automatically and conflict-free once the device is back online. Most inspection apps require submitting a new form each time a change is needed for the same object. Emory Pro allows teams to continuously update and reference the same inspection entity over time.
With Emory Pro, teams can manage handover processes, compare inspection history, and access all relevant data points in one place based on their roles and permissions. That information is instantly synchronized with office teams, improving visibility, coordination, and decision-making across the organization.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you see inspection workflows evolving over the next few years?
Inspections will increasingly function as live operational signals rather than static records.
Teams will expect inspections to flow across systems, trigger actions automatically, and provide historical context without manual effort. Reliability and trust will matter more than feature count.
Platforms that understand real operational workflows and support them end to end will define the next phase of inspection technology.
Closing Thought
The future of inspections belongs to teams that rethink the inspection process as a whole rather than simply digitizing how inspections are captured. As inspections increasingly serve as proof of quality and trust, clarity in workflows and strong alignment between field tools and daily operations will define which organizations stand out.
