Webinar | Celebrating Commonwealth Women in Business feat. Pooja Lamba Monga and Zhaomian Zhao

Speakers

Pooja Lamba Monga; CEO, The PLM Ecosystem

Zhaomian Zhao; CEO, Project Waitless

Moderated By

Julia Charlton; Chairman, the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce

In celebration of Women’s History Month, the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce invited two trailblazing women entrepreneurs and CEOs, Pooja Lamba Monga of the PLM Ecosystem and Zhaomian Zhao of Project Waitless on a special guest panel edition of the Commonwealth Chamber Webinar Series.

During the webinar, Pooja explains how the PLM Ecosystem is all about the importance of the “collective conscience” in the workplace, using mindfulness programmes and empathetic leadership models in conjunction with technology and neuroscience research to nurture a healthy growth mindset to improve the overall wellbeing of an organisation and its people. As a change management consultant with 8 years of experience in the mindfulness space, Pooja has seen firsthand how effective and deeply impactful such behavioural therapy has, not only on a personal level for employees, but on an organisational level, improved work-life balance and professional performance. Considering the sector agnostic nature of PLM’s work, Pooja has helped numerous institutions, ranging from academia to consulting, develop and hone an evolutionary leadership mindset and has also helped them improve their ESG and sustainability practices using the cognitive training and workshops she arranges under PLM.

Zhaomian Zhao explains how Project Waitless, an inventory automation solution for hospitality industry, provides real-time tracking and monitoring of inventory, which can help businesses save money and reduce waste. She highlighted the potential for the system to be used in other industries, such as retail and logistics, but also imparts insights on the challenges of designing a system that is user-friendly and accessible, particularly for engineers who may not be designers. For her and the team at Project Waitless, their goal is to help clients save time on redundant, tedious tasks, secure more bookings and optimise operations, so they can focus on creating genuine connections with key stakeholders, customers and critical business activities. She also gave fascinating insights on the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and how her initiative for creating Project Waitless came with her desire to bridge the “Octopus Test”, one of the primary critiques revolving around the limits of AI.

Throughout the conversation, Pooja and Zhao answer various questions about their business models, target customers, and the impact of technology on society. They discuss the potential for mindfulness practices to be used in a variety of settings and the importance of design in technology. They also touch on the potential for technology to be used as a tool rather than a dominating force in our lives.

Watch the full recording with instant playback via the YouTube link at the top of the page.