Deep Chanda on 2025 Learnings & Powering a People-First 2026
Deep Chanda, Chief Officer at Ampcus Cyber, is a visionary cybersecurity leader with over two decades of expertise in payment security, data privacy, and compliance.
Deep’s expertise spans across compliance, data protection, governance, and risk management, helping organisations mitigate vulnerabilities and build resilience against emerging cyber threats.
Away from the boardroom, Deep’s passions reflect his multifaceted personality, whether it’s exploring the world through travel, immersing himself in video games, or embracing the joys and challenges of fatherhood.
At Ampcus Cyber, he drives innovation, builds strategic partnerships, and leads global teams dedicated to delivering cybersecurity solutions that empower global organisations to grow with confidence in the digital age.
Q1. How did celebrating personal milestones in 2025 influence employee motivation and overall productivity?
2025 proved that acknowledging the human side of work has a direct and positive impact on business performance. With our life events-based leaves and a culture of celebrating personal milestones, the organisation builds a strong sense of belonging and emotional connection among employees.
Recognising events like birthdays, weddings, and parenthood not only reinforced psychological safety but also deepened loyalty and trust in the workplace. Teams reported higher engagement levels, and there was a noticeable increase in productivity, collaboration, and willingness to go the extra mile.
This approach demonstrated a simple yet powerful message: when employees feel valued and celebrated as individuals, their motivation, focus, and ownership mindset naturally grow.
By valuing people beyond their job roles, we created a work environment where personal fulfillment and organizational outcomes move in the same direction, ultimately enhancing overall productivity and shaping a more committed, energized workforce.
Q2. What insights did we gain from updating leave policies for Gen Z and Millennials — and what further improvements are needed in 2026?
Gen Z and Millennials prioritize flexibility, autonomy, and fairness. Updating our leave policies in 2025 taught us that traditional models no longer match how modern employees work and recover. By adapting modern work patterns, and policies we saw improved leave utilization, fewer last-minute absences, and stronger indicators of overall well-being.
Employees reported feeling more empowered to manage their schedules, which enhanced engagement and productivity. Looking ahead to 2026, we aim to introduce micro-leaves for mental reset days, implement more inclusive provisions for diverse family structures, and continue refining policies based on employee feedback. The goal is a smarter, empathetic leave system that supports modern workforce needs.
Such a change has also brought to the surface the increasing demand of personalizing benefits. Moving forward, our main concern will be to implement micro-leaves for brief mental refreshment moments, create more inclusive leave choices for different family scenarios, and keep improving our method by authentic employee feedback.
It is about constructing a more intelligent, compassionate leave scheme which truly alleviates the changing needs of the contemporary labor force and deepens our culture.
Q3. How effectively did our emotional wellness initiatives reduce stress, burnout, and attrition this year?
Our emotional wellness programs made a clear difference in reducing stress and burnout across the organization. Structured access to counselling, peer-support circles, periodic check-ins, and manager-level sensitization enabled employees to navigate high-pressure projects more effectively.
Teams that actively participated reported fewer conflict escalations driven by emotional fatigue, and higher retention rates. Importantly, these initiatives fostered a sense of belonging and psychological safety, encouraging employees to openly discuss challenges and seek support.
The biggest insight from 2025 was that wellness can’t remain just an HR initiative; it must be part of everyday leadership and organizational culture. In 2026, we aim to deepen this shift through proactive mental health programs, personalized support, and continued manager training to identify and address well-being needs early.
Q4. Did our upgrades to workplace facilities and benefits meet the evolving expectations of modern employees in 2025?
Yes, the upgrades aligned well with modern workforce expectations. Enhanced workspaces, better facilities, dedicated zones for collaboration, and better leadership approachability improved employee satisfaction.
Benefits were redesigned for relevance, especially for employees balancing self, families and demanding workloads. The feedback was consistent: better physical and digital environments reduced friction and helped people work smarter, not harder.
Thoughtfully designed spaces can make a workplace more efficient because they provide workers with the opportunity to focus, communicate with each other and change from individual work to group work.
Enhancing common areas and making meeting rooms more accessible are effective ways to increase productivity, thus the workday gets better as well. To make certain that our work environment is evolving along with the needs and the standards of our employees, we will continue our investments in cosy facilities and a greater variety of personalised benefit options in 2026.
Q5. What key learnings from 2025 will help us build a more people-first, performance-driven culture in 2026?
Three key lessons from 2025 stood out this year. Firstly, culture grows exponentially when there is a perfect alignment between policies, leadership behaviours, and employees, and the latter can almost palpably sense the difference when there is a consistent correlation between what is expressed and what is done.
Secondly, employees become loyal to the company for a longer period of time if they are made to feel that they are seen, supported, and included in the company’s growth story and not only in its deliverables.
Thirdly, productivity can be raised to a higher level without any extra efforts if the employees are given trust instead of being subjected to close control. These insights are our guide for 2026 plans and strengthen transparent communication, developing the skills of managers, and making the wellness, flexibility, and career mobility aspects more profound and extensive.
The goal is simple: create a culture that puts people first and drive business success because of employees, not in spite of them. People feel empowered when they are treated with respect and feel emotionally secure. By concentrating on these areas, we build our culture and set ourselves up for long-term, steady success.
Q6. Any final comments?
The biggest win of 2025 was realizing that empathetic policies are not just “good to have” but a true competitive advantage. Over the past year, one of the main factors that influenced retention, performance, and workplace morale was the implementation of empathetic leadership behaviours, inclusive practices and thoughtful benefits.
2026 is our year to further deepen the roots of this culture by creating a workplace where employees are proud of their job, can develop without limitations and see well-being as a collective responsibility.
A people-first culture has ceased to be just an initiative or a programme; it is our operating system that is gradually changing the way we make decisions, set priorities and measure success. By doing so, we are expanding the company.
Thank You, Deep!
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