Latest episodes from The AI Network Podcast

Ep. 146: Genworth Financial Team

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2020 25:08


The entertaining Genworth Financial team joins us from OPEX Week 2020 to tell us their enterprise's transformation story—or journey, more accurately. Kathleen starts off by explaining her view of the company 15 years ago: “It was a very siloed organization. It was very much command and control; very hierarchical. We were focused very much on our processes, like manufacturing, because we came from GE.” Sometimes, as Martijn is quick to interject, they were focusing on the wrong processes. Their new goal was to focus on the customer and increase associate empathy. The leadership team achieved this with some creative physical props that mimic certain hardships their clients experience. However, leading by fear negatively impacts the service a customer receives as well, so Genworth devised a new workforce strategy. “If you really truly believe that the customer is the most important person--because he or she pays your salary--then the front line employees are the most important people, and therefore, your team leaders are the most important leaders. Most people leave their leader. They don't leave the organization.” The team details how they achieved this monumental task.

Ep. 145: Deena John, McDonalds

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 1, 2020 21:22


McDonald's senior director of innovation, Deena John, joins us to talk about digital transformation. While definitions vary, Deena describes digital transformation as “transforming through integration of technology” with the goal of generating maximum value for the customer. End-to-end disruption means looking into the future and creating a transformation road map that leads to a new operating model. Deena discusses the differences and similarities between agile and lean, and the iterative process that makes scaling sustainable. Deena frames her key points with specific examples. Next, she asks and answers the question, “In an innovation culture what's the importance of failing fast?” Ultimately, this insightful conversation with Deena focuses on the future of the enterprise and what needs to happen now to ensure corporations can keep up with the ever-changing landscape that technology brings to business.

Ep. 144: AI BFSI Panel

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2020 31:27


This BFSI Panel features key industry experts who share their strategies around pushing their organization into the future. They note that the technology available is user-friendly and rarely the barrier to entry. It is the mapping, the process, and post-implementation that makes or breaks a digital transformation. Agile development and change management are both initiatives that work. Automation has the potential to save time, money, and improve the customer experience, but if it isn't applied in a purposeful way, it is useless. The panelists share their personal journey through transformation, offering insights and advice along the way.

Ep. 143: Max Just/Julie Seitz (Future of Work)

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2020 12:24


Max Just is accompanied by a special guest on this episode of Future of Work. Julie Seitz is an expert on all things workspace, which makes her the perfect partner for the topic of—you guessed it—the future of workspaces. While she notes that an enterprise can't necessarily futureproof themselves in this regard, she encourages them to get out of their insular spaces for the sake of spotting trends in how people are working in universities, airports, etc. Flexibility and simplicity in a workspace make more practical investments than technological ones that will become outdated. Julie also reflects on the evolution of the public school classroom and how examining that process helps illustrate how different generations work differently. Max jumps in with the ah-hah moments he had while working with Julie, including the importance of providing collaborative workspaces for collaborative work. Ultimately, Max and Julie agree: workspaces matter.

Ep. 412: Roland Haefs, Henkel

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2020 23:46


Roland Haefs, with Henkel, discusses enterprise evolution and the shift from having purely transactional relationships to becoming a true business solutions provider. It takes strong leadership and an entrepreneurial spirit to pull off such a transformation, which Roland details. In order to demonstrate his point, Roland lays out Henkel's approach to the shared services process of master data management. Next, the conversation turns to RPA and AI more specifically, including its role in shared services and how to make sure it is being deployed effectively. Further, Roland discusses Henkel's four business priorities: fund growth, drive growth, excel at digitalization, and increase agility.

Ep. 141: Dimitri Popov, Mann + Hummel

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2020 31:15


Dmitri Popov, global service management lead for Mann + Hummel Group, joins us today to discuss scaling RPA. Dmitri himself admits that such a process is painful, in part because of the few successful enterprise examples for which to model after. Dmitri points to IBM as a company who has done it well. Next, Dmitri discusses how to leverage shared services in the most efficient way, exemplifying R&D and certain purchasing aspects. One of the most difficult components of implementing RPA across the workflow is acceptance and adherence. Dmitri doesn't mince words when it comes to what it takes in a person—not just an enterprise—to accept change, no matter how positive that change may ultimately be.

Ep. 140: Deepak Subbarao (Unstructured Data)

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2020 9:32


Deepak Subbaru joins us again, this time, to discuss unstructured data.  The recent explosion in technology inputs has raised the bar for customer expectations. They want more, and they want it now. Requests are coming via phone calls, social media, emails, etc. The product of this feedback is unstructured data. Deepak goes in depth on three actionable steps to take in order to leverage the power of unstructured data: know your data, know the sources of your data, and prepare your data. Next, Deepak discusses the importance of defining outcomes for your data, as opposed to cramming data into an algorithm and receiving an output that has no use case. As Deepak reiterates throughout the conversation, context is key.

Ep. 139: Heather King, SSON

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2020 17:56


Heather King is the managing director for both the Shared Services & Outsourcing Network and the Intelligent Automation Division for the Americas. She oversees a team that puts on the dynamic events of relevant content for the industries of the same name. Having been in her role for the past seven years, Heather gives a brief timeline of the creation and growth of the IA series that was born out of SSON. The term RPA first presented itself in 2014 during a panel session and kept cropping up until Heather's team decided to give it its own plenary session. It was just a matter of time before it became clear that automation needed its own home outside of SSON, and IA was born. Next, Heather goes into detail about the other conferences her team puts on each year, including the largest shared services event in the world, Shared Services & Outsourcing Week. Her passion for the importance of conferences—and the act of conferencing—is as clear as it is contagious.

Ep. 138: Dr. Ayanna Howard, Georgia Tech University

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 14, 2020 34:21


Dr. Ayanna Howard is a chair of the School of Interactive computing at Georgia Tech, an academic, and a startup founder. While her talents are as vast as her pursuits, she sums up their relation as interactive computing. In her words, “Interactive computing is really this theme that the human is center to everything that we do when we think about computing and artificial intelligence.” Dr. Howard pursues interactive computing for the greater good, including robotics in healthcare and education. She also discusses ethics in computing, including privacy and security.

Ep. 137: Paul Bao, BitCherry

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2020 16:59


BitCherry's Paul Bao explains the blockchain process behind the platform's commercial applications. Working similar to Amazon's eCommerce model, BitCherry will offer a platform to buy, sell, and network goods using digital currency. Regulatory roadblocks make penetration in the U.S. difficult, but BitCherry has over 2 million members and 120,000 active daily users. Currently, these users simply buy and sell digital currency in anticipation for BitCherry's retail applications. Bao expects the retail platform to go live in Q1 of 2020. Next, he details the brainstorming process behind BitCherry's unique independent investor philosophy and marvels over the future implications of blockchain. While he may be a little ahead of his time, BitCherry's users prove that there is a lot of faith in the future of eCommerce and digital currency.

Ep. 136: Blockchain Standards/Blockchain Island

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 31, 2020 22:17


Malta, a small European island, is quickly becoming a blockchain hub, and thus, accurately nicknamed “Blockchain Island.” This panel discussion delves into blockchain developments, standards, and laws. Malta's progressive, global view of blockchain implications has allowed Blockchain Island to progress in a healthy, robust, safe way, complete with governance and legislation. The panel shares the infrastructure that has led to its success in the hope that others will implement a similar solution. With an end goal of international blockchain standards, a panelist sums up this discussion nicely: “We anticipated the need to regulate blockchain technologies, and that was while everyone else was focusing on the cryptocurrency aspect.” “The ISO standard is starting. So, the ISO standard is anticipating other jurisdictions, and it's starting to look into what it means to regulate blockchain technologies or standardize blockchain technologies.”

Ep. 135: Tom Trowbridge

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 24, 2020 20:11


Tom Trowbridge is the former president and one of the founders of Hedera Hashgraph, a distributed ledger technology. He is also an avid investor and advisor in the technology space. Hedera's governing council consists of companies like Nomura, Deutsche Telecom, IBM, Boeing, and Swisscom. Tom notes that Hedera met with the Facebook Cayenne team in 2018—they did not join. A year later, Facebook announced the digital currency Libra and its accompanying—but separate—digital wallet, Calibra. Tom has studied and followed the digital currency phenomena in great depth and puts blockchain technologies in perspective—including the strategy Facebook may deploy in order to get users on board with its digital currency. Will the Zuckerberg Reserve give the Federal Reserve a run for its money? Tom has thoughts on that as well.

Ep. 134: Kexin Xie, Salesforce

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 17, 2020 35:22


Kexin Xie is a data scientist for Salesforce. Among other things, Kexin is responsible for building the engineering infrastructure, services, and frameworks that makes the Salesforce marketing cloud so powerful. In this conversation, Kexin discusses how the power of predictive analytics is leveraged in businesses for “next-best-action” interactions. While these tools drive more engagement and revenue from the customer side, which Kexin touches on, he dives deep on how data science makes this possible. Kexin makes the intangibles tangible by describing the process by which algorithms are designed—including some pitfalls to be aware of—and recognizing “valuable noise.” Kexin is a realist, though, saying, “There's the use case part, there's the data part, and we're trying to build a bridge between the end solution and how we get there from the initial raw form. Eventually, we'll start to understand the raw data more and start to build even more pipelines and then see how they connect with each other; their commonalities. And eventually, I think the bridge will be formed, and then building new things will be much easier than the initial use case.”

Ep. 133: Kenneth Farrugia, Bank of Valetta

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 10, 2020 31:12


Kenneth Farrugia is the chief business development officer with the Bank of Valletta. Kenneth starts this conversation off with a bang, making the case that if banks don't stay on top of the technological revolution, they run the risk of becoming irrelevant. Next, Kenneth, perhaps counterintuitively, labels legacy financial operations who've jumped on board with Industry 4.0 as FinTechs, while the up-and-comers are TechFins. Of course data and security is a big part of the conversation as well. Balancing the convenience of turning over one's data with the risk of data breaches and/or privacy concerns is on the forefront of every financial institution's mind. Kenneth discusses additional pain points to the future of banking, both for the client and corporation, and potential solutions for those pain points.

Ep. 132: Rida Mustafa, Walmart

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2020 40:32


Rida Moustafa is an experienced data scientist with a demonstrated history of working in the retail industry. Rida covers a lot of ground in this concise, informative conversation. He shares his story with us, beginning in 1995 with the big data mining movement. Walking us through the way data mining has evolved, Rida hits on neural networks, deep learning, and expert systems. Today, however, AI technology has evolved enough to render some of these old processes moot. Of course, new obstacles present themselves, such as AI's black box and its influence over regulatory decisions and prediction models. The last half of the conversation is reserved for Rida's involvement with Walmart and the work he is doing with AI to automate processes and generally improve Walmart's workflow and profits.

Ep. 131: David Orban

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 27, 2019 25:00


David Orban, founder of Network Society Ventures, discusses the rapid acceleration of technology and its consequences. How we live, work, organize, and grow a business has changed. Decentralization is now a common path forward. David gives examples, including solar energy, digital manufacturing, personalized health, and peer-to-peer learning. Next, David discusses the volatility of Bitcoin and why that's to be expected: we don't yet fully understand its potential. David exemplifies the past while offering solutions for the future. The rest of the conversation focuses on blockchain more generally, including future applications and implications. David's technologically futuristic views don't seem all that outlandish after this conversation. In fact, his optimism is contagious.

Ep. 130: Dr. Timothy Renick, Georgia State Univ

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 20, 2019 31:38


Dr. Timothy Renick with Georgia State joins us to talk about his implementation of predictive analytics within the university, including an AI enhanced chatbot. Since the deployment of these technologies, Georgia State is graduating 3,000 more students a year than it did seven years ago. Dr. Renick explains the university's approach to finding solutions for problems over innovation for innovation's sake. With a change in demographics, including a larger low-income population, the university felt it necessary to increase access to support and identify issues before students found themselves in dire straits. Dr. Renick discusses the process of finding a vendor to help them identify and build the perfect solution. It's working, as shown by the examples he discusses during the rest of the conversation.

Ep. 129: Dario Izzo, European Space Agency

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 13, 2019 35:26


Dario Izzo joins us from the World Summit AI to talk space. As the scientific coordinator the Advanced Concepts Team out of the European Space Agency, Dario is tasked with some serious undertakings. First, Dario summarizes ESA's mission for us. He humbly describes some of his accomplishments since 2003—such as swarming missions—but, as Dario says, his goal is to stay focused on the future. Currently, energy efficiency is a major area of focus for Dario. He also discusses asteroid deflectors and cube satellites. The remainder of this sci-fi-meets-reality conversation covers AI's contribution to space endeavors and why they're worth our time, money, and cooperation.

Ep. 128: Maneesh Verma, Lunar Zebro

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 6, 2019 29:51


Maneesh Kumar Verma is the team leader and head of operations at Lunar Zebro. He's also a lead robotics at Stellar Space Industries. In this conversation, Maneesh talks about the future of space exploration. In order to thoroughly explore places like Mars, a high level of autonomy must be given to the devices sent there. On top of that, the devices must be agile, plentiful, and inexpensive—compared to a Rover, for example. Maneesh calls these futuristic devices "artificial ants." He then gets into the nitty-gritty of the moon's role as home base in the future of space exploration, diagnostic technologies, and pilot programs for future missions.

Ep. 127: Stephen Donnelly, Spectral Energy

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 29, 2019 28:48


The CIO of Amsterdam's Spectral, Stephen Donnelly, joins us to talk energy. Spectral is “on the bleeding edge of the energy transition” as a tech developer and systems integrator. Steven outlines the pros and cons of each renewable energy resource and also discusses smart cars and smart cities. He then offers solutions to these problems using AI. Before Spectral, Stephen was with the European Commission at the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators. He describes what that level of upper bureaucracy is like.

Ep. 126: Dan Jeavons, Shell

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 22, 2019 28:08


Dan Jeavons, general manager of Shell's advanced analytics CoE, discusses the inevitability of digital transformation. To stay ahead of the curve, Shell created a team specifically for their digital strategy. First, they needed a plan. They listed their priorities, including their customer, using data as an asset, and making sure any changes are for the sake of the business—not for the sake of change. Dan discusses Shell's digital transformation in depth and gives a real example involving predictive analytics. Wrapping up with Shell's hand in renewable resources, Dan drives home how important leveraging AI technology is to succeed.

Ep. 125: Görkem Köseoğlu, ING

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2019 23:33


Chief Analytics Officer for ING, Görkem Köseoğlu, talks data during this panel discussion. While modeling and analytics is not new in the banking sector, AI and machine learning has reinvented it. Görkem discusses his inspiration, motivation, and role in transforming ING—including a pivotal trip to Silicon Valley—and why now is the time. He doesn't tread lightly when it comes to the ethics and regulations involved and offers advice on how to transform the right way. Learn what Görkem means when he says he applies a “yin and yang” strategy to scalability.

Ep. 124: Transformation Impact Panel

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2019 33:50


Digital transformation and its global impact is the topic at hand for this panel discussion. Dr Hamed Al Hashemi, Director, Strategy & Corporate Performance Division Department of Health – Abu Dhabi; Dr. Ismahane Elouafi, Director General of the International Center for Biosaline Agriculture in Dubai; and Khaled El Shabrawy, Government Solutions Executive with Microsoft UAE discuss how AI can be used as a power for good. They get granular about how AI can assist with sustainable agriculture and poverty, global warming, and healthcare. As Dr. Hamed puts it, “What we want to do is really to make sense of all of this data available so that it help us to address some of the key challenges that we facing within the sector.”

Ep. 123: Edda Blumenstein

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 1, 2019 28:57


Edda Blumenstein is a Ph.D. researcher at Leeds University. In this episode, she discusses her efforts to "Identify how honest retailers are supposed to survive in this dynamic environment that is constantly changing at a speed never seen before. I'm looking at how they can actually develop capabilities to do that.” Edda zeroes in on big data's role in the transformational process. Today's buyers expect an experience and a relationship from the brands they choose to do business with. Edda explains why businesses need to implement educated decision making in order to stay competitive prepare for an unpredictable future.

Ep. 122: Anshuman Das, Warner Bros.

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2019 38:04


The marketplace for third-party AI vendors is huge, but what is the right solution for your enterprise? Anshuman Das, the director of robotics and testing at Warner Bros., discusses the compay's implementation of some of his favorite tools and the changes they've brought. From the OCR reader Textract to UiPath for RPA, Das lets us in on a little secret about intelligent automation. “RPA is the way to go, and the best part of RPA is it can very well go hand in hand with any digital transformation process. Whether you're going to cloud or you're going into IOT or you're going to any of the areas of digital transformation, it is that catalyst which can achieve your digital transformation journey much faster in a much better way.”

Ep. 121: Vivek Wadwa, CMU

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2019 26:20


It may sound simple, but the first step to implementing AI in your enterprise is to know what it does. In this episode, Vivek Wadhwa, entrepreneur and Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon, unlocks the black box of AI, including what is needed to build a proper AI foundation. Hint: it's more than just data. Wadhwa goes on to bust myths about machine learning and the overinflated claims some vendors make regarding the utilization of ML and AI. By taking an academic, honest—sometimes brutally so—and deep look at corporate AI, Wadhwa helps enterprises avoid the pitfalls of AI's oversell in the corporate market.

Ep. 120: Jack Cheng, NIO

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 11, 2019 30:46


Jack Cheng covered a lot of ground in this interview. He described NIO, the company he co-founded, as “an EV provider, a mobility company, but [ultimately a] user enterprise engaged with the use of directory.” From swappable batteries to vehicle “living rooms,” Cheng takes a visionary approach to everything he does. His views on globalism are just as unique. He discussed with us the dangers of indoctrination and group think. He gave us his optimistic insight on the tension between China and the U.S. He even shared some ideas on how we can bridge the generation gap at a fundamental level.

Ep. 119: Henrik Hanasand, Norway

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 4, 2019 22:41


We spoke to Henrik Hanasand, with Seniorrådgiver, a shared service center for payroll and accountants. Hanasand discussed his enterprise's robotic evolution starting with a proof of concept, consulting, and implementation. Still, finding the right RPA solution involved some trial and error. After relying too heavily on consultants, Hanasand decided to search internally for talent. It worked. Their new approach to a holistic IT solution has given them the flexibility to look at AI more broadly and futureproof their organization. Seniorrådgiver has made a concerted effort to continue the path forward technologically, and it's paying off.

Ep. 118: Brian Mikkelsen, Denmark

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 27, 2019 18:25


Brian Mikkelsen, the CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, talks with us during the Intelligent Automation Nordics in Copenhagen. He discusses the launch of the Digital Growth Strategy for Denmark and how it has kept Denmark's economy competitive. Training the workforce of tomorrow through a focus on STEM education affords Denmark the opportunity to grow its economy locally. Further, the government has established a digital hub, where small companies can have knowledge about AI, big data, and other new tech for free. Brian concludes the discussion with his thoughts on wealth disparity in Denmark—or lack thereof—and its high quality of living.

Ep. 117: Alexander Hubel, Ericsson

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 20, 2019 23:48


Alexander Hubel joins us again to discuss his RPA and automation journey with Ericsson. He fills us in the last two years and their evolution toward a center of excellence. Change management, communications, and automation communities are focusing their efforts on automation and business adoption. Alexander describes the difference between tribes and communities within the organization and what their roles entail. As far as machine learning is concerned, Alexander says, “I think from an Ericsson perspective, we're quite far ahead, and I think that relates to us being a tech company.” This hasn't come without its challenges, though, which Alexander also delves into.

Ep. 116: Vartul Mittal

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2019 27:47


In this episode, Vartul Mittal discusses his RP agenda across industries and geographies. He also shares with us his favorite third-party software and other tips and tricks to convert big data into something usable. 

Ep. 115: Deepak Subbarao & Avi Bhagtani

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 6, 2019 24:11


Avi Bhagtani from Automation Anywhere joins us to talk about the impact of AI in driving end-to-end business transformation. Deepak Subbarao then joins us and shares why what he does inspires him, "I have this fascinating job of trying to understand how you add value to the business, but at the same time help them jump into the next wave of technologies. So what does it mean practically, right? So we've already gone through let's say restructuring, or let's say we've gone through a lot of changes."

Ep. 114: Anil Bhavnani, Pfizer

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 30, 2019 29:10


Pfizer's Anil Bhavnani discusses the future benefits of digital transformation and intelligent automation. Within the medical and pharmaceutical industry, there are a lot of moving parts and little room for error. Technology and automation is saving lives through the accuracy and timesaving processes it deploys. Bhavnadi walks us through what has changed throughout his career, and what he believes the future holds. “At one point in time, we were just kind of doing a very rule-set based kind of process. And here we are changing the entire process. We are automating it. So obviously a lot of people get impacted. You have to work with multiple stakeholders to be able to manage that change. I think that's where the challenge is.”

Ep. 113: Pelle Braengaard, uPort

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 23, 2019 24:42


Pelle Braengaard is the CTO at uPort, which is working on the world's first self-sovereign identity platform. It is commonly accepted that controlling our own identity—including data—is good for us as individuals, but is it also good for business? Currently, our personal data is stored in silos. Facebook has one set of information on us, while the IRS has another. But, as Braengaard puts it, “...if the user actually has access and has a right to their own data, they can also share it.” Is data property? Do we have a right to our own data? While the answers are complicated, Braengaard gets to the heart of the questions in this eye-opening episode.

Ep. 112: Clara Durodie

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 16, 2019 40:07


Clara Durodié, AI technology strategist, discusses major technological trends taking place within the corporate landscape. Durodié was able to spot the importance of AI when the technology was bleeding edge, way back in 2011, thanks in part to her background in economics and neuroscience. With the volume and velocity of data available today, AI is becoming necessary to operate a successful and profitable business, but how can this technology be utilized responsibly? Are humans really going to be replaced by machines? Durodié touches on these points and more, concluding, “My hope rests on one crucial assumption, which is there will be strong systems in place to ensure that ethical AI is deployed.”

Ep. 111: Chris Gunning, Apollo Tyres

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2019 31:55


In this episode, Chris Gunning discusses his personal history with shared services as well as its evolution over the nearly 20 years he's been in the industry. “We're now seen as a strategic asset for the business; an enabler to help drive value for the business; to be an incubator for technology, for reporting, for analytics, for business insights, so a lot of the things that we were talking about back in the day—centralization, standardization, definitely table stakes, process improvement that have to be there—and we're still talking about some of those things. It's nice to see that we as a shared services organization [have] moved up the value chain to add value for the business.

Ep. 110: Alexander Thielmann, Siemens

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2019 26:06


Siemens' Alexander Thielmann discusses the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its effect on the corporate landscape. The transformation Siemens has embarked on, aptly named Vision 2020 Plus, is a cultural one as much as it is a technology one. With a company as large as Siemens, Thielmann describes this sea change as navigating a fleet of ships. “...with this new change of these fleet of ships, the expectation of the board is also that the ships, or the companies, make more profit... Which also means now they are looking a bit more outside the box.”

Ep. 109: Carlone Basyn, Mondelez

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 26, 2019 40:38


Caroline Basyn, Global CIO and GBS Officer at Mondelēz International, discusses the importance of setting a solid foundation before planning and executing a digital transformation. With an influx of data comes new problems to be solved. Instilling a cloud and data strategy, setting up a consumer-centric framework, and building innovation teams out of siloed departments are some of the solutions Basyn touches on. Once the foundation is set, deploying corporate culture changes, Agile workplaces, and AI and ML technology gets done quicker, cheaper, and with more longevity than a quick-fix solution. “I used to say quality is not the enemy of speed, but in a certain sense, you need to be able to marry both.”

Ep.108: Andrew Paris, CRH plc

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2019 35:40


Andrew Parris, director of performance improvement at CRH, focuses his efforts on improving corporate functions across the board, including finance, IT, procurement, and HR. How does he do it? Data-backed benchmarking, implementation planning, and change management. Additionally, intelligent automation is taking a front seat. “We're starting to bring some AI into play. Our approach has always been, it's not just about the bot, it's about the right solution for the right problem.

Ep. 107: Fernando Nunes, MAN

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 12, 2019 23:57


Fernando Nunes, senior process automation architect at MAN Energy solutions, discusses his unique approach to IT and business. By leveraging RPA, AI, and BPA tools, Nunes works to empower the business line and decrease IT bottlenecks through process automation. He further explains the Center of Excellence concept using an apt airport metaphor. “Our philosophy was always about enabling our line of business to do large things themselves, and we, of course, would have to provide an architecture, a governance, an infrastructure, and we see it more like we provide the airport. Then the line of business will make the flights; the planes to fly.”

Ep. 106: Manik Patil Pt. II

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 5, 2019 32:43


In the second part of our discussion with Manik Patil, we pick back up on enhancing the risk-adjusted return on investment for an intelligent automation portfolio. Patil defines and details his “blitz scaling” tenants: having an exponential organization, time-to-value, running intelligent automation as a business, and think big; start small. To sum it up, Patil quotes Zuckerberg: "Giving people the tools to be able to get that data without having to argue whether their ideas are good, through the layers of management before testing something, frees people up to move quicker. This will help you achieve your massively transformative purpose."

EP. 105: Manik Patil Pt. I

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 28, 2019 24:05


Manik Patil joins us and shares the theory behind Technology Business Management: " The connection of your financial data all the way up to your initiative data allows you to manage your portfolio really well. So think of it as a management mechanism or a management science and art in order to have your technology portfolio in a very efficient way and a transparent manner because of which your whole company can drum to the same beat and make sure everything is coherent."

Ep. 104: Manish Jain, RBC

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 21, 2019 26:36


Manish Jain joins us and shares information on RBCs new Silent Listener Chat Bot: "We are building a silent listener chat bot, which will listen to the conversation when an agent and a client are having those discussions. While those discussions are happening, the chat bot or the silent listener is going to understand the intent of the conversation, what the client is talking about, getting the client, IDs. In the meanwhile while the discussion is happening in goes in the background, brings in all policies and procedures, client, all information ready on the agent's screen. Agent without putting the client on hold is having a continuous discussion"

Ep. 103: Ravi Rao

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 14, 2019 30:57


Ravi Rao joins us and shares how automation can not hurt, but help business processes as well as it's employees: "We're trying to figure out ways that the things that don't really require humans, things that are just repetitive data transfer tasks can be done by machines which are better at doing that, but the creative innovative service, interactive pieces, robots cannot do any of that. That's why humans still have a huge role to play in business and the more that they can recognize how to work with each other in exemplary ways, that's what will eventually lead the business. "

Ep. 102: Andrew Moore

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 7, 2019 30:02


"Every big company on the planet nowadays has an imperative at the board level to really reinvent itself, partly because the market's shifting faster than it's ever done in the past. I think intellectually and philosophically, leadership teams around the world understand why they need to change because they don't want to end up like Kodak or Blockbuster or name your favorite example of a company that went under, but where you most get stuck is one what does that mean for them and how do you do it."

Ep. 101: Xavier Rodriguez, Technicolor

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2019 24:08


Xavier Rodriguez joins us and shares the importance of good leadership: "sometimes, you're not the best one on the technical side, but if you are a good leader, you will manage your team."

Ep. 100: Cindy Gallagher

Play Episode Listen Later May 24, 2019 23:49


Cindy Gallagher joins us and shares the importance of building personal time into your schedule: "I have surrounded myself with the right people who know how to handle situations. Not only that, but I set myself up properly as well before I went away, saying I was going to be gone, structuring the calendar appropriately, telling people when I was going to be on and off. As a CEO and as anyone who's excelled in their profession, you do have to be careful about where the line is, but you do have to draw that line for yourself."

Ep. 99: Lee Coulter, IEEE

Play Episode Listen Later May 17, 2019 42:30


Lee Coulter joins us and shares the end game in implementing new automated processes: "the reality is that you're not going to want to build heavy IT integration between all these systems. You're always going to be looking for something to stitch these things together in ways that are important to the business that drive some sort of material outcome."

Ep. 98: Tony Saldanha,

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2019 25:58


Tony Saldanha joins us and shares the careful steps that need to be taken in order to implement automation and improve processes: "I think you almost have to have a parallel strategy of automate and transform or disrupt. Because when you kind of look at things like data and AI, I think that's your disruptive part. And you have to be able to walk and chew gum, which is operate and automate and disrupt at the same time."

Ep. 97: Kamila Grembowicz, Adidas

Play Episode Listen Later May 3, 2019 28:58


Kamila Grembowicz joins us and shares her experience in implementing Global Business Strategy at Adidas: " I think every company has a different culture, a different structure, and then every GBS looks different. If you have a company where GBS concept is really not liked by the people, they didn't adapt to change, they maybe went too aggressive in the cuts straight away without the quality. You can have different reasons why you go back to functional model."

Ep. 96: Steven Jo, Silicon Valley Bank

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 26, 2019 37:48


Steven Jo joins us and shares the complexity of digital transformation: " We looked at those two, I guess you could call it value chains, within this organization and decided those are what we're going to go after. That's like the open heart surgery. You're taking out your arteries, your main organs, upgrading them with digital technology, new operating models. We're revamping our loan originations platform. All this is going on at the same time. So it's super, super complicated work."

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