The New Automation Mindset: AI + Automation + Integration

Ilan Twig, CTO and co-founder of Navan, shares insights from his experience leading a travel and expense management company through the challenges of COVID-19. He discusses the importance of user-centric product development and how embracing generative AI can drive operational improvements. Ilan emphasizes adapting to change, leveraging technology, and maintaining flexibility to foster business resilience. He offers practical strategies for IT leaders to innovate and lead successful transformations in a rapidly evolving landscape.

In this chat with Steve Brodrick, the CEO of Horizon Five and a former CFO and CTO, the spotlight is on data democratization. He shares his inspiring career journey and the transformative power of making data accessible to empower teams. Key topics include integrating IT and business for smarter decisions, overcoming resistance to data access, and leveraging generative AI. Steve offers practical advice on building a data-driven culture and breaking down silos, emphasizing collaboration as crucial for innovation.

Vladimir Lukic, a Managing Director at the Boston Consulting Group with 18 years of expertise in AI adoption, discusses the findings of BCG's latest AI report. He reveals that only 4-5% of companies successfully scale AI, emphasizing the need to focus on core workflows and ensure data quality. Lukic highlights the importance of fully embedding AI into business processes and rethinking operating models. He shares real-world success stories, illustrating how proactive strategies can drive effective AI implementation.

Sam Sena, a Global Head of Business Systems at BigID and executive PhD researcher at Sorbonne University, shares his expertise on IT identity archetypes and system adoption. He discusses how classifying employees can ease technology transformation fears. The conversation highlights the importance of cultural identity and engaging key influencers, like 'technophiles', to drive acceptance. Sena also emphasizes real-world strategies to customize messaging and training for better alignment between new tech and organizational culture, ensuring a smoother change process.

Tal Seraf, SVP at Atlassian, shares insights from his impressive tenure at tech giants like Microsoft and Amazon. He discusses the vital shift from project-based to product-focused IT strategies for better customer satisfaction. Tal emphasizes leveraging AI and data-driven decision-making to improve operational efficiency. He also highlights Atlassian's transformational initiatives in finance and the need for aspiring IT leaders to embrace data literacy and innovation. Practical advice flows throughout, empowering future leaders to make impactful changes.

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Rajeev Khanna discuss how to navigate the common IT challenges faced by large organizations. Rajeev shares his extensive experience across various industries, including his leadership roles at Aon, Expedia, Asurion, and UBS. They examine the complexities of systems, the need for efficiency, cost management, and overcoming organizational friction. Rajeev highlights the critical role of change management, collaboration with business leaders, and effective communication in driving successful technology adoption. Additionally, they explore the transformative potential of generative AI in IT processes, emphasizing the importance of early experimentation and secure deployment.Timestamps00:00 Episode Start02:45 Common IT Challenges12:20 The role of the modern CIO18:55 Strategies for IT and business fusion22:40 Navigating change management30:00 Key roles for success35:40 How GenAI will impact business growth and tech adoptionEpisode Key TakeawaysGet to know the business goals: Take the time to really understand the different functions and their priorities. This deeper insight helps you ensure that your tech solutions hit the mark and genuinely support what the business needs.Make change management a priority: Focus on creating a solid change management plan to help everyone get on board with new technologies. Keep communication clear and invite users to get involved early, so they can see the benefits firsthand and share their feedback.Empower your tech champions: Find those enthusiastic individuals in different departments who love technology. These champions can help spread the word about new tools, share their experiences, and encourage others to join in on the excitement of adopting new solutions.Find the best use cases for new tech: Collaborate closely with business units to discover where new technologies can make a real difference. By working together, you can identify impactful use cases and ensure that your tech investments truly benefit the organization.Top Quote“Technology leaders are not technology leaders. They’re business leaders first who happen to do technology. It's a subtle but important mind shift to say I'm here to serve the business.”

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Ravi Malick discuss the evolving landscape of IT leadership and the transformative power of AI. Ravi shares his journey from the energy sector to leading IT at Box, highlighting the importance of integrating business strategy with IT leadership. They explore the challenges of SaaS application sprawl and emphasize the critical need for a well-architected enterprise and data environment. Ravi also offers practical insights on managing technology investments and adopting a portfolio approach to application management.Timestamps00:00 Episode Start02:29 Ravi's career journey and transition to Box06:20 Evolution of the CIO role14:10 Impacts of SaaS application sprawl19:35 Strategies for managing application sprawl29:45 Embracing composable architecture36:15 Balancing custom development and packaged solutions41:00 Impacts of AI on business applicationsEpisode Key TakeawaysStart with enterprise and data architecture: Bringing on an enterprise architect and a data architect early in your organization’s journey can really simplify things and help you scale effectively. Laying down these foundational pieces early on will make future integrations smoother and keep your organization agile as you grow.Simplify your application portfolio: Take the time to review all your current applications and see what they do, how much they cost, and who owns them. Identifying overlapping functions can help you prioritize which applications to consolidate or retire, saving you on administrative costs and streamlining your operations.Embrace composable architecture for flexibility: Combine your core applications with smaller, adaptable solutions using a composable approach. This will help you quickly respond to changing business needs while ensuring that essential functions are backed by reliable, long-term applications, enabling innovation and a competitive edge.Leverage GenAI to enhance processes: Use AI and generative AI to boost your business processes, whether it’s marketing campaigns, customer service, or internal workflows. Focus on building a flexible and secure system that can integrate AI capabilities throughout your organization, ensuring that your AI investments create real, measurable benefits.Top Quote“Teams that are aligned, businesses that are aligned and are in sync execute so much better and are so much more successful. I don't think it should be any different for technology.”

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Keyur Ajmera discuss the evolution of integration platforms and their growing importance in today's business landscape. They dive into the shift from traditional systems to innovative solutions like Workato, highlighting their impact on operational efficiency, automation, and data integrity. Keyur highlights the benefits of empowering business partners through federated IT models and utilizing low-code platforms to accelerate time to value and minimize project risk. Keyur wraps up by offering strategic insights for CIOs on building strong business partnerships to drive organizational success.Timestamps00:00 Episode Start03:30 Importance of integration in modern IT08:15 Efficiency driven by automation11:40 Evolution of integration platforms18:45 Navigating federated IT23:25 RPA vs. integration28:25 Choosing Workato for iCIMS36:35 Organizing for success40:05 Future plans at iCIMSEpisode Key TakeawaysEmpower your people: Find tech-savvy folks in your business who are eager to learn. By letting them manage their own integrations and automation within a clear framework, you boost efficiency and create a sense of ownership. This teamwork can speed up project timelines.Leverage low-code platforms: Choose low-code platforms like Workato that let more team members, even those without coding skills, get involved in integration tasks. This makes integration easier and helps keep things moving smoothly.Prioritize risk management: Integration often comes at the end of the critical path in projects and is inherently risky due to its complexity and timing. Prioritize tools that minimize this risk that help you deliver faster with fewer errors, ensuring you hit your project deadlines.Take a collaborative approach: Be a helpful partner, not just a service provider. Keep communication open, empower your business leaders, and relinquish some control to foster a two-way trust. This approach can lead to better outcomes and help you secure a role in strategic decision-making.Top Quote“Empower and enable your business leaders to be successful. And the way you can do that, complete transparency, empowerment, not keeping control, but relinquishing it. Because then you become a trusted partner to them. And who would a business person bring to a conversation at the table? A trusted partner. That's who you want to be.”

Yanni Charalambous, CIO of Occidental Petroleum, discusses the company's innovative approach to cloud technology and low-carbon initiatives. He highlights the integration of digital twins for enhanced efficiency and the challenges of cloud adoption in modern manufacturing. Yanni emphasizes the importance of strategic partnerships and skill transformation to drive innovation. He shares insights on how software-defined factories can optimize operations and contribute to sustainability goals, setting a future roadmap for Occidental's digital transformation.

In this episode, Markus Zirn and Arthur Hu discuss Lenovo’s transformation from a hardware giant to an IT services leader, driven by AI and hybrid cloud technologies. Arthur shares insights on managing global supply chains during COVID-19, balancing centralized and federated IT governance, and the crucial role of cultural integration. He also emphasizes the importance of a customer-first approach and adopting a process-driven mindset to foster innovation.Timestamps00:00 Episode Start04:00 Balancing IT leadership and customer perspective04:55 Lenovo powers Lenovo: Internal innovations09:05 Exploring IT process innovations and AI opportunities14:30 How removing barriers can empower your teams20:50 Supply chain resilience during COVID-1926:35 Centralized vs. decentralized vs. federated IT governance31:20 Cultural integration in global IT operations37:25 Lessons from providing IT servicesEpisode Key TakeawaysEmbrace Customer-Centric IT: It’s crucial for IT organizations to operate with the same level of accountability and service quality as if they could lose their internal “customers”—the business units—to external competition. This mindset will sharpen focus on meeting SLAs and enhancing end-user satisfaction.Leverage External Insights: Recognize that learning from external customers and other companies can provide invaluable insights. Embrace external benchmarks and customer feedback to continually improve and innovate within your IT operations. Foster collaborative, cross-functional teams: Break down silos and encourage collaboration across roles. By focusing on the customer journey and integrating diverse expertise, you’ll drive better outcomes and a more cohesive team environment.Cultivate and evolve your company culture: Invest regularly in nurturing your organizational culture. Establish clear norms and create opportunities for team bonding to enhance coordination and reduce friction, especially in diverse, global teams.Top Quote“The most powerful insight that we now apply, and I try to bring to my work and also with customers, is how do we take things that are automated perhaps very deeply, but not very broadly? And how do we use the process mindset to get out of those and actually think how do we have a better whole? An analogy that we use is everyone is trying to build some kind of a highway. But unless you have that integrative either journey or experience that you're targeting, then you end up with this mishmash, the off-ramps might not be connected, things don't actually work together very well. And so it's important to have an overall plan and as well as being able and willing to maintain that.”