18 Aug 2019  |   05:07am IST

How to take off and stay ahead!

Geek leader Tony Saldanha, with roots in Saligao, is making waves globally with his book ‘Why Digital Transormations Fail’. The book released on July 23 is the number one bestseller on Amazon’s list of new releases in the Organisational Change categeory and is already into second reprint by Penguin/Random House, attracting rave reviews, with Forbes recommending the book to business school courses. BOSCO DE SOUZA EREMITA has a tete-e-tete with the Saligao-car
How to take off and stay ahead!

Tony was Vice President of Procter & Gamble’s Next Generation Business Services (GBS) team from 2015 to ’18 besides operational responsiblities to run Procter & Gamble P&G’s multi-billion dollar GBS unit world-wide. He is

a globally recognized thought-leader in Global Business Services (GBS) and Information Technology, with international business expertise in the US, Europe, and Asia.He was named on Computerworld’s Premier 100 IT Professionals list in 2013. His experiences include GBS design and operations, CIO positions, acquisitions and divestitures, outsourcing, disruptive innovation, and creation of new business models. He is currently President of Transformant, a consulting organization that advises over 20 Fortune 100 companies world-wide in digital transformation and global business services. He is also a founder of two blockchain and AI companies, and an adviser to venture capital companies.

Needless to say, Tony’s book is a guide to all business leaders.

 

 

Question: You talk about the Fourth Industrial Revolution in your book. What is it and why should the average person or company care about it?

Tony Saldanha:

We are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution as defined by the World Economic Forum. And, as with prior industrial revolutions, this will bring major change to companies, societies and individuals. So, yes, we do need to care about it. For context, the first industrial revolution was about steam engines, the second about electricity and the third was about the internet. The Fourth is about applying digital technologies to the physical, biological and social worlds. It’s highly disruptive. 40% of the Fortune 500 companies will not exist in 10 years. 45% of all jobs in the manufacturing sector alone will be done by robots by 2035. This affects all of us.

 

Q: What can individuals do in terms of building their own skills, to stay relevant in this new digital era.

TS:

I usually offer three pieces of advice. Firstly, embrace technology. As prior industrial revolutions have demonstrated, people who embrace change tend to win disproportionately. Second, learn new technical skills. Not everybody needs to become an Artificial Intelligence (AI) programmer, but knowing a little of technology as applied to your field is critical (e.g. if you happen to be a teacher, learn about how you could teach better using technology will help). Third, stay open to change --- whether new types of roles or new experiences.

 

Q: Can you share some examples of digital transformation that you personally led?

TS:

At Procter & Gamble’s HQ in Cincinnati, where I led a global consortium of the top 5 Global IT Services firms and hundreds of startups to create the future of business operations for the world, we created products such as AI driven purchasing, planning the entire supply chain for a global company in real-time instead of using the current ERP software, getting rid of Expense Reporting as a process in most companies, using blockchain to eliminate the need for invoicing itself and so on. The key is that each of these were not just incremental improvements of the current system, but were dramatic disruptions. It was kind of like going from typewriters to smartphones, but for internal company operations.

 

Q: To what extent is digital transformation a good thing for India? And for Goa?

TS:

It’s a fantastic thing for India and for Goa. During times of industrial revolutions, there will be exponential winners and unfortunately, exponential losers. India as a country, and Goa as a state is blessed with quality people who are not afraid of change and who are hungry to learn. We have a great opportunity to become exponential winners. Our companies could become the next Alibaba or the next Uber. It’s time to seize this opportunity.

 

Q: In your book you mention "Project Symphony". How was it different from other transformational initiatives at P&G?

TS:

This was in 2003. The leadership of the global P&G company asked a very good question, which was, is it possible for every key leader in the company to have the ability to steer the business in real time, instead of trying to run it with outdated reports generated in batch. In today’s age of online tracking of Amazon deliveries this isn’t a big deal, but 16 years ago, this was path-breaking. We implemented real-time cockpits of business measures for every key decision maker around the world. And it transformed the way decisions were made in several businesses around the world.

 

Q: In this internet age, isn't it ironic that banking transactions or even Government offices come to a standstill because “server is down”. Is this acceptable or is this an unavoidable nuisance of so-called progress? What is the way out?

TS:

This should be unacceptable. Customers should demand better results and hold all organizations, including public servants, accountable for better service. In this age, where we can control a Mars rover in real time and the normal smartphone in your hand has more computing power than US President Clinton had at his disposal when he was in office, we need to expect better. No excuses.

 

Q:Do you really believe digitalisation is the way forward because, in a way, the quality of human life has taken a backseat considering that though

  things are done at the finger tips, it has adversely affected human life by way of job loss, sedentary lifestyle etc which has given rise to a plethora of ailments.

TS:

It’s a great question. It’s an area where we need to be crystal clear --- sedentary lifestyles and job losses are indeed very real consequences of the progress of digital technology. For context, every industrial revolution has these elements of turmoil. The first industrial revolution caused major upheaval of village-based economies. Having said that, how many of us would choose to give up our current lifestyles and move to a remote village with no machines and electricity? This is where we need to learn from history. The march of technology is inevitable, but the transformational change does not need to be painful. We can anticipate it and plan for it. In many ways that’s the ultimate goal of my book.

 

Q: Since "Digital Transformation" as a Management tool had already gained credibility

  and acceptability, why is it moving so slowly? And why do 70% of digital transformations still fail?

TS:

It’s simple, really. There are two reasons for both issues. One, leaders are simply confused by all the technical hype on terminology. Everything from a new email system to a new robot is classified as “digital transformation” because frankly, software vendors use hype to sell products. Imagine the time during the second industrial revolution if there was mass marketing and people hyped up electricity to fix everything from transportation to a common cold. That would be confusing! (By the way, that did happen in its own fashion at the time.)

The second issue is the implementation approach. The whole topic of digital transformation is new enough that people use outdated IT project management techniques to run it.

 

Q: There is the general tendency to remain in

  inertia or uniform motion. Transformation in such cases will have to come through internal motivation of the bulk of stake-holders. Are failures in digital transformation attributable to this factor?

TS:

This is another great point. You’re absolutely right. A vast majority of digital transformations fail, as I write in the book, not because of “digital” but due to “transformation” issues. Digital Transformation is not automation of work using IT. Transformation implies organizational change -- of legacy systems,of legacy processes and of legacy people. I outline in the book how to address this.

 

Q: Have you had a chance to interact with transformation leaders in India/Goa? How do you assess the progress in this process?

TS:

While my work has been mostly in the US and Europe, I’ve had a chance to talk with a couple of visionary leaders in Goa about digital transformation, artificial intelligence and the future of work. I have to say that their vision and plans have been no different than the best visionary leaders in any part of the world. While it’s true that Goa comes from a earlier level of basic infrastructure, the ability to leapfrog is what matters. Just as we went from having hardly any telephones to having great mobile phones, nothing stops us from replicating that on digital transformation. All you need is the vision and persistence.

 

IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar